Westminster College will host its second annual Lakeside Craft Fair on September 16 at the Anderson Amphitheater near Brittain Lake. The craft fair is open to the community, and proceeds will benefit the Lawrence County’s ‘Empty Bowls’ program. Hosted by the College’s student government and dining services, the fair will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 3 p.m.

Community members are invited to purchase handmade crafts, participate in a raffle auction and listen to live music by local artists Natalie Paoletta and Katie Nicholson. Children’s activities and concessions will also be available.

“The craft fair will be a fun-filled, community event with vendors selling everything from all-natural soaps to handmade candy,” said Elizabeth Smith, a student government leader charged with planning the event. “We are looking forward to welcoming vendors and community members to our campus all for the benefit of Lawrence County ‘Empty Bowls.’

All proceeds from the event, including vendor registration fees and concessions revenue, will help support Lawrence County’s ‘Empty Bowls’ program. Empty Bowls’ mission is to raise awareness about food insecurity in the county, as well as provide free meals and activities for local children in need during the summer months.

“Last year, over 45 crafts and local business participated in the "STOP HUNGER" fundraiser, and we raised $975 for the New Wilmington PB&J Backpack program,” recalled Mona Moufid, marketing specialist for Sodexo Dining Services at Westminster. “This year, we hope to exceed the number of vendors and the donated amount in order to support the Empty Bowls program.”

Vendor table fees are $5 for students and $15 for community members. Local college and high school students are also welcome to participate. Vendor applications will be accepted until September 1. For more information about the event or to obtain a vendor registration form, please contact Mona Moufid via email at lakesidecraftfair@gmail.com.

For additional information, contact Elizabeth Smith at smitea22@wclive.westminster.edu or Matt McDonald at mcdoml22@wclive.westminster.edu.

Dr. Daniel Perttu's recent composition, "To Spring - An Overture," was aired on WCNY, the public radio station based in Syracuse, Utica, and Watertown, NY. Perttu is an associate professor of music, and currently serves as chair of the Westminster's School of Music. 

"I was thrilled to hear that my piece was selected to be aired on WCNY," said Perttu. "WCNY is a central New York's public broadcasting station, and I am honored that they chose my music to be featured."

Perttu's composition was aired on a program entitled "Fresh from the Wrapper," hosted by Diane Jones, which features new releases. "To Spring" was recorded by the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra with Petr Vronsky conducting on the PARMA Recordings label. The album will be formally released in September, 2017, but it has been pre-released to targeted entities.

For more information, contact Tom Fields at fieldste@westminster.edu or 724-946-7190. 

Westminster College admission team members may be traveling to a college fair near you this fall.  We want to encourage you, of the opportunity, to meet and discuss your questions about the college process and to share information about Westminster. 

“The most rewarding part about travel is being able to meet students from far distances that may not know much about Westminster initially,” said Kendall Hunter, Admissions Counselor at Westminster. “Seeing them schedule an interview, take a tour, and meet with a professor in their field later in the year is always exciting.”

Find Westminster at the following College Fairs:

September 5, 2017:

Hershey PACAC Fall Fair

Where: Hershey Lodge, 325 University Dr., Hershey PA 17033

Time: 7-9PM

September 12, 2017:

Cambria County Fair College Fair

Where: Frank J. Pasquerilla Conference Center, 301 Napoleon St., Johnstown, PA 15901

Time: 8:30-11AM

September 13, 2017:

Valley, Burrell, Highlands College Fair

Where: Quality Inn of Kensington, 300 Tarentum Bridge, Rd., New Kensington, PA 15068

Time: 6-8PM

September 17, 2017:

Boston Massachusetts NACAC

Where: Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, 415 Summer St., Boston, MA 02210

Time: 1-4PM

Booth: 433

September 18, 2017:

Daemen College Fall College Fair

Where: Daemen College, 4380 Main St., Amherst, NY 14226

Time: 6:30-8PM

September 19, 2017:

Hilbert College Fall College Fair

Where: Hilbert College, 5200 South Park Ave., Hamburg, NY 14075

Time: 7-8:30PM

September 25, 2017:

Passaic County College Fair

Where: William Paterson University Recreational Center, 300 Pompton Rd., Wayne, NJ 07470

Time: 6-8:30PM

September 26, 2017:

Elk & Cameron College Fair

Where: Community Education Center, 4 Erie Ave. #200, St. Marys, PA 15857

Time: 9-11AM

September 27, 2017:

Westmoreland County College Fair

Where: Westmoreland County Community College, 145 Pavilion Ln., Youngwood, PA 15697

Time: 6-8PM

September 27, 2017:

Monroe County PACAC

Where: Northampton Community College (Monroe Campus), 2411 Pa-715, Tannersville, PA 18372

Time: 6:30-8PM

September 28, 2017:

Delaware County PACAC

Where: Penn State Brandywine, 25 Yearsket Mill Rd., Media, PA 19063

Time: 6:30-8PM

September 29, 2017:

Lawrence County College Fair

Where: Westminster College, 319 S. Market Str., New Wilmington, PA 16172

Time: 9-10:30AM

October 3, 2017:

Indiana County College Fair

Where: Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1090 S. Dr., Indiana, PA 15705

Time: 9-11:30AM

October 3, 2017:

Lehigh County PACAC

Where: Lehigh Carbon Community College, 4525 Education Park Dr., Schnecksville, PA 18078

Time: 9-11:30 AM

October 4, 2017:

Berks County PACAC

Where: Albright College, 1621 N. 13th St., Reading, PA 19604

Time: 6-8PM

October 4, 2017:

Warren County (PA) College Fair

Where: Central Office Facility of Warren County School District, 6820 Market St., Russel, PA 16345

Time: 6-8PM

October 5, 2017:

Bucks County PACAC

Where: Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, PA 18940

Time: 6-8PM

October 5, 2017:

Clearfield Area College Fair

Where: Clearfield County Fairgrounds, 5615 Par St., Clearfield, PA 16830

Time: 8:30AM-12PM

October 5, 2017:

Mercer County College Fair

Where: Thiel College, 75 College Ave., Greenville, PA 16125

Time: 9-11:30AM

October 10, 2017:

Northampton County PACAC

Where: Northampton Community College, 3835 Green Pond Rd., Bethlehem, PA 18020

Time: 6-7:30PM

October 11, 2017:

Meadville Area College Fair

Where: Meadville High School, 930 North St., Meadville, PA 16335

Time: 6:30-8PM

October 13, 2017:

Montgomery County PACAC

Where: North Penn High School, 1340 S. Valley Forge Rd., Lansdale, PA 19446

Time: 6-8PM

October 16, 2017:

York County PACAC

Where: York College, 443 Country Club Rd., York, PA 17403

Time: 6-8PM

October 18, 2017:

Southern Westchester College Fair

Where: Westchester County Center, 198 Central Ave., White Plains, NY 10606

Time: 6:30-9PM

October 19, 2017:

Northern Westchester- Putnam College Fair

Where: Yorktown Heights High School, 2727 Crompound Rd., Yorktown Heights, NY 10598

Time: 6:30-9PM

October 30-31:

Baltimore Maryland NACAC

Where: Baltimore Convention Center, 1 W. Pratt St., Baltimore, MD 21201

Time: October 30 – 9AM-12PM & 6:30-8:30PM, October 31 – 9-11:30AM

Booth: 125

November 2, 2017:

Atlantic City NACAC

Where: Atlantic City Convention Center, 1 Convention Blvd., Atlantic City, NJ 08401

Time: 9AM-12PM & 6-8PM

Booth: 528

November 15, 2017:

Pitt Titusville College Fair

Where: Pitt Titusville, 504 E. Main St., Titusville, PA 16354

Time: 9AM-1PM

For more information, contact Brad Tokar,Director of Admission at tokarbp@westminster.edu or 724-946-7109.

Last semester, Westminster College inducted its first class of nine students into its newly established chapter of the criminal justice honorary society, Alpha Phi Sigma. Dr. Kristenne Robison and Dr. Shannon Smithey will serve as their advisors. 

"Since moving criminal justice studies to its own major and out of sociology, it was decided criminal justice majors should have their own honorary society," said Robison.

As the group prepares for another academic year, their plans include bringing guest speakers to campus, completing volunteer work, and traveling to an annual conference held in tandem with The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences conference every winter/spring.

Pictured above are members of the inaugural class:

Front row: Caity Kreider (Vice President), Max Ungerman (President)

Second row: Hayley Thewes, Maija Belmar, Gabby Fabish, Dr. Shannon Smithey (advisor)

Third Row: Garrett Behringer, Coty Gander, Dr. Kristenne Robison (advisor)

To learn more about Alpha Phi Sigma, visit their website www.alphaphisigma.org.

For more information, contact Tom Fields at fieldste@westminster.edu or 724-946-7190.

Dr. Deanne Buffalari, assistant professor and chair of the Neuroscience program, was awarded an equipment loan grant administered by the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience and sponsored by San Diego Instruments.  The grant will support work on her proposal entitled, "Reinforcement enhancement properties of nicotine during reinstatement of cocaine conditioned place preference driven by stressful and cocaine-paired stimuli.”

"We are using animal models of addiction to try to study how nicotine and cocaine might interact,” explains Buffalari. “Individuals who use drugs, such as cocaine, are often smokers.  When they try to quit cocaine, we are interested in whether smoking might increase or decrease their ability to remain abstinent from cocaine— that's the next step that I'm working on over the next two years.” 

Buffalari used the grant to loan a place conditioning set up, equipment used to measure learning related behaviors. She’s particularly interested in how rats learn to associate places with drugs.  

“That's how I use it to model addiction. I want to know if smoking (we give the rats nicotine injections) changes the way that places associated with cocaine can control behavior and increase risk of relapse.”

This study will be used in a couple of Buffalari’s upcoming courses, “Learning” and “Behavioral Neuroscience.” Although the equipment loan was granted to drive her research, Buffalari encourages students to use it for their Neuroscience capstone and several undergraduate students will be involved in conducting research with her over the next two years.

For more information, contact Tom Fields at fieldste@westminster.edu or 724-946-7190.

Community members can get fit this fall by participating in yoga and cardio fitness classes offered by Westminster College.

The Fall Fitness Classes will be held in three four-week sessions between Aug. 29 and Nov. 16 in the Old 77 Dance Studio and cost $25 for four classes or $7 per individual class.

Hatha Yoga classes, taught by instructor Lori Allen, will be held on Tuesdays from 5:45 to 6:45 p.m. The first four-week session class will be held Aug. 29 to Sept. 19. The second session will run from Sept. 26 to Oct. 17, and the third session will be held from Oct. 24 to Nov. 14.

Instructor Michael Gordon will teach Cardio Strength Blast classes on Thursdays from 6 to 7 p.m. The first four-week session class will be held from Aug. 31 to Sept. 21. The second session will run from Sept. 28 to Oct. 19, and the third session will be held from Oct. 26 to Nov. 16.

Gordon, who also works as the Health and Fitness Coordinator at Challenges, Options in Aging in New Castle, said he looks forward to returning to Westminster each fall to teach the Cardio Strength Blast class.

“It’s a combination of cardio and strength training workouts that allows the participants to try something new and get a variety of exercises in,” Gordon said. “I’m excited to get classes started.”

No pre-registration is required. Participants can pay for the classes by cash or check.

For more information, contact Jessica Shelenberger at (724) 946-7353 or shelenjp@westminster.edu.

The total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017 was the first to cross America in 99 years, and Westminster’s astronomers were not going to miss it. Dr. Thomas Oberst and Dr. Robert Knop, Associate Professors of Physics, traveled to Hopkinsville and Princeton, Ky., respectively, to stand briefly in the 70-mile-diameter umbral shadow of the Moon as it swept by at 1500 miles per hour. For two minutes and 40 seconds, they witnessed one of the rarest of spectacles: the brilliant “diamond ring” of the sun’s last rays peeking through a lunar valley, followed by the ghostly ring of the corona.

It was a first for both astronomers, and did not disappoint. “All that I had read, heard, and watched did not prepare me for the awesomeness of totality first-hand,” recalled Oberst. “I was frozen, awe-struck. Everything I had planned for in those two minutes – taking in the reaction of the crowd, finding constellations in the daytime sky, feeling the winds and the temperature drop, listening for the birds and crickets, looking for a glow around the horizon – went out the window. I could not take my eyes off the corona. It is every bit as magnificent as they say. Pictures do not do it justice.”

As viewed from Western Pennsylvania, the sun was only 80 % eclipsed and lacked the diamond ring and corona phenomena. Nevertheless, it was watched and enjoyed by many in the Westminster community and beyond.

The experience has Oberst and Knop already itching to catch another. As fortune has it, another total solar eclipse will cross the US from Texas to Maine on April 8, 2024, and the southern edge of the path of totality will pass within just 15 miles of Westminster’s campus. (The US will not see another until 2044.) While lake-effect clouds could threaten the view, Oberst is optimistic. “This warrants a special course on eclipses at Westminster, including a trip into the path of totality to observe it,” he said.

For more information, contact Tom Fields at fieldste@westminster.edu or 724-946-7190.

Photo caption: Oberst (right) and Gabe Shaughnessy of the University of Wisconsin-Madison observing the August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse from Hopkinsville, Ky.

Knop (center) and Alessandro Cavallaro of the Large Binocular Telescope observing the August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse from Princeton, Ky.

Photographs of the August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse from Hopkinsville, Ky. Credit: Gabe Shaughnessy.

The Four Phantoms in Concert will open the Westminster College Celebrity Series 50th anniversary season at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, September 30, in Orr Auditorium. The performance is sponsored by First National Bank.

The originally scheduled September 16 opening show by Ben Vereen has been cancelled due to the entertainer’s back surgery.

“We are thrilled to announce that we have lined up a glorious new show celebrating the iconic work of the many composers and artists who have made Broadway an American art form.  I can’t think of a bigger or better way to open this celebratory season than with The Four Phantoms! Our audience is going to love them!” exclaims Connie McGinnis, director of Celebrity Series.  

The Four Phantoms are comprised of four of Broadway’s iconic leading men who have received accolades worldwide for their stirring performances in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway phenomenon The Phantom of the Opera and have graced stages including London, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Germany, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.   

Under the music supervision of two-time Grammy winner composer David Caddick with choreography by three-time US National Ice Dance Champion Renee Roca, Phantoms Brent Barrett, Ciarán Sheehan, Franc D’Ambrosio, and Marcus Lovett hold audiences spellbound as they revisit the passion of the masked man and honor the musical legacy of Broadway. The performance will also feature special guest artist Celia Hottenstein who recently completed a run as Christine in the 25th anniversary tour of The Phantom of the Opera directed by Laurence Connor.

You do not want to miss this mesmerizing experience at Westminster College. Tickets start at $39.

For more information or to order tickets, contact Georgene Gib by calling 724-946-7354 or online at www.westminster.edu/celebrity.

Westminster College’s Foster Art Gallery will host A Machine For Living In, a digital media art installation by Robert Twomey. The exhibition will run Aug 28 – Oct 13. There will be a gallery reception on Tuesday, Sept 12 from 4:30-6 p.m., with an artist talk at 5:15 p.m. The Foster Art Gallery is located in Patterson Hall on Westminster College’s campus. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

A Machine For Living In is a digital media installation using smart technologies to explore the home as a site of intimate life. Incorporating video, sound, and sculpture, the project showcases machine observers and memories of their experience installed in the artist’s home. Inspired by speculative science fiction and smart home technologies, this installation explores narratives of human-machine cohabitation. What emerges is a contemporary portrait of the everyday. 

This project seamlessly moves between disciplines, incorporating themes and methods of art, computer science, and communication studies among others. The technology used to create the installation, wireless sensors, cameras, microphones and computer vision and listening techniques all used to document daily life, highlights the amount of technology present and used in our own daily lives. 

Robert Twomey is an artist exploring human consequences of emerging technologies. Trained as a painter and engineer, he integrates traditional forms with new technologies to examine questions of empathy, desire, and the limits of human-computer interaction. Twomey has presented his work at SIGGRAPH, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Seattle Art Museum, and has been featured by Microsoft and Amazon. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Youngstown State University.

The Art Gallery is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. The Foster Art Gallery hosts four-six exhibits annually, including work by Westminster students and faculty. Regional, national, and international artists are also brought to campus for exhibits and lectures.

For more information, contact Summer Zickefoose at (724) 946-7267 or email zickefse@westminster.edu.

Westminster students Tyler Heintz ’18 and Ava Hoag '18 recently returned from a summer research program in Italy. For 10 weeks, they studied and researched gravitational microlensing at the University of Salerno, near Italy’s famed Amalfi coast. Microlensing, a prediction of Einstein’s theory of relativity, is the deflection of light by the gravity of a star or planet, and is currently being used to discover small Earth-like exoplanets.

In Salerno, Heintz and Hoag worked under the world-renowned microlensing expert Dr. Valerio Bozza to improve the main computer code used to fit observational data, and thus to discover and characterize new planets. They sped up the code by 10 percent and made it more stable for certain cases. They will present their results at the upcoming meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C.

Heintz and Hoag used their downtime to travel and explore, visiting Rome, Florence, Venice, and beyond – including Luxembourg and England.

Their research was funded by a $250,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant co-awarded to Dr. Thomas Oberst, Associate Professor of Physics at Westminster College, which aims to keep the US competitive in international research by training students with scientific experts abroad. Oberst is currently seeking students for research at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia, in summer 2018.

Photo caption: Dr. Thomas Oberst, Tyler Heintz '18, and Ava Hoag '18 at an overlook in Ravello, Italy, in July 2017.

For more information, contact Oberst at oberstte@westminster.edu or 724-946-7204.

Junior public relations major, Vanessa Restifo, received a research grant from Westminster College’s Drinko Center for Undergraduate Research to attend the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) Leadership Rally over the summer. The rally was held in Scottsdale, Arizona.

"The guest speakers were professionals in the field of public relations and their topics motivated me to strive for excellence in the field to achieve my future career goals,” said Restifo.

At the rally, Restifo says she picked tips and ideas for a running a successful PRSSA chapter— which she plans to employ during her term as Vice President for Westminster’s chapter.

“The leadership skills I acquired [from the rally] will translate not just to PRSSA, but to other student-run clubs and organizations at WC as well. I intend to teach other student leaders how to have successful organizations too."

For more information, contact Tom Fields at fieldste@westminster.edu or 724-946-7190.

Meet us around the fire during Westminster Day at Irons Mill Farmstead! Come enjoy a casual night mingling with Westminster College families and friends over light snacks and enjoying the thrills or Irons Mill— hayrides, slides, a 10-acre corn maze, and 30+ family-fun attractions for kids ages 2 to 92.

Tickets are $8 per person or child (over 2 years old) and $3 for Westminster students. Register online.

Reservations are due by Friday, September 15, 2017.

Already an Irons Mill Season Pass Holder? Please signify that by registering as a “Westminster Student” for a discounted rate of $3 per ticket.

Your ticket includes 1 – 4 p.m. access to farm amenities (including 30+ attractions), face painting, donuts, cider and s’mores on us, parking, and a cozy fireside location for you to reconnect with Westminster College alumni & friends. Children under 2 years of age are free. You may mark the number of children under the age of 2.

A special thanks to the Lawrence, Mercer, Clarion, Youngstown regional committee for sponsoring the event:

Sara Surgenor Arblaster, Kathy Banks, Barbara Jamieson Brown, Sara Kimbell Campbell, Todd S. Cole, Karen Campman Emmett, Laura Ceraolo Kubyako, Roberta Laird, Kimberly Reash MacBeth, Kristen Forsberg Phillips, Judith Wiles Rorabaugh, Alex Taylor Schroder, Josh Schroder, Peter M. Slonaker, and Marjorie Fechtmann Slonaker.

For additional information, please contact Nicole Hunter at hunterna@westminster.edu or 724-946-7373.

USA Todayreports that Westminster College ranked #1 in the Middle Atlantic and Pennsylvania offering the “Best Colleges for the Money,” according to College Factual.

College Factual is a leading education technology company that provides rankings, free college match-making tools and major matching tools with the aim of helping students make the best decision possible when choosing a college. In order to establish its rankings, College Factual partners with USA Today, and uses 11 metrics obtained from the U.S. Department of Education and PayScale.com

Westminster College was recognized with 32 badges for excellence in rankings based on value and quality academic programs. Westminster’s English literature and history ranked in the top 1 percent nationwide. Biology, accounting, communication & media studies, psychology and social science placed in the top 5 percent.

Westminster’s education and social science programs were acknowledged in top 10 percent and business, management and marketing were nationally recognized in the upper 15 percent of “best value” and “most focused” nationwide. In addition, Westminster’s women softball ranked 50 out of 351 total schools for their division 3 women’s softball program.

“We are gratified that USA Today and College Factual has recognized the outstanding value Westminster offers its students,” said Dr. Kathy Brittain Richardson, Westminster College president. “The success of our students on campus and in their careers demonstrates the strength of our academic and student life programs. We take particular pride in the four-year graduation rate of our students. Our faculty and staff are deeply committed to mentoring and supporting student growth and achievement.”

In the overall national ranking, Westminster was positively recognized for its high on-time graduation rates, high first year retention rates, low student loan defaults, low crime rates, and high educational value.

For more information about Westminster’s most recent ranking, contact Rick Sherlock at sherlora@westminster.edu, 724-946-7191, or visit www.westminster.edu.

A group of Westminster students entered the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) On-Location Creative Competition, and were awarded an "Award of Excellence" for their entry “Explore, Experience and Experiment at Westminster’s Outdoor Labs.” Laura Page, Terrell Cleckley, Jackie Shultz, Justin Shaw, and David Austin will be recognized for their work at the BEA On-Location 2017 Super-Regional Conference at Point Park University in September.

The students created their video entry as part of a corporate video promotion project in BC 251/Single Camera Video Production during the Fall 2016 semester.

“The BEA's student media festivals and peer review platforms are rigorous and competitive,” says Bradley Weaver, Westminster College broadcast communication lecturer. “Judges review our students' work against productions from many large, prominent universities. This recognition raises the profile of our student projects. It also informs my teaching and serves as direct assessment for the program and the College” 

Weaver is attending the BEA conference in September. He will present on service learning projects, and plans to attend other workshops along with the award screenings.

For more information, contact Tom Fields at fieldste@westminster.edu or 724-946-7190.

By Lexie Yoho '18

The Westminster College Tiny House Project began as an idea on paper that has grown into a 160 sq. ft. physical representation of the hard work of students, faculty, professionals, and community members. The project was started almost two years ago by Chemistry and Environmental Science professor Dr. Helen Boylan and a team of Westminster Students. We met weekly to discuss ideas, plans, and how to start this seemingly “huge” tiny project. After a year of planning, and almost a year of construction, the house is finally almost complete.

Over the summer, community members, students, and faculty members participated in two community builds. We had a great turn out at both builds and we accomplished a lot, while gaining valuable hands on experiences. The exterior coat of paint is almost complete and the whitewashed ceiling has been completed. Once the house is complete, a student on the tiny house team will take over the college snapchat and the tiny house social media accounts to show the completed house and what it is like to stay in it for a few days. We are looking to have a few more community builds to get the house to the move-in-ready stage for students in the fall semester. 

This fall semester, student enrolled in an Applied Social Media course will have the opportunity to live in the tiny house and use social media to share their experiences of tiny living. On September 1st, we will have our first “open house” for the tiny house at the New Wilmington First Friday. Members of the team will be there to answer questions and show people around the tiny house. The official dedication of the tiny house will be during Homecoming weekend on Friday October 13, 2017 at 4:30 PM. There will be an open house before the football game on October 14.

For more information, contact Tom Fields at fieldste@westminster.edu or 724-946-7190.

We have few new faculty members joining us this year, and it's only right to give them a Westminster Welcome! Over the following weeks, a new faculty member will be spotlighted. First up is, Dr. David Brauer, Visiting Assistant Professor in Financial Economics.

David earned his Doctorate in Business Administration at Durham University Business School (#49 Global Business School Rank). His thesis is about consumer choice in an industry with many competitors. The study will help organizations understand the role of authenticity and its relationship to competitive advantages and niche width through the viewpoint of consumer behavior theory. David has a unique ability to disseminate very complex topics to a mixed audience allowing them all to understand and be able to contribute. He is known for envisioning new creative methods to handle issues.

What are you looking forward to the most here at Westminster? 

I am looking forward to helping the students create their own viable companies through the Westminster Entrepreneurial Incubator Lab. My vision is that upon graduation students who have the drive, ambition, and dream to own their own company will graduate into their own viable and running businesses with a Westminster degree in hand and all of the academic interdisciplinary support of our institution. Westminster is a very special place with unique and unbeatable resources. 

If you could have dinner with someone in field of study, dead or alive, who would it be and why? 

If I could have dinner with anyone in my field of study (decision-sciences) it would be Dr. Thomas Saaty. He was a pioneer in decision sciences and laid the foundation for the future direction of Artificial Intelligence and Decision Science. I was fortunate enough to have had Dr. Saaty as my mentor and to be able to call him friend. He was an amazing person and helped to overt nuclear proliferation during the cold war. He is an unsung hero to the United States. 

What is the best advice anyone has ever given you?

The best piece of advise I ever received was from my dad. “Always, do your best, no matter what!”

The history program at Westminster College will welcome author Gene Barr to campus to lecture and sign copies of his book, A Civil War Captain and His Lady: A True Story of Love, Courtship, and Combat.

The lecture is open to the public and will be held at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 21 in the Lakeview room of the McKelvey Campus Center. A book signing will immediately follow. Copies of A Civil War Captain and his Lady are available in the Westminster College Bookstore.

The book focuses on one-time Westminster College student, Irish immigrant Josiah Moore, who later became a Union Soldier. More than 150 years ago, 27-year-old Josiah met and fell in love with 19-year-old Jennie Lindsay, a member of one of Peoria, Illinois’s most prominent families. The Civil War had just begun, Josiah was the captain of the 17th Illinois Infantry, and his war would be long and bloody. Their courtship and romance, which came to light in a rare and unpublished series of letters, form the basis of the book.

Josiah’s and Jennie’s letters shed significant light on the important role played by a soldier’s sweetheart on the home front, and a warrior’s observations from the war front. Josiah’s letters offer a deeply personal glimpse into army life, how he dealt with the loss of many close to him, and the effects of war on a man’s physical, spiritual, and moral well-being. Jennie’s letters show a young woman mature beyond her age, dealing with the difficulties at home while her brother and her new love struggle through the travails of war. Her encouragement to keep his faith in God strong and remain morally upright gave Josiah the strength to lead his men through the horrors of the Civil War.

In addition to the deeply moving and often riveting correspondence between Josiah and Jennie, Barr includes additional previously unreleased material on the 17th Illinois and the war’s Western Theater, including Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and the lesser known Meridian Campaign – actions that have historically received much less attention than similar battles in the Eastern Theater. The result is a rich, complete, and satisfying story of love, danger, politics, and warfare, and it is one you won’t soon forget.

About the Author: A native of the Philadelphia area, Mr. Barr is the President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, the state’s largest broad-based business advocacy association. Gene Barr has had a longstanding interest in American history, particularly the Civil War period, sparked by his first visit to Gettysburg as a youth. He was active in living history for more than a quarter century and participated as an ‘extra’ in four films depicting the Civil War period, including “Glory” and “Gettysburg.” This is his first book.

For more information, contact Timothy Cuff, Professor of History, at cufft@westminster.edu.

Dr. Michael Aleprete's edited volume, International Dimensions of Authoritarian Persistence: Lessons from Post-Soviet States, has just been re-issued in paperback by Lexington Press. The volume co-edited by Aleprete and Rachel Vanderhill, professor of government at Wofford College, was originally published in 2012.

“This edited collection focuses on a significant and timely, yet largely neglected, topic—the role of international factors in explaining authoritarian persistence," writes Dr. Nicole J. Jackson, associate professor with the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University. "While focusing on former Soviet states, it is a “must read” for students and experts seeking to understand the relationship between authoritarianism and globalization.” 

The volume offers readers a collection of essays that cover a variety of countries in the region with special attention being paid to the Russian Federation since it is both a member of the region and an external actor influencing the political development of its neighbors. Each selection in this volume explores how international factors interact with domestic conditions to explain the persistence of authoritarian regimes.

Click here for additional information.

Aleprete, who joined the Westminster faculty in 2007, earned an undergraduate degree from Duquesne University and master's degree and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

For more information, contact Aleprete at alepreme@westminster.edu or 724-946-7254.

Over the summer, senior environmental science major Tia Kowalo received a research grant from the Drinko Center for Undergraduate Research to assist Dr. Diana Ortiz with a research pilot study in Costa Rica. Kowalo and Ortiz spent time collecting, identifying, and conducting host DNA analysis of blood-fed mosquitoes at the Lomas Barbudal Biological Preserve, located near the city of Bagaces in northern Costa Rica, to determine the mosquitoes host feeding preferences.

Kowalo believes that her research experience provided her with important skills that she will use in her future career in environmental science. She also enjoyed getting to do research in a setting that was less structured than a classroom.

"I found it more tiring but less challenging," said Kowalo. "I am more of a visual, and hands on person, so it definitely helped me to learn the processes in the field. I enjoyed working in the field more than learning in a classroom."

For more information, contact Tom Fields at fieldste@westminster.edu or 724-946-7190. 

Written by Nathan LaRiccia

Westminster College senior Lexie Yoho (Pittsburgh, PA / Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) was named the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Volleyball Player of the Week.

Yoho had 50 kills, nine blocks, 12 digs and seven service aces for the Titans during the Saint Vincent Bearcat Challenge. Yoho earned a spot on the All-Tournament team for the second straight year. Westminster finished 3-1 for the tournament.

The Titans' next match will be Wednesday, September 6 for their home-opener against Marietta. Game time is set for 7 pm.

For more information, contact LaRiccia at lariccnj@westminster.edu.