Aaron Byers performs his
unofficial duty: posing with babies
at CWRU events.

After three years riling up the crowds on athletics teams, introducing students to campus at orientation and representing the blue and gray at events for practically every school in the university, senior Aaron Byers, known around campus as the Case Western Reserve University Spartan, is graduating.

The Madison, Ohio, native saw becoming the Spartan as a “tremendous opportunity to represent the university and get involved,” at the end of his first year, he said.

And get involved he did. Being the sole university mascot is a hefty role for one student to handle, and as the Spartan, Byers covered football and basketball games, orientation traditions, Springfest, Hudson Relays, homecoming, alumni tailgating events and everything in between.

While Byers, a history and psychology major who will join Teach for America Corps in Memphis after graduation, admitted it was a huge time commitment, he loved the opportunities it provided. “The best part was making people smile and spreading school spirit. It was also great to be so involved in so many aspects of university life. It gave me a much great understanding of everything happening on campus,” he said.

Next year, the role will continue to remain a leadership position but will be open to multiple students, said Colleen Barker-Williamson, director of Thwing Center for Programs & Leadership. In addition, the hope is that the “mascot team” will be students on work study. 

“Clearly, it will take selecting multiple students to fill Aaron’s shoes,” Barker-Williamson said, noting that Byers was honored at the 2011 Student Leadership Awards Ceremony and received the Spartan Spirit Award.

So what qualities does the next Spartan need to possess? Byers said he or she obviously need to be outgoing and—perhaps most importantly—“ definitely someone who is not afraid of getting their picture taken with babies.”

In late March, the CWRU Mock Trial Organization made history by becoming the university's first undergraduate mock trial team to make it to nationals. The team's sixth-place finish at the opening round Ney National tournament in Greenville, S.C., garnered the team a ticket to the American Mock Trial Association National Championship Tournament, to take place in Des Moines April 15-17. The CWRU mock trial team will be one of 48 teams—out of more than 600 across the country—to compete.

To get there, the team, composed of Patrick Clarke, Dave Dirisamer, Theresa Hanna, Stephen Hern, Mira Lendel, Stuart Long, Abi Pink, Logan Stetzer, Steven Urueta, Matthew Vogler and Nadra Williams, finished with a 6-2 record at the Ney National tournament—“commonly considered the hardest qualifying tournament in the nation,” first-year student Long said. Other teams who advanced to the national championship tournament from this qualifying round included Harvard University, University of Georgia and Furman.

Urueta won an outstanding witness award and Vogler won an outstanding attorney award during the tournament.

To prepare for the tournament, the team received a 150-page case with evidence, precedent case law and witness statements last fall. The case stays relatively solid throughout the year, with only minor tweaks coming in, to give the students time to prepare a solid case, explained Long, an attorney on the team.

Now that the tournament is quickly approaching, students are spending their time fine-tuning their questions, arguments and, in the case of witnesses, stories. Practice has ramped up, Long said, with the students from a variety of undergraduate majors devoting nearly 10 hours per week to official practice time, with more off-hours undoubtedly logged.

For more information, visit www.collegemocktrial.org.

More and more students at Case Western Reserve University want to give “Peace” a chance—the Peace Corps, that is. For the first time ever, the university made Peace Corps’ list of top 25 small colleges and universities with volunteers. Case Western Reserve tied at No. 23 with Denison University, Mount Holyoke College and Seattle University, which each can count 16 students or alumni as Peace Corps volunteers in 2010.

The interest continues to grow on campus. Thirty-five students attended the Peace Corps information session on campus last month, and at least nine students are at some point in the application process at the moment, said Annabel Khouri, U.S. Peace Corps field recruiter for Northeast Ohio.

This includes Trevor Allen, a senior physics and economics double-major student who has been nominated to travel to Sub-Saharan Africa in August, where he likely will teach secondary-level math and science. Allen’s interest in Peace Corps is fueled partially by his desire to travel and experience other cultures but also because he wants to “dedicate a substantial amount of my life to helping people far less fortunate than me and, in the process, expose myself to the realities of our world, from which we're often shielded by America's affluence,” he said. Additionally, volunteering for the Peace Corps will be an ideal experience for a career in international development, he said.

For Sarah Robinson, who graduated last May with a double major in anthropology and environmental studies, she felt the call to join the Peace Corps in high school. Now, she’s been nominated for a health extension program in Sub-Saharan Africa in June, where she intends to work on issues such as HIV/AIDS or maternal/women’s health education.

But Allen and Robinson still are not officially Peace Corps volunteers—even though they’ve both been in the application approval process for nearly a year. The process is a long, arduous one that likely weeds out individuals who are not fully committed. The online application itself is long and time-consuming, and then individuals take part in an interview. If the interview goes well, an applicant receives a nomination, which is a recommendation to move forward in the application process. From there, each applicant undergoes medical, legal and competitive reviews to see if they will be invited to participate in Peace Corps, explained Mir Bear-Johnson, a biology major who graduated last May and leaves for her service in Morocco this month. Once the reviews are complete, approved applicants receive official acceptance and learn just what their placements will be. The official offer usually comes about two months before the volunteer leaves for the two-year commitment.

But the long process is well worth the wait for those applying. “I think it’s important for people to understand their privileges and do something positive with them, rather than feeling entitled on one end of the spectrum, or burdened on the other,” Robinson said.

For some, Peace Corps will help pin down exactly what they should with their careers. Bear-Johnson, for example, knew she wanted her career to be based around work with diseases and health, but she wasn’t set on any particular path—research? Public health? Something completely different? She started looking into Peace Corps and found its mission was a natural fit with her interests and beliefs. “CWRU showed me what doing research would be like, but I haven’t had the chance to implement my knowledge in any community,” she explained. “In the Peace Corps I will be able to see the social side of health education.” From there, she will be able to decide if she likes the social aspect she gained in Peace Corps, or the research side she developed at Case Western Reserve.

Students agree their experience at Case Western Reserve drove them to join Peace Corps, whether it was Robinson’s and Bear-Johnson’s study abroad experience or the high expectations of professors and the environment they promote. “I’ve always considered first the purpose of a vocation or lifestyle,” Allen said. “Case Western Reserve University’s environment has emphasized this and taught me that whatever the challenge, I can tackle it.”

Joshua Schwarz

New Year’s resolutions can be daunting—really, you have to really stick to that for 365 days? But first-year computer science student Joshua Schwarz, originally from Medina, kicked off the year with an even more ambitious resolution than many people: to create 52 applications for Facebook within 52 weeks. And so far, he’s on track to stick to this resolution. So why did he make this his resolution, and how will he keep coming up with new app ideas? Read on to find out.

Q: Where did you get the idea to do 52 weeks of Facebook apps?
A. I’ve shown a couple of people at Case [Western Reserve University] some of the projects on my website, www.amagit.com, that I’ve worked on in the past and gotten good reactions. [A friend] compared me to [inventor and engineer] Nikola Tesla and asked me one day, “Josh, what did you create this week?” Without an answer, I sought one, asking myself, “What can I do that is bigger than the things that I’ve done before?”

I’ve created a few web applications in the past, including three Facebook apps, but I created them and then sort of let them simmer. In other words, I haven’t actively been pursuing new ideas. I decided that I need some sort of long-term dynamic plan to create new things that stays interesting and engaging, so I decided to create 52 Facebook applications in the 52 weeks of 2011.

Q. What do you hope to get out of creating all of these apps?
A. I want to find a breakthrough idea and create something that could potentially become an “entrepreneurial project.” If I create enough new things, there will be clear winners that are the most popular. I can then further develop those ideas and ideally launch a business endeavor.

Q. How much time does it take to create a Facebook app, on average?
A. There is a steep learning curve to understand the language and code that makes Web applications work. I started to look into such technologies years ago and learned many of the core ideas behind computer science by applying them myself. Much of this took place because I was—and am—fascinated by Google and how it works. I wanted to create something similar (and have made some progress). This interest has led me to the resources necessary to understand the basic ideas behind programming.

The difficult part is not doing the programming, but thinking of an idea for something interesting and useful. With a good idea, I believe a week is a sufficient amount of time to create an interesting application, and it has proven accurate thus far (three weeks in). I may not be able to create the next full-fledged Farmville game in a week, but I can at least create something interesting.

Q. Will your apps be games, or something different?
A. The applications I have created so far have not been games, but I’m not ruling out creating some. It just depends on the interesting ideas I stumble upon. Additionally, games tend to require creating custom graphics—characters, playing cards, other game-play objects, etc.—a skill that I have not looked into much. Perhaps I could partner up with an artist on campus and develop some games…

Q. The first three weeks of the year are up—what apps have you released so far?
A. My first application called “Relationship Mania” allows its users to see the relationships their friends are in—sorted by type of relationship like single, in a relationship, engaged, etc.—and receive notifications (if they opt in) concerning changes in those relationships. My second application, called “Music 4 2day,” gives its users song recommendations based on the artists they have already liked on Facebook. A music search engine I’ve worked on in the past allowed me to quickly get the “recommendation” aspect of the app up and running within the week. My third application, called “Teddy Bear Hugs,” allows users to interact in a more meaningful way with friends, by “teddy bear hugging” them. Users choose a teddy bear graphic and can write a custom message for friends. I’m using royalty-free clipart that I found online, and some friends on campus are also creating teddy bear pictures for me.

Q. How far in advance do you need to work on these apps?
A. I’m constantly brainstorming new ideas. I spend an hour or two here and there throughout the week doing the coding. If I can sit down with a clear idea of what I want to accomplish and have at least a hunch on how to do it, I can get more done in less time.

Q. Where are you getting ideas for the apps?
A. First, I look at the data Facebook makes available to its applications via the user running the application, and things like friends, likes and other profile information. Then I come up with ways to do interesting things with that data. Applications can also potentially add to that data, so I come up with ways to further connect users on Facebook through their ability to share (i.e. “Teddy Bear Hugs” app). I’m also open to ideas that people share with me.

Q. Do you use a lot of Facebook apps, personally?
A. Actually, no. This is probably a good thing for the sake of this project, though, because I won’t be overly influenced by what is already out there. Instead, I will come up with my own ways of doing things.

Q. Which do you prefer—Facebook or Twitter?
A. Definitely Facebook. I have a Twitter account, but I don’t actively use it. I believe Facebook gives its users a better ability to connect and, while Twitter lets its users share status updates like Facebook does, Twitter’s point is merely to send data out to followers, rather than “share” it with them.

Q. Is there a way to connect with you or keep up with your project?
Anyone can see my progress and get to my project’s Facebook page directly from my website. [I’d like to] gather feedback from anyone who may have ideas.

William Griffith

When Pittsburgh native William Griffith arrived for his first year at Case Western Reserve University, one of the first things he did was ride the bus around—exploring the University Circle neighborhoods and Cleveland suburbs that were part of his extended campus home.

“Some people go to college and spend the whole four years without leaving campus—and that’s a waste,” he says.

As a way to get to know his new community, he started volunteering as a tutor through the university’s Project STEP-UP program. What he found was a way to revisit favorite subjects, be part of a vibrant community and build lasting connections with his students. “It’s the most satisfying job I’ve ever had,” he says.

Project STEP-UP sends university students like Griffith to schools, libraries and churches around Greater Cleveland to tutor and mentor students from across the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

This past year, Griffith tutored in an after-school program at the Cleveland School of Architecture and Design at John Hay Campus, offering homework help in subjects like pre-calculus, chemistry, physics and Spanish. Tutors work with students from kindergarten through high school and help with core subject learning, standardized test preparation and even art education.

He quickly learned that there’s more to teaching than just providing students facts and study tips—Project STEP-UP emphasizes the key role its tutors play as mentors. “If you can help them out, see what might be distracting them outside of school in order to help them learn better, you’re doing a great service,” Griffith says. “It’s great to build that connection.”

For more information on how Case Western Reserve students, staff and faculty are involved in the community, click here.

Deborah Jacobson [top right] traveled with students
last year to Bangladesh and met with women micro-
credit borrowers. She is again in Bangladesh with
students. Photo credit: Dorota Porawska.

While many students are relaxing at home over winter break, 17 Case Western Reserve University students are in Bangladesh and another 18 are in Costa Rica earning course credit and learning about other cultures. The Bangladesh trip, offered through International Education Programs at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, is a three-credit-hour course on Social Development and Micro-finance. Students in Costa Rica are earning three credit hours as they study Health and Health Care in Comparative Perspective: Costa Rica and the United States. The Department of Bioethics’ International Education Programs developed the trip to Costa Rica.

The 17 students, along with two faculty members, left for Bangladesh on Dec. 26 and return Jan. 9. While there, they will spend eight days in the capital and four traveling to villages, hearing lectures, doing field studies and even meeting with the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus. Additionally, they will spend two days at the International Consortium for Social Development, where they will present a faculty/student panel on the program.

Students traveled to Costa Rica for an Environmental Comm-
unity Service Trip, during which they planted trees at a school
and in Marine National Park.

Thirteen students, one staff member and one faculty member traveled to Costa Rica for a community service opportunity Dec. 27-Jan. 2, during which they helped with environmental stewardship, from beach cleanups to working on school gardens; five more students joined for the course, which takes place Jan. 2-7. The course will have students learning about the health care system in Costa Rica, meeting with social workers and visiting hospitals and rural clinics for a hands-on experience. “Bioethics is a wonderful topic to study in an international context. Issues of life and death, cultural adjustments to technological advances such as genetic engineering, and access to health care are universal themes,” said Stuart J. Youngner, Susan E. Watson Professor and chair of the Department of Bioethics. “Looking at them in another culture gives students the opportunity to see how others think and in doing so, examine their own way of thinking.”

“Travel in and of itself is such an education,” said Michelle Champoir, director of International Education Programs for the Department of Bioethics. “Getting to travel like this, where you have access to experts in their field and institutions that you otherwise could never visit as a tourist is an incredible educational and cultural experience.”

The trips are an alternative to semester-long study abroad experiences by providing a shorter stay (most are approximately 10 days) that is more flexible for Case Western Reserve students’ packed schedules. Additionally, it helps students develop culturally. “The research shows that these kind of programs do a really good job of helping students become globally connected and have a lot more cultural competency. We want our students to be really competent in working with people from different cultures,” said Deborah Jacobson, director of International Education Programs for MSASS and the faculty instructor on the trip to Bangladesh. Plus, she noted: “Literature shows it also helps you get a better understanding of yourself. You can’t really understand your own culture until you understand another culture. It helps people become more independent and self-confident.”

The winter break trips are just two of many study abroad opportunities provided by MSASS or the Department of Bioethics. Both departments have ample study abroad opportunities, where students learn everything from women and community development to death, dying and euthanasia. Through the rest of the school year, MSASS programs will travel to Kenya, Turkey, Guatemala and Amsterdam over spring break and to Ecuador in May, while the bioethics trips will venture to Paris, Buenos Aires, Amsterdam and Salamanca, Spain, over spring break and to the Netherlands, India and England in the summer. The deadline to apply for trips has been extended to mid-January; find more information on the bioethics site and the MSASS site.

Christopher Jennewein

The university has named Christopher Jennewein, a senior Computer Science major, the first recipient of the Douglas W. Nock Endowment Scholarship. The award recognizes outstanding undergraduate or admitted high school graduates for advancing the mission of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community at Case Western Reserve University.

“I am truly honored to be the first recipient of this scholarship,” Jennewein says. “This is just another milestone for our LGBT community and our allies to be celebrated and accepted at Case Western Reserve University.”

Jennewein is co-president of Spectrum, the university’s undergraduate gay-straight alliance, a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and has been a member of the Spartan Cheerleaders, the Case Men's Glee Club, and Footlighters. He served on the committee to hire the university’s first LGBT coordinator.

In addition to his involvement with student organizations and initiatives, Jennewein has been involved in the area community as a founding member of the North Eastern Ohio Alliance, a coalition of local universities interested in advancing LGBT affairs.

The scholarship, says Jennewein, who is graduating this semester, is a gratifying end to his years as a Case Western Reserve student. After graduation, Jennewein plans to attend the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Ariz., and work toward his master’s in game production and management. Jennewein has already made some strides in the game industry, having created his first iPhone game with a team from the university and the Cleveland Institute of Art, called ChromaWaves.

The Nock scholarship was awarded by the scholarship committee of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies Committee, which was chaired by Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Donald Feke.

“The selection committee was completely impressed by the range and significance of Chris's work to advance the LGBT community at CWRU,” Feke says.  “His successful advocacy on so many LGBT issues clearly made him the perfect choice for the inaugural Nock scholarship.”