College of Wooster Makes News Across the Country

Wooster mentioned in Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chicago Tribune, U.S. News, and other media outlets

WOOSTER, Ohio - Efforts to boost The College of Wooster's visibility and enhance its national stature continue to produce noteworthy results, particularly during the past few weeks when Wooster was mentioned in five media outlets across the country.

Last Monday (Feb. 22), Charles Kammer, professor of religious studies, was quoted extensively in a front-page article in Lakeland Florida’s Ledger about America’s response to January’s earthquake in Haiti. Kammer stated that “a sour undercurrent” by some Americans “reflects several tendencies in American culture, including a resurgent racism and a selfish form of individualism.”

On Saturday (Feb. 27), The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran a front-page story about a previously unknown ancient family of clam species discovered by Mark Wilson, professor of geology at Wooster, and several of his colleagues. The finding, which was published in the journal Palaeontology, will "aid science's emerging understanding of mass extinctions and their aftermath," according to the article.

On Sunday (Feb. 28), Pam Frese, professor of sociology and anthropology, was featured in a Chicago Tribune article about the growing presence of the Easter Bunny in shopping malls around the country. Frese, whose expertise includes civil-religious holidays and their traditions, said in the article that the Easter Bunny's popularity demonstrates how Americans have increasingly turned to malls as community centers, where people of all religious backgrounds can celebrate so-called civil-religious holidays together.

Last week, Mike Malmon-Berg, a psychologist and counselor at Wooster, was quoted in a U.S. News and World Report online article, titled "How to Relax and Ace Your College Midterms." Malmon-Berg, who specializes in helping students deal with stress, said in the article that "as many as 20 percent of students report testing anxiety so severe that their performance on exams is adversely affected."

Also, last week, The Chronicle of Higher Education ran an article on the Census, in which Erin Leonardi, associate director of residence life, was quoted about how Wooster will account for its students in the report. In addition, she was interviewed by USA Today on the subject, and is expected to be quoted in a forthcoming article in that publication as well.

Finally, Wooster's Independent Study was praised in an essay by John Strassburger, president of Ursinus College, that appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education this week.