In memoriam: Richard James “Jim” Metscher, 1943-2009

by TJ Guese
Special contributor

Richard James “Jim” Metscher, adjunct instructor of sociology, touched the lives of thousands of students in his 35 years with Columbia College, many of whom have expressed how much they were influenced by him, said Dr. Terry Smith, executive vice president and dean for academic affairs. The void created by Metscher’s death can’t be filled, said Smith.

Metscher was an instructor with the college’s Day and Evening campuses, and he was one of the first Evening Campus instructors. In the past year he taught exclusively in the evening.

Metscher’s colleagues remember him as outgoing, friendly and always ready to give time to anyone who needed it. Jack Barnhouse, Evening Campus English instructor, was not only a colleague but a close friend. “Jim and I would play pool every Friday and discuss philosophy at my house,” said Barnhouse. He said that Metscher was dedicated to teaching and that he had a kind of intimacy with his students -- he really connected with them. “Neither of us considers it (teaching) a job,” Barnhouse said. “It is what we love.”

Barnhouse said that one of Metscher’s strengths was encouraging students to think -- not just about the facts but to think through their logic. Mike Morrison, adjunct professor, agrees with Barnhouse. Morrison was not only a colleague but also Metscher’s former student.

Morrison said that Metscher was a big reason he continued his education after Columbia College, opening his eyes to many different disciplines. “When I was a student trying to write the best paper possible, he would point me in the right direction. He would write all over the paper,” Morrison said. “Jim never turned anyone away when they needed advice.”

When Morrison came back to teach at Columbia College, Metscher was there as a colleague. “Jim helped calm me down when I was first starting out,” said Morrison.

Morrison and Metscher had been collaborating on the development of a new course, Political Sociology, for the Evening Campus that they would team-teach.

Another former student, senior Robert Schultz, remembers Metscher from a sociology class he took two years ago. “Metscher allowed more discussion in his class. It wasn’t all facts,” Schultz says. “He was very knowledgeable about his subject, and if he didn’t know an answer, he would find out by next class period.”

Schultz, like others, was hoping to take another course with Metscher before graduating.

A current student, senior Allyson Lesinski, found she was taking so many of Metscher’s sociology courses that she is now a double major in sociology and criminal justice. “If you were having a bad day, you would come into class and see him smile, and your spirits would immediately be uplifted.” Lesinski says. “I have taken nine classes with him, and there was never poor attendance in his classes.”

Smith described Metscher as a professional friend and said the two of them exchanged books that challenged their thinking. “He was a Renaissance thinker,” Smith said.

“Jim looked like a college professor,” Smith said. “Seeing a picture of him one would know, if nothing else, he teaches college.”

Patti Skinner, Evening Campus director, spoke about Metscher’s lessons in a eulogy at the Sept. 26 memorial service. “We must take the gifts Jim has given us and generously share them with others,” Skinner said. “We must teach them about the excitement of exploration, learning and the pleasure of simple living. We must teach them kindness and respect for all people they encounter.”

Metscher’s colleagues stepped in to help complete his August session courses and to assist students without taking his place, Skinner said. Students in Metscher’s classes were offered an administrative drop if they didn’t feel they could continue. Skinner said she is working with Morrison and James Earhart, sociology instructor, regarding the October session.

Kelly C. Enright, Online Campus administrative assistant, is compiling a collection of accounts describing Metscher’s impact on people’s lives. This compilation will be presented to Metscher’s wife Lizbeth, Humanities instructor at the college. Thoughts and memories may be sent to kcenright@ccis.edu.

Another way to honor Metscher is through contributions to the Richard James “Jim” Metscher Memorial Endowment at Columbia College. For more information, contact the Office of Development at (573) 875-7563.

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New Public Relations and Advertising degree is offered

by Wayne Boykin II

wlboykin1@cougars.ccis.edu

Under the collaboration of three departments, Columbia College has created a new public relations and advertising degree. Though this degree is offered through the business department, the humanities and art departments had a hand in designing the new program.

Dr. Kenneth Middleton, chair of the business department said, “It’s very much a joint degree. Terry Smith, executive vice president and dean for academic affairs, said, “Unlike a lot of our degrees, it is an interdisciplinary degree because it also draws from arts and communication.”

Middleton attributes success to this degree because all three departments went into it with the idea of the student in mind and not protecting the departments’ turf. Protecting turf is common in bigger schools, where the business school and the communication or journalism school might fight collaboration in a joint public relations and advertising degree.

Several questions arose during the planning meetings with the three departments. The questions were: Should this degree be two separate degrees? Is the business department the right place for a degree like this? Is a degree needed at this campus?

When deciding if the college should split the degree, Smith said, “At a big college, yes.” However, with limited faculty, Smith said, “You do what you can.” With this idea in mind, the group came to the conclusion of joining these two fields in one degree.

Degrees in public relations and advertising traditionally have been offered through the journalism or communication departments at colleges and universities, but the college will offer the degree through the business department. Angie Kinworthy, business professor, said “While writing and communication skills are vital to effective public relation activities, the trend has shown that the job [public relations] has become more and more functions of top management, working directly with top CEO’s and managers.” This indicates that the field of public relations and advertising is becoming more business oriented.

However, Dr. Amy Darnell, professor of speech communication believes communication is a huge part of the public relations and advertising field. Darnell said public relations and advertising asks, “How do we communicate to large amounts of people about a product or company?”

Is a public relations and advertising degree needed at Columbia College? Middleton said that this program will meet a real need and that students have expressed interest in having a degree in these fields. Kinworthy said, “Public relations has become very important in the management of a corporation.” She also stated that public relations is found in many companies. Whether it is a large stock market corporation or a small “mom and pop” business, all have to do some kind of public relations and advertising, meaning that majority of people working have public relations and advertising around them.

Middleton said the degree will soon be offered to the Evening and Nationwide campuses. The only item the department still is working on is finding an alternative for the required internship. When they find an acceptable substitute, the degree will be ready to offer in the adult higher education programs.

Photo: Angie Kinworthy teaches her Public Relations class. Photo by Wayne Boykin II.

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Environmental studies degree phasing out to new environmental science degree

by Amanda Noel

arnoel1@cougars.ccis.edu

This 2009-2010 academic year, Columbia College added a new bachelor’s degree in environmental science and removed the environmental studies degree from the course catalog. For those not involved in either of these environmental programs, the degree change may seem insignificant, but in fact the two degrees are entirely different.

Dr. Julie Estabrooks, chair and assistant professor of biology, said the change in degrees is being made because the college felt the environmental studies degree “wasn’t filling the needs of the students in terms of employability and being prepared to go to grad school.”  

“We felt that it was important for students to have a stronger science background,” said Estabrooks. “We found that students weren’t getting jobs because they didn’t have enough science courses.”
    Columbia College junior Jennifer Mantler (pictured right) agrees with the college’s reasoning for changing the degree. Mantler said because the degree is now “science-based and not art-based, it makes students more applicable in various fields of research.” Mantler, who is now double majoring in political science and environmental science rather than environmental studies, said, “I switched because I wanted to be more applicable and capable of doing field work. There is a high possibility that the switch will change my graduation date, but that is something I have to accept. I switched as a junior, and the new degree requires quite a few more courses. Nonetheless, it’s a decision I made, and I think, for me, it’s the right one.”

Other students are not so happy about the change in degree. Columbia College senior Shanna Seyer will graduate with a degree in environmental studies. She said she is disappointed that the college is completely doing away with her degree.  “Though there are many who would argue that they have a better shot of getting a job if they are an environmental science major, I would tend to disagree,” she said. “There are many opportunities out there within the environmental field that do not require extensive knowledge in the sciences, unless of course, you want to do field work.” 

Seyer said she would have chosen to be an environmental studies major even if the science degree would have been offered to her earlier because it is a more holistic approach to the field. “Science is important; I will not deny that; however, it is only one piece of an utterly dynamic and complex puzzle. Other disciplines such as history, philosophy and ethics have just as much merit.  These disciplines in particular help us understand how and why we currently face some of the environmental perils that we do,” Seyer said. “How can one successfully address environmental problems without first understanding the process of how they came to be?  This doesn't just involve science and one's understanding of ecosystems and how they function, it involves people, how they think, what they feel, and the social, political, and economic circumstances that influence their actions--especially in regards to the environment.  Why have we become so inured to the way we treat the planet?  Why do we view ourselves as a separate entity from nature?  These questions cannot be answered by science alone.” 

Contrary to Seyer’s beliefs, the college felt that the initial design of the environmental studies degree as multidisciplinary posed several problems. “Although it kind of lived in the science department, there was nobody who was really making it happen, and so the courses weren’t offered very frequently,” said Estabrooks. “We decided if we were going to responsible for [the degree], we wanted it to be a real science degree and not something that nobody really had control over.”
The formation of the environmental science degree has been in the works for about three years, according to Estabrooks.  She said the approval process for a new degree program takes about one and a half years of faculty review. “We have a lot of faculty who are pretty well grounded in environmental ecology types of things,” said Estabrooks. Together, these faculty members discussed what courses they felt students needed. They also reviewed environmental science programs at other schools to help form Columbia College’s degree. “We really tried to keep all the coursework in the environmental studies degree available for the environmental science degree so that, depending on a student’s interests, they’d have the science background, but then they could still get the multidisciplinary courses like literature, politics, economics, history, those things,” said Estabrooks.

"Science is important; I will not deny that; however, it is only one piece of an utterly dynamic and complex puzzle."

 “I love the [environmental] studies aspect that includes politics and literature, but at the same point, I wanted to be able to participate in research collection and actually understand the scientific implications in the environment,” said Mantler. “I want to understand the chemicals, the reasons for nature's intricate balance and the damage done versus just knowing there is a problem.”

The environmental science degree also offers several new courses for students, including Botany, Zoology, an Ecology Laboratory, Conservation Biology and Toxicology. The Botany and Zoology courses include labs and are worth a total of five credit hours, something that the college has avoided in the past. Estabrooks said the college originally paired all lab courses but had cases where students transferring to Columbia College from other institutions had already taken the lecture and just needed the lab. “We didn’t feel like we wanted to make [students] take the whole five-hour course over, so we split them apart,” said Estabrooks. “It gives the students a little more flexibility.”

Ecology is fairly new course, and the ecology lab has not been offered until this year because the college has been lacking in lab facilities according to Estabrooks. “We have such a crunch on lab space that it’s really hard to teach another lab,” she said. “In fact, this may be taught down in the annex, which is not an ideal location. But we finally decided that we had to have a lab with ecology because it’s really a field oriented course.” Dr. James McAllister, associate professor of biology developed the ecology lab and will be teaching it this spring.

Estabrooks said the replacement of Biodiversity with Conservation Biology is “to a great extent, a change in name only. A lot of people don’t really understand what biodiversity is, and so I think the enrollment in the course was actually hurt by that. I also shifted the focus of the course from just studying biodiversity to how do we need to manage and conserve it. I think it’s a better title, a better focus, and it better supports the environmental science degree.”

Dr. Peggy Wright, assistant professor of biology, is teaching the Toxicology course next semester, which is an elective for the environmental science degree.  Estabrooks said this is the first time Columbia College has offered this course and is contemplating on adding more courses for the environmental science degree in the future. “MU offers sustainability, and I think maybe that’s something we should look into,” said Estabrooks. Other courses Estabrooks mentioned adding were Demography (population biology), Ornithology (study of birds), Ichthyology (study of fish) and other more specific biology courses, but she said the college needs more lab space if those courses are to be added.

 Estabrooks said the addition of the new science building will be a huge asset to the expansion of all science degrees offered at Columbia College. “The new science building will provide more labs and better facilities for teaching those labs. Right now, we’re kind of just getting by with a lot of classes.”

Estabrooks said, “The nice thing about the environmental science degree is that it’s such a broad field that if students have course work from other schools, things that we don’t have, frequently we can kind of fit [the course] in and make [the credits] count for the degree.“

Seyer said, “Given the size of the school, I have been impressed by the types of classes that are offered.” She is aware that if a course is not offered by the Day Campus, it may be available online or at Stephens College or the University of Missouri for cross-enrollment. 

As for environmental awareness, Seyer and Mantler both think this aspect of the college could use some improvement.  Mantler feels that “students do not always understand what their decisions mean to the world around them. I know that may sounds harsh, but sometimes I think the dorms and Dulany can be a very clear example of how little students, at least on-campus students, realize, or perhaps even care, about the environmental issues throughout the U.S. and the world.” Seyer suggests that the lack of environmental awareness by students could be due to the majority of students attending Columbia College not being interested in programs that deal with the environment. She said “Nevertheless, I do hope that the environmental science program is more successful in its awareness efforts!”

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Students show success in Mock Trial

by Robert Schmidt
raschmidt1@cougars.ccis.edu

Though many extra-curricular activities offer students credit hours, few will give them a full three credit hours in one semester.  Mock Trial, sponsored by Barry Langford, chair of the criminal justice department, and Dr. David Roebuck, professor of political science, can allow students to earn those hours -- if you are signed up for the class.

The class has a large list of requirements and objectives.  Students will learn the differences between civil and criminal cases, understand what hearsay is and many other issues regarding the law and court ethics.  Students are also expected to know the history of the American Mock Trial Association upon completion of the course.   Many of the students, such as senior Esnaldo Villelobos and sophomore Paula Willis, are using Mock Trial as preparation for law school.  Willis said Mock Trial was useful to “gain experience in law procedures, especially since I plan on being a lawyer.”

Mock Trial is not for those who are timid about making public speeches.  Each year the team travels to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, to participate in competition against other schools.  A fictional court case is assigned for all of the schools to learn.  Members are assigned to roles such as defense attorney, witness or defendant.  They are judged based on their performance of these roles.

On Oct. 17, the team attended a scrimmage held at Brown Hall on Columbia College’s campus against various schools in the Missouri area.  They placed second, just three points behind Washburn University.  “It was real close. I was really happy with the outcome,” Roebuck said.

In the past few years, membership in Mock Trial has fluctuated. Langford said, “The last four years we’ve had several dozen.”  But he says membership this year is down.  “We can get by with six to 10 members, provided they know what they’re doing,” he said.

Some students mentioned that the lack of members might increase difficulty.  “We’re down to just eight members this year, which means we have a lot more work for each person,” Villelobos said.  Despite this, Langford thinks they can still be competitive.  “We’ve got a real strong team this year.  Most are returning from last year,” he said.

Willis said that despite the added work, it would still be fun.  “Since we’re all in it together we have to make sure everyone is on the same page,” she said.  In previous years they had been able to field more than one team, Willis said.

Mock Trial is only offered in the fall semester, so students wishing to join will have to wait until next year.  Because of the flexible schedule, many students have found that it does not conflict with their regular courses.  In addition, it is possible for students to participate in Mock Trial without taking the class.  They are still required to attend practices, participate in competition and be actively involved in fundraising.

The Des Moines meeting is the culminating event, but the team also travels to Omaha and other schools in the Midwest to practice for the final event.  Students interested in participating in Mock Trial can contact Langford in 330 St. Clair.


Photos by TJ Guese.

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Who is the real Tom Watson?

by TJ Guese
Special contributor

Tom Watson, art professor, is a man of many artistic talents. He has worked with various media for more than 40 years, and now Columbia College is displaying that talent in a retrospective of his work. The show is titled, “In Search of the Real Tom Watson.”
                                                                                                         "Safe" by Tom Watson. Photo by TJ Guese. Watson earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Harding University in Arkansas. After earning a graduate degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, he returned to Harding University where he taught for five years. When Watson heard that the University of Missouri was implementing a Master of Fine Arts program, he returned to Columbia and earned his second graduate degree.

Watson began teaching for Columbia College in 1971. “I see myself primarily as a teacher that does art,” he said.

During his early years, the “in” style was abstract expressionism. It wasn’t until Watson attended the University of Missouri that he found a more concrete format in drawing. One of Watson’s biggest inspirations was Thomas Hart Benton, a well-known painter from Missouri who painted people doing everyday things.

"Boy" by Tom Watson. Photo by TJ Guese.                                  
Watson described the meanings behind the works exhibited in the retrospective. “Most of the paintings deal with interactions of life and reactions,” Watson said. “Safe” is a protest painting, depicting Lyndon Johnson as a fat cat making money from poor people through war bonds, he said. “Boundaries” is a piece of conceptual art that includes the frame as part of the piece, emphasizing the limitations put on art.

Other pieces are more personal. In 1950, when Watson was 11 years old, his older brother died in a car accident. “Barbed Wire” depicts a man with barbed wire running through his ears, representing Watson’s reaction to the phone call his mother received about the accident.

Watson said the use of animals in his work is associated with death. In addition, the left side of the paintings are related to his brother and thus also death.

“Boy,” a painting that depicts an African-American child sitting on a stoop, is one of Watson’s latest pieces. He also has works in ceramic and metal on display. Watson’s newest interests and projects focus on three-dimensional work.

“In Search of the Real Tom Watson” will be on display at the Larson Gallery in Brown Hall through Oct. 31.

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Family Day provides something for everyone

by Robert Schmidt
raschmidt1@cougars.ccis.edu

    On Oct. 10, students, parents, staff and alumni attended Family Day, the final day of Homecoming Week.  Events were planned for the entire day, including Cougar volleyball and soccer games, a fundraising event for groups on campus and performances by the Elysium Players and the Jane Froman Singers.  In addition, four new members were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame.  Both men’s and women’s basketball previewed of their seasons in scrimmages held early in the day.

    Columbia College’s fourth-ranked volleyball team posted its 18^th victory of the season by defeating Harris-Stowe State in three games – each by a wide margin.  Its league record improved to 8-0.

    Later in the day, the Cougar soccer team managed a 2-1 win against rival 11^th-ranked Park, increasing their record to 10-1.  Though neither team scored in the first half, the Cougars managed to outshoot the Pirates by seven shots to four.  Columbia gained the lead in the second half on a goal by senior Jordan Cox, but the Pirates scored an equalizer goal in the 74^th minute.  The Cougars scored their final goal in the 97^th minute, in overtime, when freshman Nikola Velickovic scored off a corner kick by senior Lloyd Jacobs.  Columbia goalkeeper Ken Searles, a junior, saved two out of three shots on goal in 97 minutes of play.

    Elizabeth Kauffman said the fundraising event held on campus managed to sell 1,081 tickets at 50 cents each.  The tickets were sold to attendees, who used them to buy desserts from over a dozen stands set up by campus organizations.  Despite the ticket sales, many groups found that they had leftover items.  “We were told to make enough for 60-70 people each, but I think there were only 60-70 people total (who bought desserts),” said senior Anton Lukyanov, who worked at the Model United Nations booth.  Freshman Elisha Sanders agreed that it was a problem.  “Everyone lost money I think,” she said, including her own group BACCHUS.  “People had way too much food left over.”  Despite this, Sanders said she still had a pretty good time.

Students and their families enjoying the activities on Family Day. Photos by Robert Schmidt.

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2009 Hall of Fame has firsts

by Wayne Boykin II
wlboykin1@cougars.ccis.edu

This year’s inductees in the Athletic Hall of Fame represent a number of firsts as well as players who have earned high honors. Three of the four inductees come from the early 2000s: a time that Athletic Director Bob Burchard described as an amazing time in athletics.” The last inductee is not a person but the team that showed the nation Columbia College is a force to look out for. The 2009 inductees include Kjell Einar Teien ’02, soccer player; Jayne Miller ’03, softball; Missy Wilt ’03, basketball; and the 1998 NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championship team.

Teien was the only inductee to receive his award posthumously. A 2002 graduate, Teien passed away in 2007 of cancer. He was known as one of the greatest impact players Columbia College has ever seen. During his four years at Columbia College, Teien was named all-conference and all-regional player. After graduating, Teien received an offer to play for the American Major Indoor Soccer League but turned it down to play at home in Norway where he was captain of his home club in Asker.

Miller graduated in 2003, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She is now pursuing her second bachelor’s degree in nursing at Maryville University in Chesterfield, Mo. She will graduate in May 2010. During her time as a Cougar, she set several records, such as 17 strikeouts in 2002 and one of the college’s lowest earned run averages. Miller was named NAIA Pitcher of the Week numerous times and earned the honor of Collegiate Sports Woman of the Year from the Women’s Intersport Network of Columbia in 2004.

Wilt was said to be the first in everything that had to do with Lady Cougar basketball. Burchard said, “She was appropriate to be the first woman basketball player nominated due to the fact that she was the first to shoot a basket in Lady Cougar history.” Wilt helped lead the Lady Cougars to back-to-back national tournament appearances, and after graduating in 2003, She played professionally on the Birmingham Power team as part of the National Women’s Basketball League. Wilt is presently head girls’ varsity basketball and tennis coach for Central High School in Kansas City, Mo., where she is also teaching social studies. She said her induction is a “huge step in CC [Columbia College] history.”

The players and coaches of the 1998 Cougar volleyball team represent the first Columbia College team to bring home an NAIA championship title and the first full team to be inducted into the Columbia College Athletic Hall of Fame. The squad had an impressive year, ending with a 45-0 record. Mariuska (Hamilton) Buckner was one of the members of the 1998 team. Buckner said, “The 1998 team was well-balanced, even the sixth player was very equal.” Teammate Patti Atay said, “Everyone had a part in it.”

“This team showed all Cougar sports teams that teamwork is what gets a championship,” said Burchard. When asked if inducting the whole team was right, Atay said, “I would not want it any other way.” Buckner agreed, saying, “It would be selfish to nominate just one of us.”

The emcee for the night, John Bassford, communications coordinator at Ameren UE, began by talking about the week in Missouri sports. He mentioned how sad it was that the St. Louis Cardinals, the St. Louis Rams, the Kansas City Chiefs and University of Missouri football team suffered rough losses. Columbia College was not in that rut, he said. “It is a great time to be a Cougar.”


Inductees of the 2009 Athletic Hall of Fame. Photo courtesy of Columbia College Public Relations.
Missy Wilt. Photo by Wayne Boykin II.

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