Author: Nevaeh Schiffhauer

Written by: Emily Vargo

On November 7, 1886, a brilliant woman was born in Warshaw Congress, Poland, in the Russian Empire. This woman grows up to be the first woman ever to win the Nobel Prize in Physics and the Nobel prize in chemistry. She is also the only person with the Nobel prize in two scientific fields. This women is Marie Curie.

Marie was the youngest of five siblings. Growing up, Marie’s grandfather taught her chemistry, mathematics, and physics. Because the Russian authorities eliminated laboratory instructions from Polish schools, he brought equipment home and taught the children.

Marie lost her mother when she was only ten years old, and three years later, she lost her oldest sister. Their deaths were hard on Marie, which caused her to drop out of boarding school and take up tutoring. Eventually, Marie and her sister went to Clandestine Flying University that admitted women for higher education.

In 1891 Marie left Poland and moved to France, where she studied Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics at the University of Paris. While she was in University, she lived on very little to get by. She wore all the clothes she had on cold winter nights and studied so hard at times she forgot to eat.

Once she obtained her degrees, she began her scientific career in Paris by working on various types of steel. In 1894 Marie visited Poland to see her family and find a job in her career. Unfortunately, no one would accept her due to her sex. Her lover Pierre whom she met in France, convinced her to go back to France, where they married a year later in 1895.

Over the years, Marie and her husband worked on X-rays and how to improve them. They ended up studying radiation phenomena. In December 1903, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science awarded Maria and her husband, the Nobel Prize in Physics. In 1906 Maria’s husband was killed in a horrible accident.

However, a month after his death, Marie was given a physics chair position at the University of Paris. She became the first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris. In 1911 Maria received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering the elements of radium and polonium.

Unfortunately, Maria died on July 4, 1934, from radiation poisoning, resulting from the x-ray experiments that she performed in her scientific research. However, Maria went through many obstacles in her life, but she never let anything stop her from achieving her hopes and dreams.

Written by: Elizabeth Patrick

Like the many other departments on the Defiance College campus, the social work department seniors are busy at work with a variety of different activities and fundraisers.

To start with, the seniors within the SWK Macro Practice class organize the student-led Pay it Forward philanthropy project every fall semester. 

Within this class, students collaborate and assess community needs. Based on what the students decide, they will then come up with a project to raise money for the people they are serving.

This year, in addition to the Staff and Faculty Flash, the seniors have decided to sell pizza kits from Drop Zone.

The types of pizza they are selling include: cheese, pepperoni, supreme and come in 10 and 14 inches with either regular or cauliflower crust.

If you are interested in purchasing a pizza kit, please contact Professor Yakos-Brown or any social work senior.

In addition to selling the Drop Zone pizza kits, the class will also be hosting a Chipotle Fundraising night. This fundraising night will take place on October 30, 2021, from 5:00 pm-9:00 pm.

Stop by and enjoy your dinner while supporting the senior social work class. When ordering online, use promo code RHH3VAG so your order counts for the social work department’s fundraiser.

If you would like to donate and cannot attend on October 30, 2021, from 12:45-2:00 pm, please stop by Professor Yakos-Brown’s room in Schauffler, Room 207.

The social work seniors appreciate any support you are willing to give to help their organization help the community.

The class also will conduct a five-county community assessment, prepare requests for grant proposals, send RFPs to approximately 50 non-profit social service agencies, and award grants to applicants that best address the identified community needs.

This year students within this class decided that their proceeds would go towards women in poverty.

For the last 12 years, the Defiance College class has awarded more than $23,000 to address transportation, hunger, unemployment, poverty, education, youth mentorship, and cultural understanding in northwest Ohio.

The senior class has set a fundraising goal of $1500, which is lower than in recent years due to the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic.

As a result of the challenging times that the Covid-19 pandemic has presented everyone with, the social work seniors are working extremely hard to come up with different ways to raise money this year. Some events that they have had in the past have been canceled. For example, The Knights of Columbus have not held their annual Friday Fish Frys, and the seniors have also not been able to hold their annual bake sales on Fridays due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The senior social class is working extremely hard to raise money to give to the women in poverty, and any support is genuinely appreciated.

Written by: Emily Vargo

Monday, October 25, 2021, is a special day for those who love greasy food.

This day is also extra special to me for a sad but amazing reason. As you will notice, this article is a bit different from my other articles. On Sunday. October 17, 2021, heaven gained another person. This angel was my grandpa, who was a lover of all forms of greasy food. The greasier, the better.

Now greasy food isn’t the healthiest of food, but it sure is the tastiest. It’s always a nice treat to have something greasy like pizza, fried chicken, or a massive plate of nachos to indulge in once in a while.

There isn’t much information about this national day, but it’s something fun to have, and let’s face it, it’s an excuse to eat something delicious.

My grandpa that I mentioned early is my grandpa by choice, not by blood. My mom is a nurse aide at a nursing home. Nine years ago, I met an amazing, funny resident who loved to cause a ruckus. He has been my grandpa since then.

He has watched me grow up, followed my running and cheerleading journey, watched me start high school, gave me tips on how to pass my drivers test, was absolutely excited to see all of my college acceptance letters, watched me graduate high school, and enjoyed hearing my accomplishments in college.

Through the years, he always gave me life advice and treated me like a grandchild. Even though we were not blood, we were family. He loved his family, but he sure did love his greasy food.

His favorite greasy food was Five Guys fries, and my family and I made sure he had his fries before he left this wonderful world.

Growing up, I always heard stories about my other grandpa, Grandpa Vargo. He sadly passed away before I was born, but he was also notorious for his greasy food. Grandpa Vargo, unfortunately, had cancer and had to undergo major surgery. When he woke up, he wanted the biggest, juiciest, greasy, dripping off your elbows, burger, and fries, the nurse could find. When he was told “No,” he asked for green jello. Now whenever someone we know has surgery, we always have green jello.

Even though October 25, 2021, is national greasy food day, it is also a day that I will honor my grandpas by getting whatever greasy food I can get.

Enjoy this day by cherishing your favorite greasy foods, cherishing those who are most dear to you.

Written by: Elizabeth Patrick

Just like the many other departments here on the Defiance College campus, the English department hosts a wide variety of different campus wide events.

The English Department has four main events coming up including DC English Book Club, English Tea, Trunk-Or-Treat, and NaNoWriMo.

The first event coming up is the DC English Book Club which will be hosting a meeting on October 19, 2021, from 3:30-4:30 pm in Serrick room 216. They are reading Into The Woods by Jon Krakauer.

DC book club is perfect for students who love reading, are looking for a campus activity that fits their unique interests, and want to earn fresh ways of earning jacket points. If these spark your interest then the DC English Book Club is the organization for you.

The DC English Department offers a book club that is open to all current DC students. The book club meets twice a month to discuss books, gain new insights and perspectives, and practice conversation and leadership skills in a fun, friendly environment.

One of the best things about this club is that the students have a vote and say in what books the club reads. At the meetings, each month students are encouraged to suggest book titles, vote on book themes, genres, and have the opportunity to lead as discussion facilitators. If you are interested and would like more information please contact Professor Agler at aagler@defiance.edu 

The next event that is coming up in the English Department is English Tea on October 27, 2021, from 1:00 pm -2:00 pm. At this event, students will have the opportunity to meet our special guest: Professor John-Whittier-Ferguson from the University of Michigan.

At this meeting, Dr. Whittier-Ferguson will be talking a little bit about his passion for literature and why we read. If interested, RSVP to Dr.Engler at sengel@defiance.edu 

The English Department meets monthly to share some tea and snacks, talk with an interesting person about reading, writing, and other English-y things.

Later in the month on October 28, 2021, the English Department will be at the Trunk-Or-Treat with a Dracula-inspired setup. Come on out and see the English Department as well as all of the creative participants.

One of the English Department’s main events during the school year is NaNoWriMo which takes place the whole month of November. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and takes place November 1-30.

In celebration of this, the English Department will be hosting its second annual audacious attempt to write a novel in 30 days. All DC students are invited to set a goal and write every day to meet their goals. The English Department will offer encouragement, tips, and a little NaNoWriMo swag to get you going. If interested reach out to Dr.Engel for more information at sengel@defiance.edu 

The Department is made up of four faculty members. These four faculty members include Dr. Engel, The Director of Composition, Professor Green, Lecturer of English Professor Agler, and Professor Thierry, Adjunct Professor, Adjunct Professor of English and Clinical Supervisor of Field Placement.

The English Department offers courses in writing, literature, and language. There is a new English writing minor as well. To find out more, check out their English Department website at https://englishwonder.wordpress.com/

The reasoning behind hosting a wide variety of different events is to share their love of language, the joy of stories, and the power of community with students.

The English Department prides itself on innovative teaching, personal connections, and working with students to read the world’s great stories and to acquire the skills to write their own.

To wrap it up, the English Department is looking forward to seeing as many students as possible at the upcoming events. 

Written by: Amber Baldwin

Have you ever wondered why TV shows are filmed in front of a live studio audience or why reruns exist? Well, if you have the answer is because of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Before I Love Lucy premiered, Lucille Ball wanted the show filmed in front of a live studio audience. She thought that she performed better in front of people, and Desi Arnaz agreed. No one else thought this was a good idea because it wasn’t how TV shows were made in the early 1950s. To prove them wrong and to give his wife what she wanted, Desi Arnaz created the three-camera technique so that they could film in front of a live studio audience. This is still used today by many sitcoms.

Ball and Arnaz also wanted the show to be seen in high quality no matter where it was watched. At first, TV shows were filmed on kinescope because videotape was not invented yet. If a show was filmed on the west coast, then to get the show to the east coast, someone would record the TV show off of a video monitor. This would create a blurry recording for people everywhere except on the west coast.

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz started their own production company called Desilu so that they could record the episodes on 35mm film. Thus, creating reruns. By using 35mm film, people would be able to rewatch the high-quality episodes. This was expensive and both of them did take a pay cut in the beginning to do this.

I Love Lucy premiered on October 15, 1951, and ran until May 6, 1957. It has five Emmy Awards and was the number one TV show during four out of the six seasons. Even though the show is 70 years old now, it still has over 40 million viewers and has been called the most successful television sitcom in history.

It also was the first show to air with a bi-racial couple, Lucy was the first woman to run a major studio, and with the new production company, Lucy fought for the show Star Trek to be produced when no one else would.

There is even a new movie coming out December 10, 2021, in select theater and on Amazon Prime December 21, 2021, called Being the Ricardos which takes place during one week of filming I Love Lucy. The movie will star Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball and Javier Bardem as Desi Arnaz. Also in the cast is J.K. Simmons, Greg Clark and it was written and directed by Aaron Sorkin.

There is also a Lucy Desi Museum located in Jamestown, New York where Lucille Ball spent most of her youth. It is open all year long. During the first week of August, they have the Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy. For more info on the Museum and the Lucy Festival visit https://lucy-desi.com/

Reruns of I Love Lucy can be viewed on Hulu, Paramount plus, Amazon Prime Video, and on the Hallmark Channel.

Written by: Emily Vargo

October 20, 2021, is a day where we can sit around and take the day as slow as we want. This day is National Sloth Day.

There are two different types of sloths. There is the two-toed and the three-toed sloth. Besides the two types of sloths, there are also six different species of sloths. The six species of sloths are Pygmy three-toed sloth, Maned sloth, Pale-throated sloth, Brown-throated sloth, Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth, and Hoffman’s two-toed sloth.

Out of these six species the Pygmy three-toed sloth is the most endangered. The population of these adorable pygmy sloths has decreased by 80% over the last few years.

Right now there are less than 100 pygmy sloths left on this wonderful planet. Due to the rapid decrease of these sloths experts predict that this species will be extinct by 2022.

Some amazing facts about sloths are they are great swimmers and can hold their breath for up to 40 minutes underwater. Due to an extra vertebra in their spine, sloths can rotate their head 270 degrees in either direction. On average, sloths live between 20 to 30 years.

Sloths love their alone time and don’t spend a lot of time with other sloths, and sloths sleep up to 20 hours every day.

Ways to celebrate this holiday are plentiful. You can donate to The Sloth Conservation Foundation. You can go to your local Zoo and see these adorable animals.

Or you can take the day and channel your inner sloth. Since it’s a Wednesday and there are no classes take the day to sleep in and be lazy. In joy, the day and life just like a sloth would.

Written by: Amber Baldwin

Fall has arrived so here are some fun activities to do around town and in the community. **Remember- some, possibly all, might require a mask or other requirement so please be prepared.

1. Graveyard Shift-Sherri Brake, author, and a paranormal investigator will be at the Stroede Center for the Arts, 319 Wayne Ave. on October 11. This event starts at 6:00 pm and is free. She will be speaking about cemeteries and her paranormal findings.
2. Witches Brew-Dress up like a witch and explore downtown Defiance. This event takes place on October 14. There are two times for this event, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm. It starts and ends at the Defiance Development and Visitors Bureau, 325 Clinton Street. There are also costume prizes for best hat, best shoes, and best overall
   costume.
3. Meet the Renegade, Simon Girty-Learn about Simon Girty, an American colonial, with historian David Westrick. The event takes place at 5:00 pm on October 18 at the Johnson Memorial Library in Hicksville, 116 W. High Street. It is also free.
4. Defiance College Trunk or Treat-Date: October 28 Place: Hubbard Parking Lot Time: TBA
5. Defiance Lions Club Halloween Parade-On October 30 at 7:00 pm there will be a Halloween Parade in downtown Defiance. There are many participants with candy and many viewers so get there early for a good spot.
6. Defiance Farmers’ Market-Every Saturday in October from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm there is a farmers’ market in the Northtowne Mall parking lot. The address is 1500 N. Clinton Street. October is the last month the farmers’ market is open for the year.
7. Leaders Farms-Leaders Farms is open every Friday from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm and every Saturday from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm for the whole month of October. They have a regular corn maze, haunted corn maze, zombie hunter paintball, hayrides, putt-putt golf, a pumpkin
   patch, and much more.
8. Is Defiance Public Library…haunted?-James Willis, paranormal investigator, will be at the Stroede Center for the Arts, 319 Wayne Ave. on November 6. He will be speaking about his paranormal findings and his investigation at the Defiance Public Library. The event starts at 6:00 pm and is free.

Written by: Elizabeth Patrick

Every year Defiance College has the honor of recognizing a homecoming king and queen along with attendants from each grade level.

Defiance College student body chose Maurice Brewer and Kalin Hubble as the 2021 Homecoming King and Queen.

Also, on the homecoming court were seniors Alexis Kiessling, Sophia Moller, Ellas Rogers, and Chase Stiner; juniors Grant Johnson and Julia Yeager; sophomores Marcell Maxwell and Hope Yost; and freshmen Amber Krause and Joseph Large.

Now let’s meet your 2021 Homecoming Queen: Kalin Hubble.

Kalin is currently a senior here at Defiance College. She was born and raised in Anderson, Indiana with her mom, dad, and two younger sisters.

Kalin is a very involved student here at Defiance College. Kalin is actively involved in different organizations including softball, the Affinity Program as a peer interventionist, and being a student worker.

She came here to Defiance College to play softball and further her studies in what she thought was going to be Athletic Training. After being here for a semester, she decided that she wanted to make a greater impact on people’s lives. She found a major interest in the way the mind worked and the ways that she can work with individuals to reconstruct their thought processes.

Being introduced to Social Work has been one of her most life-changing experiences. Getting to know the professors in that field of study has also been life-changing. Kalin’s professors have helped her form a new perspective on the way people live and the ways that society works in continuously shaping stereotypes.

In softball, Kalin was the All-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 2021. She was as the HCAC Player of the Week two times last year. Hubble was the HCAC Freshman of the Year and was on the first-team all-conference and second Team All-Central Region in NCAA Division III from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. She holds that DC record in doubles and home runs.

After Kalin graduates in 2022, she is not entirely sure what path she will take to continue learning at the master’s level. She is currently deciding between continuing her softball career with her extra year of eligibility, coaching softball at the graduate level, or joining the Army to become a Social Worker or Clinical Psychologist. 

Written by: Emily Vargo

On October 13, 1925, in Grantham, Lincolnshire, a very important historical figure was born. This historical figure is Margaret Thatcher.

Margaret was raised a strict Wesleyan Methodist. Even though Thatcher was raised in the Methodist church, she had a very scientific mind. She did well in school and had hobbies like piano, field hockey, poetry, swimming, and walking.

In 1943, Thatcher was awarded a scholarship to study chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford. Thatcher graduated from college in 1947 with second honors with a chemistry bachelor of science degree, specializing in X-ray crystallography.

After graduating, Thatcher moved to Colchester in Essex, where she worked as a research chemist for BX Plastics.

In 1948 Thatcher went to a conservative convention in Wales. This was the start of her political career. She impressed many high-up chair members that lead to her being asked to run for office.

In 1949 Margaret met Denis Thatcher. They soon would get married at a methodist church. Eventually, they attended the Church of England and converted to Anglicanism.

In 1959 Thatcher was elected into parliament. She worked to help the people and climbed the ladder year after year, being the first woman ever to do so.

On May 4, 1979, Thatcher became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Thatcher was described as the most powerful woman in the world during her time in office. Thatcher was prime minister from 1979-1990.

She underwent many challenges, but she handled them all with grace despite the constant pressure from the public.

Thatcher did so much for Great Britain and today holds a place in many people’s hearts.

Written by: Emily Vargo

Today we learn about someone who is a hero of mine. He is someone who I admire and look up to. When I write these articles, I usually don’t put my emotional input into them, but this is an exception.

On October 5, 2021, our personal Astrophyicsist was born. This scientist’s name is Neil DeGrasse Tyson. 

For some, when they hear scientist, they think of a brilliant person who had straight A’s, did amazing in school, and academics came naturally to them. However, with Dr. Tyson, this wasn’t the case. Neil was born in Manhatten, New York, and went to public school in the Bronx. 

Neil was quite bored in school, and his grades were not great. He often acted out in classes, and many of his teachers saw no future for him. 

When he was nine, the teacher noticed that Tyson loved science. She suggested to him that he should visit the sky theater of the Hyden Planetarium. Neil visited the planetarium, and ever since that visit, he felt that the Universe called him and that this was his purpose. 

Fast forward to Tyson’s teen years when he started teaching classes at the planetarium. He started gaining a small fan base and caught the attention of Astronomer Carl Segan. Segan was a faculty member at Cornell University and tried to recruit Neil to their undergraduate program. 

Tyson ended up going to Harvard instead for an undergraduate degree. Something that not many people know about Tyson is that he was a wrestler. He wrestled in high school and college.

After graduating from Havard University, Tyson received his Masters from the University of Texas at Austin and then his Doctorate from Columbia University. Tyson has focused on cosmology, stellar evolution, galactic astronomy, bulges, and stellar formations. Besides holding numerous positions at institutions across the United States, Tyson has written several popular books about astronomy. 

Tyson has also hosted several science tv shows and has his radio talk show called Star Talk. Besides being known for his books, and tv shows, Tyson is also known for being one of the scientists that demoted the beloved planet, Pluto, to Dwarf planet. 

There is so much that Dr. Tyson has accomplished that it is too long to list in this article. He has also received several awards for his achievements. To end today’s article, we read one of Dr. Tyson’s beloved quotes.

“I look up at the night sky, and I know that yes, we are part of this universe, we are in the universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts is that the Universe is in us.”