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Otterbein Towers Fall 2026, Otterbein University

Towers Magazine

Table of Contents:

• Around the 'Bein
• The Future is Now for These 2026 Graduates
• The Heart of Health and Sport Sciences
• Alumna Returns to Lead Belonging Efforts
• Otterbein and Church of the Master have been Partners with Purpose for 175 Years
• Otterbein READY Makes Career Readiness a Graduation Requirement
• Homecoming Weekend
• Philanthropy
• Alumni Matters
• Class Notes

An Eco-Inspired Emulsion Membrane Harnessed With Waste Vegetable Oil For Effective Separation Of Ibuprofen: Insights Into Stability, Performance, And Kinetics, Huma Warsi Khan, A. Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, Parvez Alam Khan, Samsur Akm Rahman, Muhammad Moniruzzaman

Publications and Research

Emulsion liquid membranes (ELMs) have emerged as excellent alternatives for the separation and recovery of biologically active drugs (BADs) from industrial waste at trace concentrations. Conventional ELMs generally utilize toxic petroleum-based solvents (PBS) that pose environmental and health risks. Although virgin vegetable oils have been appeared as sustainable alternatives to PBS, their widespread application is limited by economic constraints, resource sustainability, and competition with the food supply. In contrast, waste vegetable oil (WVO) represents an abundant, low-cost, and eco-friendly alternative, yet its potential as a green diluent for ELMs remains largely unexplored. To address this challenge, present study investigated the …

Incorporating High-Quality Simulations Into The Undergraduate Health Management Curriculum: A Pragmatic Approach For Learner Engagement, Noemí Rodríguez, Laura M. Penalo

Publications and Research

Despite the well-documented benefits of simulation-based education, their use remains limited in undergraduate health management programs. Faculty might be unfamiliar with the processes required to design and implement high-quality simulations. This article presents a structured methodology—grounded in Healthcare Simulation Standards of Best Practice and The Jeffries Simulation Theory—through the experience of an undergraduate healthcare policy and management course at a large urban public university. This article focuses on describing the multilayered Online Standardized Participant Simulation including a detailed description of the simulation design, prebriefing, online standardized participant scenario, and debriefing. A unique feature of the shared simulation experience is the …

A Rare Recurring Gain-Of-Function Variant In Bmpr2 Causes Neurodevelopmental Phenotypes In Humans And Flies, Jung-Wan Mok, Carrie L Welch, Haley A Dostalik, Zhi Tan, Ariel Brautbar, Maria Descartes, Erica T Gray, Alejandro Iglesias, Scott D Mclean, Morgan Nutter, Olivia Daugherty, Amber Begtrup, Ingrid M Wentzensen, Yufeng Shen, Damian W Young, Martin M Matzuk, Oguz Kanca, Michael F Wangler, Hugo J Bellen, Wendy K Chung, Shinya Yamamoto

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 (BMPR2) encodes an evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine kinase that phosphorylates type-1 BMP receptors to mediate intercellular communication upon ligand binding. Loss-of-function variants in BMPR2 are known to cause pulmonary arterial hypertension and other cardiovascular disorders. Here, we report a rare recurrent missense variant in BMPR2 (c.1126G>A [GenBank: NM_001204] [p.Glu376Lys]) identified in six individuals, who all present with neurodevelopmental phenotypes including autism spectrum disorder and global developmental delay. Trio analysis demonstrates de novo occurrence of this variant in at least five of the individuals. Using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, we show that this variant …

Spell: A Scalable Nlp Method Using Regular Expressions And Large Language Models For Clinical Information Extraction, Ricardo Kleinlein, David W Bates, Carolyn Guan, Kathryn J Gray, Vesela P Kovacheva

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background and objectives: Electronic health records (EHRs) contain valuable information for research and decision-making, but much resides in unstructured notes that are challenging to analyze at scale. We developed SPELL (Snippet-Primed rEgex LLM Pipeline), a scalable natural language processing workflow that combines regular-expression-based snippet retrieval with locally hosted large language model (LLM) inference to extract structured variables from large collections of clinical narratives.

Methods: SPELL uses task-specific regular expressions to retrieve short context windows ("snippets") from unstructured texts and applies task-prompted LLM inference on snippets rather than full documents. All processing occurs within institutional computing environments. Accuracy was evaluated on …

Beyond Balochistan: The Designation Of The Balochistan Liberation Army And The Majeed Brigade As Terrorist Organizations, Dexter Ingram

Reports, Projects, and Research

This report is part of a white paper series focused on the 25 groups designated as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) by the U.S. Department of State in 2025. As the Department of Homeland Security’s center of excellence focused on counterterrorism, NCITE’s mission is to work with homeland security partners to provide scientific insights on terrorists and other illicit actors that pose a threat to U.S. homeland security and defense. The intent of this report is to support government, law enforcement, and policymakers tasked with protecting the U.S. from terrorism and related threat actors with information on: 1) the threat actors …

Aidws1: Building With Llms And Ai Agent, Olivier Kepler Francois

Paul English Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute Publications

The Paul English Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute (PEAAII) at the University of Massachusetts Boston hosted the first session of its AI Demo Workshop Series, “Building with LLMs and AI Agents,” on October 5, 2026, led by Olivier Kepler Francois, Founder and Researcher of WebAIAgent. This hands-on workshop introduced participants to developing AI-powered web applications using Large Language Models (LLMs), Next.js, React, HTTP communication, and the OpenAI API. Through guided demonstrations and practical exercises, participants explored frontend and backend development, API integration, user interaction, and the end-to-end process of building an interactive AI application. The session provided foundational knowledge and practical …

Student Perceptions Of Artificial Intelligence-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material: A Qualitative Content Analysis, Paige Horton, Amanda Isabel Osuna

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), especially generative AI and deepfake technology, has introduced new challenges in the production and dissemination of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). While existing research has examined the technological and legal implications of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, less is known about how the public, especially young adults who are most likely to use AI technologies, perceive these developments. The present study addresses this gap by examining undergraduate student perceptions of AI-generated child sexual abuse material at a medium-sized private university in the Southeastern United States. Using data from a Qualtrics survey, this study …

Aidws3: Stubborn And Hallucinating Agents, Inal Mashukov

Paul English Applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) Institute Publications

This workshop, part of the AI Demo Day Workshop Series hosted by the Paul English Applied AI Institute (PEAAII) at UMass Boston, explores the bias-variance tradeoff and how it affects the performance and reliability of AI models and agents. Led by Inal Mashukov, PhD Researcher at UMass Boston, the session covers concepts such as underfitting, overfitting, and regularization techniques to improve model performance. Through practical examples and hands-on exercises using PyTorch, participants explore why AI agents may hallucinate, repeat mistakes, or struggle to adapt, and learn approaches to building more reliable AI systems.

Shift Learning By Design Recruitment Spin Wheel, Lonny Grafman, Eva Jakobs, Primo Ventittelli

Undergraduate Scholarship

Students in the Engr205 Introduction to Design course at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, California, team TRANSFERMERS, set out to design, build, and test a portable recruitment spin wheel for the Child Development Center. Their key informant was Doctor Meenal Rana, a professor and faculty member there. The client wanted an interactive display that is informational and engaging for students, families, and faculty at recruitment events. The specifications required that the wheel stand on its own, be movable by one able-bodied person, allow the pie slices to be changed for each event, and use bright colors. The criteria weighted safety …

Shift Learning By Design California Tribal Lands, Tobin Segraves, Joshua Korenstein, Grant Wallan

Undergraduate Scholarship

Students in the Engr205 Introduction to Design course at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata, California, were assigned to design an interactive map of California tribal lands for a client. The map is meant for classroom use and for Cal Poly Humboldt students and passersby, who would use it multiple times a day to visualize and learn course material. The specifications called for a standalone, wall-mounted, portrait-style display covering the region from Garberville to Crescent City, with pronunciations of cultural names. The criteria weighted interactivity most heavily, followed by user-friendliness and information capacity. The team's literature review covered tribal mapping, electronics, …

Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab Irrigation Retrofit, Quinlan Sauter, Owen Miranda-Hupp, Antonio Rubio, Dalton Sullivan

Undergraduate Scholarship

The "Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab Rainwater Catchment System Retrofit" is an ENGR 205 design project created to help provide the Food Sovereignty Lab at Cal Poly Humboldt with accessible and sufficient rainwater. Designed and constructed in the fall semester of 2026, a group of ENGR 205 engineers (Team QOAD), wanted to make it possible for the FSL to have consistent, accessible water to use at the Wiyot Plaza. After the design and construction was completed, the FSL now has access to ~ 500 gallons of rainwater to use to water the various garden plots around the Wiyot Plaza.

Shift Learning By Design Trike Power, Lonny Grafman, Evie Thunder, Angela Mae Hernandez, Zayden Bronson, Brenden White

Undergraduate Scholarship

This document describes the background and primary goal of an engineering design project. The project is a stationary tricycle that will power a bubble machine, built by team Z.E.B.A Engineering of ENGR 205: Introduction to Design at Cal Poly Humboldt. Cal Poly Humboldt is a university located in Arcata, California. BubbleBike was commissioned by the Child Development Lab at Cal Poly Humboldt to provide children in the pre-K to Kindergarten level with a fun and educational device.

Casa Student Farm Rain Structure, Oath Duncan, Daniel Richards, Isabelle Carroll, Ruben Janssen

Undergraduate Scholarship

Constructed in April 2026, the CASA Student Farm rain structure, known as Water-Den, offers individuals on the farm protection from both sun and rain. It fufills the farm's need for a weather protected third space on the farm. The structure itself resembles a dug-out style structure with a slanted roof, three walls, and an open front. Alternative to other dug-outs, the Water-Den has half walls of canvas and recycled pallet boards for air flow. Inside, farm workers and students have space to work, learn, and store needed materials on the farm. Guests will also have the space to socialize and …

Swetman Makerspace Diy Drill Presses, Laura Deliso, Haley Foster, Lea Gregordi, Willy Patton

Undergraduate Scholarship

For the ENGR 205 class offered at Cal Poly Humboldt as part of the schools engineering program, the team The Presses was tasked with creating six portable drill presses that could turn the Milwaukee hand drills into functioning drill presses. These DIY hand drill presses will be used by the college in their future engineering classes and will be available for open use by students in the Swetman Makerspace.

Shift Learning By Design Light Table, Nick Stine, Isaiah Cristian, Ethan Eshoo, Axel Nolastnamelisted

Undergraduate Scholarship

The Child Development Lab at Cal Poly Humboldt is the client for a team of four Mechanical and Energy Systems Engineering students in the Engr205 Introduction to Design course, who set out to design a multipurpose light table for children ages 2 to 5. The client required a safe, durable, and accessible table with diffuse RGB lighting, accessible controls, and rounded corners, to be built within a $400 SHIFT grant budget. The team compared four alternatives that paired 3D-printed drawers or wooden cubbies with bottom- or side-mounted light strips, and selected wooden cubbies with a bottom-mounted light strip for their …

Swetman Makerspace 3d Filament Dry Storage, Nelson Botzler-Washington, Riley Baker, Orion Knowler, Oscar Hudson

Undergraduate Scholarship

This project was built to improve the 3d printing filament storage at the Cal Poly Humboldt makerspace.

Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab Compost System, Ethan Craig, Jason Milien, Jack Edward Butterfield, Mike Barbera

Undergraduate Scholarship

The Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab, a hands-on cultural, educational, and research space at Cal Poly Humboldt focused on Indigenous control of traditional food and cultural practices, needed a composting system to make effective compost for growing food. Students in the Fall 2026 Engr205 Introduction to Design class were tasked with designing, building, and testing a composting system with modular bins and easy access for the volunteer and staff who run composting for the lab. The constraints called for three separate bins in the 3-9 square foot range, natural materials only, no concrete, durability in the elements, and a budget …

Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab Herb Drying Rack, Sophia Christiansen, Tristan Straka, Raul Cook, Dante Humes

Undergraduate Scholarship

We are the Fab(rication) Four. Our ENGR 205 group was tasked with designing a herb-drying rack for the Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab on campus.

Ccat Wireless Solar Charging Station, Aidan Barrett-Wells, Nicolas Myles C Peinemann, William Monohan, Elijah Ramirez

Undergraduate Scholarship

The Cal poly Humboldt ENGR 205 design class collaborated with CCAT (Campus Center for Appropriate Technology) in spring semester 2024 to create a wireless charging station for CCAT as the client with ENGR 205 team Fig-Newton consisting of William Monohan, Aidan Barrett-Wells, Elijah Ramirez and Nicolas Myles Peinemann. The team work together with materials provided by CCAT and the fabrication ENGR 123 class's workspace and materials to create a outdoor wireless phone charging station. CCAT and their volunteers that work on cite will use this station to quickly and easily charge there mobile devices.

Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab Sea Star Tanks, Sara Johnson, Zachary Hart, Juan Dominguez, Hazel Abeyta

Undergraduate Scholarship

The Rou Dalagurr Food Sovereignty Lab & Traditional Ecological Knowledges Institute at Cal Poly Humboldt is the client for this Engr205 Introduction to Design project. The objective is to design and build an interactive display that presents information on the endangered sunflower sea star and serves as a movable touch tank for locally sourced seaweed. The literature review covers the client, aesthetics, traditional ecological knowledge, cleaning intervals, safety, sea star size, and habitat, and it compares four alternatives: an interactive floor tank, a tank with a lid, a stacked tank, and a panoramic step-in tank.

Shift Learning By Design Aac Board, Lonny Grafman, Harper Thweatt, Victoria Naya, Viktor Coonrod

Undergraduate Scholarship

The client, the Trinity Learning Center's Child Development Lab, works with children ages 2 to 5 who have a wide range of special needs. The client asked a Cal Poly Humboldt Engr205 Introduction to Design team to design two portable augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) boards with symbols that the board verbalizes. The client's constraints included a neutral color theme, a carrying handle, rechargeable power, weather resistance, and a cost under $300 per unit, and the boards were to function as tools rather than toys. The team compared four alternative designs, including a banana slug-shaped board and two rectangular designs …

Bridging The Intention-Behavior Gap In Adopting Zero-Waste Grocery Retail Store, Elizabeth Jacob, Salil Sahadevan

Asia Marketing Journal

Growing interest in sustainability within marketing has renewed attention to zero-waste retail, yet it remains largely niche. This study investigates the challenges limiting zero-waste retail adoption and explores consumer expectations through key stakeholder interviews and a large-scale consumer survey in India. Building on earlier work that focused primarily on individual barriers, it incorporates structural factors and the interconnected nature of these obstacles. Adoption of zero-waste shopping practices is constrained by emotional labor, cognitive overload, and systemic friction. Cultural norms favoring convenience and hygiene reinforce disposability, and the lack of conventional packaging creates logistical hurdles. In this connection, the study identifies …

Bright Shadows, Fresh Appeal: How Shadow Brightness Shapes Perceptions Of Fresh Products, Jonghee Kum, Hyewon Cho, Hyejin Lee

Asia Marketing Journal

This study examines how shadow brightness (light vs. dark) influences consumer responses to fresh products across four studies. Studies 1a and 1b demonstrate that consumers evaluate fresh products with light shadows more favorably compared to those with dark shadows. Study 2 identifies the underlying mechanism, showing that light shadows increase perceived wholesomeness, which positively affects consumer responses. Study 3 tests a boundary condition, revealing that the positive impact of light (vs. dark) shadows is pronounced for uncooked products but reduced for cooked products. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the influential role of visual elements in shaping consumer …

Letter, Eva Harvey White To Unidentified, Eva Harvey White

A.G. Wineman & Sons Records, and Wineman, Williams, Guice, and Stockwell et al Family Papers

In this undated letter, Eva Harvey White writes to an unidentified gentleman to share her excitement for the Greenville, Mississippi Centennial celebration in 1936. She shares stories of her family's connection to Greenville and some of the history she recalls of it's formation. The letter is written on Eva Harvey White stationary.

Leadership & Religious (In)Toleration: Religious Conflict, Leadership, And Shakespeare’S Measure For Measure, Kristin M.S. Bezio

Interdisciplinary Journal of Leadership Studies

This piece focuses on the stresses and biases that are produced by religious conflict, beginning with the Catholic-Protestant divide that characterized Shakespeare’s lifetime, particularly focusing on the Elizabethan (and Jacobean) and government’s persecution of Catholics within England. This chapter uses Measure for Measure to examine Shakespeare’s argument for religious toleration within this Catholic-Puritan framework and the persistent threats of violence leveraged against the “wrong” religion. At the conclusion of the piece, I will turn to the contemporary religious right to discuss how we can view modern religious conflict in the US (and around the world) through this same framework.

Recent Manuscript Accessions At Mississippi College And University Libraries, Lisa N. Howorth

Journal of Mississippi History

No abstract provided.

Regulation Of Corporations In The Mississippi Constitutional Convention Of 1890, Eric C. Clark

Journal of Mississippi History

No abstract provided.

Recent Manuscript Acquisitions At Mississippi University And College Libraries, 1983, Frank Allen Dennis

Journal of Mississippi History

No abstract provided.

Defining Teacher Envelopment: A Non-Aristotelian Approach To Meta-Practices In The Philosophy Of Teacher Education, Rob Blom

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

The late Jonathan Neufeld argued that redefining teacher development required meta-practices, yet he never defined what these meta-practices were. To define them rigorously requires grounding teacher cultivation practices within coherent structures of truth capable of withstanding philosophical scrutiny—a challenge intensified by post- truth discourse that flattens epistemological depth in secularised educational theory. This paper advances a theory of teacher envelopment to complement conventional teacher development through identifying mindfulness and discernment as foundational meta-practices grounded in non-Aristotelian systems. The framework rests on three interrelated concepts: (1) truth paradigms encompassing contemplative, articulatory, and embodied dimensions; (2) epistemological depth as extensional practices that …