The document summarizes activities and events of Clarion University's Honors Program, including: 1) The program held a game night event for honors students and their mentors to socialize and relax through playing board games. 2) Upcoming events include a haunted dorm event and a Thanksgiving giving back activity. 3) Two required honors courses, Modes of Discourse I and II, focus on strengthening students' speech and writing skills respectively.

1. National Honors celebrates 50th Anniversary with research, capsule
By Jacob Beckey
Clarion’s Honors
Program provides its students
with opportunities to enrich
their education in a number of
ways. First and foremost, the
honors coursework is more
challenging, rigorous and
unique than the comparable
general education
requirements. In addition to
being generally more difficult,
the courses are designed in a
more creative and effective
manner. Requiring students to
reflect upon aspects of their
lives which otherwise would
go unnoticed, the honors
classes enable the student to
gain a deeper, fuller
understanding of the world
around them.
This, although
incredibly useful, does not
necessarily suffice to prepare
the students for graduate
studies, a path many honors
students will likely pursue. To
adequately prepare for
graduate school in today’s
day and age, students must
engage in undergraduate
research. In doing so,
students distinguish
themselves by conducting
original research in
collaboration with
professors.
Dr. Rod Raehsler,
Director of Clarion’s Honors
Program, realizes the
importance of
undergraduate research in
preparing students for
graduate school; this is why
he, upon being appointed
Director of the Honors
Program, made it his
mission to engage students
in research early on in their
undergraduate careers. As a
result of Dr. Raehsler’s
efforts, students and faculty
members have been
collaborating on research
which they then present at
academic conferences.
This research is
primarily focused on
honors, education and
related topics. As a result of
The Clarion Honors Chronicle
Courtesy of the Clarion University
Honors Program
10/27/2015 Edition II, Volume II
Editor’s Word
  
Thank you for
picking up our staff’s second
issue of the Clarion Honors
Chronicle for the fall
semester.
November is shaping
up to be the busiest month in
the program this year as
Clarion representatives
intend to present research at
the NCHC conference and
seniors prepare to give their
own undergraduate research
in the presentations on Nov.
19 in Founders Hall.
I encourage all
honors members to come to
this event from 6 to 8 p.m.
Not only will you be
supporting your peers, but
you can also gain insight
into what your presentations
will be like in the near
future.
The next issue is our
last for the semester, so
definitely look for it in early
December!

2. this focus, they present at
conferences related to honors
programs and colleges. One of
the largest of these is the
National Collegiate Honors
Council conference, at which
Dr. Raehsler, with students
Natalie Bond and Andrew
Skubisz, will be presenting a
paper titled “An Analysis of
the Effect of a Summer High
School Learning Program on
Student Recruitment in an
Honors Program.”
This collaboration is
one example of what is
possible for all honors
students who wish to get
involved in undergraduate
research. As long as students
utilize the opportunity to
participate in research, it can
be said that the Honors
Program adequately prepares
its members for graduate
studies. The 2015 NCHC
conference is slated to be
hosted in Chicago, IL from
Nov. 11 to the 15, which is
where Bond and Skubisz plan
on presenting their research
this year.
In addition to
presenting at the National
Collegiate Honors Council
conference, Clarion also
contributed a digital time
capsule to the celebration of
the council’s 50th anniversary.
Prepared by Student Director
Eric Zavinski, the capsule
includes letters from students
Marissa Dechant, Kaitlyn
Mulligan and Brandon
Nielsen, describing where
they imagine an honors
program education will take
them in their near futures.
The capsule also
includes a 25-year
retrospective of the Honors
Program, letters of courtesy
from Program Director Dr.
Rod Raehsler and University
President Karen Whitney, and
all issues of the Clarion
Honors Chronicle so far.
Various other documents
from our program’s storied
past were also included like
old syllabi, course proposals
and alumni testimonials.
These items were sent
to commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the National
Collegiate Honors Council but
also provided an opportunity
for all honors members,past
and present, to reflect on the
history of Clarion's Honors
Program.
In addition to
reminding us all of the history
of the program, the capsule
engenders a feeling of hope
for the future. It presents a
commitment to the
continuation of the program
and its various goals and
ambitions. The capsule
represents the eventful past of
both Clarion's Honors
Program and the National
Collegiate Honors Council
and indicates the bright future
that awaits them both.

3. Nicholas Rhoades - Student Spotlight
By Lauren Corvino
Nicholas Rhoades is a
fourth-year undergraduate
student at Clarion University.
He is a dual-major in
Secondary Education in Social
Studies and Mathematics and
plans to student teach in his
fifth year. Nick entered
Clarion University as a
Mathematics major but
decided during his sophomore
year to become a dual-major.
He is also a member of
the Honors Program. Nick is
the President of the Clarion
Young Democrats and has
been a member since the fall
of 2012, his freshman year. He
has been on the Executive
Board since his first fall here,
first as treasurer and then
starting the following spring
as president.
For his first two years
at Clarion, Nick lived on
campus in Wilkinson Hall
and, “met (his) closest group
of friends” there. “Many of
(his) other close friends are
from the Clarion Young
Democrats.”
Nick has also been a
member of the Clarion
University Council for the
Social Studies (CUCSS) since
last spring semester. Nick has,
“had several wonderful
professors that have impacted
(his) academic experience.”
Nick stated that, “it is difficult
to balance all of my
schoolwork with my
extracurricular activities. First,
my dual majors are similar
since they are concentrations
in Secondary Education, but
beyond that there exists little
common ground.”
To balance them, Nick
said that, “some strategies I
tend to use include: working
on smaller assignments first,
then larger assignments;
breaking up big projects into
small chunks; and devoting a
little bit of time to my RSO
every day.”
Nick said, “It is my
goal to teach high school
mathematics and social
studies,” staying in
Pennsylvania if possible but
possibly teaching in Maryland,
Virginia or Delaware. For the
past three summers, Nick has
interned in the business office
at his home school district,
which has sparked an interest
in possibly becoming a
principal or transportation
director. He also stated he has
an interest in going into
politics someday.
Nick has been
compiling research on two
projects, which he plans to
continue and use in the future.
One project is on the
“Friendship of Presidents
Theodore Roosevelt and

4. William Taft, and How
Politics of the 1912 Election
Ruined their Bond and the
Republican Party.”
Nick will be,
“expanding on that for (his)
honors research by combining
mathematics with it.” His
ultimate goal is, “to be able to
use the 1912 election to
predict future elections under
similar characteristics.”
His other research
project has been on “Creating
an Efficient Bus Routing
Model for a Home School
District” that uses various
types of algorithms. Last
spring, Nick attended the
Western Pennsylvania Phi
Alpha Theta regional
conference and listened to
research done by history
students from other
Pennsylvania universities.
This coming spring, Nick
plans to present his research
on the 1912 election.
Nick’s advice to future
Clarion students “would be to
step out of your comfort zone
and step up to the plate. Try
new clubs, take a class that
sounds interesting, attend on-
campus events, study hard,
become a leader even as a
member of an RSO and have
fun!”
Course Feature
By Kaitlyn Mulligan
This month’s course
spotlight is actually
showcasing two classes
instead of one! Professors Jim
Lyle and Ralph Leary teach
the two Modes of Discourse
classes that every freshman
takes after entering the Honors
Program. They focus on
speech and writing as ways to
communicate and strive to
show students from any major
that communication is
essential no matter what field
they are in.
The first course is
HON 128, and it is taught by
Lyle, a communications
professor in Becker Hall at
Clarion. This speech class
involves presenting
informative, persuasive and
group speeches as well as
doing some improvisational
work in front of the group.
“The goal of the course
is to make students
comfortable speaking in a
number of different speech
settings, some of which are
prepared…some of which are
more impromptu,” said Lyle.
He stresses the
importance of learning how to
communicate in professional
settings. Listening and
learning how to break down
communication are also
course objectives.
HON 129 is the
writing course taught by
Leary. He is an English
professor at Clarion and
believes in teaching writing as
a process. He said, “This is
how writing works. It isn’t
like learning knowledge. You
don’t flip a switch and now
you have it. It is a process you

5. develop.” His main goal is to
help students be successful not
only in their next four years,
but also in their post-graduate
lives.
“The thing I emphasize
is details but I emphasize
details so they know how to
create an argument, so they
understand that they just can’t
say something…and everyone
is going to agree,” Leary said.
These classes go hand-
in-hand with each other, and
most students take them at the
same time. Lyle said of the
two, “There’s a relationship in
terms of theory, in terms of
ideas that are communicated
about how to be an effective
communicator.” There are
overlaps in ideas, projects and
even essays that students in
both modes courses must read.
However, part of what
Lyle said the courses do is
show students the differences
between the two
communication types. Modes
aims to help students realize
that while they may write
well, speaking might not come
as easily and vice versa.
Leary agrees,
“Students have a clearer
understanding of how writing
is similar to speaking and how
writing is dissimilar from
speaking and how you have to
use different strategies for the
two.”
They both agree that
communication and being able
to interact with people are
imperative to being employed
anywhere. The courses have
changed over the years, but
the core communication goals
have stayed the same. The
professors want to see their
students be successful in the
future and feel that though not
everyone may think they need
them, the skills they teach in
the classes will help students
immensely in the future.
“[Employers] want
people who are going to
communicate effectively,”
Lyle said. “They want people
that are going to be able to
develop an idea and
communicate that idea
effectively to others so that
action is possible.”
Leary said, “No matter
what the major of the student
is, no matter where they want
to go into or what they are
going to do in their career,
communication and the ability
to communicate is going to be
very important.”
SHA Update
By Megan Beary
Halloween is in the air,
and Student Honors
Association has caught the
spirit. We have been busy
transforming the spooky
Ballentine Hall to its greatest
potential. Haunted Dorms is
coming up fast and will take
place there on Thursday, Oct.
29 starting at 8:00 p.m.
We are excited to
announce that this year,
Haunted Dorms will span

6. across two floors instead of
just one, making it bigger and
better than ever before. We
hope to see you there. If you
do not have the guts to check
it out, we will provide them
for you!
In other news, be on
the lookout for a giving back
event hosted by SHA in light
of Thanksgiving. There will
be more details and a recap of
this event and Haunted Dorms
in the next edition of the
Clarion Honors Chronicle.
Become a member of
SHA on Facebook and then
join us in the real world!
https://www.facebook.com/gr
oups/ClarionSHA/
You can like SHA on
Facebook as well!
https://www.facebook.com/Cl
arion-University-Student-
Honors-Association-
248467378540159/timeline/
We have biweekly
meetings on Thursdays at 5
p.m. in Ralston Hall and do
some awesome stuff here on
campus and in the
community.
Under Eagles’ Wings
By Marissa Dechant
As the fall semester
progresses, students begin
feeling the usual stresses of
college, including exams,
papers and group projects. It
can be difficult to swim above
the myriad assignments
flooding in. The Clarion
University Honors Program
hopes to alleviate its students’
tension by offering monthly
events in a friendly, relaxing
atmosphere.
This month, the
Honors Program hosted a
game night for its mentors and
mentees on Tuesday, Oct. 6
from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in the
honors student lounge in
Ralston Hall.
Honors Program
Student Director Eric Zavinski
created game night in order to
encourage a continued bond
between mentors and their
mentees. Beginning with the
mentorship picnic back in
August, Zavinski wants to
host events throughout the
year to keep the program
active and relevant.
Zavinski hopes events
like game night allow honors
students to unwind in the
midst of classes and
homework.
"I think for freshmen,
it's important to let them know
that the Honors Program is a
fun and relaxing environment
as well as an educational one.
Their classes...can be pretty
intense, so I think giving them
an outlet to hang out is pretty
cool," Zavinski said.
Those who attended
game night agreed with
Zavinski’s sentiment. Along
with Zavinski, Honors
Recruitment Coordinator
Katie Hammond and freshmen
Keith Maitland and Jaimie
Arthur took part in game
night.
Arthur, a history
major, loves board games and
brought several of her own to
the event.
"I went to game night
because I really like playing
board games, but I hadn't

7. really met anyone around
campus who likes to play
games too. When I saw the
Honors Program was having
this event, I was extremely
excited to attend," Arthur said.
The group chose to
play “True Colors,” a game
from the early ‘90s, in which
players try to guess the
personality traits of those
around them. The group had
fun trying to guess each
other’s character traits,
especially since some of the
players were not familiar with
one another.
"I would definitely
attend more events like this if
I have the opportunity. It was
fun, and I enjoyed it," Arthur
said.
Zavinski plans to host
a game night every semester.
Next month, the Honors
Program is hosting a
dodgeball game held in the
Recreation Center on Nov. 3
from 8 to 9 p.m. Email
E.A.Zavinski@eagle.clarion.e
du if you would be interested
in attending alone or with your
mentor or mentee.
Import ant Informat ion
From your Editor-in-Chief: Eric Zavinski
If you would like to write for The Clarion Honors Chronicle, please
contact me at (814)688-2468 or E.A.Zavinski@eagle.clarion.edu.
Reminder: Seniors, make sure to check your eagle mail for more
information as to your upcoming senior presentations.
You can contact the Honors Office at (814) 393-2585or at
honorsprog@clarion.edu. We are located at 315 BechtHall, and our
student lounge is in the basementof Ralston Hall in Room B83. A
student worker will be in the main office to greet you at all times
between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. Email Natalie
Bond at N.A.Bond@eagle.clarion.edu for the hours of the lounge’s
operation if you need it.