McAlister ’10 on campus to help with Big Bash Coverage

 Howard W. Hewitt – For the past three years we’ve brought one or two student journalists back to campus for Big Bash to help us with our coverage and to tell stories of our alums.

Patrick McAlister ’10 and Gary James ’10 were here the past two years. The dymanic journalistic duo have become the cornerstone of Wabash journalism. This year The Bachelor won the Indiana Collegiate Press Associations’s Small Newspaper of the Year Award. Not bad for a place without a journalism program.

James is off in Washington D.C. this summer doing an internship with NPR. He has already started to distinguish himself as an intern and has been given increased responsibilities in just a week. We were lucky McAlister was in Illinois and willing to return for the Bash weekend. Patrick was editor and chief this year when the Bachelor won a record 31 awards at the ICPA convention.

He’ll be interviewing some alums, doing some video work, take a few photos, and maybe cover a colloquium session. Both of these young men’s aspirations reach beyond journalism into politics, social activism, and beyond. But it’s a pleasure for us to work with them and have them back for the summer months.

Brad Jones ’10 testing culinary
skills with Bon Appetit

Hewitt – Wabash men rise to many vocations and avocations. The College has many different ways to let each student find their path.

Brad Jones ’10 developed a strong interest in the culinary arts. Bon Appetit’s head chef Jordan Hall has taken Jones under his wing and teaching him some of the finer skills a head chef needs.

Friday afternoon Jones was busy doing prep work for Friday evening’s Big Bash dinner. Bon Appetit didn’t have an internship or position open, but when Mary Jo Arthur saw Jones’ enthusiasm she found him a part-time summer spot.

 Neal ’04 glad he came back for Big Bash ’09

Hewitt – At the end of every interview, many journalists will ask if there is anything else the person would like to add. Patrick McAlister asked Roger Neal ’04 that question Saturday and got an unexpected endorsement for Big Bash.

"I was actually really apprehensive about coming to this weekend because I thought it would be kind of boring and not a very exciting time," Neal said. "But it’s totally the opposite. It’s just great to see everybody, even people I didn’t hang out with a lot in college.

"It’s like we just left each other and now we’re here staying in the dorms. It’s pretty fun."

 

Threatening to toss me out of my office, his bedroom!

Hewitt – It’s happened a couple of times in my five years at Wabash College and it happened again Saturday during Big Bash weekend. While prepping some pictures at mid afternoon a gentleman and his wife found their way upstairs to Kane House.

Kane House was built in 1900 as the home of Wabash’s fifth president William Patterson Kane. It has been a residence hall, fraternity, and, of course, is now home to Advancement.

All that Arturo Fontanes ’59 knows is that it was his dorm room when he attended Wabash. He announced he was here to "throw you out of my room!"

He laughed heartily and recalled his across-the-hall neighbors (now SID Brent Harris’ office) and where the beds sat in the room and how they lived in Kane House during the 50s.

Dr. Fontanes lives in Laguna Niguel, California, and is a retired physician.

It’s moments like these that often go unreported but are cherished during Big Bash Weekend.