The cool thing about our web site is the information changes almost hourly.  Our web team does an incredible job – if you’re not careful the content will change so quickly you might miss something. 

With that in mind, I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss the efforts of two all around great guys from the Class of 2004 – Dustin DeNeal and Mike Lynch.

Dustin was recently on campus to talk to our guys, in a very straight-forward manner, about alcohol and the law.  Dustin has the unique talent to be helpful and straightforward but not heavy-handed.  He’s also a Wabash man watching out for other Wabash men.  Dustin works at the powerhouse Indianapolis law firm of Baker and Daniels.

Mike Lynch works at Eli Lilly and his career/experiences there have been sensational.  Mike is one of those guys who has helped our students considering employment at Lilly understand what it takes to be successful in the interview process and working there.  Just like Dustin, Mike approaches it as one Wally helping another.

That Class of 2004 – they’ll be back for the Big Bash in June.  Catch Mike and Dustin … and several of their classmates this summer.

 "On January 24, 2009, Wabash College Kansas City area alums participated in our first quarterly Volunteer Day at Harvesters Community Food Network. This quarterly effort is a result of the experience we had October 11, 2008, during the Wabash Volunteer Day.

We separated and boxed canned goods, taped and marked them, and stacked the boxes onto pallets. Present wwere: Anthony Quandt ’04, EJ Becker ’94, Michael Cummings ’86, David Dingley ’81, and Ross Dillard ’07. Afterwards we went to lunch and enjoyed a roundtable discussion on various topics."

Here’s the view this morning.  Several more inches of snow fell overnight.  In fact, Tippecanoe County declared a snow emergency…I should still be at home in Lafayette!

At least it’s 19 degrees so it isn’t going anywhere soon.  Many local schools on two hour delays or just closed.  I watched the local news all evening long – no 2 hour delay for Wabash!

So, with no delay or cancel in sight, you just have to go to class!!!

For more winter photos taken today, click here.

I am sure you’ve seen the news concerning President-elect Barack Obama’s selection for the position of Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner.

It’s a small concern – he just didn’t get around to paying his taxes.

Well, Wabash alumnus Tom Ochsenschlager, Class of 1966 (and a Sigma Chi as classmate Jay Fisher points out), who serves as the vice president of tax for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, was quoted in a recent Fox News Report.

"It’s such a basic mistake that I kind of wonder if we know all the facts," Ochsenschlager said.

For the complete article, click here.

This is the view from the front of the law firm of Jones Day in Washington, DC. Greg Castanias ’87 and Scott Medsker ’03 work there.  Greg took the picture. As you can see, there’s a sea of humanity out there and you’re still a couple of blocks from the Mall.

Luckily, there was a great opportunity for the folks from Jones Day to see some of the Inauguration Day events from the roofdeck of the Jones Day building.  Here’s the great view on Inauguration Day.

Many thanks to Greg for letting me "borrow" his images.

You are simply not going to believe the house in this series of videos. Check it out. As you do, keep in mind that Wabash grad Eric Rowland, of Rowland Design in Indianapolis, designed most of the interior. Eric also designed the renovations for our Beta house and Trippet Hall.

In a tribute to the power of a liberal arts degree, I should report Eric majored in Econ!

Eric, about the computer with 8 screens and the built-in bike exercise machine…I want one! To see the videos, click here.

January 20, 2009. The Inauguration of President Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States and first African-American President. What a day!

I wandered the campus to take a few shots of the Wabash community taking in this historic day. For the photo album, click here.

Yesterday’s activities included a March across campus in memory of Dr. King. It was cold and windy but that didn’t deter anyone.

Upon their arrival at Trippet Hall, the group listened as Dr. Cain Hope Felder talked of the King legacy and also told them of the excitement in Washington, DC surrounding today’s Inauguration. Dr. Felder teaches New Testament Language and Literature and is the editor of The Journal of Religious Thought at Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, DC.

Photo: Dr. Felder talks to the marchers as longtime director of the Malcolm X Institute Horace Turner H’76 looks on.

Today is Martin Luther King Day. A little later today I’ll drift over to the Malcolm X Institute for Black Studies and see if there’s a photo op.

Tomorrow our country’s first African-American president, Barack Obama, will assume the office.

Priceless and Historic.

Our young men will someday talk about this week the way my generation mentions November 22, 1963 – the day President Kennedy was shot. We all know exactly where we were when we heard the news.

This young man, Gary James ’10, who I have introduced to you before, will be wearing that smile this week for sure. Gary put in countless hours working for the Obama campaign in the Montgomery County area.

President Pat White challenges our young men to go out and change the world. Junior Gary James already has.

No less than 2 of the 9 faithful readers have reported in with updates to recent blogs…Greg Castanias ’87 in Washington, DC and Jim Roper ’68 in Colorado Springs.

Weather Follow Up

A quick update: this photo from the the weather station at Grunge’s house this morning.

That’s -16.8 degrees!

From my good friend Jim Roper in Colorado Springs:

“Hey, Grunge!

Your iPod shot on the blog reminded me of the winter of ’67–actually the summer, when the pipefitters went on strike in late July. A wildcat strike, quite illegal, but the steelworkers honored it, and I was a card-carrying steelworker.

After the picket line went up, I stayed inside three days and nights working as a Third Helper at time-and-a-half wages in the Number Two Open Hearth at Youngstown Sheet and Tube. We made steel until all the pig iron was used up after the blast furnaces shut down. Made myself a golden egg there, but then the goose died. I lost a month’s wages, and would probably owe Wabash big time by springtime.

So I worked every day in the mill over Christmas break. This era was the heyday of American steel-making. If I worked a double-shift, I could make more than my dentist, but that’s another story.

Day one, Saturday, driving past a bank clock/thermometer in East Chicago 6 a.m. enroute to the lakefront, I noticed the temperature showed minus 25. You gotta love the Region. A Christmas Story, that movie where the kid freezes his tongue to the flagpole, was filmed there.

At the mill they put me on the labor gang and sent us to break the ice between the rails in the railroad switches. Those switches were located between tall, quarter-mile-long north-oriented buildings, and the channeled wind roared through at thirty to forty knots. Luckily, this was before wind chill and OSHA were invented.

To this day I remember the first mighty swing of the pick-axe. I brought that thing down with linebacker ferocity and it stopped on the surface of the six-inch thick ice, leaving a tiny white spot. My arms reverberated like in a roadrunner cartoon. This would be a day to remember.

Some of the crew complained to the foreman, and he told us to build a fire. Right. By ten o’clock I was literally numb and seriously considering my immediate plans. Exactly at that point, the foreman returned and yelled, “Roper, go down to furnace number three. They need a third helper.” Music to my ears. I worked mostly double-shifts (on the furnace) right through the holidays and even logged second-helper time, a big step up. Wabash got paid.

Yeah, it gets cold up there!”

Inauguration Follow Up

From my good friend Greg Castanias:

“FYI: Tom Halverson ’87 and his wife and daughters are coming from NY to stay with us this coming week — we’ll be viewing the Inauguration from the Jones Day roofdeck and squiring our brides to two inaugural balls.

I also have it on good authority that Marc Nichols (class of 1992) has scored inauguration tickets.”

As you can see from the shot blow, the view from the Jones Day roofdeck is simply awe-inspiring.