Transylvania is welcoming a multitude of new faculty and staff this year. There are a total of five new professors this semester, and over the next month The Rambler will be introducing each of them to the campus. This is a way for the members of Transylvania to become familiar with the new professors as well as to truly welcome them to the Transy community.
Newest professor of political science, Nina Barzachka, is by no means new to the liberal arts or the small school atmosphere. Barzachka, originally from Bulgaria, went to high school in the United States and was highly encouraged to continue her college education here as well, especially at a liberal arts institution.
“There aren’t really any in Europe,” said Barzachka of liberal arts schools. “It’s actually something really unique to the United States.”
Barzachka attended Roanoke College where she double majored in International Relations and French. Barzachka was originally going to study art as well, but decided she did not have time. However, art is still a hobby and interest to Barzachka.
After Roanoke College, Barzachka attended University of Virginia where she received her Ph.D. in comparative politics. Barzachka worked as a teaching assistant there and eventually was able to teach her own class.
“It turned out that I really love it and it’s a really good match for my personality. Starting graduate school, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be a college professor. I was considering going into non-governmental sector work. I considered going to law school, but I found that teaching is what I really need to do because it’s such a good match for my personality,” said Barzachka. “There’s something almost accidental about how I found it, but now that I’ve found it as a profession I love it. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”
Barzachka went on to teach at Mary Baldwin College and Gettysburg College before coming to Transylvania. She was drawn here because the small liberal arts school is similar to her own education, and also because the position was in her specialty of comparative politics.
Her interest in politics actually stemmed from experiencing political change as a child.
“When communism fell in Bulgaria in 1989, I was eight. I observed that process. There was a sense of surprise because everything happened really suddenly and really quickly. In the beginning you could even say there was a sense of disbelief. All of the sudden people were extremely interested in politics. Before that, nobody discussed politics, or at least they wouldn’t discuss it publicly, but after that politics became everything,” said Barzachka.
Although she was young when it happened, Barzachka actually remembers the experience very well. She explains that her family talked about it a lot at home. Her grandfather was very involved in local politics after the fall of communism and her mother and grandmother served as election observers. Barzachka herself worked as an election observer while working on her dissertation in Bulgaria.
She spent six months in Bulgaria “interviewing some of the politicians who participated in the decision making that led to democratization in Bulgaria as well as the people who decided what the rules for the first democratic election have to be.”
Barzachka’s dissertation was on how votes are counted for elections. Her current work is looking at protests in social movements, which she is incorporating into classes at Transy with her FYRS class (First-Year Research Seminar) and May Term course.
Barzachka has enjoyed working here so far and is excited to continue.
“This is a great place to work. The students are wonderful, they’re very smart, and they read. I’ve noticed they do the work and they’re ambitious. It’s a real pleasure,” said Barzachka. “The faculty and the staff have been really welcoming. It’s been a very smooth transition for me.”
On Oct. 20, the Kentucky Supreme Court invalidated Louisville’s recent minimum wage increase with a 6-1 vote, which also invalidated Lexington’s minimum wage increase that aimed to gradually raise the city’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by July 1, 2018. Lexington’s minimum wage will be reduced to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 that was made effective in 2009, but Transylvania students with Federal Work Study jobs will continue to receive $8.20 an hour.
“Lexington and Louisville have a different status than the other cities in the state,” said Political Science Professor Dr. Don Dugi. For example, Lexington is considered a merged government, and Louisville has the status of a Class One city. Because of this, the two cities have what Dugi defined as home rule, or “the ability to determine rules and regulations, ordinances for itself.” Because of the powers granted by home rule, Lexington and Louisville local governments assumed that they had the authority to make decisions regarding increases in their minimum wage
Most minimum wage jobs are only part-time jobs, allowing employers to have labor without having to supply benefits.
“Ordinarily, people have to pay rent, they have to pay for food, [and] they have to pay for transportation. But for people who are working less than full-time jobs, they have to add a fourth major component, and that’s insurance. And you could add a fifth to that, too, if they try to provide for their retirement,” said Dugi.
Without benefits, minimum wage workers are often forced to obtain multiple part-time jobs to pay for necessities. Due to having no benefits, they work day to day, knowing that they are only one illness away from being on the streets. Transy students do not necessarily have the worry of ending up without a roof over their heads, but countless students enrolled at Transylvania, along with students at other colleges, must work multiple jobs in order to pay for tuition and other necessities of everyday life.
As a solution, Dugi suggested some form of standardization. “The easiest way to deal with the minimum wage problem is to have the national government establish a wage.” Standardization would restrict variability that exists between states and, in Kentucky’s case, cities, as well.
Dugi pointed out that the issue is federalism. “Having fifty different sets of rules about salaries, about education, about all these different things — it makes for a very disjointed society.”
The justice who had the dissenting opinion in the vote concerning the minimum wage in Lexington emphasized that the state constitution suggests the national minimum wage be just that- a minimum amount of money that employers must pay their employees, while still allowing for employees to be paid greater amounts depending on more localized circumstances.
“If people make more money… it provides a tremendous stimulus to the economy because they’re going to be spending that money,” said Dugi, demonstrating benefits of a higher minimum wage.
Dugi notes the short-term disadvantages of a minimum wage increase, such as high cost for employers. “But that can be offset by increased sells and things like that,” says Dugi.
While minimum wage is worth considering for economic improvement, there is also a question about the number of available jobs.
“The jobs that used to exist in industry have been largely outsourced… Corporations are now multinational corporations, and they move about the world to wherever they think they have the best tax advantage, the cheapest labor.” Due to globalization, Dugi said, “We don’t have a lot of options for people who are minimum wage employees.” The jobs that do exist for minimum wage earners are mainly in the service industry.
Dugi considered the Supreme Court decision as part of a larger picture, having to do with inequality in the US. “It bothers me that we keep a fairly high level of working poor in this country because if people are going to have a full life it means being able to participate in all aspects of life, including things like politics. If you’re worried about where your next meal’s coming from, you’re not going to be particularly concerned about what’s going on in the world or what’s going on in your community other than putting food on the table. That seems to me to diminish human life rather dramatically.”
While employers have the option to reverse their employees’ pay rates, Transylvania students under the Work Study program are fortunate in that they can continue to receive higher wages for less work. According to recently-retired Assistant Director of Financial Aid Dave Cecil, “President Carey has decided that the hourly pay rate for Federal Work Study students will remain at $8.20.” The fact that many Transylvania students must work off-campus jobs, often earning minimum wage along with on-campus Work Study jobs, shows the inability for such low wages in order to be sustainable. Students at Transy already have an advantage in that they are accumulating career opportunities. However, this is not a reality for many individuals, who will spend their lives in minimum wage jobs positions.
There is a lot change occurring within Residence Life and student housing. Many decisions will be finalized in the coming months after all students who are moving, are settled in their new room assignments.
This upcoming winter semester, in January, the students currently living in Rosenthal and Poole will be moving to the two new buildings. Upperclassmen living in Forrer will also have the opportunity to move to the new halls.
A new development that will begin this winter term is that students who want to live together in a particular section of one of the new halls focused on one major theme will be able to do so. Similarly to how Greek Students live together in their respective chapters in one wing of a building, groups of students can apply to live together under various themes that prompt people to want to live together. This is called Petitioned Group Housing. It will continue in Fall 2017.
“We made that opportunity available to all the students who are moving to the new halls,” said Dean of Students Michael Covert. “Right now the only groups that live together are Greek so we want to provide the opportunity for group living around a common theme in other community engagement areas.”
Right now, the only buildings eligible for petitioned group housing are the new halls. With the coming decisions that Residence Life has to make, this opportunity may be expanded to other halls as well.
The interiors of Bassett Hall and the currently unnamed new hall 3 are currently being finished, making them available for residence in January at the beginning of winter term. Rosenthal and Poole will be closed for the semester for regular maintenance, but will reopen in fall of 2017.
Students who are moving were able to fill out a preference sheet on whether or not they wanted to keep their roommates, suite-mates, and any other requests they had. Residence life is currently in the process of assigning rooms in attempt to fulfill the requests that were made.
“All three buildings are very similar. It is the same essential footprint from Dalton-Voigt, to Bassett, to building number three,” said Covert.
The only major changes occurring with the layout of dorms is that the half wall that is present in Dalton-Voigt will not exist in Bassett. Also, the four sinks for the residents of the suite will be inside the shared bathroom rather than in the individual dorm rooms. It is the same set up in building 3, except that the bathroom is not shared, therefore the showers have shower glass panel doors considering you are private behind locked doors.
Fraternities are being moved to the bottom two floors of new hall 3. Currently, the fraternities on campus are residing in Rosenthal, which is apartment-style living. Poole is suite-style living, which includes two dorm rooms connected by one shared bathroom. Bassett Hall will be suite-style living, whereas New Hall 3 will be apartment style.
“When we know we are closing Rosenthal, we wanted to try to be equitable in the spaces and provide the same kind of spaces for the fraternities,” said Covert. “We are doing the same thing with the fraternities that we did with the sororities where they will each have a wing on one hall. There will be two fraternities per hall.”
“I like the way the rooms are set up in Rosenthal, and it sounds like the new rooms are going to be set up similarly, which I like. I also really enjoy that we are getting the hall dynamics back,” said Pi Kappa Alpha President Dustin Kiser. “I would have much rather it not be a wing where we split a floor with another fraternity, but I am happy for a common space.”
The decision about the location of the fraternities for this winter term concerned some students. Within the housing meeting for transitioning residents, much of the concern regarding this issue occurred because students felt that the explanation offered regarding the decision of student placement was inadequate.
“I don’t like to think poorly of our administration or of our Residence Life staff, but I asked them about their decision hoping to get some sort of explanation, and was not happy with how they responded. They basically said, ‘we cannot disclose that information,’” said Young. “To me and many other students that expressed an opinion, the lack of an explanation is worse because it gives everybody the impression that they are hiding something. It also gives us the room to speculate, which led us to think that they were being overtly sexist. No explanation was offered, so if it was a simple reason, they would have said it.”
While students felt that the meeting was vague, Covert disagreed.
“I didn’t feel like we were trying to withhold information. We tried to answer the questions that people had. We gave the opportunity to people to see us on an individual basis after the meeting, or on their own time if need be,” he said.
Issues concerning sexism in the decisions arose due to the fact the sorority women have to share bathrooms, and fraternity men have their own bathrooms.
“Without another explanation, I am inclined to assume that this is sexist, because nobody said otherwise,” said Young. “It was insulting to me that they did not feel that they needed to come into the meeting with some sort of explanation for their decisions. It is not unreasonable for the student body to question this. It is also unreasonable for the sororities to be given space on campus that is not at the same level that the fraternities are going to be getting.”
“Do I believe it was intentionally sexist, probably not,” said Kiser. “However I can see how that can be an issue, and is definitely a reasonable conversation to have.”
Covert clarified that the decision wasn’t made with regards to sex differences, but made so that the suite-style Bassett Hall could be used for recruitment events.
“The shared bathroom is better for these events because it gives us more options for groups of prospective students to share a space, than be isolated in an individual room,” he said. “It enhances communication between new students.”
The housing transition from fall to winter is only temporary. Even sororities, who are now living in Dalton-Voigt for a second school year, have the potential to be moved as well with all of the new living options.
“This is just for second semester, and then we will relook at all of the living situations for Fall 2017,” said Covert. “We know that is stressful for some students, so we want to make those decisions, and where groups are going to be as soon as possible.”
Covert hopes the new halls will attract students to enroll at Transy.
“I think the new buildings will be great with admission,” said Covert. “The students are pleased with the better facilities, common spaces, and TempurPedic mattresses. It is a benefit to our current students who have access to better living conditions, and our incoming students will see the new halls as an attractive piece that contributed to Transylvania being a fantastic institution.”
There is no doubt that everyone is aware that on November 8th, 2016 the nation will be voting for the next President of the United States. Although there’s a chance that some do not realize that in Kentucky, along with your vote for the president, you will be casting your vote for your senators and representatives, as well.
Voter apathy and ignorance towards state elections is a problem in not just Kentucky, but many states in America. So the goal of this article is to get you up to date on senators and representatives that are in office and what the election generally looks like.
Kentucky State Senate Election:
Nineteen of the 38 total seats are up for election this year, and 90% of districts in Kentucky have an incumbent running. Only one district has a party running unopposed, in which four republican candidates ran.
Currently, Kentucky’s Republican Party holds the Majority in Kentucky’s State Senate, and has for sixteen years. There are a total of 27 republicans sitting in the senate as of October 2016.
Kentucky’s Democratic Party has only 11 senators and will need to win some big races in order to even out the senate. Notable races include: Districts 5, 17, 21, and 27 where democratic candidates are up against Republican incumbents.
The only Fayette county senator up for election is Reginald Thomas (D), and he is running un-opposed.
Kentucky State House of Representatives Election:
The Republican State Leadership Committee claimed that the Kentucky House is one of the six chambers that are most likely to become Republican Majority in 2016. Eight districts are without an incumbent. Republicans have an upper hand this time around, they [Republicans] were only competitive in about 14 districts in 2014 but it is around 66 districts now.
Kentucky’s Republican party holds 46 seats in the House, they are expected to gain majority after this election. Republicans have fielded candidates in 91 of the 100 House districts. Rep. Jonathan Shell (R), the House GOP campaign chairman, said that “House Republicans accomplished our recruitment goals for 2016. We have candidates in every corner of the state, in nearly every district. We have inspiring candidates who will bring a new majority to the people’s House and who will govern this state the way Kentuckians deserve.”
Kentucky’s Democratic party currently holds majority in the House by a ratio of 53:46 with one vacant seat. The democratic party has hit some road blocks down the road with the election of Matt Bevin and the unprecedented Republican majority in the state government right now. The Democratic Party has lost four members since November 2015—two resigned and two switched to the Republican Party.
County
Name
Party
Fayette
Rep. Robert Benvenuti III
(R)
88
(CD 6)
Rep. George Brown Jr.
(D)
77
Rep. Kelly Flood
(D)
75
Rep. James Kay
(D)
56
Rep. Stan Lee
(R)
45
Rep. Russ A. Meyer
(D)
39
Rep. Sannie Overly
(D)
72
Rep. Ruth Ann Palumbo
(D)
76
Rep. Chuck Tackett
(D)
62
Rep. Susan Westrom
(D)
79
All the representatives are up for election and 3 of the candidates are running unopposed.
In recap, it seems that Republicans will keep majority in the Senate and will, of course, still maintain their presence in the executive branch with a republican Governor, Lt. Governor, Treasurer, and Auditor. The scary thing is that the Republicans may capture the majority in the house as well.
The divide between parties in today’s politics is extreme so the thought of the Executive and Legislative branch of a government being dominated by one party is a problem, it really makes things difficult. It limits the voice of an entire party, while legislation may be passed more easily since a majority will vote in the same interests, these ideas being passed may not completely represent the voice of all people. The republicans have a substantial amount of money compared to the democrats and they are using it. As most know, money runs campaigns nowadays and this makes it much easier for the richer party to succeed.
This article is essentially to inform people of what they should expect at the polls on November the 8th, so find out your representatives and senators and make a decision on who will best support you. As I said, state governments are one of the most neglected parts of our government and is ultimately very important. So get out and make an educated vote!
(Above: The mold caused by a leak found under junior Joseph Gearon’s sink in Rosenthal, which was quickly cleaned by Physical Plant.)
Mold problems are not uncommon in central Kentucky. Homes, businesses and universities deal with this issue, and Transylvania is no exception. Since school has begun, there have been multiple reports of mold entering students’ rooms in Rosenthal, Dalton-Voigt and Forrer residence halls.
As for Rosenthal, the situation is much more subjective to the individual room. There was a case this summer where a faucet had been leaking, and it caused a collection of mold under the kitchen sink. This could affect the health of those who live in the residence halls and will require the aid of a mold inspection service to clear up – see this service here.
Junior Joseph Gearon said, “Physical Plant came three times that day and responded very quickly to my maintenance request. They were very polite and handled the problem very quickly. My room is now mold-free.”
As far as Dalton-Voigt goes, the problem occurred with the heating of the building. Dean Michael Covert said that the building’s temperature was not being controlled properly in the vacant rooms at the end of July. He referred to these as “operational problems,” due to not regulating the temperature that would have lowered the humidity.
“Multiple students were given dehumidifiers in their rooms, as well as Physical Plant looking at better temperature control. These were short-term solutions while we have been looking at more regulated measures for both Dalton-Voigt and the two new buildings for long-term solutions,” said Covert.
He stressed that if any isolated problems continue to occur, then students should contact Physical Plant. However, residence life has received scattered reports of incidents within Forrer, so Physical Plant has taken a deeper investigation. One first-year, Katherine Lewellen, moved off campus because the mold in her Forrer room was causing allergic reactions.
“After living in the dorm for a week it became extremely hard for me to breathe, especially at night,” Lewellen said in an email. “I would sometimes wake up at 2 a.m. in the morning unable to breathe and have to drive home to sleep…My symptoms persisted even after they cleaned my room.”
Lewellen was granted a room change after providing physician’s documentation of her mold allergy, but said, “unfortunately I was still not able to sleep there or spend any extended amount of time in the room.”
“After making an effort for two months to live in the dorm I made the decision to move back home,” she said.
Covert said that they inspected the roof and plumbing system for leaks, but found none. Naturally, checking the roof was one of the first things that was done. When buildings normally have mold problems, it’s usually caused by a leak in the roof. This is why it’s so important that roofing companies like Division Kangaroof (visit website here) are called out if people ever notice mold in their homes. It could be a sign that the roof needs some maintenance work. However, in this case, there seemed to be no roof problems at all. The roof was well maintained and didn’t seem to be the cause of the mold. When looking at the shower exhaust systems, they found two that needed to be replaced, as well as one that needed to be cleaned. Additionally, they found that about half of the dryer ducts within Forrer were not blowing air out of the building. This problem was fixed and a booster fan was applied in order to help ensure that the air leaves the building.
Transylvania Residence Life is addressing this potential problem and taking proactive measures to make sure that the building is safe. Covert said that student safety is their number one priority. One of these proactive steps was hiring Airsource to come in and take air samples of Forrer Hall during fall break. The results have not yet been received, but they are expected to come back to normal. However, if they come back problematic, then the university will take swift and ample measures to make sure the building is properly cleaned.
Additionally, a university official said that all reported incidents have been taken care of, and that “we just spot-checked over 100 rooms and didn’t find anything.” Overall, any mold problems that may have been created over the summer should now be taken care of and handled. If not, Residence Life urges students to contact them or someone from Physical Plant, so that they can take care of the problem. The Rambler will release another article on this issue when the AirSource results come back.
Each year, Transylvania University brings in a Delcamp visiting author to share their work with undergraduate students. This year, the visiting author was Appalachian writer Robert Gipe.
On Thursday, Oct. 27, Gipe spoke about his graphic novel Trampoline in Carrick Theatre. His novel takes place in a coalfield county in Eastern Kentucky and is illustrated with his own black and white doodles. Gipe currently resides in Harlan, Kentucky. In fact, he was recently named the Harlan County Educator of the year.
Maurice Manning, professor of English as Transylvania, introduced the first speaker of the evening as an academic woman who is extremely knowledgeable about the field of contemporary Appalachian literature as well in the know regarding new genres of literature, such as the graphic novel. Marianna Worthington is currently a professor of communication as well as the Co-Founder of an online journal called Still: The Journal. Worthington introduced Gipe as “a true protector of Appalachian people, culture, and language,” which is especially true of his graphic novel Trampoline.
According to Worthington, Gipe’s novel has managed to take the language and stories of contemporary coalfield residents and put them into words in a fictionalized documentary. Furthermore, Worthington reminded the audience that the illustrations in the graphic novel are a vital part of the story and that you can’t read Trampoline simply by looking at the prose. Finally, she explained that in Appalachian storytelling it is common for the narrator to be a female. Staying true to Appalachian tradition, Gipe’s narrator is a 15-year-old girl from Eastern Kentucky.
Gipe filled the room with his dry humor from the moment he stepped onstage. As he prepared to read an excerpt from Trampoline, he assured us that he’d make it quick because, “I have to finish my new book by Thanksgiving.”
As he read from his novel his deep, southern accent brought the book’s characters to life. Hearing the character’s voices as they’re supposed to sound out loud made the story seem natural, realistic, and relatable. When he finished, he shared information about his new book, Weed Eater, which is about the same characters but set in 2004.
The main character of both books, Dawn, is a realistic and relatable character. She doesn’t have a filter and says exactly what she’s thinking, which often includes obscene language and insults directed at those around her. The audience burst into laughter when the character of Dawn said she was, “thinkin’ about how the world was my g*ddamn oyster.”
Check out Gipe’s novel Trampoline to hear from a relatable and comedic narrator who doesn’t take her life, or herself, too seriously. His next book, Weed Eater, will be released in the spring of 2018. Until then, you can read about Robert Gipe and his work on his website.
(Above: The man who cursed the Cubs, Billy Sianis, and his pet goat.)
Sports have deep roots in superstition, as interesting a connection as that may be. Athletes often put stock in rituals that some might deem somewhat silly. We’ve all heard our granddad who played peewee football with slightly archaic rules or our former high school hoops star aunt tell stories about superstitions they or their teammates had. Some of these stories can be rather spooky, while others are just down-right amusing to anyone listening on.
One sports tradition that is relevant currently is the application of curses, especially as a way of explaining teams who have failed to win a championships in a long time. In baseball, this phenomenon is especially common. It is fitting that the World Series takes place partly in October, because superstition is everywhere to be found in this year’s matchup between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians. The Cubs have failed to win the World Series since 1908, but their curse–the Curse of the Billy Goat–was not extant until 1945 when Billy Sianis was asked to leave a World Series game vs. the Detroit Tigers because his pet goat’s smell offended other fans. In response, Sianis placed a curse on his formerly favorite team, one which they have suffered from until at least 2016. However, the Cubs are looking to “reverse the curse” this year, as they play in the World Series against another team who have had a curse placed on them. According to some Cleveland Indians fans, the Curse of Rocky Colavito, onset by an unpopular trade involving the titular athlete, has prevented the club from winning a World Series for the last 56 years.
Perhaps American football fans are more familair with the Madden Curse, supposedly responsible for the subsequent decline in play or injury of the featured cover athlete, a trend that has been observed in years prior.
On a lighter note, pre-game rituals are a part of many athletes’ mantra, and they tend to invade every sport in some form or another. Michael Jordan always wore North Carolina (his alma mater) shorts under his Chicago Bulls shorts, and Corey Perry of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks attributes some of his success to an eight-step ritual he completes before every game.
Of course, superstition is present among Transy’s student-athletes as well. First-year lacrosse player Katie Smith said, “I have always worn my hair in a braid during games. I guess since it is a familiar feeling, it helps calm me and makes it really feel like I’m in the game.”
Muhlenberg County High School athletic director Jerry Hancock recalled some habits of his playing and coaching days: “I would eat a grilled chicken sandwich before every single game when I was playing, and when I was coaching, I always wore the same red sportscoat with a ‘Takin’ Care of Business’ pin I got at Elvis’s Graceland. Regardless of whether I was playing or coaching, I made sure to use the far left urinal before the game began.”
Both of the superstitious athletes touched on the consistency of their respective rituals providing a sense of calmness for the game.
In contrast, Transy sophomore golf player Jenna Soderling said, “I don’t like to rely on superstition when I’m playing golf at all. I work really hard at my game, and I prefer to trust the practice I put in.”
In reality, there is no way to verify any superstition associated with sports, but it is nonetheless a fun and sometimes spooky topic to discuss among athletes.
On Tuesday, Oct. 26, faculty members Dr. Larry Barnes, Brittany Benningfield, Angela Eaton, Dr. Daniel Koehn, Dr. Timothy Polashek, Dr. Barbara J. Rogers, Zoé Strecker, and Dr. Loren Tice, along with Dr. Polashek’s brother Matthew Polashek performed and displayed original art.
The first piece displayed was Strecker’s “Pine Mountain Forest Portal,” a video animation projected onto a screen in on the stage of Carrick. Originally designed for the apse spaces of Christ Cathedral, where it was first debuted. Strecker’s piece reflected what looks like a kaleidoscope filled with colors from photos and videos of the old growth forests on Pine Mountain in southeastern Kentucky. Shaped as a mandala, Strecker’s piece plays a reflection to the mountain area and all it’s wildlife and all of it’s diverse and natural life. Dr. Polashek’s piece, “A Prayer For Our Earth: Pine Mountain” also tributes Pine Mountain and the conservancy of the area. Set in the middle of the stage was a small stand holding Pope Francis’ “Prayer for Our Earth” illuminated by a warm lamp shining down on it. Polashek recorded sounds from the top of Pine Mountain and also his daughter reciting the prayer. Together he composed these recordings into an emotional piece relaying the importance of our earth and it’s need for our care. With the music purple, blue, green, and red lights illuminated the back drop of the stage and moved along with Polashek’s composition while the lamp dimmed and raised it’s light with the volume of thematic. Together each piece of artwork presented the audience with a captivating tribute to the Pine Mountain Area.
Dr. Polashek’s presentation of “A Prayer For Our Earth: Pine Mountain”
Polashek presented another composition, “Garden Rain” which Angela Eaton played on the piano. The melodic tune carried softly on the piano, putting the audience into a melancholic trance as Eaton’s hands danced across the keys. Polashek wrote the piece in dedication to his grandparents: Rosaline Polashek, C. Robert Pedersen, and Elizabeth Pedersen, “the latter who passed away while I was editing the recorded takes of Garden Rain for release on my Wood and Wire CD,” Polashek wrote in his description of the piece. On piano after Eaton was Dr. Barbara Rogers who performed four original compositions from a set of songs she titled “Maine Musings.” Rogers chose to accompany poems written by her great-aunt Ramona Carle Woodbury for a small volume titled Along the St. George’s. Singing each piece was Ms. Brittany Benningfield and Dr. Daniel Koehn. Benningfield sang of a wish for summer to remain and in another song of a cat’s devotion to its naps. Koehn’s voice carried the story of a misfit grandfather who never lived to see his work be revered and his second song, the beauty of the Earth. Roger’s piano brought the anecdotes to life with emotion and passion for each tale.
Dr. Larry Barnes was the next to bring technology back to the stage with his piece “Max Does Tai Chi 24” which combines two of his passions–Tai Chi and computer programming. Barnes, who earned a black belt from grandmaster Sin The in 2012, performed Tai Chi 24 the first form that a student will learn in front of a camera that monitored his movements. Each movement of Barnes’ controlled the instrumentation of the music playing, which in turn created a completely unique and original composition. To put Barnes into a meditative state, a drone continuously played with the music and carried his movements. Moved by the energy of his movement, Barnes shook from his feet with the energy flowing through his body. Something that he said before his performance is not his own doing, but caused by the energy that Tai Chi builds.
Dr. Barnes performs “Max does Tai Chi 24”
After his Tai Chi performance, Barnes performed his composition “Wander Fantasy: Hibernia” on piano. The piece was inspired from the area of Hibernia, referred to as “the most hideous land with the foulest weather, densest terrain, and the most barbaric, primitive race of people.” Because of this the area was left to maintain its own culture and music, which preserved the sean-nos’ style of singing, springy and highly-adorned songs about love and trouble, sung in Gaelic. Barnes’ piece, although lacking words, did not lack emotion within its sounds. The piece showed Barnes’ creativity and dedication to the creation of music. Following Barnes on the piano was Eaton and Dr. Loren Tice who debuted a piece called “The Heist,” composed by Dr. Polashek for two people to play as a duet. Sounding like organized chaos, the piece was hard to wrap your head around as Eaton’s and Tice’s hands beat across the keys, displaying styles of many different genres, shifting in rhythm, cadence, and key.
Dr. Polashek and his brother Matthew Polashek ended the show with two different electronic pieces. “Warp Speed”, a piece played on the saxophone by Matthew was manipulated and warped electronically as it was played. Matthew controlled the electronic component of his piece with three pedals underneath his feet, creating a sound more alien-like than that of a saxophone. Dr. Timothy Polashek then took the stage with his brother and performed their piece titled “Bluetooth Rave,” where the two created a “jam session” controlled by Timothy Polashek’s Wii remote and a double bass bow with attached sensors to monitor his movement, while Matthew Polashek played an electronic wind instrument. The two created sounds that are not expected to come from a collegiant theater, but from an electronic music festival. The brother’s enjoyed themselves while playing together and interacted well as their unorthodox instruments came to life.
Brothers Matthew and Timothy Polashek perform “Bluetooth Rave”
331 North Broadway: you might know it as the International House, or as the house where The Rambler’s editor-in-chief lives. Or, you might not know the house at all.
331 is located right on Broadway, next door to Forrer Hall. As of last year, it was no longer called the International House, because the language learning requirement no longer applied. It contains four living units, each housing four people.
One day this summer, one of my roommates sent a group-text, and I’ll paraphrase: “I was doing some research on our house, and found out it used to be a black college!”
A conversation about ghosts ensued, but my curiosity was sparked in a way only a journalist’s mind would be. Was this true? How old is our house, anyway? Who used to live here?
I decided to pursue these questions and research the history of the house at 331 North Broadway. What followed was an action-packed trek through layers of Lexington history, filled with cemetery hunts, archive searches and cold phone calls to non-existent lawyers. This is the story of my search, and the fascinating history it revealed about the house, the Northside neighborhood, and even Transylvania itself.
A photo taken of 331 North Broadway at an unknown date, but likely at some time in the 1960’s or 70’s. Used with permission of the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center.
First searches, first residents
I started where any millennial might: typing “331 North Broadway Lexington history” into a search bar.
Through a helpful online resource from the Northside Neighborhood Association, and from Kentucky historian C. Frank Dunn’s book ‘Old Houses of Lexington,’ I found out that 331 was built in 1841 “by and for” a man named Perry W. Gaugh.
Perry W. Gaugh’s resting place up the road from Transy at the Old Third Street Episcopalian Cemetery. findagrave.com
Gaugh was a carpenter by trade, and designed the whole house himself in the Greek Revival style popular in the antebellum time period. His family had apparently lived in Lexington for a while: his father, called the “old house-joiner,” was Michael Gaugh, a business partner of the architect and Maryland native Captain Mathias Shryock. Perry Gaugh bought the land for the house from Cincinnatus Shryock, Mathias’ son, who was also a well-known architect.
If the Shryock family name sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because you know the name of Gideon Shryock, who designed and rebuilt Old Morrison after it was destroyed by fire. Gideon was Cincinnatus’s older brother. He was the third child of Mathias and his wife Mary, who settled in Lexington in the late 1780s.
The historical marker outside Old Morrison mentioning Gideon Shryock’s contribution to its construction. Gideon was the older brother of Cincinnatus Shryock, from whom Perry Gaugh bought the land to build his house.
The Shryock family home used to be located on the land where Transylvania University sits now. The Gaugh and Shryock families were apparently very close. For example, Mary Shryock’s maiden name is Gaugh. Perhaps she was Michael’s sister – but I had to resist digging too deeply into family trees. The family connections in historic North Lexington are endless.
The resting place of Mathias and Mary Shryock, also in the Episcopalian Cemetery. According to the photographer’s notes on Find A Grave, “Mathias’ name and information is one one side, Mary’s on the other. Unfortunately, they were impossible to photograph well on the day of our visit, however you could make out the names, primarily if you are very close. This information is almost completely lost.” findagrave.com
Based on the snippet from Dunn’s ‘Old Houses,’ in 1853 the house passed to a Lexington merchant named Leonard Taylor, who granted it to his daughter, Mrs. Mary A. Schoonmaker. But there was a problem: Mary A. Schoonmaker was nowhere to be found.
According to Find A Grave – a surprisingly useful tool throughout this search – Leonard had a sister named Mary Green, and a daughter named Mary Spencer, but “Schoonmaker” appears nowhere.
I was also at the end of the deed chain. Dunn’s book gave no ownership information past 1853. I thought to myself, “Well, I could settle for what I found, or I could go all out.” Guess what I chose?
City Directories
I sent a short email to the folks in the Kentucky Room at the Lexington Public Library, asking for any information they had on the house’s ownership after Leonard Taylor. Their email reference librarian, JP, emailed me right back with more than enough information from the city directories archived in the room. Sure enough, a ‘Mary A. Schoonmaker’ had never been listed at the house’s address.
According to the directories, Mr. Taylor lived in the “house west side Broadway between 3d and 4th” until as late as 1865. This makes sense, because this is the year he died. His widow, Ann, is listed at the address – now numbered “202” – as late as 1878. This also makes sense; Ann Taylor died in 1879, and there is no “Taylor” on the next directory listing in 1881.
The gravesite of Leonard Taylor and his wife, Ann Taylor, in the Lexington Cemetery.
The next directory record comes in 1887, when the house number is now “165” and a man named J.M. Kimbrough lives there.
According to the website of the Lexington History Museum, Kimbrough moved to Lexington in 1879 (in his late 20’s) to become manager of the Ashland Distillery. He stayed manager until he died at age 39, of typhoid fever, in 1890.
Kimbrough was active in the Lexington community. He helped found the Chamber of Commerce, served on City Council and, interestingly, was appointed a director of the Eastern Kentucky Lunatic Asylum a couple blocks north of 331.
Kimbrough may have risen further in Lexington government ranks were it not for his unexpected early death. I’ll admit, I was a little sad when I realized what a short life he’d lived.
Kimbrough’s gravesite in his hometown of Cynthiana, Kentucky. findagrave.com
The 1893 directory lists a man named T.L. Hocker at 165. Tillman Logan Hocker was mentioned in one place on the Lexington History website, as the short-lived President of Headley & Peck Distilling Company, Inc. He probably got the job from his father, James Hocker, one of Headley’s banking partners.
The burial place of T. L. Hocker in the Lexington Cemetery.
He became president in 1891, and they did two seasons of brewing. Then the Panic of 1893 happened. Hocker resigned on New Year’s Day the following year because they were unable to pay his salary.
Not shockingly, the next year, 1895, lists a Dr. D.A. Coyle at the 165 address. Coyle appears in the next and final Kentucky Room directory in 1902. The directory states the following about that year:
“In the spring of 1901 the City Council passed an ordinance authorizing the marking of all streets by suitable metallic signs at the corners and ordered the re-numbering of all buildings throughout the city on the plan in vogue in the principal cities of the country…and is commonly called the ‘Pennsylvania’ plan.”
Thus, 165 became 331. This change is fortuitously noted, putting “165” in parentheses after Coyle’s listing.
JP’s email was an excellent starting point, but now I was left with a few gaps: the resident from 1879-1887 and the residents after 1902. I knew I had to get away from the computer screen if I wanted to get a complete picture.
Gathering documents
One Sunday, I walked over to the public library to visit the Kentucky Room in person. One of the workers there, David, pointed me in a couple directions.
First, I was introduced to the paper archives: the directories JP had perused for me, the Sanborn fire maps, history books like Dunn’s. Then, he showed me the Property Value Administration’s online archive search tool. But what was most helpful was his advice to go next door to the PVA itself. So, that’s where I went next.
After walking through a half-broken door, turning over my license to an old security guard and sticking a printed name badge to my shoulder, I was pointed to the sixth floor of the County Government Office. In a matter of minutes after arriving on the floor, a friendly employee had scanned and printed the deed transfer records for me from 1963 to 1991.
The assessment record I received from the PVA.
She suggested I try the Historical Preservation office on the second floor for more dated information. After creeping through some long, fluorescent, yellowed hallways, I found the cozy office tucked in a corner, decorated with framed photos of historic Lexington.
I waited for a distant voice to finish its phone call and then rang the bell for an employee. A tall man with a goatee came around the corner. I asked if he had information on the ownership of an old house, and he replied that their office doesn’t work with record-keeping so much as it works to fulfill Kentucky’s requirements under the National Historic Preservation Act.
I was about to thank him and walk away when he asked me what I was researching. After I explained a little further, he said he may have something useful. He walked back into a storage room and came back with a binder filled with historical inventory records compiled in 1984.
One of these documents was an individual inventory form for the “Perry W. Gaugh House.” One glance told me it would be useful. While he scanned the document for me, we discussed the emotional aspects of historical research.
“You get really invested in the lives of the people you read about,” he said, in paraphrase. “You get sad when something happens to them.”
“Yeah, you read that someone died of typhus when they were 40, and you say, ‘aw, that’s sad,'” I replied, in paraphrase, referring to Kimbrough.
I then thanked the employee and headed back to LexPub to start filling in the gaps.
Filling in the gaps
The inventory form turned out to be exactly what I needed to complete the history of the house’s ownership between 1853 and 1963. Section 14 of the form gave a very brief history of the house all the way from 1841 to 1984, sourced by the Northside Neighborhood Association’s deed research, the Sanborn maps, the city directories, PVA records, Dunn’s ‘Old Houses,’ and other sources I hadn’t yet come across.
The record confirms the house’s origins and also states that Leonard Taylor bought the house in 1853. However, instead of living in the house until his death in 1865, he had apparently “conveyed it in 1860 to his daughter Mrs. Mary A. Schoonmaker.” There was that name again.
According to Section 14, Ann Taylor did not live in the house until 1878 as the city directory information had led me to believe. Instead, Judge B. F. Buckner bought it in 1870. With the help of a few web searches and the Transy library’s copy of Patrick A. Lewis’s biography of Buckner – “For Slavery and Union” – I discovered that Benjamin Forsythe Buckner was an incredibly big name among Kentucky elites during and after the Civil War.
B. F. Buckner’s grave marker in Winchester, Kentucky. findagrave.com
Buckner was a slave owner from Winchester, Kentucky, but fought for the Union during the Civil War. According to the synopsis of Lewis’s biography, he was “convinced that the Peculiar Institution could not survive a war for southern independence.” So, against the wishes of his Confederate-supporting fiancee Helen and her family, he enlisted in the Union infantry in 1861.
A photo of Buckner contained in the epilogue of Patrick Lewis’s biography, ‘For Slavery and Union.’
The Emancipation Proclamation crossed the line for Buckner, though, and he resigned his military post to go back to his law practice in Winchester. But according to Lewis’s text on page 163, “Buckner’s legal career had grown bigger than Winchester by 1870…It was a wise move, then, to relocate across the county line into Lexington.” Thus, putting two and two together, Judge Buckner must have relocated his wife and two daughters to the 165 house he bought in 1870.
So, if Buckner lived in the house starting in 1870, what of Ann Taylor, Leonard’s widow? Perhaps JP’s original email incorrectly stated that 202 was the same house as Perry W. Gaugh’s, and Ann was living in a 202 elsewhere. Perhaps Buckner’s house was still listed under Ann’s name for some reason. Or, perhaps the inventory form was incorrect. Either way, Lewis’s biography states that Buckner eventually retired to a quiet life in Winchester, leaving the house at some point for the next resident.
Kimbrough was the person who moved in next, living there from 1884 to 1891 according to the form. He was indeed followed by Hocker and his wife in 1891, and then by Dr. Coyle in 1891.
Wait – something was off. Both Hocker and Coyle couldn’t have acquired the house in 1891. Perhaps this was a typo on the form. It was at this point that I realized how exhausting historical research can be in a world of human error. Either way, Dr. D. Archibald Coyle was certainly the resident of 165 in 1895, and remained its resident through 1902, when the house became 331.
I learned little about Dr. Coyle, not even an obituary. This was such a shame, as in the past I have been able to find out so much about historical figures using online obituary archives. Normally, online genealogy resources such as Genealogy Bank have plenty of newspaper obituary articles that can be used for research purposes.
That being said, according to an inventory form I found, he lived in the house for a long time, and rented a couple other houses on the block. He passed away in 1837, and the house apparently wasn’t acquired again until 1942. It seems likely that Dr. Coyle lived in the house until his passing. Perhaps his is the ghost my roommates keep referencing.
Dr. D. A. Coyle was buried in the Coyle family plot in the Lexington Cemetery.
According to the form, “Margaret H. T. Bosworth” acquired 331 in 1942, succeeded by “Margaret Saunier McElhone” in 1953 and then “Mary E. Hail” in 1984. After this, the deed from the PVA notes that a company called “Hadell, Inc” acquired the house later in 1984 and remained its owner until Transylvania bought it in 1992. These names didn’t seem significant when I first read them. But I was about to get a lesson in making assumptions.
Hadell, Incorporated
Once again, it was back to searching the web. The first name that struck my curiosity was Hadell, Inc. What in the world was that? And why would a company buy a residential house?
An ad-ridden website called Bizapedia revealed that Hadell was listed as a for-profit corporation from February 1984 to October 1992. Its four principles were Homer A. Hail, J. C. Codell Jr., R Winn Turney and former Transylvania President Charles L. Shearer.
Charles L. Shearer’s portrait, which hangs in the Glenn building near Jazzman’s.
All I could find online were clues as to what exactly the purpose of Hadell was. I started by researching each of the principle organizers:
Charles Shearer became Transy’s president in 1983. Hadell formed and bought the 331 house in 1984. Under his tenure, Transylvania saw its endowment increase from $33 million to $115 million and saw the construction of twelve new campus buildings.
Homer Allen Hail directed the Kentucky Mortgage Company in Florida. He passed away in 1997.
James Callaway Codell Jr. was the CEO of Codell Construction and a Transylvania trustee, sponsoring a scholarship fund in his name. He was the Chair of the Physical Plant Committee and Vice Chairman of the Board when Codell Construction built Poole Residence Hall in 1989. He passed away in 2004.
R Winn Turney is a lawyer whose firm specializes in, among other things, estates, business and corporate law. He was a 1965 graduate of Transylvania, received a law degree from UK, and is now the Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Aviation.
From these clues, I hypothesized the following: a brand new university president, a mortgage specialist, a construction company CEO and a corporate lawyer got together to purchase land and buildings on which to start Transy on a development spree. And, its name is a combination of two of its principles’ names: Hail and Codell. But I was still confused: Hadell was a for-profit business. So, where was the profit going? Or, was my question misguided?
Most importantly, why would this company buy the house? The house was purchased and sold in the same years that Hadell was incorporated and dissolved, so it seems plausible that the house was closely related to Hadell in some way. I pieced together more of this mystery later on.
Margaret, Margaret and Mary
The names of the three owners of the house from 1942-1984 weren’t engraved into history like many of their counterparts, but their recency only brought them more to life.
“Margaret H. T. Bosworth” is actually Margaret H. Y. (Helen Yundt) Bosworth, a New Orleans native and wife of Henry Muldrow Bosworth III. She acquired the house in 1942, but it’s unclear whether she actually lived there. Like Dr. Coyle, she rented out another house on the block. Her husband passed away in 1978 at the age of 58. Then comes the fact that startled me the most about Mrs. Bosworth: she passed away on Sunday, March 27, 2016. She passed away seven months ago. She was 94.
In a condolence on her Herald-Leader Obituary, a man named James Swisher of Lexington wrote, “Equitable agent in 1960’s. Pleasant memories.”
***
The resting place of Margaret Saunier McElhone at Calvary Cemetery in Lexington, a Catholic cemetery.
Margaret Saunier McElhone moved in in 1953 – 100 years after Leonard Taylor bought the house from Perry Gaugh. This was five years after the death of her husband, Andrew, whom she survived by 40 years to the age of 89. She passed away in 1988, four years after the house had been sold to Mary Hail.
Mary Ewing Hail was a short-lived tenant, however. According to Find A Grave, Mary’s full name is “Mary Ewing Turner Hail.” She was the wife of Homer Hail, one of the directors of Hadell. Interestingly, according to the deed from the PVA, the house was purchased in Mary’s name on March 1, 1884, and purchased in Hadell’s name on May 8, 1984. So, Hadell, Inc. bought the house from Homer’s wife after three months. This definitely couldn’t be a coincidence, but I was at a loss for how to proceed.
I soon discovered that there was much the websites and documents weren’t telling me. It was time to leave the map and get on the territory. Visiting the graves of Margaret, Margaret and Mary, as well as Homer, Archie and Logan, added the final pieces to the puzzle, and the final chapter to my search.
Cemetery Revelations
On an early Monday morning before my 9:30 class, I walked to the Lexington Cemetery office and asked for the locations of all the people I knew were buried there from Find A Grave. They were able to mark all five gravesites on a map.
I was eager to get out and explore, but class bid me to take an Uber back to campus. Later that day, I grabbed the camera and some documents from the house and asked my roommate, junior Kacy Hines, to come along. This time, I drove. With map in Kacy’s hand and camera in mine, we embarked to find our deceased housemates.
First, we found T. Logan Hocker, buried by his wife. “Logan, my man!” I exclaimed. Turning to Kacy, I said, “This is more emotionally impactful than I thought it would be.”
Next we found Mrs. Bosworth, buried beneath a shiny new stone next to her husband, a World War II veteran. I would’ve walked right past her had I not known her maiden name, Yundt, because “Margaret” apparently went by Helen.
Kacy found it cute that the pair had matching symbols on their headstones. The difference in the age of headstones between husband and wife saddened me. It seems a common trope, the wife outliving the husband by many years. And she was buried less than a year ago – what closeness I felt. To think if we had done our research just a year ago, we might have interviewed her.
Next, Kacy and I successfully searched long and hard for Leonard Taylor and discovered a major piece of the puzzle. There were Schoonmakers buried among the Taylors.
There was still no Mary A. Schoonmaker, only a Sarah A. and one other; however, Mary Spencer, Leonard’s daughter, was also buried here with her husband Wesley.
So, long story short, C. Frank Dunn seems to have been mistaken. The house was either conveyed to Mary Spencer, or to this mysterious Sarah A. Schoonmaker: not Mary A. Schoonmaker. I forgive him: siblings’ names are easy to confuse. But now, there’s a new mystery to solve.
After these three, we hopped back in my car and drove further into the cemetery to find Dr. Coyle and the Hails. As we paid our homage to Dr. Coyle, I mentioned that he was likely to have died in the house. “So you’re the ghost that’s messing with us, huh?” she asked, in paraphrase.
Lastly, we found the Hails. A large stone marked the family plot.
Below, I was greeted with yet another revelation. Remember “Mary Ewing Turner Hail” from the Find A Grave listing? This was a misspelling.
One of Mary’s names isn’t Turner, but Turney. Mary Hail was related to R Winn Turney, a principle of Hadell, Inc along with her husband, Homer. This reminded me of the closeness between the Gaugh and Shryock families. Mary Gaugh Shryock and Mary Ewing Turney Hail even had the same first name. Inter-family ties have clearly run strong in wealthy Lexington circles for a long time.
Before heading across Main Street to the Calvary Cemetery to find Mrs. McElhone’s burial place, Kacy and I stopped to rest by a lake. While there, I received a reply email from David O’Neill at the PVA. While he didn’t quite answer my inquiry about the purpose of Hadell and why they had bought the house – he sent me a link to a website I’d already raided for info – he did say that “Hadell is one of your holding companies.” According to a Google search, this means “a company created to buy and possess the shares of other companies, which it then controls.”
So, Hadell was likely formed to “hold” Transylvania’s investments, so that it could grow Transylvania’s endowment through stock shares. Smart move from Shearer, a brand new president with an economics background.
But that still left the question of why Homer’s wife bought the house in March of 1984. And why Hadell bought the house in 1984. And why Transylvania acquired the house the year Hadell dissolved. These are questions I pondered aloud as Kacy and I gazed out on the lake.
We saw a fish. We named it Hail.
The Lexington Cemetery
Echoes of history
On the drive back to 331 after visiting the site of Mrs. McElhone in Calvary Cemetery, I asked Kacy where she heard that 331 was an African-American college. We couldn’t find the original source, and I saw no evidence in my own digging that the house was ever an educational institution – except for the house’s tenure as a living-learning community for students of foreign languages.
An online fillable PDF outlining the guidelines for living in the International House. While the date of the PDF is unknown, it was likely created in 2010, the last year a Friday, Feb. 12 occurred.
To complete the picture of Hadell, I attempted to call what I thought was the office of R Winn Turney, but the number went straight to some case management company. There are still questions I’d like to ask him about Hadell’s use of the house, and about his relationship to Mary E. Turney Hail.
Additionally, I spoke with President Seamus Carey’s Executive Assistant, Rachel Millard, who is helping me get in contact with Charles Shearer so he can provide more information on Hadell’s formation and relationship to the house. I’ll be sure to share my findings.
***
My goal throughout this search wasn’t to write a history paper. My goal wasn’t to come out of this with a “complete history of the 331 house.” My goal was to discover more about the people who lived in the house before me, and before my housemates.
So while I didn’t answer all of my questions or fill in all the gaps, I’m now more aware of the past’s reflection on the present. And I became more intrigued by Lexington history than I ever thought I would. I hope my adventure inspires others to discover the history surrounding them – quite literally – every day.
Four residents of the house – my suitemates, juniors Kacy Hines and Stephanie Chavez, and our dogs, Neymar and Piama – get some fresh air on the back porch of the 331 house.
