THE RECORD Online

Spring 2004

News Briefs (continued)

Holocaust Survivor Puts Face On History

On September 1,1939, when the Germans invaded Poland, Rachel Miller 's father had only one comment.

“This is the beginning of doom,” he said.

During a class chapel last semester, students listened raptly as Miller told her story of horror and survival during one of the worst periods in modern history, the Holocaust.

Miller 's family had emigrated from Warsaw to Paris the year before she was born, fearing the anti-Semitism that had begun to spread. Sadly, for her parents and siblings, the move to France didn't save them. The Nazis first imprisoned Miller 's father and uncle after a collaborator had them arrested. As the war progressed, her mother, both her brothers and sister went to their deaths at Auschwitz.

“I lost 93 people in the war,” said Miller.

On a table near the podium were photographs of her family. Miller is one of the few survivors to have such precious mementos.

Sophomore class president Derek Velazco first considered bringing a Holocaust survivor to campus last summer. He asked Karen Strand Winslow, who teaches Jewish-Christian Studies at G.C., how to locate someone. Winslow suggested he contact the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center. It was there he found Miller.

“I thought it was an area (where) a lot of people were ignorant,” said Velazco. He believes Miller 's talk “put a realistic face on the Holocaust.”

“A movie 's a movie, but to hear a person 's story makes more of an impact.”

Also attending the chapel was Dr.Peggy Allan 's 7th grade class.

Miller hoped her message would teach everyone who listened an important lesson. “I wanted to tell my story because there are people out there who believe the Holocaust never happened,” she said.“Now when someone says that,you can tell them you actually met someone who lived through it.”

Now living in Chesterfield, Missouri, Miller donated her time to speak to the class. To thank her, the sophomore class has made a gift to the center in her name.

Faculty In Dialogue At Argonne

At the request of Dr.David Williams, director of “Project Xcite” at Northwestern University (IL), four members of Greenville 's science faculty recently traveled to the Argonne National Laboratory with Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr.Karen Longman to participate in a planning session to develop The Illinois Network for Science Undergraduate Research Experience.

Greenville is the only Christian liberal arts college among a group of “charter” institutions to collaborate with Northwestern University and Argonne Laboratory to help develop a grant proposal to the National Science Foundation. The goal is to involve more freshmen and sophomore students in undergraduate research projects, focusing specifically on chemistry and chemistry-related fields.

GC Faculty and Students Present Papers

Sociology professor Dwight Jackson chaired a panel entitled "Peacebuilding: Building and Rebuilding Civil Society in the Aftermath of Ethnic Violence” at the Annual Conference of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action. In addition to his chairing duties, Jackson presented a paper titled “The Phoenix? Civil Society after Ethnic Conflict Subsides.”

Joining Jackson were students, Melissa Kindermann and Ginnifer Sparks, whose paper introduced the topic of how religious organizations contribute to civil society in Africa .

Greenville College Student Studies Radiation Hardness of CGS/c-Si Tandem Solar Cells

As a part of his Departmental Honors thesis, Greenville College senior Physics and Math major Beau Meredith tested CGS and CGS/c-SI tandem solar cells to discover the cells' radiation hardness. Donated to Greenville College by Dr.David Young '87, of the National Renewable Energy aboratory (NREL), the cells are used in space as an energy source.

Meredith worked with advisor Dr.Hugh Siefken during his study.

Meredith 's tests measure the efficiency of the cells at converting light into usable energy forms, under the type of radiation bombardment the cells would receive in space.Meredith researched the performance of the cells exposed to ion radiation which indicates the cells' radiation hardness. In creating the tandem cell, the NREL hopes to find a low cost renewable energy source.

The CGS/c-Si tandem cell performance characteristics did not decrease significantly in Meredith 's experiments. “The reason that result is significant,” said Meredith, “is that this particular cell is a laboratory curiosity. The properties of it have not been studied extensively.The radiation hardness of this cell has not been tested.”

Dr.Young agrees that Meredith's research is unique. “This is one of the first experiments done with the tandem cell,” said Dr.Young.

Solar cells, used most commonly in space as an energy resource, convert light into useful energy. Satellites depend on solar cells because a limitless supply of light energy is available from the sun.

“One goal at the lab is to help educate the next generation,” said Dr.Young. “We want to build connections with undergrads to inspire them to go on to grad school.”

NREL strives to create renewable energy sources to combat use of heavy fossil fuel moving dependency over to renewable energy sources and lessening reliance on other countries for fuel. Established in 1974 as the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI), President George Bush designated it a national laboratory in 1991, changing its name to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and making it the U.S.Department of Energy 's premier laboratory for renewable energy research.

Coach Mulholland Collects 300th Career Win

Lady Panther Basketball Head Coach Roy Mulholland '86 was honored this season for his 300 th win coaching women 's basketball.

On December 9,2003 ,the Lady Panthers posted a 70-48 victory against St.Louis College of Pharmacy in front of a home crowd ready to celebrate this milestone.

In addition to his five years at GC, where his career win loss record now stands at 82-54, Coach Mulholland's successful history includes 231 wins chronicled during his 13 seasons as head coach of the Greenville High School women 's basketball team. Coach Mulholland led this year 's team to their second appearance at the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) national tournament in three years.

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Last updated: August 9, 2004