On Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012, the Bluffton University Beavers gave themselves an early Chrsitmas present and came out with a 62-50 victory over the Indiana University-Kokomo Cougars at the Sommer Center.

The Bluffton men improved to 3-6 on the season with the win, while the Cougars fell to 5-7 on the season. The Beavers were led by senior Dustin Kinn (Alvada/New Riegel) who scored 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting and grabbed nine boards in the victory.

Nathan Sommer, a Bluffton native and Ph.D. student at the University of Cincinnati, will explore the evolution of the human-computer relationship in a Bluffton University Forum at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, in Founders Hall. The presentation, titled “Teaching Our Machines,” is free and open to the public.

Sommer, whose research currently focuses on musical applications of machine learning, will discuss how machine learning is entering our lives and what we are teaching—and attempting to teach—our computers.

The chorus for Bluffton University’s spring-semester Masterworks Concert—the former Bach Festival Concert—will rehearse at 7 p.m. Tuesdays, beginning Jan. 8, in the Gilliom Room of Mosiman Hall.

Rehearsals will culminate with the Bluffton Choral Society’s concert performance of “Requiem,” by Florian Leopold Gassmann, at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, in Yoder Recital Hall.

Singers from high school through adults are encouraged to join the choral society, which will be conducted by Dr. Mark J. Suderman, professor of music at Bluffton.

Portraits by painter Amanda Joseph will be on exhibit beginning Monday, Jan. 7, in the Grace Albrecht Gallery of Bluffton University’s Sauder Visual Arts Center.

The exhibit is free and open to the public through Jan. 27. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 1-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The gallery will also host a reception with the artist from 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13.

“Spirituality & Shalom: Living at the Intersection of Faith & Justice,” the 2013 Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship conference, will be held Feb. 8-10 at Bluffton University.

Spirituality’s role in peacebuilding—and peacebuilding’s role in individuals’ spiritual lives—is the focus of the conference, an annual gathering of representatives of Mennonite colleges and universities but open to the public as well.

The Bluffton University women’s basketball team was defeated by Transylvania University, 63-52, on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012.

The Beavers slipped to 5-3 overall and 1-3 in the HCAC, while Transylvania moved to 6-1 overall and a perfect 4-0 in the HCAC.

The Pioneers came out ready to play and were up 5-0 less than three minutes into the game.

The Beavers fought back as a three-pointer from freshman Kaitlyn Pennekamp (Hamilton/Ross) at the 12:38 mark cut Transy’s lead to just two.

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