The
Kent Stater 3/9 – 3/12
CAMPUS CRITTERS Black squirrels aren’t the only animals that call Kent State home.
Features Edition
THE WEEKEND GUIDE TO ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND STUDENT LIFE
Izzy, senior political science major Matthew Chernesky’s Boxer Mix, poses for a portrait on Tuesday. Nate Manley / The Kent Stater
Four-legged companions Assistance animals ease students’ stress, anxiety Jenna Kuczkowski General Assignment Resting just above the door handle of Madison Radke’s door in Wright Hall is a small sticker with “Animal in Residence” posted in bright red. “I feel like when I say therapy animal or assistance animal, people get this idea of a seeing eye dog with a big harness, but really it's not that at all,” Radke, a freshman human development and family studies major, said. “It could just be a cat in a dorm room.” In her case, it is a 3-month-old cat named Norma. Each door bearing the sticker holds a different story of a student with an assistance animal on campus. As defined by Student Accessibility Services (SAS), an assistance animal is any animal that works, provides assistance, performs tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability or provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person’s disability. Radke is one of eight students on campus who has assistance animals in a residence hall. Assistance animals have only been allowed in Kent State dorms since January
2016, after the result of a 2014 lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against the university, when a student claimed to be wrongfully denied the accommodation of an untrained therapy dog. In January 2016, Kent State employees involved in the case signed a consent decree, or a settlement where someone agrees to take specific actions without admitting fault for the situation that led to the lawsuit. The document stated Kent State would implement the “Policy on Reasonable Accommodations and Assistance Animals in University Housing” on campus and agreed to begin offering accommodations for students struggling with mental health issues, such as anxiety or depression. “Pretend anxiety is a volume knob. Usually when people get stressed out about a situation, they can turn it down or control the situation if they get anxious,” said Brittany Ring, a junior chemistry major. “When you have severe anxiety, the knob is cranked up and broken off and you can't control anything — there's no calming down from that.” Ring has had a long history of struggling with depression and anxiety since eighth grade. Over the years, she has tried several different medications and gone through years of therapy, but during the summer of 2016, she
accepted that medications just weren’t cutting it anymore and wanted to try something else. “Medications don’t work the same for everybody, and I feel like it's not the only option,” Ring said. “I like to be more in control of my life, and I feel like a lot of the medications I've been on are trying to dull my emotions or take over who I am as a person.” That was when Ring decided she was going to try getting an assistance animal. Once she was approved, she got her assistance dog Odie. “I much prefer to have Odie over any sort of medication,” Ring said. “He’s my medication.” Alissa Woodward, a junior advertising major, also took advantage of the new accommodations offered by the university. Woodward said she had social anxiety all through high school and when she came to Kent State, it was even harder to transition. “I have an anxiety disorder where it makes it hard to go into public and talk to people I don't really know,” Woodward said. “I just get this tight ball of anxiety in my chest, like I have to assess a whole classroom before I know where I can sit and it's just this constant overanalytical thing.”
SEE ANIMALS / PAGE 4
Biology Club gains hands-on experience Madeline Crandall Entertainment Reporter A love for animals has become a science in Kent State’s student-run Biology Club. “We are passionate about all things
biology, including animals, sustainability and conservation efforts,” Ruthann Antolik said, a senior biology major and president of the club. The club's animal room, located in Cunningham Hall, holds reptiles like a
Senior biology major Ruthann Antolik looks into the eyes of a ball python in the animal room in Cunningham Hall on Wednesday. Alexander Wadley / The Kent Stater
29-year-old red-tailed boa constrictor, a leopard gecko, a tiger salamander and a Pac-Man frog. “The animal room is a huge job for a lot of our members," Antolik said. "We have a lot of people in the club that get experience working with the animals hands on." The room is more than 10 years old, and it’s growing with each passing semester. Certain lab classes take trips to the room to observe the animals. Jessica Roberts, a sophomore zoology major and co-chair on the executive board for the club, said her responsibilities for the animal room are deciding when each creature gets fed, cleaning roles and scheduling. “We allow all of the students who come into the room to learn how to feed, take care of and handle the animals,” Roberts said. “A lot of the animals that we handle in here are snakes, geckos and lizards.”
SEE BIOLOGY / PAGE 4
Junior advertising major Alissa Woodward holds her assistance cat, Gunner, in Olson Hall on Monday, Feb. 13, 2017. Gunner aids Woodward in coping with her anxiety while in college. Christina Kenney / The Kent Stater
Barkitecture members design 'Kitty City' for local shelter Nicholas Hunter General Assignment Reporter Kent State students with a love for both animals and environmental design have a new home: Barkitecture. Barkitecture is a new student organization that intends to work with local animal shelters and humane societies to create safe, well-designed structures to both house and entertain shelter animals. Joshua Myers, the organization’s president, said he was inspired by other local volunteer organizations to create Barkitecture. “ We s a w a n e e d f o r building for (local shelters) because a lot of them are in positions where they are not in good shape both financially ... as well as their buildings,” Myers said.
Initially the group spent time networking with local shelters. Shannon Waller, chief operations officer of the Humane Society of Summit County, contacted the organization for help with a design project, eventually dubbed “Kitty City.” “At least in my experience, we haven’t had a similar organization come out and say ‘Hey, we want to do something special,’” Waller said. “As far as designing a whole ‘catatorium,’ this is the first time we’ve had something like this, especially with this level of professionalism.” The Humane Society of Summit County currently houses about 90 cats — a number that Waller expects to double or triple by the summer.
SEE SHELTER / PAGE 4