The Kent Stater - May 3, 2017

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@kentwired KentWired.com WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2017

KSU football player

Threat of rain moves May 4 Commemoration to ballroom

for fights life

Rachel Duthie Student Life Reporter Kent State’s 47th annual May 4 Commemoration is relocating to the Student Center Ballroom Thursday due to inclement weather, according to May 4 Task Force President Brandon Mallon.

Board members made the decision Tuesday afternoon as weather reports indicate there will be a high chance of rain during the event. “(We are not taking a chance) because I don’t think there is much chance involved,” Mallon said. “There has nearly been a 100 percent chance for rain on (May 4) for over a week now. We just don’t want anyone to get rained on. It shouldn’t alter the schedule for the event at all.”

The ceremony, which is typically held outside near the Victory Bell, is a yearly gathering of the university community to remember those who were lost and injured during the May 4, 1970 shootings.

It will still take place between noon and 2 p.m. with keynote speaker Lecia Brooks, the outreach director of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Other events are scheduled to take place on Wednesday and Thursday, including an early premiere of a May 4-centered episode of CNN’s new series “Soundtracks: Songs that Defined History” in the Kiva on Wednesday at 9 p.m.

The May 4 Visitors Center will reopen this week as Taylor Hall continues renovations, hosting special hours Monday through Friday.

Then-Kent State freshman wide receiver Antwan Dixon runs for a 47-yard touchdown on the Flashes’ opening drive of the Kent State vs Marshall University game on Sept. 26, 2015. Kent State lost in double overtime, 36-29. Clint Datchuk / The Kent Stater

Scott Lendak Sports Reporter When Shemariah Dixon prepared to leave for work on a warm June day in 2013, she turned to her son Antwan Dixon.

“Move your car for me,” she asked, “so I can get out.”

When she followed him outside moments later, Antwan lay slumped over the hood of his car.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He didn’t answer.

Shemariah rushed him to a walk-in clinic, which immediately sent him to a hospital.

It was the first of many hospital visits for Antwan, a star high-school athlete who went on to play his freshman year at Kent State before that illness changed his life.

Today, he is at home in Fort Myers, Florida,

recovering from a bone marrow transplant.

“When they officially told us Antwan had aplastic anemia, we were actually excited,” Shemariah said. “My dad had just died from leukemia. I thought this couldn’t be any worse. Then the doctor told us that it was.”

Aplastic anemia is a rare blood disorder in which the body doesn’t create new blood cells.

There are 1,069 deaths per year caused by aplastic anemia, and Shemariah was worried that her son could be another statistic.

“I didn’t know what to think,” Shemariah said. “I never worried about the sports aspect of his condition. I worried about how it would affect him as a human. I was more concerned if this disease would take my son’s life.”

Doctors prescribed medication for Antwan to let him resume high school, including an athletic career which led him to a scholarship at Kent

rduthie@kent.edu

State, where he was the fastest player on the team and led the Flashes in receiving yards in 2015.

“We knew that it wouldn’t go away, but Antwan was happy, and we hoped the medication would continue to work for him,” Shemariah said.

But during spring practice in 2015, he started to struggle.

“He’s always the hardest working kid in practice, so it was tough to see him panting and running out of breath so easily,” sophomore running back Will Matthews, a close friend, said.

The medication had stopped working, and Antwan never made it back for his second season.

“He told us that he would have to go home and deal with his condition,” Matthews said.

“Once it finally kicked in that he wouldn’t be here for the school year, it was really hard.”

Samaria Rice delivers the keynote speech during the May 4 Commemoration Ceremony on Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Nate Manley / The Kent Stater

SEE ANTWAN / PAGE 6

SILENT

The

STRUGGLE A Project on Mental Health

Warren takes on the topic of mental health

Mental health services run deficit despite taxpayers’ growing share

Lydia Taylor Assigning Editor Editor's note: Once a month, editors and producers from The Kent Stater and TV2 interview Kent State President Beverly Warren about important issues to the university. The following is a Q&A of our latest conversation surrounding mental health.

Some changes have been made for clarity.

Andrew Keiper Senior Reporter

KW: Why is student mental health so important here at Kent State?

President Beverly Warren said coming to college can be stressful on students, especially if they are experiencing their own sense of independence for the first time or don’t quite have the support system they once had in high school.

“Our concern is to make sure we are attending to some of the mental health issues and support more counselors, more early alerts, more opportunity for students to be aware of what resources do you have to really navigate the stress of your life,” Warren said. “I think it’s a crisis and a concern for all of us in higher (education).”

KW: Roughly when did Kent State start expanding programs within Psychological Services?

Warren said the expansion came from her vision of making Kent State one of the healthiest campuses. In her State of the University Address in 2015, she asked the audience, “What would it look like if we were the healthiest campus in America?”

“It became one of our top priorities and so as we were looking at how we would deploy funding to support a ‘Kent State of Wellness’, which is what we are calling it,” Warren said. “Mental health is just as important as physical health, and we want to make sure we are supporting that as

Over the past decade, taxpayers across Summit County have shouldered an increasing share of mental health funding while state dollars have sharply declined.

Summit’s Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Board (ADM) has seen its overall budget decrease by nearly $20 million since 2006 — despite a growing demand for its services due to the opioid epidemic ravaging the county.

In 2006, an ADM Budget Review showed taxpayers supported 35 percent of ADM’s budget. By 2015, that number had grown to 78 percent.

The opioid epidemic — and the demand of services that it necessitates — has forced the Summit County ADM Board to operate at an unsustainable deficit spending plan, according to Jerry Craig, executive director of the agency. The finances are tricky, but the state has pulled

Kent State President Beverly Warren talks to members of Kent State Student Media at the TV2 Studio in Franklin Hall on Wednesday, April 19, 2017.

Nate Manley / The Kent Stater

much as we can in an ongoing basis.”

Warren also said the university is working on expanding in other areas, such as hiring a number of psychological service counselors — whether they are physicians or mental health counselors — and implementing a hotline to increase responsiveness.

“One of the things that I hear quite frequently form students is that they call for an appointment and it might be two weeks or three weeks or longer to get the appointment and that’s just not satisfactory,” Warren said. “We are deploying now our resources to hire and we’re going to be advertising for those new positions.”

Warren said there will be a revamping of structure to make sure there will be a separate wing within University Health Services dedicated to mental health.

SEE WARREN / PAGE 6

10-year history of levy vs non-levy revenue for Summit County Social Services $90,000,000 $80,000,000 $70,000,000 $60,000,000 $50,000,000 $40,000,000 $30,000,000 $20,000,000 $10,000,000 $0 2006

2007

2008

2009

Total Levy Revenue

2010

2011

2012

Non-Levy Revenue

2013

2014

2015

Levy Revenue

Graphic by Addie Gall

much of its direct funding of county ADM Boards with the expansion of Medicaid.

“I know the state is working hard to assist local government from, I guess, more of a technical perspective than a resource perspective,” said Lori Pesci, an official with Summit County’s Division of Public Safety. “I don’t necessarily know that we’ve

seen an increase in financial or other types of resources that have come to Summit County.”

Addiction is certainly at the forefront of public health concerns in the state; however, it’s only one of many focuses for the local ADM Board.

SEE HEALTH / PAGE 6

Page 2 | Wednesday, May 3, 2017

The Kent Stater

Warren to give speech Thursday in Saudi Arabia

The

Kent

Stater 240 FRANKLIN HALL KENT STATE UNIVERSITY KENT, OHIO 44242 Newsroom 330-672-2584 EDITOR

Jimmy Miller jmill231@kent.edu

MANAGING EDITOR

Alex Delaney-Gesing adelane3@kent.edu

SENIOR EDITOR

Karl Schneider kschne21@kent.edu

Kent State President Beverly Warren talks to members of Kent State Student Media at the TV2 Studio in Franklin Hall on Wednesday, April 19, 2017.

Nate Manley / The Kent Stater

DESIGN DIRECTOR

Ray Padilla rpadill2@kent.edu

Megan Ayscue Administration Reporter

PHOTO EDITOR

Kent State President Beverly Warren will be traveling to an all-female school in Saudi Arabia on May 4 to give a commencement speech for its graduating class.

She said she is excited about the opportunities this presents “to extend good will between our universities.”

“Saudi Arabia is a growing kingdom with lots of support for women ... and I wanted to be there to be a part of that,” Warren said when she met with student media.

Kent State and Effat University plan to work together to create architecture programs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

“We will be leasing a building in Jeddah together, and our architecture program will be coordinating with Effat University’s architecture program.

The two universities hope to participate in cultural exchanges with their new partnership.

“We’re continuing to explore what that curriculum would look like and how we might solidify our students spending a semester at Effat University and their students spending a semester, or even a year, here at Kent State.”

‘‘

Saudi Arabia is a growing kingdom with lots of support for women ... and I wanted to be there to be a part of that.”

– Beverly Warren

Haifa Jamal Al-Lail, president of Effat, gave a speech at Kent State in November.

While Warren is not sure what her commencement speech will be about, she does have some ideas.

“I would suspect, with being a female president and (Effat University) having a female president and this is an all female university, that I’ll say something about women and the power of women to change lives and change the world,” Warren said.

Warren said she also hopes to take some of her aspirations for Kent State with her to Saudi Arabia for Effat University.

“It’s important for student learning and faculty engagement, and really for our country to thrive, that we remain globally engaged, and I’m strongly committed to that for Kent State University,” Warren said.

Since the speech will be given on May 4, Warren said she is "certain to make reference to that as well" as the date has "meaning for us here at Kent State."

Effat University has more than 3,000 students and more than 160 faculty from 25 different countries, according to its website.

“These women are graduating in architecture and business and engineering, and the opportunity to share in our common goals ... is really exciting,” Warren said. mayscue@kent.edu

Clint Datchuk cdatchu1@kent.edu

FEATURES EDITOR

Benjamin VanHoose bvanhoos@kent.edu

DIVERSITY EDITOR

McKenzie Jean-Philippe mjeanphi@kent.edu

OPINION EDITOR

Lucas Misera lmisera@kent.edu

Kent State’s new women’s lacrosse coach Brianne Tierney speaks at a press conference in the M.A.C. Center on Tuesday.

Alyssa Keown / The Kent Stater

Tierney officially announced as women’s lacrosse coach Henry Palattella Sports Editor

When Brianne Tierney accepted Kent State’s offer to become the inaugural coach of the Kent State Women’s Lacrosse team, she knew that it would come with “more pressure” than the last time she started a college lacrosse program.

Lebanon Valley College hired Tierney as coach and tasked her with starting the school’s first lacrosse program.

“When I was hired at Lebanon Valley College, I was hired in August and we were playing that spring, so it was just finding kids on campus who had heard of the sport, essentially,” Tierney said at a press conference on Tuesday. “The opportunity here has a lot more resources behind it, but with that comes a little bit more pressure.

You hope that early on you can get the talent that is going to compete quickly at a high division one level. A lot of that with recruiting now is taking a chance on kids.”

She eventually found her footing with the Dutchmen and led them to a 9-8 record in 2012, which earned her Commonwealth Coach of the Year honors. She then served as the director of Lacrosse Operations at the University of Denver.

Tierney showed an interest in lacrosse at a young age partly because her father, Bill Tierney, currently serves as the men’s lacrosse coach at the University of Denver.

“I always see being the daughter of a coach is one of the greatest way to grow up,” she said. “Growing up my dad was the men’s lacrosse coach at Princeton, so I was always around (lacrosse).”

Tierney’s family lineage also played a role in her becoming coach at Kent State, as Janet Kittell — who serves as the deputy director of athletics as well as the overseer of women’s lacrosse — knows Bill Tierney from his prior coaching experience. “(Bill) was at Princeton winning championships when I was supervising both men and women’s lacrosse at Syracuse,” Kittell said. “The Princeton men’s program and Syracuse men’s program traded national championships pretty regularly.”

Tierney’s brothers both coached lacrosse at some point in their lives, and her husband, Dylan Sheridan, is currently the lacrosse coach at Cleveland State University.

Sheridan has a connection to Ohio, attending high school

at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio.

Recruiting-wise, Tierney will be in a tough spot, as she realizes that the situation she’s coming into is a unique one.

“On the women’s lacrosse side of things there are many new programs, but I think Kent State separates itself because it’s a great university with so many academic programs that student-athletes can get excited about,” Tierney said. “First as a coach you are selling your program … and we want to be doing that early.”

Kittell said the roster will eventually have between 30-35 players on the roster, but at first, they’ll have a number closer to 25-30 players. The team will have 12 scholarships to give out.

Kittell also mentioned she had been in contact with soccer coach Rob Marinaro about bringing in two-sport athletes and admitted Tierney will be “behind the eightball” when it comes to recruiting, but Tierney believes it’s a challenge she’ll be able to manage.

“Certainly, the right plan is in place for me to follow, and to continue building on this foundation that (Kittell and athletic director Joel Nielsen) have started,” Tierney said. “Obviously, that’s the hope when you come in, that all the ducks are in a row for a program like this to get going, and I’m confident that they are.”

There are currently 13 conferences for Division 1 women’s lacrosse, and the Flashes will be joining one of those divisions. “(We) Applied for membership in a conference and, stay tuned, I think we’ll be able to announce our acceptance next week,” Kittell said.

The team is guaranteed six home games, which will be played on the new AstroTurf on Murphy-Mellis field, which is where the field hockey team currently plays.

Tierney’s hiring brings to end a national search that was put out for the coach, one that Kittell felt gave them the best coach for their program.

“We did a national search, and when you feel like you know who you have the right person, you always think and hope that if there’s a better candidate out there that (they) emerges,” Kittell said before looking at Tierney.

“Here she is.” hpalatte@kent.edu

University forms committee based on Climate Survey Alec Slovenec University Diversity Reporter Susan Rankin of Rankin & Associates defines climate as “the current attitudes, behaviors, standards and practices of employees and students of an institution.” It is how students and faculty feel about their environment — whether they are comfortable with being themselves, whether they feel safe and whether they are happy while on campus.

In response to Kent State’s Climate Survey results from January, the university formed the Great Place Initiative (GPI), chaired by Associate Vice President of Division of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Dana Lawless-Andric and Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Mandy Munro-Stasiuk. Its role is to make the appropriate changes in response to the study’s findings.

“It’s going to be an ongoing effort — it’s got full support of President Warren. It’s got three people from her senior cabinet who are on the committee. I think we’re going to see some pretty neat things come out of it,” Wilson said.

The Climate Study had been in development for two years and was sent out to students on March 8, 2016. The Climate Survey Steering Committee (CSSC) is a collaboration of students, staff and faculty who were in charge of overseeing the climate survey. CSSC selected Rankin & Associates to conduct Kent State's climate survey.

Rankin & Associates has conducted institutional climate studies in over

130 locations across the United States.

Kent State hasn’t done one in nearly 20 years, according to President Beverly Warren’s letter published on the Kent State website.

Professor of economics Kathryn Wilson co-chaired the Climate Study Steering Committee along with Interim Vice President of Division of Student Affairs Shay Little.

“I very much think climate is important,” Wilson said. "As an institution, it’s been a very long time since Kent conducted a climate survey — not since the late 90s.

“One of the questions was ‘Do you feel valued by faculty?’ It was a question asked to the students. This is my passion. I want everyone to feel valued by faculty,” Wilson said.

According to Rankin & Associates, 17 percent of the 6,867 respondents from Kent State's main campus experienced exclusionary, intimidating, offensive or hostile conduct.

To Wilson, the results showing the climate towards disabled members of the community alarmed her the most.

Of the Kent State campus students who responded, only 60 percent of students — 111 respondents — with multiple disabilities felt comfortable on campus. Compare this with 80 percent of students — 4,869 respondents — without disabilities who felt comfortable on campus.

The results also indicate tenured and tenure-track faculty seemed to have less favorable opinions towards Kent State than new or temporary faculty members. However, Wilson

6,867

Respondents from Kent Campus

17%

Experienced exclusionary, intimidating, offensive or hostile conduct

42%

Trans-spectrum respondents reported feeling “exclusionary, intimidating, offensive and/or hostile conduct”

explained that this, like other issues shown with the university climate, may be a result of the study’s timing.

“Rankin & Associates emphasized this when they came and presented the results. What we’re doing is a snapshot of one point in time,” Wilson said.

The time in which they took the survey occurred shortly after a “pretty contentious contract negotiation with tenured and tenure-track faculty," Wilson said.

Ken Ditlevson, director of the LGBTQ Student Center, served as one of the planning members on the CSSC. Ditlevson focused on the campus climate towards the LGBTQ community.

“For us — for the LGBTQ Student Center — it was really important

because we’re kind of an invisible minority,” Ditlevson said. “When you enroll at Kent, when you attend at Kent, the university has no idea how many gay, lesbian or transgender students there are. It’s just not something that’s collected at this point.”

The Climate Study showed that of the 33 trans-spectrum respondents, 42 percent reported feeling "exclusionary, intimidating, offensive and/or hostile conduct." Compare this with the seventeen percent of women and 16 percent of men feeling this way.

Wilson found that many of the students who felt excluded said it had been their fellow students exhibiting exclusionary behavior. Likewise, faculty who felt excluded said that this was because of other faculty members.

Lawless-Andric and Munro-Stasiuk have been working diligently on analyzing the data from the study and have worked on how they can improve the climate.

“Part of what a climate study does is allow us to dig deep into the experiences of the population,” LawlessAndric said. "So it’s easy to gravitate and say ‘this is the big issue for Kent State.’ But it actually undermines the real integrity of a climate survey. It’s really looking at what are the experiences in aggregate certainly, but then what are the populations that experience Kent State in different ways — positive and negative — that we can attend to, and that’s what GPI will look to do.”

Lawless-Andric has been working on strengthening collaboration

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11%

(726) have a disability (condition influences learning, working, living)

75%

Employees with multiple disabilities considered leaving Information provided by the Kent State Univeristy Climate Survey: Kent Campus Report.

between Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She and the 20 other members of GPI have been pushing for more human resource programs, as well as more funding for preexisting social and cultural programs, including the LGBTQ Student Center, the Student Multicultural Center and the Women's Center.

See the full story on KentWired.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017 | Page 3

The Kent Stater

Opinion

EDITORIAL BOARD

SUBMISSIONS

Opinion Editor: Lucas Misera Senior Editor: Karl Schneider Managing Editor: Alex Delaney-Gesing Sports Editor: Henry Palattella Assigning Editor: Jack Kopanski Assigning Editor: Andrew Atkins

The Stater hopes to encourage lively debate about the issues of the day on the Opinion Page. Opinions on this page are the authors’ and not necessarily en­dorsed by the Stater or its editors. Readers are encouraged to participate through letters to the editor (email them to jmill231@kent.edu) and guest columns. Submissions become pro­­perty of the Stater and are subject to editing without notice.

THE OPINION PAGE IS AN OUTLET FOR OUR COMMUNITY’S VARIED VIEWS.

On

JOSEPH MCGRELLIS’ VIEW // To see all the cartoons this semester, visit KentWired.com

Pro-Liberty group holds protest against smoking ban Nicholas Hunter General Assignment Reporter

The Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) organization stood outside the Student Center Monday displaying signs that proclaimed “your body, your choice” and “come take it” in protest of the upcoming smoking ban.

Cheers&Jeers Cheers to ... tattling. A Pennsylvania lawmaker called a Facebook troll’s grandmother to tell her that her grandson directed gay slurs at the state representative online.

Jeers to ... getting caught. Officers pulled over a hearse in Arizona and subsequently found 67 lbs of marijuana in a coffin in the back of the vehicle.

Trump’s first 100 days and beyond This is the last column I will be writing for the year. Therefore, I want to address an important topic about the current political climate: There is little question that Americans are more polarized now than they have been in the past and that the most recent election contributed to that polarization.

After the first 100 days of President Donald Trump being in office, I believe it is important to address the actions of the president and relate that to the promises he made on the campaign trail.

Firstly, it is important to address that the 100day standard is arbitrary. It was originally established by historians while looking at Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency.

Roosevelt passed 76 bills in the midst of the Great Depression, and historians have used that benchmark since. However, Trump did use this benchmark himself and constantly said he would accomplish a great deal during this time.

During his campaign, Trump made a series of promises designed to change the nature of Washington, D.C. In legislation, Trump fell short of where he predicted he would be. He has not managed to pass any major legislation yet.

It is important to note, however, that his proposed health-care plan was put up for a vote in the House of Representatives but was voted down. However, he has made strides in the form of executive orders. He implemented a federal hiring freeze for a short time and signed an executive order requiring two regulations to be lifted for every new one implemented.

Both of these were steps taken to reduce spending and minimize the size of the federal government.

He also took steps toward preventing what he called “the swamp” with an executive order banning administration employees from becoming lobbyists.

He also took steps to renegotiate North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

These were both promises he looked to fulfill for his constituencies involved in manufacturing.

However, his most important accomplishment would be the nomination and confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court.

This was a promise that swayed many hesitant conservative voters to decide to vote for him. It was also a major win for those who believe the seat of the late Justice Anton Scalia should have been filled by another originalist.

Another front that has caused much controversy is his Twitter account.

He has shown by his tweets that he is not following the path of past presidents by acting in a purely cordial manner while communicating to the public. However, I believe there should be more of an emphasis on the actions the president takes as opposed to what he says, especially via social media.

Now is the time to look at each action and decide whether those are good or bad, according to your individual principles. It is important to criticize him in the areas in which he does productive things and criticize them when he does not.

Those who either criticize or praise what he says or who he is loses credibility.

The most important thing to do is to be consistent when looking at the presidency.

Republican VIEW

Jacob Tabler is a member of the College Republicans, contact him at jtabler2@kent.edu.

Hey, Hillary: go kick rocks Matt Poe Columnist Ah, Hillary Clinton — it seems like such a long time since I last wrote about you.

Remember how close we used to be?

Why, you showed up as a focal point in my columns on many occasions back when you were gunning for leader of the free world against ol’ Donnie Boy. Remember all that, Hillary? Remember how you had this election in the bag?

Well, I remember, and I’m still not over it.

Now, you’ve poked your head out of the woods from whent you were banished to and dropped some insight on us about how if FBI Director James Comey hadn’t reopened your email investigation just weeks before the election, then you would be our president.

Why, yours truly even wrote a column on that at the time!

Anyways, Clinton came out of her self-imposed exile this past Tuesday to say that very thing, along with how the Russian interference and paranoia the last few weeks of the election cost her the presidency.

She also added that a large portion of those who didn’t vote for her did so because she’s a woman and that misogyny played a large role in her defeat as well.

Are there people that didn’t vote for her consciously or sub-consciously because she’s a woman and they can’t see one as president? Yeah, I’m sure there is — much more than most of us would like to admit.

If you believe there still isn’t a prejudice against women holding powerful positions in this country, you’re an idiot. That’s putting it lightly.

In Clinton’s defense, how would we feel if all the Russian ties to His Orangeness and that administration were linked to Clinton? My god, Republicans and President Doofus supporters would have called for her to be hanged months ago.

As aforementioned, I wrote about the all-time blunder that was Comey reopening that investigation because it was unprecedented and appeared to show preference toward one party and against another.

Did it damage Clinton’s chances as the first female president? Again, probably, but by no means did it cost her the election.

And that’s where I’ve got a bone to pick, both with her and the party. I’m tired of all these theories as to why she

lost the election and paved the way for dumbass-in-charge to make everyday a live episode of “The Apprentice.”

Far too many Democrats and young Democrats I know continue to hold on to Clinton’s campaign like a lover waiting for the ex to return to them.

Guess what?

She isn’t coming back. I know, it hurts (weeps into large pizza).

But she shouldn’t.

Clinton needs to call it a career in political office and quit commenting on the election. There is still a role for her to be a major voice for all women (and men, too, you bet your god-fearing ass) to pursue whatever dreams they have and champion people of all ages.

But I’m so sick of Democrats moaning and groaning about the election and why it didn’t result in her favor instead of living in the real world that is now firmly grasped by an insane administration hell-bent on sending this country back to the early 1900s.

Clinton’s recent appearances, along with her new book on the campaign and election, will just reignite this rally cry that died when her election did sometime around midnight on the East Coast on Nov. 9.

There is undoubtedly a place to study her election strategies and utilize them going forward to understand why she lost. The smartest people study their defeats far more often than their victories (very Trump-like statement).

I don’t know where the hell the time has gone, but it’s May already.

November 2016 is over, and there ain’t no going back.

Believe me, I don’t like it any more than you do. But to continue to harp and moan about the reasons why she lost the election, even if those reasons may be legitimate, is nothing short of futile.

Would you like to know why?

Because at the end of the day, she still lost.

There’s nothing you can change in the scorebook to make it otherwise.

It’s time all Democrats come to that realization and look ahead to 2018 where the real battle will take place, where real opportunities to win back voters and seats will occur.

One of the proposed Clinton campaign slogans was “Moving forward.

Together.” There’s one part of that slogan I really like, and we should adopt it from here on out.

After reading this column, I presume you know exactly which one I’m talking about. mpoe3@kent.edu

Improving behavior and discussions regarding mental health Stephen D’Abreau Columnist My own illnesses consist of depression and anxiety — I want to be upfront and candid about them.

I was diagnosed as a child with attention deficient disorder, a form of ADHD, with chief symptoms of childhood clinical anxiety. I received professional counseling, something that I have done intermittently throughout my life, even as recently as last year.

I was on prescription medication for my disorder as a child with the chief medication being Zoloft, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) used for a wide range of illnesses such as clinical depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and others.

So, I’m no stranger to mental illness.

When it comes to mental health and illness, the topics discussed seem to all revolve around the same few topics. But the three that are of most interest to me are the phenomenon of self-diagnosis, romanticizing mental illness and language policing around mental illness.

The first two are obviously related. The romanticizing of mental illness makes it socially desirable and fashionable. Thus, people will self-diagnose and claim to have illnesses they do not actually have.

Now, this is a problem for people who actually suffer from mental illness because it confuses the whole discussion on the topic, limiting the ability the public has to recognize and respond legitimate mental illness.

Then, of course, it adds insult to injury by trivializing the illness for people who actually have it. This problem is often discussed, but rarely are any practical solutions given.

So, here is a practical guide for a solution to this problem: First, mental illness is not something that is typically pleasant. It’s not something you want.

If you believe you have it, first ask yourself if there is an alternative explanation. Do you feel anxious because you have a chemical imbalance you can’t control, or is it exam week soon? Don’t jump to mental illness, because, again, it’s not desirable.

Second, ask your friends and family to tell you about any changes in your behavior or their concerns about your behavior. If their responses are alarming, seek professional help.

Don’t ever self-diagnose.

Mental illness is like any other illness. Once you suspect you are actually sick, you need to see a professional so you can receive the information and correct tools to heal.

Just like you wouldn’t self-diagnose brain cancer during a headache, the same logic applies for mental illness. If the headache isn’t cancer, your self-diagnosis is useless.

Even if you’re somehow right and it is cancer, you won’t be able to do anything about it without professional resources. Self-diagnosis is at least as useless, if not more so, in cases of mental illness.

Like self-diagnosis of mental illness, policing language around mental illness is also useless. A lot of it is well-intentioned, don’t get me wrong; I’m sure many people with obsessive-compulsive disorder would prefer the word “OCD” not be used as an insult or in joke punchline.

However, you can’t legislate comedy or kindness. It makes no sense in trying, especially given that the type of person who would do this probably won’t care about your chastisement.

Frankly, most people I know, myself included, with mental health issues are really not interested in language policing and aren’t too keen on having it done on our behalf.

I really don’t care about suicide and depression jokes, and I’d appreciate it if the “kindness police officers” out there would stop speaking on my behalf about how offended I am about a “crippling depression” meme.

I’m not offended. In fact, the joke probably made me chuckle.

See full article on KentWired.com

Wednesday, May 3, 2017 | Page 5

The Kent Stater

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REBUS PUZZLES

Page 6 | Wednesday, May 3, 2017

The Kent Stater From Page 1

ANTWAN KSU football player fights for life

Photo courtesy of Haleigh Rush

Student organization supports those battling depression Madeline Crandall Entertainment Reporter Jamie Tworkowski founded the national organization To Write Love on Her Arms in 2006 after he shared the story of a friend in need. By telling his friend’s story of addiction through a blog, he created a mass following that was the beginning of a national nonprofit organization.

TWLOHA has a Kent State chapter that supports people struggling with addiction, depression, self-injury and suicidal thoughts.

Kristen Young, a freshman anthropology major, is currently the social media coordinator for the Kent chapter. She explained that TWLOHA is more than just a therapy group, but a sheltered family that has been created on campus.

“When I first started, I knew that this would be a safe environment for me and it gave me the opportunity to meet some amazing, fun and new people,” Young said. “I like that it’s not a sit down counseling session but just a group of friends meeting together to discuss their day and feelings.”

The Kent State chapter started in 2011 and is composed of about 15 students who are regularly involved in their organization.

Haleigh Rush, a senior public health major and president of the chapter, said the goals of the organization have been the same since they were founded.

“We have weekly meetings to be able to have a safe space to sit down and talk about anything mental health-related,” Rush said. “We do our best to educate people and a huge part of our mission is to reduce the stigma around mental health and change the way people sometimes negatively talk about mental illness.”

TWLOHA board members stressed that their core values they preach are acceptance, guid-

From Page 1

HEALTH Mental health services run...

“Our priorities are always persons with severe and persistent mental illnesses,” Craig said. “We want to make sure we have strong crisis services and we also (work to) keep people who are engaged in the criminal justice system out of the criminal justice system and into treatment.”

Craig said one of his top concerns is the noticeable rise in suicide among young people and middle-aged white men.

In a 2013 survey, the ADM Board found that nearly 30 percent of Summit County high schoolers reported feeling “clinically significant depressive sadness.” Almost 17 percent of students said they considered suicide and over 10 percent attempted it.

“One of the things we’re focused on right now is suicide,” Craig said. “There has been a spike in suicides, and I think that’s also been seen on the statewide level. We’re not really sure what to attribute that to, but we have taken on some initiatives to address that, particularly with our most vulnerable populations.”

There are three main programs the ADM Board is pushing to respond to the suicide trend.

The Zero Suicide and Crisis Text Line campaigns aim to raise awareness and support for mental health among high school youths. The Man Therapy program is intended to help men broach mental health issues through “irreverent” humor, Craig said.

No line item costs were available for the programs in the ADM Board’s most recent budget review.

Overall, the ADM’s resources have dropped from more than $61 million in 2006 to $42 million in 2015. The budget funds programs and initiatives across at least 30 agencies around the county, Craig said. The state decreased its contributions from $31 million to $9 mil-

ance, empathy and the importance of changing perspective to see more than one’s own opinion.

As an organization, they are aware people each have their own stories that they want to share in a safe group of friends.

“When I saw this club at BlastOff, I was extremely interested,” Young said. “I joined then, and I honestly got more out of it than I ever would have imagined. I got a family away from my blood family back home, and it truly gave me a purpose here.”

On May 12, Kent’s TWLOHA will hold an online 5K fundraiser. This event is essentially an online donation and pledge to run or walk in the participant’s own community that day at their own time.

In the past, TWLOHA has done different events such as benefit concerts for their organization. The concerts included live music, poetry speakers and people coming to share their story on an open mic.

“We have previously done things like concerts, and the 5K onsite and online. It was a great experience for everyone and a good turnout,” Rush said. “It’s amazing how many people will show up and dedicate their time and energy to a cause. We love to hear everyone’s stories and why they are there participating.”

Another interactive activity TWLOHA has done throughout campus is a “DeStress-Fest” in different residence halls, providing self-care awareness and destress tips to students.

“It was my favorite part hearing students come to us with their journey and tell some ways they deal with their mental health currently. We love to hear personal stories and see how far different people have come from experiences they’ve had,” Rush said. “When you openly talk about it, it generally becomes less scary.” mcranda4@kent.edu

lion in 2015, with taxpayers picking up slack to the tune of about $32 million annually.

A levy, renewed in 2013, generated most of the revenue for the county’s mental health services over the past several years. Craig said the county’s residents have been immensely supportive of the ADM’s work, and he expects the levy to pass again in 2019.

Summit County has become an epicenter of the opioid epidemic radiating across the state.

In 2015, Ohio led the nation with 3,310 drug overdose deaths, and Summit County accounted for an estimated 225 of them. The same year, the ADM’s budget fell to its lowest mark since 2006 at just $42.5 million.

Craig said there is no causation between the state’s decreased mental health support and the opioid explosion, but there certainly is a coincidence complicated by the state’s Medicaid expansion.

This is not to say Ohio hasn’t helped fund the opioid fight, but there is a marked decrease in direct financing of county ADM Boards.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s administration invested in the statewide fight against the opioid epidemic.

Tracy Plouck, director of Ohio’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, noted in a testimony to the Health and Human Services subcommittee that the state provides $72 million annually to ADM Boards. In 2016 alone, the executive branch invested nearly $1 billion toward drug abuse prevention, addiction, treatment and recovery across the state.

Complicating the budgetary obligations of state and local agencies is Ohio’s Medicaid expansion, which was facilitated by the Affordable Care Act. Plouck said in her testimony that more than 500,000 Ohioans have gained and maintained access to mental health services through the expansion. The Ohio Department of Medicaid increased its spending from $1.9 billion in 2012 to $3 billion in 2017. Craig said the expansion

Antwan returned to Florida for treatment.

“We were hopeful,” Shemariah said. “We always say that God has a plan for everything.

That was just a minor setback.”

Antwan spent many weeks in the hospital, but by Summer 2016, he felt good enough to return to Kent for summer school. Right before he left, he had a biopsy to see where he stood.

But shortly after returning to campus, he received the results, and the news was not good.

So he flew back to Florida and in October went on a new medication.

“From November to January, he was momentarily able to live his normal life,” Shemariah said. “Then January came to end, and we had to take the next step.”

In January 2017, Antwan was told his body would never be able to recover on its own, and that he needed a bone marrow transplant.

The best match was his father, Anthony Dixon.

“When they told me I was the best match, I couldn’t hesitate,” Anthony said. “That’s my kid. I would do anything for that boy.”

Antwan went through eight days of chemotherapy ahead of the transplant. He had nine teeth pulled to stop uncontrolled bleeding. As a result he lost 40 pounds.

When junior safety Juantez McRae heard what his friend was going through, the news hit hard. To him, Antwan Dixon is family.

“I couldn’t do anything but cry,” McRae said.

“My best friend’s life was at stake. It’s terrible to see that kind of stuff happen to a kid who is so uplifting."

As Antwan awaited surgery, his teammates reminded him that they were still there for him with a card.

“Some guys left short messages, and some guys left long messages, but all of us wanted him to know that he was in our prayers,” junior linebacker Matt Bahr said.

The transplant replaced Antwan Dixon’s blood cells with his father’s.

Meanwhile, family friend Pricilla Doyle set up a GoFundMe account to help with uncovered medical expenses and other costs. The initial goal was to raise $10,000.

The campaign has reached almost $12,000.

“We’re very independent people,” Shemariah said. “We try not to look for help from others, but (Doyle) helped us regardless. It means a lot to have a friend like her.”

Doyle’s son played football for Anthony, who was a coach at South Fort Myers High School.

“As a mom, I couldn’t imagine going through what the Dixons are experiencing,” Doyle said. “They handle every challenge with such grace and courage. I don’t even have words to describe it.”

Doyle said Anthony and Shemariah never ask for anything, so she had to find a way to allow people to help.

“The example that Antwan has set for the student athletes who have watched him succeed in football and in life is amazing,” Doyle said.

Doyle said Antwan was discharged from the hospital Friday.

He already has seen his white blood cell count go over 1,000 for the first time in over a year.

“His body is accepting his dad’s cells as its own,” Doyle said. “This is amazing, but he is not out of the woods yet. Antwan has to remain near the hospital for the first 100 days after the transplant.”

Kent State football coach Paul Haynes showed

allowed his agency to save about $5 million per year, which has been reinvested in treatment, jail and educational prevention services.

“Right now we’re in a position where, because of Medicaid expansion, a lot of the (behavioral) treatment services that we used to fund are now covered by Medicaid,” Craig said. “And so we’ve been able to make a larger investment in prevention services, and you can see the fruits of that have been that we’re embedded in preschools, we’re embedded in grade schools and also in the high schools.”

One of the most popular schoolbased intervention programs is the PAX Good Behavior Game, which has been in motion in Summit County for two years.

The program has trained over 50 teachers across four school districts, predominantly Akron Public Schools. The PAX program is increasingly popular, and Craig said the board doesn’t have the funds to meet training demands.

“No. In a word, we don’t,” Craig said.

“We’ve invested a couple hundred thousand dollars in this program over the course of the past two years, and we’re training more and more teachers every year. But we could make a much bigger impact if we had more funds to invest in this program.”

In Summit County, mental health consideration begins early. The ADM Board has programs that begin as early as maternal depression in pregnant mothers and follow residents from preschool until their elderly days. With the added stress of the opioid epidemic, Craig said the agency can’t sustain the deficit spending plan they’ve been forced to adopt.

“This opiate epidemic, the likes of which we’ve never seen, has sucked all the air out of the room,” Craig said. “It’s devastating families, and how can we treat this like a job? It’s really almost a ministry … It’s not just an eight-hour job and we go home at the end the day and forget about it. We live this.”

support for Antwan by raising awareness on social media. He didn’t want to comment for this story, saying he didn’t know enough about Antwan Dixon’s current medical condition.

Shemariah said her family is grateful for the support they’ve received from Kent to Florida.

“It makes him feel that he isn’t in this battle alone,” she said. “We have a lot of friends and family that have been there for us. We have prayed, and our faith has taken us to where we are today.”

Antwan sent word through his mother that he didn’t feel up to talking for this story himself.

She said he was hopeful he could return to Kent State in the fall.

‘Antwan was the standard,’ his teammates say Antwan Dixon had 517 yards and three touchdowns in his freshman year for the Kent State football team.

His stats aren’t important to his teammates.

“Every time he scored a touchdown, or I made a tackle, we would run towards each other and do our little dance,” junior safety Juantez McRae said. “Everyone looked at us like we were crazy, but it just helped us throughout the game, even during the tough times.”

McRae couldn’t stop smiling when he talked about Antwan.

“He is a kid that you are always going to see laughing,” McRae said. “He likes to encourage people to do better and be great. When I’m in a bad mood, he just comes up to me, and I can’t stay mad.”

Sophomore running back Will Matthews said Antwan was funny with his teammates, but when the time came to be competitive, he never disappointed the coaches.

“Antwan was the standard,” Matthews said.

“With everything he had going on, he was still the hardest worker we had out there. He was never the person the coaches had to yell at to give more effort. He came in his freshman year and committed to working as hard as he could. He was the ultimate standard of leading by example.”

McRae added that Antwan made him better by challenging him to be the best player he could be.

“I miss competing with him in practice,” McRae said. “I was going to get him better, and he was going to get me better. We bumped heads on the practice field a lot, but at the end of the day it was nothing but love. We both have the same goal, so we both know it doesn’t matter if we fight at times.”

His teammates also admired his attitude and smile that could be seen through his facemask.

“Antwan lights up the room with his smile,” junior linebacker Matt Bahr said. “He is one of those guys that you want to talk to if you’re having a bad day. He’s always going to ask how you’re doing.”

Antwan’s friends and family are confident that he will be in a football uniform again one day.

“Seeing how strong my son has been throughout this process, he has a great chance of doing what he loves to do,” Shemariah said. “He’s such a fighter, and you can’t count him out of anything.”

McRae said if Antwan wants to play football again, nothing would stop him.

“If he’s confident that he can play again, then I’m confident,” McRae said. “If Antwan could just touch the ball one more time, I know he would take it for a touchdown. I’m living for the day that I can see Antwan on the field again.”

Matthews was less concerned with Antwan’s ability to come back to the football field.

“I told him no matter what happens, whether he’ll play football again or not, I just want him to be healthy and happy,” Matthews said. “With that being said, I am positive that Antwan can come back from this if he gets the green light. The second they allow him to return to football, he’ll be back up here working out with the team.”

From Page 1

WARREN Warren takes on...

KW: Is there anything else the university is implementing in order to ensure that students are getting the help that they need?

Warren talked about multiple departments and the psychological services they offer for its students, as well as looking at ways to improve those services.

“What might we do with mental health counselors that can provide the next level of support? What can we do on a phone line triage to make sure that we are aware of students and the stresses they are experiencing? I think that’s what you’re going to see — more of a triaging of a top of the line mental health coverage, mental health counseling and services where more students can be served by the university,” Warren said.

KW: Do these services apply to employees of the university as well?

Employees can use the psychological services provided to students, but the university also supplies outsourced men-

slendak@kent.edu

tal services for all employees.

“Through our medical health benefits plan, there is a way to secure mental health counseling beyond the services supplied by Kent State University personnel," Warren said.

"Our faculty, staff, employees can also align with our health benefits package to receive some of those resources.”

KW: How does it work with helping out student athletes on the days that missed school to go to games? It would have to cause a lot of stress on their end as well.

Student-athletes have an immense amount of pressure on them, Warren noted. She said they do miss some classes, but due to what she called a strong and well-developed program athletic program, she said she believes it does help student athletes make sure they are caught up on work and don’t feel behind.

“What I’m so proud is this athletics program is that we have a strong athletic support program called the Athletic Resources Support,” Warren said. “Our students have counselors, tutors, tutors that go on the road with the team when the team is traveling during times when classes are in session.” ltaylo49@kent.edu

akeiper@kent.edu

Kent State President Beverly Warren talks to members of Kent State Student Media at the TV2 Studio in Franklin Hall on Wednesday, April 19, 2017.

Nate Manley / The Kent Stater