The Lantern - February 15 2018 by The Lantern

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POST-GRADUATE special section The student voice of the Ohio State University

Thursday, February 15, 2018

President Drake clarifies purpose of CCS

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Year 138, Issue No. 11

DRAKE WEIGHS IN JACK WESTERHEIDE | PHOTO EDITOR

The Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity remains suspended indefinitely at Ohio State after the decision was handed down by the chapter’s national organization.

KEVIN STANKIEWICZ Editor-in-Chief stankiewicz.16@osu.edu

IFC suspension in part due to national climate surrounding hazing culture

RACHEL BULES Copy Chief bules.7@osu.edu University President Michael Drake, in an interview Tuesday with The Lantern, offered clarification on how he views Ohio State’s mental health services, calling it a “pathway to assistance and support,” while affirming the school’s commitment to its students’ well-being. “What we want to do is to manage the mental health support of our students the best that we can,” Drake said. “CCS is not comprehensive mental health services. That’s done in the health care segment. It’s a pathway to assistance and support that we want to be.” The CCS website’s “About Us and Our Services” section states “[CCS] provides comprehensive individual and group mental health services, psychoeducational prevention and outreach programming to currently enrolled undergraduate, graduate and professional students.” However, Drake said these services are not necessarily designed to provide intensive, long-term mental health care that some students seek. Instead, CCS serves as a source of support during tough semesters. He said the service is a resource to connect students with long-term counseling options outside of the university. In moments of crisis, in particular, Drake said Ohio State strives to offer immediate support. “We would hope there’s a place that one can call and get help when that’s necessary [in crisis intervention],” Drake said. Drake’s remarks about the role of CCS provide the university community with clarity. While CCS has undoubtedly been helpful to large numbers of people, there seemed to be confusion among the student body about what purpose, exactly, it is supposed to serve. “It’s not a substitute for longterm mental health care,” Drake said. “We’re not ramped up to do CCS CONTINUES ON 8

JACK WESTERHEIDE | PHOTO EDITOR

University President Michael Drake sat down this week with The Lantern for his semesterly interview, which touched on a range of topics from mental health services on campus to Greek life to state funding for higher education. On top of our special graduate school section, today’s edition features stories on what Drake said.

University President Michael Drake continued to voice his support for DACA recipients in a Tuesday interview. Drake has visited D.C. to lobby in-favor of DACA recipients.

In addition to being the Associate Director in the Office of the Senior Vice President for Student Life, Bowen Marshall is also the DACA Liaison for Ohio State.

appropriately,” Drake said. “And these are easy conversations for us to have, generally.” Drake said he met with Stivers last week and met with Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty on Monday, who represent Ohio’s 15th and 3rd districts, respectively, to make sure the two are clear on the university’s views. Drake said Beatty is a “great supporter” of DACA. He did not comment on Stivers’ opinion. Stivers issued a statement Sept. 5 in support of DACA’s end. Drake said he believes Republi-

can Sen. Rob Portman and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown “support us” and were in support of policies “favorable for the Ohio State University,” despite coming from different sides of the aisle. “[The senators] know how I feel, so when we talk, we speak very frankly and open,” Drake said. “They represent the community more broadly than just the university, but they certainly know our position.” DACA provides protection for children of undocumented im-

Ohio State’s fraternity chapters simply needed a “pause” in order to get back on track, according to University President Michael Drake. The sweeping suspension handed down in November that put all 37 Interfraternity Council chapters on an indefinite suspension is now all but over, with only one chapter’s suspension of recruitment activities still in place, according to the website the university set up to announce the status of each chapter’s suspension. In an interview with The Lantern Tuesday, Drake said as more and more chapters were committing infractions and being investigated, he became increasingly alarmed, and got more involved. Drake said the growing number of fraternities exhibiting “behaviors that weren’t according to the university’s values” spurred the decision to have the community take a step back and reassess the role of the Greek community at Ohio State. He said the suspension was always intended to be a short-term break for the fraternities, not a permanent ban in any way, adding it was the right decision to make before he would “have to have a conversation with a family about a tragedy.” Additionally, with other universities around the country feeling pressure to suspend Greek life, he wanted to “hit the pause button” before it was too late. Drake said the administration read about several Greek life suspensions throughout the country stemming from hazing deaths and decided Ohio State wasn’t going

DACA CONTINUES ON 4

IFC CONTINUES ON 5

University continues support for DACA students with program expiration looming EDWARD SUTELAN Assistant Sports Editor sutelan.1@osu.edu University President Michael Drake has been an outspoken supporter of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals since its inception. With DACA now set to expire in less than a month, Drake has met with several politicians to voice the university’s support for DACA, most recently meeting with Republican Rep. Steve Stivers in hopes he could sway support for its recipients. In an interview with The Lantern, Drake said he’s made several trips to Washington since September to lobby with Ohio congressional delegation on the matter. “I think I’m in D.C. next week ... and one of the things we’ll talk about for sure will be DACA and higher-ed reauthorization,” Drake said Tuesday. He added the conversations he has with the representatives in Washington are the same that he would have with students, and that he does all he can to show his support for the students who are impacted by the future of the program. “DACA students are a part of our population, and it means a lot to us that they’re treated fairly and

OWEN DAUGHERTY Assistant Campus Editor daugherty.260@osu.edu

JACK WESTERHEIDE | PHOTO EDITOR

COURTESY OF OSU

POST-GRADUATION

2 | Thursday, February 15, 2017

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Push and pull: As state funding dips, universities target out-of-state tuition SUMMER CARTWRIGHT Campus Editor cartwright.117@osu.edu The cost of education at Ohio State — if you are a resident — has remained at a standstill for the past five years, but the cost for out-of-state students is climbing, and likely will continue to, with decreases in state funding spread across the nation. In fact, Ohio decreased its higher-education funding by 0.1 percent in the 2017-18 fiscal year, which might sound miniscule, but it equates to nearly $3 million in cuts, according to an annual Grapevine education policy study. For every $1,000 cut from state funding, the average student can be expected to pay $318 more per year in tuition and fees, according to the Economics of Education Review. But in-state students — graduate and undergraduate — did not see a spike in tuition from 2013 to the 2017-18 academic year. The pockets it seems to be hitting are those of nonresident students. The nonresident tuition surcharge has increased by 13.6 percent in

four years, even though the 201718 fiscal year is the only one to include a drop in state funding, according to Grapevine. The Grapevine study is compiled by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University and the State Higher Education Executive Officers. Each year it publishes data on state tax support for higher education. When it comes to the relationship between state funding and Ohio State tuition, the university works first to ensure in-state students are not affected by a state dip, and thus a possible tuition hike, University President Michael Drake told The Lantern Tuesday. “Our intention with the state is to do what we can to hold tuition as low as it can be and to be funded enough to continue to expand our quality and our excellence,” Drake said. “We focus that mostly on in-state students. That’s our primary focus.” There isn’t an exact, correlated relationship between state funding and tuition cost, said Andy Carlson, vice president of finance

SUPPORT

State Fiscal Support for Higher Education Per $1,000 in Personal Income and Per Capita Total

Income

Per capita

2016

$2,226,256,398

4.39

191.82

2017

$2,303,647,976

4.45

198.20

2018

$2,300,904,761

4.36

197.36

Fiscal Year

LANTERN ILLUSTRATION BY JL LACAR | MANAGING EDITOR FOR DESIGN

policy and member services for the State Higher Education Executive Officers. In the 2013-14 academic year, tuition for the majority of undergraduate nonresidents who took 12-18 credit hours was $12,878.40, including a $7,860 fee. In the 2016-17 academic year — the most recent data available — tuition for nonresidents was $14,114.40, including a $9,096 fee. For graduate nonresident students seeking a master’s or doctoral degree taking eight credit hours in the 2013-14 academic year, tuition was $15,044.40, in-

cluding a $8,832 fee. In the 2016-17 academic year, it was $16,436.40, including a $10,224 fee. Since 2013, tuition for in-state undergraduate and graduate students has remained at $5,018.40 and $6,212.40, respectively, per semester. While Ohio State is branding itself as more affordable as of late — specifically announcing tuition freezes and complete tuition coverage for Pell Grant recipients — the ability for it to become more affordable for nonresidents will continue to be a balancing act. “There’s always a push and

pull there with in-state affordability and out-of-state costs when it comes to flagship institutions putting pressure to admit large proportions of in-state students. That’s politically expected of a state university,” said Jim Palmer, Grapevine’s editor. “On the other hand, out-of-state students pose interesting revenue opportunities for universities.” “There’s always been an assumption with nonresident students that they should cover the full cost of their education, which is why nonresident tuition tends to be more expensive,” Carlson said. “From a state’s perspective, their goal would be making it affordable for their residents and honestly charging more for nonresidents is a way to keep the price down for the resident students because all of the revenue is frankly going to fall into the same pot. I get the disconnect.” Drake said increased out-ofstate tuition is market-based. For instance, the university noticed its nonresident tuition was low “several years back” compared with national averages and decided to TUITION CONTINUES ON 9

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From major to passion: Students recount decisions to pursue different fields of study than originally thought JAKE RAHE Senior Lantern reporter rahe.21@osu.edu

“I think it really just took 3 1/2 years of college to really figure out exactly what I wanted to do. And that’s all right.” Michael Natalizio Fourth-year finance major

“I think it really just took 3 1/2 years of college to really figure out exactly what I wanted to do,” Natalizio said, “And that’s all right.” Changing majors late into your undergraduate career is a nerve-wracking experience, Natalizio said, because there are a lot of different factors affecting the decision. “A part of your brain will be telling you that you

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Some students leave their undergraduate schooling ready to take the world by storm, but for others graduate school is an opportunity for a new beginning in a different field of study. Michael Natalizio entered college as a geography major, which he currently minors in with regional planning, but switched to finance for a “more sturdy” career. After interning for an investment company, the fourth-year realized his desire to pursue regional planning in graduate school. “[Investment companies] basically just invested money into struggling companies, which is tough because in a way they are preying on the helpless,” Natalizio said. “So that made me question what I wanted to do because I didn’t really feel like I would make that big of an impact on the world in finance. In a lot of ways, I would have just helped rich people get richer or a corporation succeed.” Like a lot of students coming into college, Natalizio said he did not entirely know what field to pursue.

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Michael Natalizio and Jessie Predieri are just two of many students who have switched their career path after realizing their major field was not a good fit.

have to follow exactly what you know you want to do. Then there is another part of your brain that says you should do the safe thing here, and then another part that cares about what other people think,” he said. “Really at the end of the day, you just have to follow your heart.” For Natalizio, that meant sticking out his degree in finance, but then pursuing graduate school in order to eventually obtain a job working in a job he’ll find more rewarding. Jessie Predieri started in the exploration program looking for a major in the medical field, and at the end of her first year, picked health sciences because it covers several aspects of the health field, she said. Predieri, a fourth-year in health sciences, said she began to shadow nurses and work in a hospital parttime, and after two years in health sciences, realized she wanted to be a nurse. After weighing her options for changing majors as a third-year, and talking with nurses she works with, Predieri decided to finish her health sciences degree and do an accelerated degree for nursing in graduate school. “If I want to be a nurse, I want to be a good nurse,

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Corrections The story “Fundraising on the rise; OSU ranks 19th in national survey,” published Feb. 13, incorrectly referred to the president of the Benefactor Group as Lisa MacDonald. In fact, her name is Laura MacDonald.

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Are you G-REady? Experts weigh in on how to prepare for the GRE MICHAEL LEE Lantern reporter lee.7240@osu.edu For some undergraduate students, going to graduate school is just another stepping-stone on their career path. However, in the process of applying to graduate school, there is one thing that stands in the way: the Graduate Record Exam — better known as the GRE. To help students succeed on the GRE, experts from Ohio State and McGraw-Hill, a company that makes GRE preparation guides, among other books, weighed in on how undergraduates can better prepare themselves for the exam, and ultimately, graduate school. The right time to take the exam depends on the person taking it, said Carolyn Morales, the director of recruitment and diversity initiatives at Ohio State’s Graduate School. “You have to align the test times of the admission deadlines with whatever respective program you’re interested in applying to,” Morales said. As for when to prepare for the GRE, Morales aid to think in terms of application deadlines, adding many graduate schools have an early admissions period in the fall, and regular admissions

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GRE Testing Center in the Academic Services building. The exam is available for anyone to take throughout the year. in the early spring. “If their goal is to get in early, then they’re going to have to be, of course, looking at starting that process early in the fall semester of getting prepped,” she said. “If your downtime is this summer, then that’s when you’re practicing the tests.” Erfun Geula, author of “McGraw-Hill’s 2017 Premium Guide to the GRE,” said students should practice for the exam consistently before taking it. He said it becomes difficult for students to study during academic years due to course loads, so balancing studying is key. The weight of the GRE score

on whether a student gets into graduate school is dependent on the program, he said. “Some programs, for example, like getting a master’s in philosophy, they’re not going to care too much about the GRE,” Geula said. “The flipside is programs where the GRE score is very relevant. So for example, if you’re applying to an economics program or a math program or a computer science program, they want to see that you can handle their curriculum on the quantitative side, so they’re going to expect a very high GRE score.” JOIN THE CONVERSATION

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DACA FROM 1

migrants, who are referred to as “Dreamers,” preventing them from deportation and allowing them to obtain permits to work legally. The Trump administration announced the eventual rescindment of the program in September, giving Congress a deadline of March 5 to come up with a solution to keep DACA alive.

“DACA students have special challenges, and the reason we put together and have a person on campus and have these services available is to help them deal with their special challenges, so we will continue to do that.” Michael Drake University President

Even if the program reaches its end, Drake said the university will do what it can under the law to help formerly protected students, and help lawmakers find a “just and appropriate solution.” “If there was a law that said you can’t have such services, you know, we’re bound to behave according to the law,” Drake said. “DACA students have special challenges, and the reason we put together and have a person on campus and have these services available is to help them deal with their special challenges, so

we will continue to do that.” Drake issued a statement the day the rescindment of DACA was announced, and added his signature to letters from university leaders urging Congress and Ohio’s congressional delegation to reach a resolution to ensure the program remains. The Senate began immigration reform talks this week, though early challenges are already being faced, while the prospects of a legislative solution in the House are less clear. Even while the university has dealt with the uncertainty of DACA, policies have been in place to support students currently protected by the act. Ohio State named Bowen Marshall its DACA liaison in August. He works with students protected by the program to help them understand the rights of those undocumented students. The volatility has forced some of the policies to change in the past year. “We have local policies that we have on campus that we’ve changed in the last year, with a special representative to help them, and other things that weren’t the case a year ago, to make sure they know the services that we do have, and that they can seek those services without fear or with at least a minimum of fear,” Drake said. Drake said the goal of the policies is to make sure students feel safe when talking to university administrators so the university administration can continue to represent the views of its student body.

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IFC FROM 1

to be a part of that narrative. “So we said, we just thought it was time to have a pause before we had a tragedy. So that would’ve been a decision that would’ve come to me,” he said. While serving as University of California-Irvine’s chancellor, Drake experienced what it was like to lose students to hazing-related deaths. “My prior university had two incidents that there were hazing-related deaths in my nine years there, so I’m not blaming anyone, I’m saying I knew, regardless what would happen someplace else, these things go terribly wrong,” he said. “What I saw were the circumstances where things could go terribly wrong, and it was time to push

The Graduate School

“My prior university had two incidents that there were hazingrelated deaths in my nine years there, so I’m not blaming anyone, I’m saying I knew, regardless what would happen someplace else, these things go terribly wrong.” Michael Drake University President

the pause button and do a reset.” At UCI in 2005, just two

months after Drake was appointed chancellor, physically abusive hazing led to the death of 19-yearold pledge Kenny Luong, something that Drake said shaped his thinking on how to handle Ohio State’s situation. That plan for a short pause at Ohio State came to fruition in early January, not even two months after the suspension on social activity was put in place. With recruitment on the horizon, one by one, chapters’ suspensions were lifted, to the point where the majority of fraternities were able to recruit. At the time of publication, all but seven chapters are approved for all activities, including social events. The aftermath of the suspension did see at least two chapters

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suspended from campus entirely. Last month the university suspended Tau Kappa Epsilon from campus for three years when an investigation found the chapter guilty of hazing, endangering behavior and alcohol abuse. Last week the national organization for Sigma Alpha Mu revoked the chapter’s charter at Ohio State, no longer recognizing it as an official fraternity on campus. There are currently no plans for recolonization. As the university completes its investigations into the 11 fraternities, at least three more chapters — Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Zeta Beta Tau — are on probation for varying periods of time.

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Grad students still have mixed responses to passed tax bill TERESA CARDENAS Senior Lantern reporter cardenas.53@osu.edu The tax reform legislation President Donald Trump signed into law in December was missing something noteworthy: section 1204. For anyone who protested the provision, which would have taxed graduate students’ tuition waivers as income, its exclusion should have led to rejoicing. But for some Ohio State graduate students, after holding multiple protests on campus and releasing letters in an attempt to combat the provision, the decision to drop the tax provision was not enough. Aiden Irish, a second-year doctoral candidate in public administration and management, said getting rid of the tax on waivers was a “hollow victory” in the finalized tax bill that he called a “policy disaster.” Through all the potential concerns, Irish said he is “hesitant to be happy,” but instead relieved he gets to continue his education. “I get up in the morning and no matter how stressed I am, I think it’s a pretty significant gift that I more or less get paid — albeit not very much — to go to school, to

DEGREES FROM 3

KEVIN STANKIEWICZ | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Evan Johnson, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in physics, holds a sign in the Ohio Union at a protest Nov. 13 against the tax bill proposed by Congressional Republicans. do research and to do things I love,” Irish said. On the other hand, Noah Charles, a second-year graduate student in physics, said politicians who supported the bill in its final form are worrisome. “I think that the current GOP ideology is to defund colleges and universities and hope that some market forces will sort of

No immediate plans for new Ohio State private partnerships, though possibility remains JACOB MYERS Managing Editor for Content myers.1669@osu.edu Agreements between Ohio State and private companies involving the use of university assets and — in the most recent case — education technology aren’t likely to end. But for the time being, the university has no additional partnerships in the works. Following the more than $1 billion privatization of the university’s energy systems and the announcement of an initiative with Apple to put iPads into the hands of all incoming freshmen, some were left wondering if there was more activity to come between Ohio State and the private sector. University President Michael Drake put that speculation to rest, at least for the next 12-18 months. “There’s no other thing,” Drake said Tuesday in an interview with The Lantern. “We’ve had a couple of really big ones this last year, with ENGIE-Axium and Apple. There’s nothing like that that I’m keeping from you.” Ohio State’s partnership with Apple in October was at least the university’s third such agreement with a private company. In March 2017 the university signed over its energy rights for 50 years to ENGIE-Axium. In 2012, it privatized its parking with CampusParc for $483 million over 50 years. The ENGIE-Axium and CampusParc agreements were record-breaking deals among universities for contract length and monetary value in the energy and parking sectors, respectively. Unlike the energy and parking contracts, Drake said the agreement with Apple is not an exclusive partnership — it won’t hinder students or classrooms from using other computer products like Microsoft. “Apple, we believe, is a company that seems to share our interest in information transfer, and they’re really at the cutting edge of the knowledge acquisition and sharing parts of our society,” he said. “And

if we can help them do a better job of that and they can help us do a better job, that would be great.” Although he said there aren’t current plans for another multimillion-dollar privatization deal, Drake did indicate he sees these opportunities as a way to increase the university’s affordability. Ohio State announced last March a chunk of the $1 billion up-front payment received from ENGIE-Axium would go to the university’s endowments, part of which is used to fund additional student financial aid. In February, Ohio State’s Board of Trustees approved endowments funded by Energy Partners, the entity formed through the energy privatization deal. About $328 million was given to university endowments — from Energy Partners and from the initial upfront payment. “I say move the university forward, and affordability is one of the ways that we would see the university moving forward,” Drake said. “So to the extent that a public-private partnership can allow us to do something that doesn’t compromise our values in one way, but provide revenue that lets us support our mission in another way, that would be fine.” As of now, it is impossible to know the full financial impact of the Apple and CampusParc deals, since the Apple contract is not yet available to the public, and the money earned from CampusParc will not be released because it is considered a trade secret. However, Drake’s opinion on these partnerships indicates the university’s willingness to monetize more of its assets in the future. Drake said public-private partnerships aren’t the “be-all-end-all” to achieving the university’s mission. Ohio State and the companies can back out if the partnership isn’t working. “It’s a means to an end of making us a better university,” he said. “Often a very effective means. And when that’s the case, that’s great. If not, then it’s a deal that we tend not make.”

create a better situation, but for the short term,” Charles said. “I think general consequences of that will be that many, many fewer people will be able to participate in postgraduate education and the people that do get to participate will be the independently wealthy. “That’s not a world that I want to see.” He said pulling the tax provision was not done to support graduate students across the country who might be negatively affected by it, but because the politicians had no choice but to respond to their concerns. “I think that we really did actually end up being heard,” Charles said. “Now that’s not because I think the Republican Party was particularly sympathetic to our position, but rather because when you mobilize that many people in that many different places, people realize that maybe you know this isn’t a good idea.”

and if I want to be a [nurse practitioner], I want to be a good [nurse practitioner],” she said. “So that is how I decided on this second degree program just because it is an extra step, and it sucks that I didn’t know right away. I feel like now I am a lot more sure in what I want because I had to do some trial and error. Some people just get lucky and kind of pick.” Many of the nurses around her completed a second-degree program similar to what she intends to do, Predieri said. This made her decision much easier. “It is not really as uncommon as people think,” she said. “I used to kind of feel like, ‘Man, I really screwed up. Nobody else probably does this,’ but it happens to a lot of people.” She said students should always pursue fields they have a passion for. “Because really at the end of the day, I believe that passion is what drives excellence,” Predieri said. “To a certain degree, you need to be passionate about what you are doing to even be successful and to be happy.” “I am really happy,” she said. “I kind of don’t think I would have done it any other way.”

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8 | The Lantern | Thursday, February 15, 2018

CCS FROM 1

that. We have our health system to do that. So our job is to try to do what we can to make the services available.” Concerns over the quality of campus mental health services, both at Ohio State and nationally, have been at the forefront of many students’ minds in recent years as the percentage of young people across the country seeking help for mental illness rapidly increases. At Ohio State, appointments at CCS more than doubled across a 10-year period. In the 2016-17 academic year alone, there were more than 35,000 appointments scheduled, compared to a little more than 15,000 in 2006-07. To address the increasing demand, the university added 15 additional staff members in the past two years — 13 clinicians and two support positions — and brought CCS locations to Lincoln Tower and the North Residential District. In the first year after those additions, Drake said CCS increased the number of students it saw by 40 percent, which he said was a good thing because it indicated they were able to better meet students’ needs. Drake said the university evaluates CCS wait times at different points of the year, such as in the fall, spring and around finals. “If I were to hear, and this would really come to me from Student Life, that the CCS was really overwhelmed, then we’d think about [increasing staff immediately], but we try to keep a reasonable sample.” At Ohio State, mental health services through its health system are not completely fused with on-campus services, which is the case at some schools, such as West Virginia. John Campo, the Wexner Medical Center’s director of psychiatry and behavioral health, said the division between mental health services at Ohio State was one factor he considered in his decision to

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leave the university for WVU. “That’s one unfortunate thing here at Ohio State is that you have the medical center over here and then you have student health and student mental health over on the university sides,” Campo told The Lantern Feb. 6. “And it’s not like we don’t collaborate. There are some wonderful people there, and we like working with them, but we’re separate services.” Drake said the university always looks for opportunities to make the coordination better, but stressed the complicated nature of alignment, as well as the complicated nature of providing mental health services and health care, generally. The entire country, not only Ohio State, could improve in that area, Drake said. “We could always do more. More and better and faster health care is always better,” Drake said. “We wanted to be among the best in having access for our students to [mental health] services. I don’t know a place that has better access to these services than we have. I could try others, but it is certainly better than where I was before in being able to get a rapid response. “I don’t know that it’s ever going to be perfect, but we want to try to be as responsive as we can.” Drake has said the university’s expectation, or goal, is for students who seek treatment to have a phone consultation within a day and have a scheduled appointment within a week, during which the student’s symptoms are assessed. From there, they are directed to a number of services that CCS offers, which include individual counseling, group therapy sessions, or a referral to counseling from a third-party source not affiliated with the university. For some, this is where the waiting starts. In February 2017, Ohio State’s Under-

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graduate Student Government conducted an informal survey and found students face an average of a six-week wait for an appointment after their initial contact with CCS. Drake, who added he has personally seen the stigma around mental health decline through talking with students, said the university will continue to review CCS’ ability to serve students, and “if we find that that’s a place where we would do better with an increase in employees, that’s what we would do.” However, the sheer volume of the Ohio State student population coupled with the increasing demand for mental health services among college students presents a barrier in providing long-term resolutions for mental health problems. While the 10 free appointments allotted to each student is helpful for some, it does not suffice to cover the length of treatment that others might need. “We’re not setting [CCS] up to be a comprehensive mental health system,” Drake said. “That’s way beyond the scope of what we would do in a campus counseling service. What we want to try to do is deal with the issues that affect the students to help them be successful in school. My hope would be that it is overwhelmingly successful most of the time.”

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TUITION FROM 2

adjust and increase the amount to reflect the typical nonresident costs. “For out-of-state students, international students, we really there compete mostly on trying to be the best value that we can be because they have multiple opportunities to choose from,” Drake said, adding the university comes up with a cost that is “appropriate for us while having the resources to be able to support [nonresidents] and the broader institutions effectively.” The trend for universities to decrease tuition for in-state students and increase it for nonresidents is a movement happening across the country, Palmer said. Additionally, he said this desire for universities to become more affordable for in-state students often is not supported by state funding and taxes. “On one hand, there seems to be a growing sentiment to make higher education affordable for students. This is part of the free-tuition movement,” Palmer said. “By the same token, there doesn’t seem to be a corresponded movement to raise taxes. Even though, again, there are variations across states.” Among Big Ten universities, Ohio State has the third-lowest tuition for out-of-state students, with University of Minnesota and University of Nebraska maintaining lower costs. The most costly out-of-state tuition in the Big Ten for the 2016-17 academic year was University of Michigan. It cost $47,476 to attend as a nonresident.

“Higher-education funding has often been referred to as the balance wheel of state budgets,” Carlson said. “More often than not in most states, it’s kind of the last thing that states figure out what level of funding to provide after doing things that have more mandates to add to them.” Despite the growing economy in the past year, higher-education funding nationwide increased by only 1.6 percent, according to Grapevine. “It’s a pretty anemic increase,”Palmer said. “It’s really hard to be optimistic when we juxtapose the anemic growth of state funding this year against the back glow of an otherwise growing economy.” He said the national trends reflect state struggles in maintaining revenues needed to increase funding for higher education. “It’s death by a thousand cuts,” he said.

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ARTS&LIFE

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BLACK PANTHER Highly-anticipated “Black Panther” movie hits screens this weekend, already estimated to smash box office records. | ON PAGE 12

COLUMBUS’ OWN

“We’re just trying to do things little by little,” Marco said. “We’re trying to do things right. We’re not trying to rush just because.”

“I’m such an introvert so I think without him I might not do [music].” Sara Castro Singer and songwriter

Count on me,

The Castros’ love created by music The Castros perform three songs off of their EP in The Lantern podcast studio on Feb. 12. CLAIRE KUDIKA Lantern reporter kudika.4@osu.edu Six months after moving to Savannah, Georgia, from Costa Rica in 2006, Marco Castro met his current wife Sara Castro, and the music quickly followed. It wasn’t until 2009, though, that their band officially formed, when they played their first gig at the Crimson Cup on North High Street. The couple met when a mutual friend brought Sara to a restaurant where Marco was working. She set them up believing the two would get along. She was right.

“I think she was a little shocked at how much we hit it off,” Sara said. Making music together wasn’t so much a conscious choice, but a natural progression of their relationship. “I just sort of kept [my songs] to myself, very privately and I shared one with him shortly after we met and he was like ‘That’s yours? I can’t believe that!’” Sara said. However, it was Marco who really pushed Sara to start pursuing her music. “He was the one who encouraged me to start playing more … which was difficult at first,” Sara said. “I’m such an introvert so I think without him I might not do [music].” Marco said he was blown away not only

JACK WESTERHEIDE | PHOTO EDITOR

by Sara’s singing and songwriting skills, but also the fact that she wasn’t sharing them with people other than him. That’s when he decided to take matters into his own hands. “She was like, ‘I don’t want to play on my own,’ so she taught me [guitar],” Marco said. Sara, who writes all the band’s lyrics, said her main goal is to ensure that their music spreads “joyfulness and love,” something that clearly comes across when the pair performs together. Sometimes, the process of recording and producing songs can take some time, but this doesn’t bother either of them.

Their song “Tin Cans” is a clear example of how the two use their lyrics to tell a story, more specifically, their story. A bilingual ballad, the track features a few verses in English and some in Spanish –– Marco’s native language. “I like music where people write their own stuff and really have something to say,” Sara said. For Marco and Sara, music is a binding factor in their relationship, and their individual personalities balance each other out in the best possible ways. “It’s weird being by yourself up [on a stage],” Sara said. “But [having Marco there] makes all the difference.” The Castros’ newest single, “Savannah,” will debut on Bandcamp Friday, and will be available on other streaming platforms such as iTunes and Amazon Music this weekend.

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Thursday, February 15, 2018 | The Lantern | 11

Little Big Town 7:30 p.m. at the Schottenstein Center. The award-winning country music group will perform with opener Kacey Musgraves. Tickets start at $24.50 plus fees via Ticketmaster.

Battle of the Sexes 7 p.m. at The Pelican Room, 122 E. Main St. Men and women battle in poetry, music and mayhem provided by local stars such as DJ Krate Digga, George Lee Jr., Yarima Karama and Summer Reign. Admission is $10 plus fees via Eventbrite.

Friday, Feb. 16

AWOLNATION 7 p.m. at Express Live, 405 Neil Ave. The alternative rock band brings its “Here Come the Runts” tour to Columbus alongside Nothing But Thieves and Irontom. Tickets are $31.50 plus fees via Ticketmaster.

Chocolate and Beer 7 p.m. at Endeavour Brewing Co., 909 W. 5th Ave. The brewery offers guests an evening of local chocolate and beer pairing. Admission is $20 plus fees via Eventbrite.

Saturday, Feb. 17

MercyMe 7 p.m. at the Schottenstein Center. The contemporary Christian group from Texas will perform alongside Tenth Avenue North. Tickets start at $25 plus fees via Ticketmaster.

Art & Souls Couples Yoga 2 p.m. at the Columbus Museum of Art, 480 E. Broad St. Spoken word artist Barbara Fant and singer-songwriter Renee Deion partner with Replenish: The Spa Co-op for an afternoon of poetry, music and yoga. Tickets are $25 via CMA’s website.

Sunday, Feb. 18

Thursday, Feb. 15

WHAT’S UP THIS WEEK

Excision 8 p.m. at Express Live, 405 Neil Ave. The DJ brings his “2018 Paradox” tour to Columbus alongside Liquid Stranger, Dion Timmer and Monxx. Tickets are $40 plus fees via Ticketmaster.

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Anticipated ‘Black Panther’ premiere arrives at Gateway AMAL SAEED Lantern reporter saaed.40@osu.edu The excitement around the new “Black Panther” movie is touching down near campus Friday, with the Department of African American and African Studies collaborating with the Student Life Multicultural Center to hold a screening of the film at the Gateway Film Center. After the screening, Simone Drake, a professor of African American and African studies, will be leading a discussion on black resistance and the power of black imagination. “I expect this film to be groundbreaking for this superhero genre,” Drake said. The post-screening discussion will give

This is to prove that black people can do stuff in media, in movies and art.”

COURTESY OF TNS

Queena Prince Third-year in sociology and public affairs

Black Panther producer Nate Moore, Director Ryan Coogler, USAF Col. (retired) Charles McGee and Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter pose with a costume prior to a screening at The National Museum of African American History and Culture on Feb. 11.

attendees an opportunity to express their feelings and opinions of the film. Queena Prince, a third-year in sociology and public affairs, said she was curious to hear the perspectives of other nonblack students. Set to debut Friday, the revolutionary film is estimated to earn $170 million in the first weekend release, breaking the Presidents’ Day weekend record set in 2016 by “Deadpool” and in 2015 by “Fifty Shades of Grey,” according to Variety.

On Jan. 15, Fandango reported that the first 24 hours of ticket presales for “Black Panther” were the largest ever for a Disney-Marvel film. The entertainment company later revealed that the movie became the highest pre-selling superhero movie in history. The “Black Panther” cast is filled with critically acclaimed actors, including Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett and Michael B. Jordan. The film’s soundtrack, which debuted last week, was co-produced by Grammy Award-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar, and features art-

ists such as The Weeknd, Travis Scott and 2 Chainz. “Black Panther’s” release comes amid Black History Month, which goes along with the movie’s intention to showcase African-American actors in Hollywood. “This is to prove that black people can do stuff in media, in movies and art as a unit instead of having stereotypical roles like ‘the token black guy,’” Prince said. Drake said students also are planning screening parties and post-screening get-togethers to celebrate the film’s release. Drake said she knew of one student

who is getting an outfit made in Nigeria to commemorate the premiere. The buildup for the “Black Panther” movie began back in 2016 with the appearance of its eponymous character in “Captain America: Civil War.” The “Black Panther” screening will take place at 2 p.m. Friday at the Gateway Film Center, followed by a discussion in the MLK Lounge in Hale Hall. Admission is free, but tickets are required and available online.

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Thursday, February 15, 2018 | The Lantern | 13

BASEBALL FROM 16

their starting pitchers from a season ago except Jake Post. Junior Ryan Feltner, who was recently listed as the top-ranked Big Ten prospect by both D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game scouting services, has struggled in the past, but could prove to be the ace of the staff. He already has been named as the regular-season Friday night starter. To fill out the starting rotation, Beals also will look to Niemeyer and fellow redshirt senior Yianni Pavlopoulos, along with junior Connor Curlis and sophomore Jake Vance. All five of those players have started at least five games for Ohio State, and only Vance has fewer than 24 game appearances. Curlis will take the mound first for the Buckeyes this weekend during the Snowbird Classic, Beals said. “[Curlis] is working very hard,” Kinker said. “He works with Feltner who, honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone work as hard as Feltner.” Kinker, who had 54 strikeouts and a 2.95 ERA last season, headlines a bullpen that features four additional seniors. Experience won’t necessarily translate to performance on the mound though, especially on the back of a poor performance from the pitching staff last year. Niemeyer expects his fellow hurlers to improve their control. “[We want to] fill up the zone early in counts, ‘cause that gives us an advantage,” Niemeyer said. “You just have to have the mindset if someone hits a first-pitch ground or fly ball that’s a good thing. You don’t have to try to strike everyone out.” The Buckeyes maintained all but two starters from last season’s starting lineup. Among the returnees is sophomore Conner Pohl at third base, who was second on the team with a .325 batting average last season. Last year’s primary third baseman

Brady Cherry is back playing second base. Canzone will be in right field once again; he led the team with a .346 batting average and was second with 36 RBI. He also stole 13 bases. “I’m very confident with the guys that we’re gonna put on the field this year,” Canzone said. “All around it’s just a lot of great chemistry across the board, this team. I’m just excited and it’s the most fun I’ve had, honestly, in a preseason.” Junior catcher Jacob Barnwell is back behind the plate after 51 starts last season, and junior college transfer Kobie Foppe rounds out the infield at shortstop with a defensive style Beals called “smooth.” Malik Jones, another junior college transfer, will be in center field. An intriguing development within the batting order is the group of athletes vying for playing time at first base, left field and designated hitter. “We’ve got several capable bodies. Bo Coolen and Noah McGowan are both gonna get playing time at first base, McGowan can play some left field and DH, Nate Romans can DH, [Tyler] Cowles can play left field and DH,” Beals said. “We’re gonna be able to wiggle and play some guys that are hot.” Ohio State opens its season Friday against UW-Milwaukee as part of the Snowbird Classic.