April 20 2016

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An Ohio State synchronized swimmer won a national title at the U.S. Collegiate Championships.

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Timeline of The Lantern’s public-records requests and university responses Dec. 24 The Lantern sends initial public-records request to OSU.

Feb. 26 OSU fulfills The Lantern’s records requests.

March 4 The Lantern challenges the university’s fulfillment of the request.

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Michigan/Michigan State

Ohio State March 21 The Lantern sends public-records requests to U-M and MSU.

Year 136, Issue No. 37

April 8 OSU stands behind its use of FERPA and provides more data sets.

April 12 U-M and MSU fulfill The Lantern’s records request.

Online calculus class attracts big numbers Jay Panandiker

DENNY CHECK | MANAGING EDITOR FOR DESIGN

A timeline showing when The Lantern requested and received information from three universities regarding athletes’ academic performance.

Athletic records requests partially denied Amanda Vaughn

News Director vaughn.246@osu.edu

Alex Drummer

Managing Editor for Content drummer.18@osu.edu This is the first article in a twopart series. The second article will focus on the data provided regarding the relationship between athletics and academics.

The performance of college athletes is often put on display under the bright lights of stadiums and gymnasiums. Information about these students’ performance in the classroom, though, is sometimes kept in the dark.

To evaluate the relationship between athletics and academics, The Lantern submitted public records requests to Ohio State seeking information about athletes’ GPAs and attendance rates, among other things. The university’s response included redacted columns of data and inconsistencies.

Though it was asked for 10 years of data, OSU only provided the average GPAs for each sports team for seven years, from 2009

Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State respond inconsistently to The Lantern’s requests for athletes’ academic data to 2015. OSU initially also only provided Spring Semester data, although Autumn Semester data was later provided upon another request.

In a document containing average sports team GPAs that OSU provided to The Lantern, several columns in the tables were blacked out. These columns contained the number of players who fell within certain GPA ranges.

When The Lantern challenged this redaction, Director of Public Records Rob Moormann stood by OSU’s decision, and he said sharing the information would violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that aims to protect the privacy rights of students.

“In combination with other available information, the redacted GPA data is linkable to specific students and would allow others to identify the student,” Moormann

said in an email. “The redacted data is therefore consistent with FERPA’s definition for ‘personally identifiable information.’”

Frank LoMonte, lawyer and executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said he sees universities using and misinterpreting FERPA as a common practice when dealing with data sets.

“Years ago, the Department of Education issued some advice about releasing small numerical sets and how a very small numerical set could compromise FERPA privacy. But this is what they meant by that: Don’t release a small numerical set if that set itself gives away something confidential about an identifiable person,” LoMonte said in an email.

LoMonte went on to explain that if someone requesting information about students asked for an ethnicity breakdown of the data,

and, hypothetically there were only two Latino students, people might be able to identify them if the information was made public, and thus the use of FERPA would be appropriate.

“But that’s all they meant: Don’t release the number if the number actually exposes confidential information from a student’s record,” LoMonte said. “The way that schools have sometimes interpreted this — particularly schools with very dumb lawyers or very obstructionist lawyers — is, ‘Don’t ever release any small numbers,’ which is not at all what the federal government said or could have intended.”

Chris Davey, an OSU spokesman, stood by OSU’s application of FERPA in this request.

“We have no interest in shielding records from the media. We do have an interest in protecting the privacy of our students not only because it is federal law, but because it is the right thing to do,” Davey said in an email.

He maintained that the shielded data could be used to identify certain students.

“We stand by our own lawyers’ RECORDS CONTINUES ON 3

President’s Prize encourages grads to engage with the world Shangquan Shi Lantern reporter shi.719@osu.edu

SAMANTHA HOLLINGSHEAD | PHOTO EDITOR

University President Michael Drake.

Ohio State recently founded the President’s Prize in order to support graduating seniors who are passionate about social change.

Starting this year, two will be chosen annually as President’s Prize scholars.

For this year, the award is open to any full-time senior students with a minimum 2.0 GPA who will graduate in Autumn 2016, Spring 2017 or Summer 2017.

Students need to submit an original and creative project idea aimed at improving people’s lives in a local, national or global community.

“Ohio State is focused on help-

ing to solve the critical issues of our time,” University President Michael Drake said in a release.

“I look forward to seeing the incredible innovations of our newest alumni as they harness the power and knowledge of Buckeye Nation for change.”

Each of the recipients will not only receive a living stipend of $50,000 and another $50,000 in startup funding, but they will also have various opportunities to connect with OSU faculty staff, donors and alumni, as well as outside partners and companies, according to OSU’s website.

The project proposals do not need to be associated with students’ areas of study, according to OSU’s website. Students from all areas of study will be consid-

ered as long as they care about the welfare of others and are aware of social inequalities.

Some students who are interested in social change are excited about this new prize.

Maryem Menad, a fourth-year in biology, is involved with Alpha Phi Omega, a fraternity that does service activities on and off campus.

“I think it’s definitely a great opportunity for people who are trying to make differences to be able to get benefits because there are a lot of people taking a lot of loans to continue their education,” Menad said. “So being able to have a good portion of it covered would definitely be beneficial.”

Sterling Clemmons, a first-year PRIZE CONTINUES ON 4

Engagement Editor panandiker.1@osu.edu How many people can take a calculus class? The limit does not exist.

Calculus is a class that people take as a prerequisite for dozens of majors around campus and at colleges across the country.

One course, titled Calculus One or Mooculus, functions as an introduction to calculus both for those who are new to the subject and those who just want to review concepts. So far, hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in the course on Coursera, an online-education website that partners with universities around the country, and more than 250,000 have participated through the OSU website, said Jim Fowler, an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics. The YouTube channel also just recently surpassed 1 million views.

OSU professors created massively open online course Mooculus is a collaborative effort between several math professors at OSU and is led by Fowler.

The course is a mooc, or massively open online course, which means that anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can learn topics, such as limits and derivatives. Mooculus is made up of three components: lecture videos, an online textbook and interactive homework problems, Fowler said.

Fowler said he started Mooculus because he finds teaching math fun and rewarding. He added that he thought the course could fill a new niche. There are a lot of videos that show the process of solving calculus problems, but fewer that celebrate the concepts behind calculus. He said the Mooculus videos try to explain a lot of these concepts and that the homework component is also more interactive. Fowler said the group of professors who organized the project chose to do calculus because it is often the gateway STEM course that is needed to get into many majors.

“I think a lot of people see a calculus textbook, and maybe they don’t find the words and CALC CONTINUES ON 4

2 | Wednesday, April 20, 2016

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GLOBAL WATER INSTITUTE An Ohio State initiative is committed to bringing comprehensive water systems to Tanzania.

Sexual misconduct climate survey distributed for second year in a row Leah McClure

a person.” This includes sexual violence, stalking, unwanted comments or touching and relationship violence.

In 2015, the university’s response rate was 18.1 percent, compared to the national response rate of 19.3 percent. Of those respondents, 24 percent of female undergraduate students reported experiencing incidences of nonconsensual sexual contact by physical force, threats of physical force, or incapacitation. About 5.3 percent of male undergraduate students reported experiencing similar attacks.

Senior Lantern reporter mcclure.607@osu.edu A survey assessing the climate of sexual misconduct and relationship violence on Ohio State’s campus will be available for all graduate, undergraduate and professional students to take until Monday at midnight.

This is the second year the university has distributed the survey.

The survey — which was distributed by email — will be used to enhance Buckeyes ACT, OSU’s plan for combatting sexual misconduct and relationship violence, according to a statement written by the Vice President of Student Life Javaune Adams-Gaston, who emailed out the survey.

Gaston said in the email that the survey will help ensure “a safe and healthy climate for students and the entire university community.”

Anne McDaniel, associate director of research and data management for the Center for the Study of Student Life, said that some changes were made to the survey from last year “for clarity and length, as well as to make it more applicable to Ohio State’s students.” However, she said that overall, no substantial changes were made. Results from this year’s survey will be released in the fall.

Participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous, but McDaniel said that broad participation is encouraged. More

DENNY CHECK | MANAGING EDITOR FOR DESIGN

Ohio State statistics from the 2015 Association of American Universities’ national campus climate survey on sexual misconduct and relationship violence. than 10,000 responses to the survey have been collected as of Tuesday morning.

“Participating in the survey provides the university with an overall picture of the experiences and opinions of the student body,” McDaniel said.

The survey includes questions about personal experiences with sexual misconduct and relationship violence, whether OSU’s

campus and surrounding areas feel safe, and knowledge and usage of resources related to sexual misconduct and relationship violence available at OSU. OSU’s sexual misconduct policy defines sexual misconduct as “conduct of a sexual nature or conduct based on sex or gender that is nonconsensual or has the effect of threatening, intimidating, or coercing

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OSU Global Water Institute lending a hand in Tanzania Shangquan Shi Lantern reporter shi.719@osu.edu

COURTESY OF MICHAEL HAGENBERGER

Tyler Pica, a 2015 Ohio State graduate in civil engineering, fist-bumps with a Tanzanian child during an August 2015 visit to several rural Tanzanian villages as part of an engineering capstone trip co-sponsored by the Global Water Institute.

The Global Water Institute at Ohio State began as an initiative in 2014 and has been engaging in large-scale interdisciplinary research activities on water issues ever since. One of its programs is the WE3 Program for Tanzania — Water, Energy, Education and Economic Development.

The GWI is trying to build a comprehensive village water system through the WE3 Program.

The goal is to improve the health

and well-being of people in local villages, said Martin Kress, the interim director of the GWI. They not only teach techniques, but also help develop a sustainable water system by guiding local people to embrace and see the value in creating a water system.

Kress said statistics show 50 percent of people in Tanzania lack access to clean water and 76 percent have no electrical power.

There are about 70,000 wells in the country, he said.

Kress added that in some villages that the GWI went to, water has not come from the wells for 10

years.

“In the past, people would give the village a pump, and the pump would always break in three months,” Kress said. “Because it was the wrong pump and the wrong design. There was no supply chain. No one has been trained to operate it and maintain it.”

So the GWI team tried to look at all the dimensions of the problem in order to design the solution, Kress said.

Members of the GWI first researched how much water there was and how they could optimize WATER CONTINUES ON 4

RECORDS FROM 1

interpretation of FERPA and maintain that redactions made to the released records were necessary to protect the privacy of students,” Davey added. “In combination with other available information, the redacted GPA data is linkable to specific students and would allow others to identify the student. The redacted data is completely consistent with FERPA’s definition for ‘personally identifiable information.’”

Despite the redaction of GPA ranges in OSU’s response to The Lantern, the university has a history of releasing such information to praise high-performing athletes.

An article released by the Department of Athletics in January 2009 about the success of the women’s soccer team states, “While one Buckeye obtained a perfect 4.0 for the quarter, another 12 Buckeyes had GPAs of 3.5 and a total of 22 players out of 31 on the academic roster or 71 percent had GPAs of at least 3.0.”

When asked about the discrepancy in the release of the information, Davey said, “The (article about women’s soccer) was written in the context of the team winning an academic award for 15 consecutive years. I don’t know the circumstances of the production of that story, but I suspect it would have been written with permission from the coach and the student-athletes.”

Additionally, OSU failed to provide data surrounding attendance rates of student-athletes, saying that it doesn’t track the information necessary to provide such data.

Public record request laws do not require organizations to create new records or conduct research when responding to requests.

However, OSU did fill the request surrounding “class checkers” for student-athlete attendance, saying the university does employ nine of these individuals, who are paid between $10 and $18 an hour.

After follow-up questions about the lack of attendance data, The Lantern was told that the university does not monitor every student-athlete, but there are certain circumstances where the Department of Athletics and the Student-Athlete Support

THE STUDENT VOICE OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY The Lantern is a student publication which is part of the School of Communication at The Ohio State University. It publishes issues Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and online editions every day. The Lantern’s daily operations are funded through advertising and its academic pursuits are supported by the School of Communication. Advertising in the paper is sold largely by student account executives.

Students also service the classified department and handle front office duties. The School of Communication is committed to the highest professional standards for the newspaper in order to guarantee the fullest educational benefits from The Lantern experience.

Services Office chooses to monitor daily attendance for specific student-athletes, said Emily Caldwell, media relations manager with university communications.

“Reports of such attendance are immediately shared with the relevant coaching staff through a variety of communication methods. Because it is all handled on an individual basis, there is no single system used to track the data, and any information that does exist is protected by FERPA because in each case it relates to an individual student,” Caldwell told The Lantern in an email.

OSU provided an example of what the attendance data would look like in its follow-up response. This document blacked out the fields for student names, buildings and class information.

Discrepancies between universities The Lantern sent the same public records request to the University of Michigan and Michigan State, which asked for the following data in a range over the past 10 years: • Average and median GPAs and number of credits for each sports team • The graduation rate of student-athletes by sports team • The average and median number of years it takes student-athletes to complete a degree program by sport • The average and median attendance rates by sport Also requested were the five most popular majors for student-athletes, the number of academic coaches employed by the university and their salaries, the number of student tutors employed and their salaries, and, if applicable, the number of attendance checkers employed by the university and their salaries.

The University of Michigan denied The Lantern’s requests about GPAs, number of credits, years to complete a degree, the most common majors, and attendance, citing that it does not compile any of this information. The sole data it provided was the number and salary of student tutors.

Similar to OSU, the University of Michigan has articles touting athletes’ GPAs. An article published in July 2012 stated the women’s track and field team had an average GPA of 3.21. The University of

Editor in Chief Amanda Etchison Managing Editor for Content Alex Drummer Managing Editor for Design Denny Check Copy Chief Robert Scarpinito Campus Editor Michael Huson Asst. Campus Editor Danika Stahl Sports Editor Ryan Cooper Asst. Sports Editor Kevin Stankiewicz Arts Editor Sallee Ann Ruibal Asst. Arts Editor Hannah Herner Photo Editor Samantha Hollingshead Asst. Photo Editor Muyao Shen Design Editor Kyle Powell Assistant Design Editor Jose Lacar Multimedia Editor Jenna Leinasars Asst. Multimedia Editor Ashley Nelson Engagement Editor Jay Panandiker Oller Reporter Sarah Mikati

Michigan also publicized its scholar-athlete awards that honor students who receive certain GPAs. Michigan State University provided The Lantern with all of the information requested except for years taken to complete a degree and attendance rates because it does not compile this data. It does not employ attendance checkers, so that information was also not able to be provided.

OSU fulfilled The Lantern’s requests for common majors, salary and staffing information, credit hours, as well as requests noted throughout this article. The university said it does not keep records regarding how long it takes student-athletes to complete degrees. For data about graduation rates, OSU directed The Lantern to an NCAA resource that compiles information nationally for student-athletes.

Both University of Michigan and Michigan State also directed The Lantern to the NCAA resource about graduation success rates that OSU referenced.

The discrepancies between these universities’ filling of public-records requests are not uncommon.

LoMonte, with the Student Press Law Center, explained part of the problem is that the only way to resolve what people believe to be misuses of FERPA is typically to sue in a state court.

“The problem with that is that one state court is not bound by another’s, so you can get a favorable FERPA ruling in Arizona or Colorado and it means nothing to a university in Ohio,” he said in a phone interview. “They can just look the other way and pretend that case doesn’t exist, and they do.”

LoMonte also put some of the blame on the original language of the FERPA law.

“You can get penalized only if you overdisclose, not if you underdisclose,” he said. “And that is just a built-in flaw with the law.”

This series was made possible by the generosity of The Lantern and Ohio State alumna Patty Miller.

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WATER FROM 3

those resources, including irrigated water, rainwater and trench water, Kress said. They assessed the conditions of the wells, the water quality, the pump rates and which crops grow best based on the availability of water and the nutritional level.

To improve water and sanitation facilities, renewable energy pumps were set up in the villages, Kress said, and the people got trained to use them.

Moreover, the GWI created a franchising store in Africa that could provide the model for water services, including training personnel on how to use the equipment in order to guarantee the continuous supply of water in these villages.

Kress said that OSU also signed PRIZE FROM 1

in public affairs and journalism, said she has been dedicated to spreading awareness of issues concerning the LGBT community since high school.

“It’s definitely something I feel like I would need to look more into to get more information about it,” she said. “I would spread the word to some of my other peers and give them the opportunity.”

But Clemmons said that whether such a prize would raise the number of students engaging with service activities remains to be seen.

“The thing is, you can’t do so-

cial changes unless you actually care, to be honest,” she said. “So if people are just doing it for the money, it will reflect through whatever application process they have to go through. And ultimately, they won’t get it. I feel like people who are passionate, they will continue to be passionate.”

Information sessions will explain in detail what materials are needed. Students are required to submit their applications by July 15 through the application portal on OSU’s President’s Prize website.

University President Michael Drake.

CALC FROM 1

problems very exciting,” he said.

“But I think the web lets us do interesting things where we can weave together more interesting problems and an entertaining text narrative.”

Fowler said most of the people who watch Mooculus videos on YouTube or are enrolled in the online class on Coursera are not traditional 18- to 24-year-old college students, but instead a lot of other young people, as well as much older learners. Some of the students who are taking the course online are those who otherwise would not have access to a calculus class, Fowler said.

“One of our students was a 14-year-old girl in Pakistan. She had a brother who had a lot of experience in science courses, and she really didn’t at her school,” he said. “So she was using online courses to get an experience comparable to those her brother had. It was really interesting.”

The course is available on several platforms, Fowler said, including the OSU website, iTunes U and Coursera. Fowler said the team designed the course to include things that they would have liked in courses when they were students.

The videos are designed to motivate concepts over calculations and are very high-energy, Fowler said. Bart Snapp, an auxiliary assistant professor in the math department who is also involved in the project, said the biggest difference between Mooculus and other online calculus classes is the quality of the videos, simply because they are more engaging. He added that the resources available,

COURTESY OF COURSERA

Math professor Jim Fowler uses high-energy online videos to teach calculus concepts to students around the world. such as homework feedback, are comparable to that of a course students would have to pay for, but said that Mooculus is free.

“There are people in the videos and a lot of hand motions in the videos,” Fowler said. “We really wanted to convey the message that math is a human thing that people do together sometimes and that it’s something anyone can do using a paper and pen.”

Snapp said one of the other differences is that the instructors strive to “get to the point” faster in the videos.

“I’ve watched videos made by other people, and I’ve watched them for a minute, which doesn’t seem like a lot of time, but it is,” he said. “And I will be like, ‘Wow, this video has been going on for 60 seconds, and we still haven’t gotten to anything.’”

Fowler said the reaction has been very positive from both students and faculty from differ-

ent departments and schools. He said he has been able to engage in conversations about how calculus is best taught and what the goal should be when teaching it.

As with many moocs, the passing rates for Mooculus are low, but that is something that does not worry Fowler very much, especially since the course is not for credit.

“What I think is important is that people do a lot of things,” Fowler said. “The fact that they are doing any amount of math is more math than they were doing before, so I’m excited about that.”

Fowler said he is less concerned about people taking the final test at the end of the course, and is more concerned about whether students are learning things. He said there is a long way to go to make online courses better, but getting people involved in the math community is a big win.

Fowler said he hopes to expand

COURTESY OF OSU

the course outside of just calculus. Currently he is working on expanding the program to include other areas of mathematics, including linear algebra.

The Mooculus team is currently creating the second generation of the course, which will combine the videos, textbooks and practice problems to create an interactive textbook so students can do everything at once. The book is currently being tested with students in several sections of calculus classes on campus. It is opensource, meaning other faculty can edit it, and once it is completed it will be free to students. The team is also currently working on making more interactive worksheets,” Snapp said.

“Calculus really suffers from an enthusiasm gap, where it’s not people’s favorite subject,” Fowler said. “But math is really neat and is worth being advertised as being interesting. With the Mooculus project, we’re able to reach a lot of people and make it more alive for them.”

The Engaged Scholars logo accompanies stories that feature and examine research and teaching partnerships formed between the Ohio State University and the community (local, state, national and global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources. These stories spring from a partnership with OSU’s Office of Outreach and Engagement.

The Lantern retains sole editorial control over the selection, writing and editing of these stories.

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an agreement with the University of Dodoma, which is located in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, stating that OSU would help them create water, food and energy, and retrofit clinics in the school.

“That’s what makes the GWI different,” Kress said. “Everyone loves solving the problems. But when you look at that problem, you’re probably not determining all the real causes and facts. So in fixing it, you may create a new problem. You only solve the problem for a short period.”

When Kress first came to OSU two years ago, he estimated that there were about 250 to 300 faculty members working in water-related areas, but most of them did not know each other.

Kress said what he did was create an advisory board with experts from eight different colleges at OSU. It brings strength to have people understand the value of collaborating, as well as interdisciplinary research, he said.

The project in Tanzania also stimulates research and expands the capacity of OSU, Kress said.

The GWI has sent a capstone group of senior students from the College of Engineering to support the activities there.

“We have two more teams going now,” Kress said. “These students travel with faculty members, and they do real-world projects for us, and they love it.”

The GWI works with other programs as well. A global health program at the College of Medicine also plans to send people to Dodoma. The students plan to train the nursing students at the University of Dodoma and go out to rural areas to provide health care.

In order to spread information from OSU to external partners, the GWI also launched its own website.

“You can’t get your message out if you don’t have some basic communication infrastructure,” said Maureen Langlois, the communications and networking manager of the GWI. “We were just really lucky to have our graphics and web team to be able to launch a really cool website.”

A couple years ago, one United Nations resolution that was unanimously passed said that it is a basic human right for all people to have access to clean water and sanitation. Kress said that what the GWI is doing is definitely a challenge, but it is a good challenge.

“We say we’re a neutral technology integrator, both at OSU and with anybody else,” Kress said. “And we do have the capacity to solve some of the problems with the evolution of handheld devices and communications.”

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BFA SENIOR EXHIBIT Art students cap off year with exhibit. ON PAGE 6

Local musician tours with national band

Hannah Herner

Assistant Arts&Life Editor herner.12@osu.edu Just over a year ago, in March 2015, Fran Litterski stood in the audience of Newport Music Hall taking in a performance by Boston-based band Magic Man. This Friday she will arrive at the same venue, except this time she will be performing on stage with Magic Man. Litterski, a local musician, was chosen to be the band’s keyboardist for its Hotline Spring tour. She said she had met the band a couple of times before through her job at radio station CD102.5, and she reached out to them when she heard they were in need of a tour keyboardist.

“I just reached out to their manager and was like, ‘Hey, I could do those things,’” she said.

In December, Litterski went to Boston to try out and even did a trial live show with the band and said they “meshed really well.”

In July, Magic Man, who at the time had five members, announced it would be paring back down to the original two founding members, lead singer Alex Caplow and guitarist Sam Lee. Litterski, bassist Austin Luther and drummer Pepe Hidalgo later joined to fill the band for the tour.

She said the fans have been receptive, often calling her over to chat.

“I remember thinking like, this is insane that I’m playing this song with them right now.”

Fran Litterski Magic Man touring keyboardist

Fran Litterski plays keyboard as a part of Magic Man’s touring band.

“I feel like we’ve been welcomed into the Magic Man family, which is really nice,” Litterski said.

Litterski has been on tours before with her Columbus-based band, Kid Runner, but said the tour with Magic Man is the longest and most intense tour she has been a part of, spanning from the beginning of April to the end of May with 32 stops.

“With Kid Runner, most of the

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little tours we did were just us in the van driving around and stopping wherever we could,” Litterski said. “I know Magic Man did that a couple of years ago, but I kind of joined Magic Man at a point where it’s a little nicer than that.”

A memorable moment for Litterski so far was the first show of the tour, in a sold-out venue in Carrboro, North Carolina, a place she had never been before.

Thursday, April 21

Pups N’ Pops, noon on the Oval. Play with puppies provided by Freedom Paws, and eat popsicles provided by Chi Omega. Cost is $3 and all proceeds will benefit Make-A-Wish.

COURTESY OF CJ MOY

The first song she remembered hearing by Magic Man is its single, “Paris.”

“I think the most surreal part was the first show I played with them, and we played ‘Paris’ last,” Litterski said. “I was playing the intro to ‘Paris,’ and I remember thinking like, this is insane that I’m playing this song with them right now.”

Drew Lizon, lead singer of Kid Runner, said he was a little sur-

Friday, April 22

prised to learn that Litterski was going on tour, as their band was in the middle of writing and recording a new EP when she told them the news.

Upon learning of her departure, the band immediately went into the studio and recorded the EP, finishing the day before she left.

“It kind of sucks that she’s gone for two months,” Lizon said. “It keeps her away from Kid Runner, but at the same time it’s kind of cool; we’re really excited for her.”

Lizon said the band plans to release the EP in mid-June, around the time Litterski gets back from tour, and she said she will be focusing on the Columbus-based band more this summer.

Litterski said she will know about her future with Magic Man in coming months, once it releases its own new album.

Before the show on Friday night, Litterski will take the stage at CD102.5, her former place of MAGIC MAN CONTINUES ON 8

Saturday, April 23

Big Spring Concert, 5 p.m. at Columbus Commons, 160 S. High St. The annual event presented by OUAB will feature Martin Garrix, Marshmello, Vic Mensa and St. Lucia. Admission is free for Ohio State students, wristbands required.

The Sports EP release show, 8 p.m. at The House with No Name, 186 E. Hudson St. Local band voted Best of OSU is set to play its new material supported by local acts Corbezzolo and Hidden Places. Admission is free.

Magic Man and Griswolds, doors open at 6:30 p.m. at Newport Music Hall, 1722 N. High St. The Hotline Spring tour is set to stop in Columbus with supporting act Panama Wedding presented by CD102.5. Admission is $24.85 including fees.

Fine Animal, Pace of Glaciers, Moria and Son Step, doors open at 8:30 p.m., and the show starts at 9 p.m. at Victory’s Live, 543 S. High St. Former Columbus’ Own features Fine Animal and Pace of Glaciers are joined by Dayton-based Moria and Philadelphia-based Son Step. Admission is free.

Swipe your Buck ID for unlimited rides throughout Columbus

6 | A&L | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2016

@LANTERNARTSLIFE

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Seniors cap off arts journey Sam Kayuha

Lantern reporter kayuha.2@osu.edu Twenty-nine students pursuing art degrees are seeing their time at Ohio State near its end, but before they can walk across the stage at the ‘Shoe, they have one last project to complete.

Those graduating with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts are presenting their senior projects at the Urban Arts Space at 50 W. Town St. through May 7. Work shown encompasses a wide variety of mediums.

“It gives you a view of all the different things happening in visual arts,” said Merijn van der Heijden, the deputy director of exhibitions and curatorial practice at the Arts Initiative.

OSU offers undergraduate art degrees in seven areas of study: art and technology, ceramics, glass, painting and drawing, photography, printmaking, and sculpture.

Examples of all seven will be on display at the Urban Arts Space.

This exhibition has a capstone feel, said Jesse Mervis, a graduating fourth-year whose work is being shown.

“I tried to get out of my comfort zone with this project, which is a bigger one than I have taken on before,” Mervis said. “I still have other projects to do, but this is the

SAM KAYUHA | LANTERN REPORTER

Bachelor of Fine Arts senior projects on display at the Urban Arts Space at 50 W. Town St. big one.”

Mervis’ contribution to the exhibition is his work with photograms, which are made by placing objects on photographic paper and exposing it to light in a dark room.

His works are roughly 3-by-2 feet in size.

“It’s basically using the light of the enlarger in the dark room as a projector and producing images onto photo paper,” he said.

“I’ve done similar stuff the past few semesters, but I’ve never seen

anybody make photograms this large.”

Cassandra Hendershot, a fourth-year in art, contributed three paintings to the exhibit, all made using a windshield wiper as a paintbrush tool.

“It allows me to create areas that are more organic in nature, but it also allows me to experiment with line and more geometric qualities,” she said in an email.

“It’s funny because I’ve sort of become known as the windshield

wiper girl in the painting studios.”

Hendershot said she has taken to using experimental techniques when painting, like working with the canvas on the ground and pouring paint across it.

“I really have to use my entire body to pull the squeegee and make my marks across the entire canvas,” she said. “There’s a certain freedom in not knowing exactly what the painting will look like when it’s dry.”

The Urban Arts Space is a

mostly student-run exhibition center and performance space. It showcases work by students and local artists year-round, providing art and non-art majors alike with a downtown gallery in which to gain real-world experience.

“On and off of campus, OSU does a great job showing student work,” Mervis said. “The facilities have left nothing to be desired.”

And now that graduation is on the horizon, students can look back and appreciate the transformation the program has helped bring to their art.

“Going through the program has put me in contact with a lot of great classmates and faculty who have brought my work a long way,” Mervis said.

A reception for the exhibition is set to take place from 5 to 7 p.m. on May 7. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursdays. Admission is free.

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2016 | A&L | 7

COLUMBUS’ OWN

Bruce Slaughter: Redefining DIY Zak Kolesar

Lantern reporter kolesar.25@osu.edu Columbus musician Bruce Slaughter is looking to rewrite the DIY music code.

The 26-year-old musician, producer and manager used to handle every single aspect of his musical career until he eventually ushered up the courage to contact collaborators after flying solo since 2012.

“I knew for this new project that I wanted to definitely reach out to people and get that same kind of feeling, get that same kind of warmth that you get from live instruments and live instrumentation,” said Slaughter, a 2013 Ohio State graduate in psychology.

On Slaughter’s tribute single to the late heralded hip-hop artist J Dilla, “Everlasting,” he collaborated for the first time, linking up with Rob Mason and Faheem Najieb, two jazz-minded members of local ensemble and Columbus’ Own alumni Osage. The track encapsulates a changing wave in hip-hop music; a shift away from the hard-edged street demeanor toward emcees who aren’t afraid to open up about their vulnerabilities.

Up until the release of “Everlasting,” Slaughter didn’t let any other musicians grace the soundscapes of his beats. It wasn’t be-

“When you create something and you spend a year on it, you spend two years on it...in your mind it’s the best thing ever.”

Bruce Slaughter Columbus musician

cause he sensed an air of superiority within his music but more so because of the fear of rejection via collaboration, the musician said.

Upon putting out the “No Crowns” EP, which also served as his first official project, Slaughter said he realized that he needed to interact with other musicians to achieve his personal goals as an artist. “(‘Everlasting’) was my first time working with musicians at all, and I realized that when you work with musicians, they kind of feed off of your energy,” Slaughter said. “You have to give them some energy, and then once you give them energy and they give it back to you, everybody’s feeding off each other’s energy.”

Because of the incorporation of Mason’s keys and Najieb’s soothing saxophone, the evolution from “No Crowns” to “Everlasting” is evident. The latter of the two mixes a live audience clapping be-

ZAK KOLESAR | LANTERN REPORTER

Columbus artist Bruce Slaughter collaborated with members of local band Osage. tween short acts such as a soulful solo from Najieb or an existential verse from Slaughter.

The instruments that Slaughter was sampling in his music before using live musicians were ones that are seldom used to construct rap beats, but the genre’s shift toward the freeform spirit of jazz is a wave that the Columbus rapper has already caught onto.

Slaughter’s latest offerings represent the musicality he wants represented in his music, but they also signify his victory over the fear of rejection. “(Mason and Najieb) taught me

that when you’re willing to speak up for yourself and expose yourself and really just put yourself out there, that really the other side is not really as bad as you thought it was,” Slaughter said.

Working with artists like the musicians from Osage is something that Slaughter has been considering for a long time. His style — a melodic voice with flows that keep his verses connected at the end of each line — resembles that of an instrument itself.

On the unreleased track “Dancing On The Moon,” which will appear on his EP “Dancing Silhou-

ettes,” set to be released in May, the Columbus rapper drops overarching lyricisms that can easily relate to struggles that an average listener might go through.

“I think my motivation to do that constantly and to always push myself and challenge myself in my music is what sets me apart, along with the fact that I’m trying to say things that are positive and say things that are good,” Slaughter said.

Slaughter said a lot of his apprehensions about becoming a rapper stemmed from the support he garnered from his family and home community upon heading off to OSU to become a psychologist. The budding musician said he thought his support system would thin out upon graduating with a degree in psychology and pursuing a career in music with no outside help.

Near the end of his third year at OSU, Slaughter said he began teaching himself how to construct beats, mix songs, create album artwork and properly record music through various books found via Amazon.

Slaughter said his perfectionist tendencies prevented him from releasing music for quite some time, and his releases over the past four years have been very infrequent.

Part of the lapse in releases is SLAUGHTER CONTINUES ON 8

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InterACT: Students use theater for social change Maria Martello Lantern reporter martello.14@osu.edu

The Ohio State Department of Theatre is planning to explore students’ and faculty members’ roles in the classroom in a forum-style production developed through a course called InterACT. Students have been working on this style of theater throughout the semester and will display their skills this weekend.

Forum theater was introduced by director Augusto Bowal in South America in the 1960s, said Elizabeth Wellman, a lecturer who has instructed the class at OSU since 2010. The audience has input as the characters improvise through a relevant social issue until they come to a solution.

Wellman described the InterACT class as a service-learning course. InterACT teaches improvisational skills and the tenets of forum theater in order to provide a cathartic experience for student audiences delving into the topic of belonging in the classroom.

“We aren’t presenting the answers, we are just asking the questions,” Wellman said. “We are asking, ‘Do I matter in the classroom, and how does that impact how I’m actually learning?’ and ‘How do we make a classroom that makes us feel like we belong?’”

Throughout the semester, the InterACT class is an intimate environment, typically consisting of about 10 students. Peers sit in a circle and connect with each other, their characters and the semester’s topic, as well as develop improvisational strategies before their final performances.

Topics explored have included suicide prevention, challenges of being an international student,

“We aren’t presenting the answers, we are just asking the questions.”

Elizabeth Wellman Lecturer, Department of Theatre

prescription drug abuse and relationship abuse. WOSU Public Media partnered with InterACT for “The Generation Rx Initiative” video, which can be viewed on YouTube.

“The idea of having conversations about difficult topics breeds more vulnerability in the classroom. That freedom to say how you really feel creates a sense of community and friendship, and there is something cathartic about it,” said Ronda Christie, a firstyear in theater who is in InterACT. Students for InterACT are selected from the main-stage auditions through the Department of Theatre prior to each semester.

Although the majority of class members are theater majors, InterACT is open to students in all areas of study.

Casting personnel actively look for students outside of the theater major with varying acting experience levels in order to create a diverse peer group to collaborate on the semester’s topics, Wellman said. The fall audition schedule will soon be posted on the InterACT Facebook page.

Building improvisational acting skills and obtaining intimate knowledge of the other students through group conversations are requirements for the course. Wellman tactfully facilitates these class discussions, creating a space

where students share personal stories and attentively listen to one another.

“You have to be so in tune with your character that you can answers questions on their behalf.

We have to get comfortable with each other and sharing our beliefs before the show, so it is authentic,” said Abigail Johnson, a second-year in theater and enrolled in InterACT. The first of two 90-minute shows is on Saturday, and it addresses the topic of personal identity affecting the classroom experience. This includes race in the classroom and highlights conversations that can be difficult for teachers, Wellman said.

The second performance on April 30 addresses the topic of creating a sense of belonging in the classroom. This performance will develop ways to create educational environments that empower all students to practice meaningful participation in their courses.

The Spring Semester InterACT performances will be held in the Drake Performance and Event Center’s Ray Bowen Theater.

Shows are set to begin at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are free, with seating available on a first-come first-served basis on the days of the performances.

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COURTESY OF CJ MOY

Magic Man performs a show as part of its Hotline Spring tour, which will make a stop in Columbus on April 22.

COURTESY OF CJ MOY

Fran Litterski prepares for a performance while on tour with Magic Man. MAGIC MAN FROM 5

employment, for a performance at the Big Room Bar with Magic Man, which will be broadcasted on the station.

Having officially left CD102.5, she said it was bittersweet leaving the station with which she had been involved for nearly six years.

Litterski was sales and marketing coordinator, and she said her co-workers are supportive of her new endeavor.

“It was nice because a lot of them knew while I was auditioning for Magic Man, they all knew about it and were very excited,” Litterski said. “It was definitely a happy ending because everyone was pumped.”

When the Hotline Spring tour stops in Columbus, Litterski said she is anxious to show the rest of the band members good places to

eat.

She said members of the bands she is touring with spoke highly of Columbus.

“They’re all like, ‘Yeah, Columbus is always one of the best crowds,’” Litterski said. “It’s interesting hearing that from people outside of Columbus. It kind of makes me proud. ” Litterski added that she could truthfully say that Magic Man has not told every crowd that it is a great crowd.

Magic Man, The Griswolds and Panama Wedding are set to perform on Friday at Newport Music Hall, 1722 N. High St. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and tickets are $24.85 including fees via Ticketmaster.

@hannah_herner

SLAUGHTER FROM 7

Bruce Slaughter aims to release an EP in May.

ZAK KOLESAR | LANTERN REPORTER

because of the type of product Slaughter is trying to construct: something that he describes as intricately layered yet extremely organic.

“When you create something and you spend a year on it, you spend two years on it, months on it, in your mind it’s the best thing ever,” Slaughter said.

He then compared some of his work to rearing a child.

“I have to let my child go out into this world, I don’t know what’s about to happen to her.

And you can’t hold no more; once it’s out, it’s subject to critique,” he said.

During the creation of “Dancing Silhouettes,” Slaughter mentioned that he allowed himself to be very vulnerable. On “Dancing On The Moon,” Slaughter said he wanted to go in a direction that put him in his own league of Columbus rappers.

“I really allowed myself to base the project off of feeling and how it felt to me, not off of technicalities or not off of what’s right or what’s wrong,” Slaughter said.

Slaughter will be performing

at Shadowbox Live! on April 29.

Tickets are $10 for general admission, with VIP seating available for $20 per seat or $80 per table.

Doors open at 10 p.m.

RECYCLE RECYCLE RECYCLE

ALGER MAGAZINE

9 | Wednesday, April 20, 2016

ALGER MAGAZINE

Leaving so soon?

Alger Magazine is the official magazine of the Collegiate Council on World Affairs. Publishing political commentary and analysis on a wide variety of issues, Alger Magazine is a source for political, economic, historical and social discussion at the Ohio State University. Students interested in writing for Alger Magazine, or those with questions or concerns, can send an email to editor@algerianosu.com.

On Sept. 30, Russian airstrikes began in Syria. According to the head of the Russian presidential administration, the sole purpose of the intervention was to protect the “national interests” of the Russian Federation, which includes concern for the eventual return of several thousand Russian citizens that have flocked to Syria to join the terrorist groups. Now, only five months later, President Vladimir Putin has announced the withdrawal of Russian forces, surprising much of the West.

To the U.S., this might seem unconventional, but this move is actually quite strategic. While the U.S. is no stranger to involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts, Rus-

sia has learned from the Americans’ mistakes and their own incursion into Afghanistan in the 1980s. Russia had limited goals in its military intervention in Syria, and now that they have been largely achieved, its position in negotiations over the Syria question has been solidified.

Putin understands how important Syria is to both stability and Russian influence in the Middle East. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is one of the few remain-

involvement in a reformed Syrian government following the civil war. However, since Russia began its airstrike campaign, the language has shifted. Why? Because the Russians have not really been targeting the Islamic State as they said they would. Russia has been bombing rebel groups. Russia’s strategy was never to distinguish between rebel forces and the Islamic State but to bolster the Assad government’s forces. Russia openly admits that the plan of ac-

tion was to assist the government in ending the rebellion before the central government is too weak to be saved.

Now the rebels in Syria are hurting from being attacked by both the government and the Islamic State, and the U.S. is struggling to find a clear way to support their allies and interests in Syria. Instead of maintaining the hardline

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The short timeline of the Russian intervention in Syria

The military intervention has not only proven that Russia is serious about protecting their interests in the Middle East, but has also allowed the country to flex its military muscles and demonstrate that it is a loyal ally. ing allies, if not the only ally, that Russia has in the region. Russia has been propping up Assad, who the U.S. and other groups want to remove from office because of his history of human-rights violations. Before Russia intervened on Assad’s behalf, things were not looking good for the Syrian president. There was strong rhetoric against him and his possible

thelantern.com

position of excluding Assad, the U.S. has wavered by pushing the opposition forces to attend peace talks with the Syrian government.

On April 2, the Syrian opposition remained pessimistic about a political transition in Syria. A member of the opposition, Riad Hijab, said, “There is no international will, especially from the U.S. side, and I do not expect anything to come of the negotiations.”

Meanwhile, Assad has rejected opposition demands that exclude him in a transitional government, calling on a new “national unity government” that includes a coalition of the opposition, independents and loyalists. The opposition has said that the indirect peace talks are supposed to be about “establishing a transitional government body that can then draft a constitution and organize elections in which all Syrians can participate.” They claim that Assad is the “disease that has struck Syria,” and an agreement would require his departure from government. As if the ceasefire and peace talks were not shaky enough, the Syrian government has held elections that the opposition have called “a farce.”

The talks are clearly far from over, but it is no coincidence that Putin announced the withdrawal of forces on the same day that the peace talks resumed in Geneva, March 14. This shows that Russia is somewhat confident that Assad (and therefore Russia) is in a good enough position to negotiate a settlement of the civil war.

While the Russian airstrikes have not helped the Syrian government forces gain much physical territory, they have proven that Assad and Russia will remain involved in negotiations, setting the stage for a Syria that remains friendly to Russian interests. The military intervention has not only proven that Russia is serious about protecting their interests in the Middle East, but has also allowed the country to flex its military muscles and demonstrate that it is a loyal ally.

To read the full article and others like this one, please visit algerianosu.com.

DeAnna Miller Fourth-year in international studies and Russian

10 | THE LANTERN | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2016

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GOLF FROM 12

“We’ve had a pretty steady season. We’ve only really had one bad tournament in my opinion, so we’ve been very consistent,” Hession said. “If we can get one or two people to break out of the pack a little bit and post some under-par scores, I think that’s something we’re really going to need heading into this weekend.”

One of the team’s goals is to win the Big Ten title outright. Despite being the two-time defending Big Ten champions, both team titles have been shared with other schools: Michigan in 2014 and Northwestern in 2015. Northwestern is currently ranked No. 15 in the country and has been the clear front-runner in the conference during the regular season.

Despite the Wildcats being the favorite to win the conference title, Hession said they’re vulnerable.

“Last week (Northwestern) shot 30 over par in a tournament, though, and lost by 42 strokes, so that’s the thing about women’s

Members of the OSU women’s golf team. golf this year, there’s so many good teams,” Hession said. “You never know what’s going to happen week to week. So, you know, hopefully this will be our week.”

The Buckeyes think a key to the weekend will be following their plan and knowing when to push for certain shots.

“Be aggressive when you can

COURTESY OF OSU

be aggressive,” Porvasnik said.

“Strategically, I think everyone needs to figure out when is the time to go for it and when not, and I think making the right choices is really going to benefit us in the long run.”

Porvasnik, who finished fifth at last weekend’s home tournament, won the Big Ten tournament in-

dividual title as a freshman and is hoping to recreate her success from two years ago.

“I definitely want to win the Big Ten again, but I’m just focusing on small goals and going into it just sticking to our game plan and playing smart golf,” she said.

Four of the six Buckeyes competing have played on the course before, so they are familiar with its challenging elements. Hession said she thinks driving and putting execution will be critical components in the formula to win a Big Ten championship.

“I would say hitting greens in regulation and staying out of the rough will be one factor,” Hession said. “You know it always comes down to if it’s your week, making some putts, and I feel like we’ve worked a lot on putting and trying to get the ball in the hole.

Hopefully those two things come together, and it should work out pretty well then.”

The Buckeyes are scheduled to begin play in the Big Ten tourna-

ment on Friday at The Fort Golf Course in Indianapolis.

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2016 | SPORTS | 11 LANTERN FILE PHOTO

LANTERN FILE PHOTO

Former OSU forward Tanner Fritz (16) during a game against Minnesota at the Schottenstein Center on Feb. 7, 2015.

OSU thensophomore Emma Baranski during the U.S. Collegiate National Championships on March 28, 2015, at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.

SWIMMING FROM 12

FRITZ FROM 12

proving himself in order to reach the NHL level.

“Skating is definitely huge, the speed of the game obviously increases, so if I can be one of those quicker, stronger guys in there, it’s definitely going to benefit me,” Fritz said.

Although he is just one step below the world’s top hockey league, Fritz said he understands that not everyone can make it to that level of play and has set realistic goals for himself.

“I want to stay in North America for at least a couple years, to try, you know, my best to make the NHL, but if it doesn’t happen in like two or three years, I’d probably try go over to Europe,” Fritz said.

A self-proclaimed “family guy,”

Fritz said he has also thought of starting his own hockey school back home in Grande Prairie if he is unable to make it in the NHL. Described by a former OSU teammate as someone who places his team first, he still makes an effort to look out for his friends, even though he is no longer their captain.

“He’s watched the Buckeyes a couple times, and every time we play, whether it’s on Big Ten Network or something like that, he’s trying to always give me input or saying, ‘Hey man, I watched,’” said OSU senior defenseman Craig Dalrymple, who played alongside Fritz as a Buckeye for three years.

Even in his collegiate career, his teammates saw his talent as a

leader, especially when he served as captain of the Buckeyes his senior year.

“You need guys like him on your team,” said another former teammate, senior forward Anthony Greco. “Obviously he was a good leader for us his senior year ... He was never about himself; he was always about everybody else in the locker room.”

Fritz, who graduated with a degree in sports management, also said he would consider coming back to set up permanent residence in the city he made his home for four years.

“If I could ever get back to Ohio State in some kind of coaching role or any kind of role like that, it would be awesome,” Fritz said. “I loved my time there.”

said she believes helped the junior to find success.

“Emma is amazing. She’s a very hard worker, and she really brings a passion to whatever part of the synchronized swimming that she’s working on,” Vargo-Brown said. “Because she is a dancer, she has really been able to improve on the expression that she brings to the performance, which I really think has helped her achieve the success that she has.”

While synchronized swimmers are rewarded for making their routines look effortless, Vargo-Brown said she does not want the athleticism of the swimmers to go unnoticed.

“Synchronized swimming is not what you see in the movies or the renditions of people making fun of it; these are athletes, and they train like athletes,” said Vargo-Brown, a former OSU syn-

chronized swimmer who is in her fourth season at the helm. “They lift weights, they’re in the water and they can’t touch the bottom, they’re holding their breath and they really do have to be in the most-fit shape possible to accomplish all of that.”

The level of work that goes into synchronized swimming is not lost on Baranski, who said that staying ahead of the competition is the hardest part. With a dream to participate in Cirque du Soleil’s synchronized swimming show in Las Vegas, she knows it won’t come easy.

“It’s pretty competitive and it’s very international. You have the best talent from all over the world coming to Cirque du Soleil, so the competition is first,” Baranski said. “You really can’t stop training, it’s just go, go, go all the time.”

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12 | Wednesday, April 20, 2016

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@LanternSports

SPORTS Visit The Lantern’s website for recaps of the Ohio State baseball and softball teams’ Tuesday night games.

WOMEN’S GOLF

Torpegaard on top

OSU eyes 3rd straight Big Ten championship

LANTERN FILE PHOTO

OSU sophomore Mikael Torpegaard currently owns a 27-0 record this season, and now he has a No. 1 ranking to accompany it. He had been sitting in the No. 2 spot for three weeks before Tuesday’s poll was released. The Denmark native becomes the second Buckeye this season to own a No. 1 ranking, joining freshman Francesca Di Lorenzo.

It’s the first time in OSU tennis history that a men’s and women’s player each have held the top spot during the same season.

Michelle McDonnell Lantern reporter mcdonnell.60@osu.edu

SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING

Emma Baranski adds solo title to résumé Alexa Mavrogianis Senior Lantern reporter mavrogianis.1@osu.edu

Another Ohio State athlete, synchronized swimmer Emma Baranski, has made a splash in the national circuit, as the junior won the solo national title during the U.S. Collegiate Championships.

But this was not Baranski’s first brush with collegiate success. Last season, the OSU synchronized swimming team, which finished in second place this year, won the team title for the 29th time. The feelings following the victories, Baranski said, are different.

“With team, you’re working together with seven other girls, so it’s amazing to get the team title,” Baranski said. “But as solo, it’s a lot more pressured because everyone’s eyes are right on you. Individually, it felt really good, and I was proud of myself just getting through it.”

OSU coach Holly Vargo-Brown’s sentiments mirrored Baranski’s, saying that the sense of pride she receives from coach-

Junior wins national championship amid Ohio State’s secondplace team finish ing an individual champion versus a team champion has its differences.

“We are fortunate in that last year we had a team title, and we didn’t have an individual one,” Vargo-Brown said. “I think this year to have done that is some extra pride because in the midst of everything not necessarily going Ohio State’s way, to know that this person that worked so hard was rewarded, I think that was extra special.”

In addition to the second-place team finish, the Buckeyes also placed second in the duets and had two trios tie for third.

Baranski, who dabbled in figure skating and dance before becoming involved in synchronized swimming, is studying arts management with minors in dance and business. She said hopes to own a

In each of the past two seasons, the Ohio State women’s golf team has celebrated a Big Ten championship — but with a catch.

While OSU’s name has appeared on the trophy, it has done so as a co-champion.

Now with a chance to stand alone as champion for the first time in the three-year span, the Buckeyes are gearing up for the Big Ten tournament this weekend.

After securing a second-place finish at the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational last weekend, the team will attempt to carry that momentum into the conference championship.

“We are peaking at the right time,” said junior Jessica Porvasnik. “We just finished second at our home tournament, and we’re looking forward to the Big Tens this week.”

Coach Therese Hession said she has been happy with her team’s solid season thus far but is hoping that the team can produce a couple of standout performances during the postseason.

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COURTESY OF OSU

OSU junior Emma Baranski won the solo national title on April 16. dance studio one day.

A desire to participate in a team sport pushed the Hamden, Connecticut, native toward synchronized swimming, but she said her dance background has helped her in solo routines.

“In the team routine, you’re swimming a lot sharper, and your goal is to be synchronized with everyone else. With a solo performance, you’re trying to be one with music almost,” she

said. “From the very beginning of when you start to train a solo, you’re training almost a story and an emotional piece.

“It’s more of a dance routine in the water.”

The Buckeyes’ coaching staff assigned a primary coach for Baranski to help her build a bond with the choreography. That, alongside Baranski’s work ethic and skill set, is what Vargo-Brown SWIMMING CONTINUES ON 11

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OSU freshman Jaclyn Lee.

MEN’S HOCKEY

Tanner Fritz continues to pursue NHL dreams Elizabeth Suarez For The Lantern suarez.78@osu.edu

Former OSU hockey player Tanner Fritz.

COURTESY OF TANNER FRITZ

Tanner Fritz first made his move from Canada to Columbus as a 19-year-old freshman starting out his college hockey career with a dream of one day playing in the NHL. Five years later, he is as close as a player can get, holding down a roster spot in the American Hockey League.

Just months after completing his undergraduate career at Ohio State, Fritz was signed to the Missouri Mavericks, an East Coast Hockey League team affiliated with the New York Islanders. That

move gave him his start playing at the professional level.

Then, in February, Fritz received the call from the American Hockey League to play for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the Islander’s farm team, putting him just one league below his ultimate dream.

“I was playing good at the right time, and my coach in Missouri helped me a lot,” Fritz said.

Although professional hockey is his life now, there was a time when Fritz could not imagine playing at the level he is now.

“It was just something to do for fun,” he said, thinking of his childhood hockey outlook.

But after leaving Alberta, Canada, to play for the Buckeyes, his prospects of playing professionally became more and more realistic.

“I kind of realized that maybe this is something I could do for a living, and I’m kind of just living that dream right now and keeping at that,” Fritz said. “So hopefully all the hard work eventually pays off.”

Growing up the son of a Canadian oil-field worker in Grande Prairie, Alberta, and being the first to graduate from college in his family, Fritz knows about hard work and plans to spend time im-

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