The Lantern - Aug. 25, 2020

The independent student voice of the Ohio State University | Tuesday, August 25, 2020

WHAT’S INSIDE

THE LANTERN

CAMPUS PARTY FOULS

Suspensions handed to students who didn’t attend gatherings.

ON PAGE 3 ARTS & LIFE MUSIC

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ON PAGE 9 SPORTS WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Women’s volleyball finds silver lining in postponment.

ON PAGE 12

WELCOME BACK EDITION

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SPORTS

The show must go on: Marching band looks ahead to a fall without football JACK EMERSON Assistant Sports Editor emerson.131@osu.edu

Stress relieving music to cope with the pandemic.

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Year 141, Issue No. 20

And now, the pride of the Buckeyes, the Ohio State Marching Band…is marching in a new direction with the loss of the 2020 football season.

As skull sessions and halftime shows became victims of the cancelation, the 239-member marching band is taking a new approach to the fall with virtual shows, distanced formations and new rehearsal precautions to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“Quite honestly, a lot of what we do in the marching band is so based around football, but we’re going to find ways to continue what we do,” Christopher Hoch, director of the marching band, said.

The band also finds itself under

new leadership with Brayden Deemer, a third-year in air transportation, taking over the baton as drum major.

Deemer said that he felt the Big Ten’s decision to cancel the season was expected but that he’s glad that the band will be able to continue their operations with three currently planned virtual shows.

In these virtual shows, Hoch said that the band will widen their formations to remain socially distanced throughout the performance. The band typically uses two-step spacing, which leaves about three-to-four feet of space between members.

However, they will turn to fourstep spacing this fall to be at least 6 feet apart from one another.

“The spacing, basically, will be twice as big as what you’re used to seeing,” Hoch said.

MARCHING CONTINUES ON 11

CORI WADE | PHOTO EDITOR

Ohio State marching band performs before the Fiesta Bowl against Clemson Dec. 28. Ohio State lost 29-23.

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2 | The Lantern | Tuesday, August 25, 2020

A Letter from the Editor Dear Lantern readers, Welcome back to campus!

As our Buckeye community grapples with the many changes that come with day-to-day life in a pandemic, The Lantern is also facing changes. Industries have felt the financial strain of COVID-19, and the news world is included in that struggle.

In the spring after students, faculty and staff were sent home, The Lantern had to stop printing twice a week because no one was on campus to receive the paper, and we lost a fair amount of ad revenue because of it. As we head

into an uncertain fall semester, we have decided out of an abundance of financial responsibility for our organization and for future Lantern staffs to continue without printing twice a week and only print our special editions — including this Back-to-School issue.

That’s not to say The Lantern will never return to printing twice a week; we hope this decision will bring us back to a place of stability to resume our familiar schedule in the future.

That’s also not to say the quality of our content will change. In fact, we are pushing ourselves to grow

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in a digital-first way that we may not have had the time or energy for in the past.

The Lantern will continue to fulfill its mission as the independent student voice of Ohio State and will continue to embrace change as we have since 1881. We wish you the best as you face your own kinds of adjustments in the first week of classes.

Best, Sam Raudins Editor-in-chief

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3 | Tuesday, August 25, 2020

FACULTY REACTION

Faculty members express concerns, hopes for fall semester ON PAGE 5

COVID-19

Party fouls:

Students suspended for gatherings they did not attend SARAH SZILAGY Campus Editor szilagy.3@osu.edu ANDRÉ WHITE Arts & Life Producer white.2884@osu.edu On Saturday, during the peak of Welcome Weekend at Ohio State — a time when the University District is normally teeming with college students fresh off a hot summer — Dan Pitts was celebrating his 22nd birthday when he got an email from a case manager in the Office of Student Conduct.

In the email was a link to an official letter informing him he was placed under interim suspension because he hosted a large gathering at his house on East Frambes Avenue.

But Pitts doesn’t live on East Frambes Avenue anymore, and he didn’t throw a party there, either.

“It was on Thursday, Aug. 20, and I had work the next day at 7:30 [a.m.], so I was sound asleep in my apartment,” Pitts, a fourthyear in operations and logistics management, said. He currently lives in an apartment complex on High Street.

End-of-summer parties cropped up in students’ houses and apartments once many students moved back to campus, leading to concerns about COVID-19

outbreaks before classes even began. Vice President for Student Life Melissa Shivers said in an email Friday that dozens of Student Conduct cases were open against students who hosted or attended parties near campus.

Students under interim suspension are not permitted on campus and are not allowed to participate in any university activities.

As of Monday afternoon, 228 students were under interim suspension for violating the Code of Student Conduct and the Together as Buckeyes Pledge, Student Life spokesperson Dave Isaacs said in an email. He said this number does not include students who confirmed they lived at a different residence.

“Student Life Student Conduct is now going through all the information submitted by students in this regard and will review and clear all credible requests today,” Isaacs said.

Virginia Pajor, a fourth-year in hospitality management, said that she and another one of her five roommates were suspended after her next-door neighbors held a gathering of about 25 people on the front porch of their duplex on East Woodruff Avenue Thursday.

Pajor said her neighbors invited her and two other roommates to join the gathering, but they declined the offer and remained indoors. Her other two roommates

OWEN MILNES | CAMPUS PRODUCER

Ohio State is enforcing social distancing guidelines for off-campus house parties. Students who are caught at gatherings by the university may be faced with Student Conduct charges and possible suspension.

were not home that night.

Student Life teams in Ohio State vehicles patrolled the offcampus area to report gatherings of more than 10 people to Student Conduct over the weekend, university spokesperson Ben Johnson said.

Pajor received her suspension letter from Student Conduct Saturday. She was given a contact for the office whom she reached out to in order to plead her case.

“I’m basically not allowed on campus. I can’t go to in-person classes — can’t use any of the facilities,” Pajor said. “I’m suspended from all of my student organizations until my case is resolved, whatever that means.”

Pajor said she and her roommate who was suspended lived in the house last year, so their address was already listed in BuckeyeLink. She suspects

that is why their three roommates who moved in this year were not reprimanded.

Pitt’s address was not yet updated in BuckeyeLink. Neither was Kayley Little’s, a fifth-year in psychology, who was at her parents’ house in Dublin, Ohio, when she received her suspension letter Saturday.

“I haven’t even been on campus since the last day we moved everything out in July,” Little said.

She is taking two online classes this semester and is technically enrolled at the Newark campus.

Little and her roommates, who graduated in the spring, moved out over the summer, and Little said she was surprised Student Conduct didn’t contact her or otherwise confirm she was still living at the house before suspending her.

“If they looked into it and

looked who the landlord was, they easily could have asked my landlord and he would have said we moved out in July,” Little said.

According to copies of the Student Conduct letters The Lantern received, students who no longer live at the residence under investigation or who were not at the gathering are instructed to submit evidence to their assigned case manager. For Little and Pitts, that means proving their current place of residence — whether it be a copy of their leases or their latest utility bills. Until then, they are under interim suspension.

Although Little said she was not planning on being on campus anyway, she is worried about the potential ramifications of having an open Student Conduct case against her.

“I’m applying for grad school, PARTY FOULS CONTINUES ON 7

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4 | The Lantern | Tuesday, August 25, 2020

COURTESY OF KAREN YOUNG

Caleb Young, a second-year in mechanical engineering, works on online classes from home. He is not returning for fall 2020 semester.

Taking a break:

Lack of in-person instruction causes some to take gap semester MAX GARRISON Assistant Campus Editor garrison.237@osu.edu As many Ohio State students return to the classroom for the first time in 172 days, some have decided to forgo returning to school for the time being.

What is stopping many of them from continuing work toward their degrees isn’t the risk of contracting COVID-19 from the campus community; it is the mode of instruction. Some students said

online classes and the potential of the university returning to virtual learning at a moment’s notice is making this semester’s campus experience not worth it.

Caleb Young, a would-be thirdyear in mechanical engineering, is one of those students. He said he considered taking a gap semester in early July when Ohio was seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases, but the decision process spanned the first two weeks of August after he learned he would have no in-person classes.

Young said he didn’t want a repeat of his spring semester experience.

“Professors did a good job of putting things up, for the most part, but I just had trouble staying on a schedule and getting all my work done on time,” Young said.

Young said losing access to collaboration in a collective learning environment negatively impacted his experience.

“You don’t have your classmates right there that you can work on stuff with. You don’t

have office hours that you can just walk to any time. It’s all online,” Young said.

Office hours were particularly frustrating for Young. At one point when he needed help in a class, he said he tried to go to two of his professor’s three advertised virtual office hours. The professor wasn’t present for either.

He said that in the end, online learning would be too inefficient for him to gain what he needed from his classes. Young said he talked to his adviser before his decision but all he had to do was drop his courses and ensure his finances were lined up accordingly. Students who want to re-enroll after a leave of absence just need to contact the advising office with which they were last enrolled, according to the university’s website.

“It was a tough decision because I love campus and stuff, but it just wasn’t worth it,” Young said.

Claire Borgerding, a wouldbe third-year in economics and environment, economy, development and sustainability, also decided to take off the semester about two weeks before the beginning of classes. All of her classes were switched to online, something she struggled with when the university transitioned online in March.

“I really enjoy going to class. I just don’t like the idea of having all my classes in my bedroom,” Borgerding said. “It’s hard for me to compartmentalize school at home. Online classes make it so much more difficult.”

Borgerding said taking classes online that professors only imagined teaching in a classroom added to the disorganization she was experiencing.

“It wasn’t their fault, but turning to online classes was extremely last minute for them,” Borgerding said. “A lot of classes weren’t structured to be online, and I feel like that’s kind of how it [will be] this semester too.”

Borgerding considered taking a gap semester all summer but felt obligated to stay enrolled because she was the incoming president of Net Impact, a club in the Fisher

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College of Business that explores sustainable business practices.

She said she didn’t want to disrupt the organization’s leadership or let down the club’s members.

“I realized if I was taking online classes, I would be such a mess, I wouldn’t be an effective leader for the club,” Borgerding said. “That was the last nail.”

In the end, the rest of the club’s executive board supported Borgerding’s decision to take the semester off, she said.

For Kellyn Gerenstein, a would-be third-year in STEM education, the decision point for taking a gap semester looked a bit different.

Gerenstein was considering taking time off school amid the pandemic but worried about bringing up the topic to his family. Then his mom brought it up before he had the chance.

“When you mention to your parents that you want to take a semester off school, your first thought is, ‘They’re not gonna like that,’” Gerenstein said.

But his mother thought it would be a better idea for him to spend the time working or taking online classes at a community college, where tuition is less expensive.

“If I was going to pay for the semester, it needed to be a high quality of learning, and I don’t think I get that from online classes,” Gerenstein said.

Gerenstein’s decision came from his experience moving home when classes went online.

“I hated online classes last semester after they sent us all home. It’s hard to learn in the household because the setting just isn’t meant for learning on a daily basis,” Gerenstein said.

He said that the inability to go to campus libraries or residence hall study rooms made it difficult to focus and stay on track.

It wasn’t just the lack of study space options that caused Gerenstein and off-campus learning to mesh poorly; he said the flow of working from home and ending the semester there made classwork feel empty.

“Especially when I got to the end of the semester, it was just GAP SEMESTER CONTINUES ON 7

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Tuesday, August 25, 2020 | The Lantern | 5

COVID-19 in the classroom: Faculty members express concerns, hopes for fall semester

BELLA CZAJKOWSKI Patricia B. Miller Special Projects Reporter czajkowski.8@osu.edu

SARAH SZILAGY | CAMPUS EDITOR

Faculty have spent the past few months adjusting their coursework to comply with social distancing guidelines, but some are still concerned about the return to campus.

With powerpoints uploaded and Zoom invitations sent, returning to campus this fall not only looks different for students but for faculty as well.

Although faculty have spent the past few months adapting their in-person and online coursework to fit COVID-19 health and safety guidelines, some still have concerns over the return to campus.

James Onate, an associate professor of health and rehabilitation sciences, said that above all else, his main goal is for

his students to feel comfortable.

He is teaching a combination of in-person and online classes, including an introduction to athletic training course.

“I’m less nervous about my health and welfare and I’m more nervous about other students and other faculty,” Onate said. “I’m just hoping that everybody kind of takes care of their inner circle so that the big circle is taken care of.”

Onate said that he usually encourages students, especially first-years, to branch out and get to know people in his courses but it will be challenging to form those connections and share his emotions over Zoom.

Onate said he made adjustments

to his syllabus to ensure students have multiple options for completing coursework. Most of his classes are synchronous so students can maintain a routine and count on his undivided attention at a set time each week.

He said he is doing a lot more front-end planning for virtual instruction than he usually would for in-person classes.

“My preparation is, I feel like, almost like 10 times more because we’re online,” Onate said.

Benjamin McKean, an associate professor of political science, is teaching fully online. His classes will have both synchronous and asynchronous components because he understands that FACULTY CONTINUES ON 6

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FACULTY FROM 5

some students won’t have reliable internet access or may face other barriers due to virtual instruction. Synchronous courses are scheduled and held real-time while asynchronous courses have no live component and students work at their own pace.

“We’re still in the middle of a pandemic. I have no idea what other demands there are on people’s time,” McKean said.

At the same time, McKean said he will offer optional synchronous times for the class to convene virtually.

“I wanted to make sure that they did really have that opportunity to interact with me and with each other and that it would be a worthwhile experience for the people who, you know, literally and figuratively have the bandwidth to deal with that stuff,” McKean said.

McKean said that he has concerns about returning to campus, especially after the outbreaks that occurred when students returned to the

University of North Carolina and the University of Notre Dame.

The University of Notre Dame moved classes online for at least two weeks after its case count more than doubled within the span of one day; at the time of publication, it had 448 confirmed cases since Aug. 3.

The University of North Carolina began classes Aug. 10 and transitioned to all online classes less than 10 days into the semester, according to their website. At the time of publication, the university has had 633 positive student and 11 positive employee cases since Aug. 12.

“We don’t have any model yet of a place that has pulled it off successfully,” McKean said.

In addition to adapting his course material for an online format, McKean said he has added a clause to his syllabus stating that the safety and wellbeing of students is a priority.

He said he expects this fall may be similar to when Ohio State

first shifted to online instruction during spring semester and he plans to be flexible with students and their challenges.

“I had students test positive in the spring, people without Wi-Fi, people that would be accessing class from the car when they were in the parking lot of a hospital because their family members were sick,” McKean said.

McKean is a member of the American Association of University Professors at Ohio State, an organization that submitted a letter to The Lantern expressing concern about the university’s return to campus plans and Together as Buckeyes

pledge.

Melissa Conrath, a senior lecturer in the Department of Educational Studies, is also teaching all of her classes online this semester. She said that normally she is at K-12 schools in a clinical setting with teachers working towards their master’s degree and principal license. This year, she will supervise them virtually.

Conrath said that her daughter contracted COVID-19 in April while working as a teacher. As everyone returns to campus, she said she worries most about the variability in case severity — with some individuals experiencing no

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symptoms and others requiring medical attention.

Despite her concerns, Conrath said there may be a silver lining to the disruption COVID-19 has caused. She said the shift to virtual learning has required instructors to become better versed with technology, benefiting education overall.

“I always like to say that there’s something good to come out of everything,” Conrath said. “In the movement towards effectively using technology, we’ve made some strides that would have taken much longer had we not faced this.”

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PARTY FOULS FROM 3

so if anyone checks, if they for some reason look and see that I’m suspended, I’m dropped out of applications right there and then,” Little said.

For Pitts, the impact of the suspension was immediate.

He was unable to attend the Involvement Fair Sunday as an executive board member of Block O and is unable to work at his on-campus job. According to the letter, if he is found on campus, he could be charged with criminal trespassing.

THE STUDENT VOICE OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

The Lantern is a student publication that is part of the School of Communication at The Ohio State University. It publishes special editions periodically, 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. 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.

Pitts said he submitted evidence of his new residence to his case manager and that she told him Monday that Ryan Lovell, the interim dean of students, would recommend his suspension be lifted.

“It’s not technically lifted until the dean of students lifts it himself,” Pitts said. He said his case manager has not yet told him when it will be finalized.

Both Little and Pitts said they wish Student Conduct handled reports differently.

“I get that they’re trying to be

Editor in Chief Sam Raudins Managing Editor for Content Jasmine Hilton Managing Editor for Design Richard Giang Managing Editor for Multimedia Jack Long Copy Chief Trevor Simpson Campus Editor Sarah Szilagy Assistant Campus Editor Max Garrison LTV Campus Producer Owen Milnes Sports Editor Keaton Maisano Assistant Sports Editor Jack Emerson LTV Sports Producer Curtis Grube Assistant LTV Sports Producer Kevin Lapka Arts & Life Editor Ashley Kimmel

Tuesday, August 25, 2020 | The Lantern | 7

safe and everything, but you’d think that they’d try to confirm it a little more,” Little said.

Pitts said that although it was easy to submit his proof of residence, he would have appreciated it if Student Conduct gave him notice before placing him under interim suspension.

“The university is going to inadvertently have some unintended consequences for students who did nothing wrong,” Pitts said.

Assistant Arts & Life Editor Skyler Kraft LTV Arts & Life Producer André White Photo Editor Cori Wade Assistant Photo Editor Mackenzie Shanklin Infographics Editor Ivan Kostovski Design Editor Jordan Conroy Social Media Editor Gabriela Okhuysen LTV Special Projects Director Jack Long Oller Reporter Maeve Walsh Miller Reporter Bella Czajkowski Special Projects Producer Akayla Gardner

GAP SEMESTER FROM 4

like I was so ready for it to be over because it felt like a hassle,” Gerenstein said. “Whereas when I’m on campus, it feels much more like I’m working towards something and I’m working toward finishing the year. I’m working toward a degree. I’m working toward anything.”

That feeling is amplified by the absence of in-person classrooms and on-campus staples, Gerenstein said.

“When you’re at home, you don’t see your professor

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every day, you don’t see your [teaching associates] everyday and you don’t see all the faces on campus. It feels like you’ve lost something,” Gerenstein said.

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Arts&Lifee

9 | Tuesday, August 25, 2020

In times of stress and trauma, people turn towards the “right” song to cope.

Music to my ears:

Stress reduction in times of uncertainty ASHLEY KIMMEL Arts & Life Editor kimmel.103@osu.edu

COFFEE SHOPS

Unique coffee shop opens despite COVID-19 delays ON PAGE 10

BURST VIA PEXELS

I

n the past, students might not have put much thought into their choice of tunes for their daily walk to class, but now, in times of high stress, choosing the right song is more important than ever.

Daniel Shanahan, an associate professor in music theory and cognition, said genre of music does not correlate to stress, but certain musical features of a song — such as fast tempos, loud volume and energetic lyrics — do have an effect on blood pressure.

“Those are things that are really good to listen to when you’re working out, but they’re not really good to listen to if you

want to calm down and destress,” Shanahan said.

Although fast tempos and upbeat songs may not be the best to listen to while alone and stressed, a study published in the Evolution and Human Behavior peer-reviewed journal in 2016 shows that dancing with another person in synchrony can release endorphins.

“One genre that might seem really exciting — you might have one reaction to it if you listen to it alone — but if you’re dancing together with friends, it could actually serve a very useful purpose to destress,” Shanahan said.

For Arved Ashby, a professor of music and the area head of musicology, ambient music is the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to stress relief.

Due to it not being very structured and having no real beginning or end, Ashby said ambient music can easily be ignored, which makes the genre a strong contender to choose from while studying.

“Ambient music is not music that makes you think in a particular way or distracts you as traditionally pretty much all music does,” Ashby said. “So I imagine that quite a few people might find this kind of music to be much more stress reductive.”

But the relationship between people’s moods and their music actually connects them to humanity as a whole.

Shanahan said he believes part of music’s evolutionary role is social bonding and social cohesion, which has been seen in other times of high stress throughout history. He said the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic is an example of how people used blues music to cope during a time of high stress.

Social connection through music is something Shanahan said has also been seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. This connection has been seen in social media videos of residents in Italy singing from their porches in high-rise apartments.

“One of the main purposes of music is social bonding. And so when they can’t actually interact and have gatherings, what do they do? You find them going to the balconies to sing to each other,” Shanahan said.

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10 | The Lantern | Tuesday, August 25, 2020

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OFF-CAMPUS

Nontraditional coffee shop launches in nontraditional time SKYLER KRAFT Assistant Arts & Life Editor kraft.173@osu.edu

C

ielo Cafe isn’t your typical Columbus coffee shop, and it didn’t have a typical launch either.

Featuring stucco brick walls paired with a sky-painted ceiling draped with ivy, the old European-inspired cafe located across the street from the Ohio Union opened in late April. The cafe was set to open in March, but COVID-19 stalled the shop’s opening, Vincent Reeder, the cafe’s operations manager, said.

“Even our landlord told us, if there was a series of bumps in opening up a business, we’ve definitely hit all of them,” Reeder said.

Nevertheless, Reeder and his partner Phil Raglan, owner of Cielo, have been working to safely open and provide customers with a unique Viennese mom and pop coffee shop experience, he said.

“We wanted to give the

experience of sitting in a Viennese alleyway, drinking a cup of coffee,” Reeder said.

Reeder and Raglan began their hiring process when the government mandated shutdown went into effect, leaving them without employees. When they were finally cleared to reopen, Reeder said he was the only one behind the counter pouring the coffee.

“We weren’t going to have the amount of customers to make up for having to pay the train, you know,” Reeder said.

Reeder and Raglan continued with faith, and as customers began trickling in, they once again began the hiring process. Many of their previously interested employees had taken other positions or were unavailable due to the pandemic, so they were once again starting from scratch, Reeder said.

In order to put safety at the forefront of their business, Reeder

MACKENZIE SHANKLIN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

Cielo Cafe is a new Viennese-inspired cafe on North High Street and sources its goods and fair-trade organic coffee from local shops in Ohio.

said they trained new employees one at a time, placing emphasis on not just making quality coffee, but also on sanitation and safety.

“We spend an extra three-tofour hours every day, wiping everything down and cleaning everything; we’re very strict,” Reeder said.

Going the extra mile isn’t something that was introduced to Reeder and Raglan by the pandemic, Reeder said; it’s been a part of their vision for Cielo’s culture since day one.

Reeder said the two took into account the number of places that sell coffee and focused on what would separate them from the rest. He said they decided it would be the quality of the products and the coffee that Cielo would serve.

All of Cielo’s goods are sourced from local shops within the Columbus area. Their biscuits and pastries are delivered fresh every morning from The Goodie Shop

located in Upper Arlington and their bagels are from Sammy’s New York Bagels over by Easton Town Center, Reeder said.

“We try to keep everything in the same Ohio loop,” Reeder said.

Their strongest focus, however, was on where they would source their fair-trade organic coffee beans. Reeder said they really took into account the importance of ensuring the beans had no chemicals, preservatives or other additives. Beyond that, Reeder said they wanted to ensure the sourcing of the beans was humane.

“Fair-trade organic means those people who are working hard making those beans are getting their fair cut of things.

They’re getting fair pay. They’re not getting taken advantage of,” Reeder said.

They found their supplier, Cincinnati Seven Hills Coffee, locally in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Reeder said they weren’t afraid to pay more for their product because it ensures they meet the quality they are striving for.

“We have a running joke that every time [the supplier] roasts his beans, he gives every bean a little kiss,” Reeder said.

That passion is what Reeder said Cielo wants to bring to their customers in every experience they have with them. Reeder said the cafe offers an environment that will take students out of the hustle and bustle of getting back and forth to class or work, giving them a welcoming break.

“When you step foot in here, you are literally taken to another place that we don’t feel you can find anywhere else,” Reeder said.

Cielo Cafe is located at 1762 N High St. and is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

MARCHING FROM 1

In the event of a spring season, a band spokesperson said that it would likely perform its virtual show routines live at Ohio Stadium.

Hoch said that members will be required to wear masks while they are playing as well as instrument masks which cover the holes on their respective instruments.

These protocols will also be seen in practices, along with reduced rehearsal sizes. With the reduced sizes, Hoch said that the band will only get around three-tofour hours of rehearsal a week — with just around two of those coming on the field and the rest virtually — compared to the typical 10 hours seen in previous years.

However, Hoch said the new group restrictions allow for an increased focus on each individual member.

“The silver lining here is that it gives us a chance to see our students up close and personal,” Hoch said. “[We] get to see what they can do and hear what they can do on a more individual basis.”

With the band getting significantly less rehearsal time, Hoch said that it will be an added challenge for everyone — new or returning to the band.

Hoch said that the band will not fully be together in the early stages of the semester, but they will look into getting permission from the school for full practices once they have a better idea of practice and class operations.

In addition to having less time on the field during the school year, the band was also unable to meet in person for their summer training sessions, which typically run from mid-June until tryouts in midAugust. However, Deemer said the band still completed the sessions virtually through Google Classroom.

“We recorded videos and posted them on Mondays and then our students could

record videos of themselves, submit them back and we could get them feedback,” Deemer said.

Hoch also pointed to the fact that the season’s cancelation allows for the members to have more time to get the music, marches and fundamentals down.

With this heightened focus on individual work and fundamentals, what Deemer described as a “younger band” will have more opportunities to develop in the fall.

Deemer said the thing he’s most excited for this fall is being able to work and develop with the young band.

“There are a lot more new members this year than there were in past years,” Deemer said. “I’m really looking forward to working with them all.”

However, the possible early closure of campus looms over the band. Since the band also operates as a class, Deemer said that the band will adapt and continue to focus heavily on the music aspect rather than marching.

Even though the marching band won’t be performing in Ohio Stadium this fall, Deemer said that he’s proud of the strides the band has made to this point.

“They’re all fantastic kids,” Deemer said. “They’ve all worked really hard and I’m inspired to be in this position.”

Hoch recognized the difficulties of having complete motivation to put in the work with no upcoming games, but pointed to the resilience he had seen in previous bands to help carry this one through these challenging times.

“We’re going to count on the staff and students being encouraging to each other,” Hoch said. “Quite honestly, this band family has endured many challenges over the years and this is another one and we’ve always pulled together. I see no reason, knowing our students as I do, I see no reason that we can’t do that again this year.”

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AMAL SAEED | FORMER PHOTO EDITOR

Ohio State Marching Band enters the stadium prior to the game against Michigan at Michigan Stadium Nov. 30. Ohio State won 56-27.

Sports

12 | Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Women’s Volleyball:

Buckeyes shift focus to spring KEATON MAISANO Sports Editor maisano.2@osu.edu The fall was set to be a new beginning for Ohio State women’s volleyball — until it wasn’t.

Head coach Jen Flynn Oldenburg was hired in January to lead a team that had finished the 2019 season with a 1517 record. A shortened spring practice schedule and canceled fall season due to COVID-19 concerns forced the team to alter both its routine and mindset.

For senior defensive specialist Hannah Gruensfelder, the postponement decision was met with a sadness that turned into drive to improve.

“Lots of tears, lots of anger and frustration,” Gruensfelder said.

“But also just a lot of –– to move on and get better.”

The Big Ten announced the postponement of its fall sports seasons Aug. 11 — four days after the women’s volleyball team had begun practicing for the fall season.

Despite the Big Ten erring on the side of caution, Oldenburg and Gruensfelder expressed confidence in the safety protocols Ohio State had put in place.

“I think we were leading the charge for the Big Ten and, honestly, the rest of the nation, and I think that we could have succeeded in having a season

and been safe, but obviously that wasn’t the outcome,” Gruensfelder said. “But I definitely felt comfortable.”

While she held confidence in the university’s handling of COVID-19, Oldenburg said that there were many unknowns and the health and safety of the players had to remain a priority.

Although the decision brought about a lot of emotions, the first-year head coach felt that the timing of it was better than a postponement decision being made at a later date.

“Is it better to get into it and have a couple of matches under your belt and then they tell you to stop, or is it better just a few practices? I would like to think it was better just a few practices, because now we just continue to practice and continue to train and get better,” Oldenburg said.

Gruensfelder said the team is continuing to participate in the 20-hour practice weeks that were in place for preseason work.

The postponement will prevent the Buckeyes from accumulating wins in the fall, but Oldenburg said that the extra time between seasons will make up for the time lost in the spring.

With virtual meetings and individual workouts becoming the norm in the months following the beginning of the pandemic, the fall will provide the team with a chance to improve on the court.

REGGIE THOMAS | FOR THE LANTERN

Ohio State Women’s Volleyball team getting pumped up before the home game against Purdue on Oct. 19. Ohio State lost 2-3.

“Having that time right now is just going to help us even more,” Oldenburg said. “We have time to get stronger and not rush back into competition. We have time to have our freshman get acclimated to what it’s like to be a student on a college campus.”

Although there may be benefits to be had in terms of team improvement, the delayed start to the season has impacted studentathletes’ academic plans.

Oldenburg said that fifth-year senior middle blocker Jordan Fry was set to graduate in the winter but is speaking to an academic advisor to see what options she has for playing in the spring.

Gruensfelder said the unexpected shift of the season affected class selections for student-athletes who wanted to save harder classes for the usually open spring season and take a lighter class load during the fall.

Along with the players, Oldenburg and her coaching staff have been forced to adapt. In

terms of the new staff’s recruiting efforts, the pandemic has forced the group to use virtual options to interact with desired studentathletes.

Despite having to be creative with how she interacts with the recruits, Oldenburg stressed that the essence of recruiting remains unchanged.

“It’s really about building relationships, which at the end of the day would still be important regardless if they’re on campus or not,” Oldenburg said. “So it’s just really about getting to know them and sharing our culture and our program with them and their family and really finding the right people.”

Oldenburg said that she is confident in her staff’s ability to adapt and teach during this unusual time.

In terms of preparing for a potential spring season, Oldenburg is not concerned about the unusual timing of the games.

“I’ve been saying probably

since March when we weren’t even sure about our Big Ten schedule back then, it was like, ‘Just tell me who to play and when to play it and we’re going to show up,’” Oldenburg said.

Whenever the Buckeyes are able to compete on the court again, the match will mark not only the beginning of a season but a new era for the program.

Given Ohio State’s resources and local talent in the area, Oldenburg set high goals for what she wants to accomplish as head coach of the program. With a short term goal of making it back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016 and a long term goal of competing for Big Ten titles, Oldenburg is setting the bar high for a program that is awaiting a chance to play.

“My vision’s pretty big, pretty bold, but being an alum, it’s a big deal to me,” Oldenburg said.

“We want to be great and so we’re going to push for that every year.”