Feb. 1, 2018

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018

Baker 70: one year later

Post-grad possibilities P10

A love for cult classics P20

P12

Sibs Weekend events P22

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELIZABETH BACKO MANAGING EDITOR Kaitlin Coward DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR Hayley Harding SENIOR EDITOR Marisa Fernandez

EDITORIAL

NEWS EDITORS Maddie Capron, Bailey Gallion SPORTS EDITOR Andrew Gillis CULTURE EDITORS Georgia Davis, Mae Yen Yap OPINION EDITOR Chuck Greenlee COPY CHIEF Alex McCann

ART

ART DIRECTORS Abby Gordon, Sarah Olivieri PHOTO EDITORS Carl Fonticella, Meagan Hall, McKinley Law, Blake Nissen, Hannah Schroeder SPECIAL PROJECTS DESIGNER Abby Day

DIGITAL

DIGITAL PRODUCTION EDITOR Taylor Johnston SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Kate Ansel BLOGS EDITOR Alex Darus MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Andy Hamilton INTERIM BUSINESS MANAGER Lily Perdomo Demorejon

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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Plan out your Sibs Weekend with ‘The Post’ Plenty of siblings will f lock into town this weekend to see their family members and get a glimpse of what Athens is like. Every year, Sibs Weekend includes an array of events to choose from.

We hope this edition of The Post piques the interest of our regular readers and all the siblings coming into town. A portion of the tab includes stories about the 70 students who were arrested in Baker Center one year ago, the Athens City School District Board of Education and an in-depth look into the job market for recent graduates. But stories about humor, events and more can also be found in this edition.

Logan Pasqual, who typically writes our “Meme of the Month” blog, took on a story ELIZABETH BACKO / about millennial humor and memes. He did the EDITOR-IN-CHIEF interviews and the reporting, and also crafted an illustration that encapsulates meme culture.

If you or your sibling is a ’90s kid, you’re probably familiar with the days of wearing skater shoes and Thrasher T-shirts. Because the trend seems to be increasingly popular, culture staff writer Alexis Eichelberger took a deeper dive into the culture and its popularity.

Anthony Poisal, one of our hockey reporters, wrote a story about two teammates who played together on a youth team in Cleveland. His report is out just in time for this weekend’s matchup between Ohio and Oakland.

Culture Editor Georgia Davis dives into the realm of bad movies and why people like them. She analyzes how well certain movies performed in the box office. The article is partnered with a bracket that breaks down how well each movie performed. So if you’re looking for something to do this Sibs Weekend, select a movie from the bracket and make a movie night out of it.

If all else fails, we included a breakdown of some of the big events happening this weekend, such as the Harry Potter movie marathon and the Sibs Weekend concert with A Boogie Wit da Hoodie. Check out our Weekender Briefs on page 23 for even more suggestions.

We hope your Sibs Weekend goes incredibly well. Stick with The Post even after the weekend ends to read a recap of Sibs Weekend events and to find more meme content in the future.

Elizabeth Backo is a senior studying journalism and the editor-in-chief of The Post. Want to talk to her? Email her at eb823313@ohio.edu or send her a tweet @liz_backo.

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Athens board of education gets possible ‘option four’ price of about $90 million MAGGIE CAMPBELL FOR THE POST The Athens City School District Board of Education is finalizing details, including the possible cost, of “option four” after a presentation of a facilities master plan proposal at the board’s meeting Jan. 11.

Tony Schorr of Schorr Architects Inc. presented the board with a proposal that had a high price tag for the different projects the board has been considering. The total costs for the new elementary schools and high school, as well as a renovated middle school, would total about $90 million, $60 million of which the district would provide, according to the proposal.

According to a previous Post report, the price tag was expected to be about $80 million — $10 million less than the cost presented by Schorr. Sean Parsons, recently added to the board, said he believes the number most likely increased because the type of renovation to the middle school changed.

“They were more looking at more of a light renovation that they were calling warm, safe and dry for the middle school,” Parsons said, referring to his un-

derstanding of the board’s discussion before he joined. “This came in with a much broader, more comprehensive renovation to the middle school than had been really previously discussed.”

The proposal also identified the three elementary school campuses — The Plains Elementary, Morrison Gordon Elementary and East Elementary — that would be used for the two pre-K to third-grade buildings and one fourth- to sixth-grade building. West Elementary, the only elementary campus that was proposed to not be used for the new buildings, was expected to be taken offline, board members and Thomas Gibbs, superintendent of Athens City School District, said.

“By and large that site is challenging,” Gibbs said. “It has some special challenges in addition to the topography, and it being not just in a tightly packed area, but it’s also bounded on the backside by an (American Electric Power) transmission site.”

Kim Goldsberry, who just started her second term on the board, is in favor of using that area as athletic space for Athens Middle School. Gibbs said the board has not made a final decision on what to do with that space, but the district would still own it.

“The board members want to communicate to the community that those sites are not going to be turned into more student housing,” Gibbs said. “They’re not just going to sit there and decay.”

Beyond the part of the proposal for the new and renovated buildings, Schorr also presented locally funded initiatives that would not be covered by the state.

Included was a locally funded initiative for the seating area in the auditorium of the middle school, which the state required. If the district completes a major renovation of the middle school, the total cost for the auditorium would be about $650,000.

Gibbs said the state would not allow the district to bring the majority of the building up to standard without bringing the rest. The state will not provide any funding for the seating area of the middle school auditorium, though.

“They apply a dollar amount per square foot and say, ‘You’re going to have to do this on your own, but you are required to do that or else you don’t get our money,’ ” Gibbs said.

Locally funded initiatives are projects the district must fund on its own through bond

issues or capital campaigns, campaigns of donors who fund specific projects.

Gibbs said not all of the renovations would be included in one bond issue.

“You put together a master plan, and the master plan is basically, “Over time, this is what we want to do,’ ” Gibbs said.

“That doesn’t mean you have to put all of it on one bond issue.”

The board will need to have a master plan filed with the state by April 1 to have a bond issue on the November ballot, Gibbs said. The board has previously missed that deadline, and Gibbs believes there are facilities that have issues that need to be addressed soon. “(Some of the systems) well outlived their expectancy, and we really just need to start to replace things before we get to that point where there is a negative impact on our day-to-day education of our students,” Gibbs said.

The board will hold a special meeting Feb. 6 at 6:30 p.m. in Athens High School’s auditorium to discuss the proposal further.

@MAGGIESBYLINE MC987015@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 3

WORDS I MIGHT HAVE ATE

‘The OOZ’: a tour of King Krule’s mind Archy Marshall, also known as King Krule, has perfected using his voice to supplement his music.

From his hip-hop album, A New Place 2 Drown SHELBY (released under his real CAMPBELL name), to his newest is a freshman King Krule album, The studying OOZ, each song has a journalism certain lazy charm that and political can be partially attributscience ed to his voice. at Ohio University.

It’s easy to be skeptical of Marshall’s simple charm; his deep, overwhelmingly British croon is not exactly singing. Much of the use of his vocals is a rough growl. In front of jazz

beats, however, Marshall’s voice makes some sort of sense.

On Marshall’s first album under the moniker King Krule, 6 Feet Beneath The Moon, he spends much of the album in front of simple guitar riffs and basslines.

On The OOZ, however, Marshall integrates more hip-hop and jazz influences.

His voice is still the familiar low growl, but it doesn’t get as much of the spotlight as it did on the first King Krule release.

In the four years since the first King Krule record, Marshall matured musically. He released A New Place 2 Drown in 2015, expanding his horizons from the guitar-dominant 6 Feet Beneath The Moon. The OOZ is a combination of the two, drawing on what Marshall says was a period of time sur-

rounded by hip-hop production and a Spanish muse.

King Krule’s newfound hip-hop influence makes for a more in-depth album. Compared to his other releases, The OOZ is a walk through Marshall’s life, dripping boredom, sadness and anger wherever appropriate.

Marshall said The OOZ is about “the gunk,” or what the body does subconsciously. That concept is why the album sounds less like it is reaching a destination and more like the journey. It’s an exploration of Marshall’s unconscious as he experiments with jazzier guitar riffs and heavier basslines. He relies more on the music than in previous King Krule releases and changes his voice depending on the song. “Dum Surfer,” for

example, is heavier and more engaging, and his voice is more front and center than on other songs on the album.

In the time between the releases of both King Krule albums, Marshall found the difference between using music to supplement his voice and using his voice to supplement his music. His voice was used as more of an element alongside the music rather than on top of it. The OOZ is King Krule’s transition into paying more attention to production and integrating his voice into the music.

Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Do you listen to King Krule? Let Shelby know by tweeting her @bloodbuzzohioan.

EDITORIAL

Reflections on ‘Baker 70’ need to spark productive discussions of protest policy A lot has changed in a year — but the rules about protesting in university buildings are as foggy as they were a year ago when the Ohio University Police Department arrested 70 students who were peacefully protesting in Baker Center and demanding that OU become a sanctuary campus.

Then the charges were dropped for all 70 students on March 29. The effects of that protest are still being seen on campus a year after the protest, and it’s time to have an open conversation about that.

Looking back on that night a year later, it’s still just as important for students to have a right to protest as it was then. Students should have the right to

4 / FEB. 1, 2018

speak out, especially when they feel their voices aren’t being heard. Protesting has been a constant at this university for years and should be allowed to continue. It’s crucial that any limitations on such activities be clearly outlined and discussed by all levels of people. It’s something we’ve written about this year, and it’s something we still believe.

Right now, the meetings to determine what changes should be made to the interim “Freedom of Expression” policy are all held behind closed doors.

That’s unacceptable.

At a university that prides itself as “the best student-centered learning

experience in America” and has such a prominent history of campus activism, students should have the right to attend those meetings and add their input because, at the end of the day, it affects them most.

A “Freedom of Expression” policy is not complete without adequate conversation from all sides about the pros and cons to limiting free speech on campus. The potential disruption or slowing of the process that university officials have cited as reasons to keep the public from attending meetings are not justified for keeping them closed.

Looking back on all that has happened over the past year allows every-

one a chance to reflect on the state of protesting on campus. It is imperative that university officials use this time to talk to students, to understand what they want and to make sure they continue to allow demonstrations on campus.

Otherwise, we’re right back where we were a year ago.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: editor-in-chief Elizabeth Backo, managing editor Kaitlin Coward, digital managing editor Hayley Harding and senior editor Marisa Fernandez.

Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.

Film Review: ‘The Shape of Water’ is a fishy story with good intentions MAE YEN YAP CULTURE EDITOR Despite the mixed feelings viewers have for Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, it’s hard to completely hate the story.

The film follows Elisa (Sally Hawkins), a custodian at a government laboratory, as she develops a relationship with a mysterious amphibian creature (Doug Jones) and tries to rescue the creature.

The protagonist, Elisa, is an interesting character. Unlike most films that feature characters with disabilities, Elisa’s personality doesn’t revolve around the fact that she can’t speak. Instead, the film focuses on her character as a lonely person looking for companionship. Hawkins did a

wonderful job portraying Elisa, especially during emotional scenes in which the character shows her frustration at being unable to convey her emotions. Elisa’s friendships with the other characters were also nicely portrayed. The father-daughter relationship between Elisa and Giles (Richard Jenkins) and the friendship Elisa and Zelda (Octavia Spencer) were both very sweet, though lacking in depth.

Similar to his previous films, The Shape of Water reflects del Toro’s unique style of portraying an everyday life that seems normal at first but soon reveals to have something lurking underneath. The foreshadowing within the film seem unnoticeable at first. By the end of the film, however, it becomes clear that del Toro had been giving hints from the very beginning.

Do the short scenes portraying violence, homophobia, racism and sexual assault feel entirely necessary? Not really.

Were there any other ways it could have played out? Absolutely. Did it still make sense at the end? Definitely.

Choosing to portray those scenes might have been a nudge toward the audience to realize how “normalized” these things are and how if they happen, viewers feel like there has to be a reason why these scenes need to exist. Or the production team behind The Shape of Water could have just included those scenes for the heck of it.

Considering the fact that it’s a new plot based on a fairy tale, rather than just a rehash of a popular animated film — looking at you, Disney — certainly made the film better. It was filled with suspense, wonder

and audience members worrying for the well-being of the characters, regardless if we really knew them that well or not.

Even though people may not be inclined to rewatch the movie over and over again, the film is not as bad as people make it sound, not as bad as it could have been and definitely left the viewer satisfied.

One thing is for sure: It’ll be a while until looking at hard-boiled eggs won’t immediately bring to mind an amphibian partner and ’40s music.

Rating: 3.75/5

@SUMMERINMAE MY389715@OHIO.EDU

CONGRATULATIONS

David Pidwell B.S.E.E. ‘69, M.S. ‘70 and Rob Painter B.S. ‘93 Recipients of the 2017 Konneker Medal for Commercialization and Entrepreneurship FROM YOUR FRIENDS IN The College of Business Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs and Center for Entrepreneurship THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 5

POLICE BLOTTER

Woman punches window over Wi-Fi password; man asks to be taken to jail, despite no crimes ASHTON NICHOLS STAFF WRITER For some people, the Wi-Fi password is worth throwing punches over.

The Athens County Sheriff’s Office responded Jan. 25 to a report of a dispute. People had become involved in a heated argument over a woman being denied the Wi-Fi password.

The woman was shut out of the home and punched a window out of the back door. The homeowner requested that no charges be filed, but it was requested that the woman leave the property for the time being.

The woman was given a ride to the McDonald’s on Richland Avenue so she could use the public Wi-Fi to contact a friend.

FLATTENED PLANS The Athens County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call Sunday for a report

of damage to a vehicle. The complainant said three of his tires on his truck were flat, making it undriveable. Deputies were unable to determine how the tires became flat. There were no witnesses to the crime and no evidence left at the scene.

The person who reported the crime said he received a phone call with a scrambled voice that said, “Have fun moving tomorrow.” The call came from an unknown number.

The man believed the call referenced him helping his neighbor move out of the area and suggested the crime could have been committed by his soon-to-be ex-wife.

THE ‘GUILTY’ PLEASURE The sheriff’s office dispatched deputies to The Plains on Jan. 27 when a man reported that he wished to go to jail.

Due to lack of any criminal activity, the man was not taken to jail at that time and was encouraged to go to bed because he

had been drinking throughout the day.

ROOFS AND RIFLES The Athens Police Department received a report Jan. 26 of a male subject with a rifle on a roof of a residence on North Congress Street.

Officers responded to the location, and the man matching the description was located and arrested for inducing panic. The rifle was found to be an air-powered BB gun.

MISSED YOUR SHOT The Athens County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call on West Bailey Road on Monday for an arrow stuck in the wheel of a truck. During the night, someone attempted to flatten a tire using a crossbow but missed the wheel.

THE PARKING FANATIC The sheriff’s office deputies conducted a traffic stop Monday on a green minivan

that was called in as suspicious because it was pulling in and out of driveways.

Upon arrival, deputies made contact with a man who was pulling out of a driveway on Mill Street. He was attempting to find a parking spot on the street.

TRANSPORTED FOR TREATMENT Athens County EMS responded to Voigt Hall on Jan. 26 for a report of an intoxicated male outside of the building.

The male was transported to OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital for treatment. While EMS workers began attempting to transport the man to the hospital, he became combative and reportedly assaulted a worker.

@ASHTONNICHOLS_ AN614816@OHIO.EDU

NEWS BRIEFS

Trump delivers first State of the Union address; plans made to renovate six residence halls KAITLYN MCGARVEY FOR THE POST February is here, and week three of the semester is almost over. Here are some things that have happened in the nation and around campus lately: PRESIDENT TRUMP DELIVERS FIRST STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union on Tuesday, addressing the “four pillars” for immigration reform: creating a path to citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, securing the border, ending the “visa lottery” and protecting the nuclear family by ending “chain migration.”

Trump’s plan is designed to let those who meet education and work require6 / FEB. 1, 2018

ments and show good moral character, the capacity to become U.S. citizens.

Trump said the plan ends the dangerous practice of “catch and release” while moving towards a merit-based immigration system that “admits people who are skilled, who want to work, who will contribute to our society and who will love and respect our country.”

OHIO CONGRESSMAN’S LEGISLATION THAT AIMS TO GUARD OPEN INTERNET TO BE REINTRODUCED SOON U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, wants to reintroduce legislation that aims to address some problems that could possibly occur as a result of the repeal of net neutrality.

The Open Internet Preservation Act aims to prohibit internet providers from

blocking, impairing or degrading lawful internet traffic or content. The bill was first introduced Dec. 19 after a 3-2 vote by the Federal Communications Commission to repeal the Obama-era net neutrality protections. The bill has stalled in Congress because of the holidays and the recent government shutdown, Stivers said.

Absent from the bill is a prohibition on paid prioritization, which was banned in the original net neutrality regulations.

That means internet providers, such as AT&T, Cox, Time Warner and Optimum, would be allowed to charge various websites, including Facebook, Netflix and Google, for the opportunity to receive faster internet speeds.

“I actually think paid prioritization is something we should look into and see how it works,” Stivers said. “If it works,

that might be OK, and if there are abuses, we will need to come back and deal with it.”

SIX OU RESIDENCE HALLS TO BE RENOVATED STARTING THIS SUMMER Six OU residence halls will be given updates beginning this summer.

Major projects include Bromley Hall’s infrastructure renovation and Washington Hall’s renovation.

Other smaller projects include roof “rehabilitation” on Tiffin and Perkins halls, restroom renovations in Bryan and Pickering halls, and waterproofing Adams Hall.

@KTLYNMCGRVY KM451814@OHIO.EDU

CONGRATULATIONS

CLASSIFIEDS

to Dr. Geoffrey Dabelko!

Recipient of the Al-Moumin Award and Distinguished Lecture in Environmental Peacebuilding The Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs is proud to announce that Dr. Geoff Dabelko, professor and director of the Environmental Studies program, has been awarded the Al-Moumin Award and Distinguished Lecture in Environmental Peacebuilding, recognizing innovative thinking and leadership in the field of environmental peacebuilding. www.ohio.edu/voinovichschool | voinovichschool10.ohio.edu

Celebrating 10 years of Impact and Innovation!

10

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Divided generation College students may be more politically polarized a year into Donald Trump’s presidency

“

ASHTON NICHOLS STAFF WRITER

If you mention Trump, people will either get really upset or supportive.

Same goes for if you mention the Democratic or Republican Party.

However, that brings me back to the varying levels, because if you dig a little bit deeper and go past the partisan and identity politics, people are definitely not that polarized as it may seem.

“

A year into Donald Trump’s presidency, experts say college students may be more politically active.

Pew Research Center reported that during the 2016 election, Millennial and Generation X voters edged out older generations at the booth. Millennial voters are now voting more, which may be because they are motivated to be politically active.

Millennials, or those 18 to 35 years old in 2016, cast 34 million votes in November 2016, up from 18.4 million votes cast in 2008, according to a Pew Research Center report.

“Despite the larger size of the Millennial generation, the Millennial vote has yet to eclipse the Gen X vote, as 35.7 million Gen Xers (ages 36 to 51 in 2016) reported voting last year,” the Pew Research Center report reads.

With an increasing political presence ­— and with Trump having served just over one year in office — some students see the current political climate in the U.S. as a reason students may be becoming both more active and polarized. Dawson Mecum, a freshman studying journalism who runs a politically conservative blog called The Right News Site, said he feels as if the division brings out extremes in both Republicans and Democrats.

“You have the alt-right and then you have the extreme protesters on the left,” Mecum, who identifies as a conservative — which he believes fuels individualism and personal responsibility — said. “At the same time, it gets people more involved, whether you’re right or left. It motivates people to become activists. It’s a very healthy thing to do.”

Anthony Eliopoulos, a senior studying political science and journalism, is running for president of the state board of College Democrats of Ohio. Eliopoulos said he believes that on the surface, students may seem to be more polarized, but they actually share common ground.

“If you mention Trump, people will either get really upset or supportive,” Eliopoulos said in an email. “Same goes

- Anthony Eliopoulos, a senior studying political science and journalism

ILLUSTRATION BY RILEE LOCKHART

for if you mention the Democratic or Republican Party. However, that brings me back to the varying levels, because if you dig a little bit deeper and go past the partisan and identity politics, people are definitely not that polarized as it may seem.”

Eliopoulos said he has friends from both political parties and believes there is room for both to work together.

“That’s the best part about the nation we live in,” Eliopoulos said in an email.

“It may seem like it’s super fragile, but

really can be effective if we join forces.”

Pete Couladis, the chairman of the Athens County Republicans, said Republican students are visible and out there, even if they are perceived to be fewer in number than Democratic students.

“They work behind the scenes, and they help people get registered to vote, and they help candidates and things like that,” Couladis said.

Lauren Elliott-Dorans, an assistant lecturer of political science, said she has seen more students becoming po-

larized. She said anywhere between 35 to 40 percent of students in each of her classes will identify as Republican.

“What I’ve seen over the years is I think that conservative students become more polarized,” Elliott-Dorans said. “When one party has the presidency, that emboldens members of that party. I think they become more comfortable becoming more vocal.”

@ASHTONNICHOLS_ AN614816@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 9

NOW

IS A GOOD TIME TO ENTER THE WORKFORCE JEREMY HILL

/ SENIOR WRITER

Dave Parkhill makes getting a job look easy. As he sat in Brenen’s Coffee Cafe in uptown Athens, the senior business management major spoke candidly about his academic performance.

“My grades are nothing stellar,” he said, explaining how he came to land a full-time job after graduation. “I think I’m going to graduate with a 2.7 or a 2.8 (GPA).” To explain why he’s headed to Fort Myers, Florida, after he graduates to work for Gartner, an information technology advisory firm — despite not being “a big IT guy” — Parkhill credits the Schey Sales Centre, a door-to-door sales internship with energy company IGS and a strong economy.

ILLUSTRATION BY MARCUS PAVILONIS

10 / FEB. 1, 2018

“I don’t think it’s hard,” he said of finding a job. “The economy seems to be booming.”

Parkhill said almost everyone he knows is in talks with a potential employer.

“If you can go out there and put in the work, success is going to come,” he said.

Parkhill’s experience challenges a prevailing narrative about college, one that says new graduates, saddled with unprecedented levels of debt, are struggling to find jobs in their fields and instead are turning to low wage work and scraping by.

Data and expert opinions, though, show that now might be the best time in recent memory for newly minted college graduates to enter the workforce.

“So, college grads are getting jobs,” Richard Vedder, professor emeritus of economics at Ohio University, said. “That’s a fact.

Relatively few are not getting jobs.

So that’s the good news. And it’s better news than it was last year — it’s the best it’s been in a decade.”

The most recent data from the New York Federal Reserve pins the unemployment rate for college graduates in general at 2.5 percent, compared to a high of 5 percent in 2010.

“That’s about as good as it gets,” Vedder said of the number.

Recent graduates, those aged 22 to 27 with at least a bachelor’s degree, are in a similar spot: Just 4 percent are unemployed. That’s down from 6.9 percent in 2010.

“We’re at a peak,” Vedder said.

“The stock market passed 26,000 for the first time in its history — the unemployment rate is about as low as it ever gets. It occasionally dips below 4 percent, but you’re not going to get much better than this.”

“

10

all workers recent graduates

-Richard Vedder, professor emeritus of economics at Ohio University

ment rate pins it at about 20 percent, and he said that hasn’t changed much since the 1980s, when wages for college graduates skyrocketed.

“In the end, it’s about 20 percent of college graduates that make high school wages and should do better,” Carnevale said.

‘YOU MAKE WHAT YOU TAKE’ Carnevale and Vedder agreed on at least one topic: majors matter.

“They don’t think about what they’re gonna take,” Carnevale said of prospective students.

“College is about going to an institution and participating in that community. From an economic point of view, that’s not the case.

It’s about what you study.”

His larger point is that higher education has seen a shift in recent years. Increasingly, according to Carnevale, the value of a degree is determined by the problems it allows workers to solve.

“It’s not so much the institution you go to anymore. It’s your field of study that matters,” Carnevale said.

New York Fed Data shows the undergraduate degrees that produce the 10 highest median early-career salaries are in engineering. Conversely, non-STEM

8 PERCENT

Something that students are not as aware of as they should be is that there are tremendous variance in job opportunities by major. That isn’t to say that they shouldn’t do what they want to do, that’s just to say that they should realize the consequences.

“

WHAT’S THE CATCH? Of course, it’s not all rosy. It will be difficult for some graduates to find jobs, or perhaps wages in their chosen fields will be too low.

The latter problem — that some graduates won’t make the money a college degree ordinarily grants them — economists call “underemployment.” The New York Fed defines it as someone working a job that doesn’t typically require a college degree.

The share of underemployed degree holders has ticked up slightly and slowly since 2000, and now sits at 43.4 percent for recent graduates. Vedder and others think that number is too high.

“There are more graduates than there are good jobs available,” Vedder said. “It’s less that the job market is bad now; it’s more that we turn out too damn many college graduates from the standpoint of the labor market.”

Alan McMillan, a Schey Sales Centre board member and founder of LearnEarnRetire.com, teaches an experimental course at OU about how to transition from college to the workforce. While he acknowledged that opportunities for graduates exist, he also pointed to the New York Fed’s underemployment rate.

“The job market is better,” McMillan said. “But how are you going to end up on the better side of the statistics?”

His suggestion: complete multiple internships and network heavily at events like career fairs.

The picture might not be so dire, though — Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, said the way the New York Fed tabulates its rate inflates the share of underemployed workers.

Specifically, Carnevale said its job classifications are overly broad. For example, if Parkhill’s job selling IT advisory services falls under “sales” in the Fed’s data, it might consider him underemployed, despite it being unlikely that he would’ve landed the job without a degree.

Carnevale said his center’s calculation of the underemploy-

Unemployment rates for all workers and recent graduates

6

4

2

2008 2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

YEAR

Top 10 lowest unemployment rates by major MAJOR

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

MEDIAN WAGE

Medical Technicians

0.9

$43,000

Special Education

1.3

$35,000

Industrial Engineering

1.7

$64,000

Elementary Education

2

$35,000

General Education

2.2

$36,000

Civil Engineering

2.3

$56,000

Early Childhood Education

2.3

$31,000

Nursing

2.3

$50,000

General Engineering

2.4

$60,000

Agriculture

2.5

$40,000

degrees, such as anthropology and theology, net the lowest early-career salaries.

“Something that students are not as aware of as they should be is that there are tremendous variance in job opportunities by major,” Vedder said.

“That isn’t to say that they shouldn’t do what they want to do, that’s just to say that they should realize the consequences,” Vedder added. “And they are substantial.”

But the degree program is not

the end of it. Students can give themselves a better chance to get a desirable job after graduation through things like networking and internships, McMillan said.

“The employer has needs. … The superior way to find a job is to find the problem the employer is trying to solve for and pitching yourself as a solution,” McMillan said.

Data via the Federal Reserve Bank of New York INFOGRAPHICS DESIGNED BY ABBY DAY

@JEREMYHTWEETS JH082913@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 11

Ohio University students and Athens residents march in protest of President Donald Trump on Feb. 1, 2017. (MEAGAN HALL / FILE)

Still standing A year after 70 protesters were arrested, much is unclear about free speech at OU BAILEY GALLION | NEWS EDITOR

12 / FEB. 1, 2018

On the night of Feb. 1, 2017 — one year ago Thursday — Jolana Watson and 69 other students were arrested during a protest in Baker Center.

After the adrenaline of the rally and the arrests wore down, Watson, a graduate student studying communication and development, began to doubt whether she had done the right thing. Some of the protesters who had organized the rally Uptown and the Baker sit-in left after police threatened to make arrests — Watson and some other arrested students wondered if they should have left, too.

She now says she doesn’t regret participating in the protests. She also thinks one year later, Ohio University still needs to do more to protect undocumented and international students and protect free speech on campus.

The Feb. 1 protests began on the steps of the Athens County Courthouse that afternoon. About 300 demonstrators marched through the streets and gathered in the

fourth floor lobby of Baker Center. Speakers criticized President Donald Trump’s immigration policies through megaphones. They said they would remain there until then-OU President Roderick McDavis declared the university a sanctuary campus.

OU Police Chief Andrew Powers addressed the group with a megaphone at about 7:25 p.m. and said any of them who remained in the lobby past 7:30 p.m. would be arrested for criminal trespassing. At 8 p.m., OUPD officers began arresting students.

Watson helped organize speakers for the rally. She attended because she was upset that Trump’s presidential campaign had centered on tightening immigration restrictions. Watson is a first-generation American, and her parents are from Guyana.

“I just felt … it was very important for people who have their citizenship to stand up for those who don’t have their citizenship,” Watson said.

Hazel Goodburn, a sophomore study-

ing anthropology and music, learned about the Feb. 1 rallies earlier that day when a woman approached her and gave her a slip of paper about the event. Goodburn attended because she wanted to get more involved in politics on campus. She was a freshman at the time. When officers began arresting students, she questioned her decision to remain in the lobby.

“But I knew that the louder voice inside me was, like, ‘Yeah, this is the right thing to do. I have a lot of privilege and I need to be arrested for this cause,’ ” she said.

THE TRIAL Watson and three other arrested students worked at the Village Bakery & Cafe on East State Street. Her boss there told Watson they could begin taking donations toward their court fees from customers. He told her not to worry: The charges would be dropped, he said, and she would pay no court fees.

“I think he said something like, ‘If you’re a protester in Athens, you never pay your legal fees,’ ” Watson said.

Goodburn said people brought baked goods to them during the trial. Donkey Coffee and Espresso gave out free coffee to anyone with an arrest citation from that night.

Faculty, Student and Graduate Student senates passed resolutions condemning the arrests. Someone began an online fundraiser to pay for the arrested students’ court costs.

Fifteen of the students pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct in March. Criminal trespassing is a fourth-degree misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $250 and a maximum jail sentence of 30 days, while disorderly conduct is a minor misdemeanor with a maximum fine of $150 and no jail time.

On March 27, Athens County Municipal Court Judge Todd Grace found Michael Mayberry not guilty of criminal trespassing.

Mayberry’s case was the first of the arrested protesters’ to go to trial.

Watson arrived late to the Mayberry trial verdict. As she walked up the courthouse stairs, someone who had testified against the arrested students walked out, and she could tell what the verdict was from that witness’s face.

When she arrived in the courtroom, people were cheering and laughing.

“I felt validated, like what we did was not only right, but it was also legal,” she said.

After the verdict, Powers requested the charges be dropped against the remaining students.

OUPD Lt. Tim Ryan said he doesn’t think the arrests have caused lasting repercussions for his department.

“I didn’t think there was much of a ‘backlash’ for OUPD, actually,” Ryan said in an email. “We received a lot of feedback — positive, neutral, and negative — but I don’t think it created a problem that we needed to solve with a community relations initiative.”

Protesters sing during a sit-in in Baker Center on Feb. 1, 2017. (CARL FONTICELLA / FILE

THE POLICY On Sept. 8, OU released information about an interim “Freedom of Expression” policy.

The policy banned demonstrations, sit-ins, speeches and more inside university buildings aside from reservable rooms and spaces.

The policy’s purpose was “to memorialize our institution’s commitment to the free exchange of ideas and First Amendment principles while ensuring the safe operation of our campus,” a university news release stated at the time.

During Mayberry’s trial, Grace found Mayberry not guilty partly because the university had kept Baker Center open late during a protest in 2014, and the university had not placed other restrictions on public assembly in Baker. That made Baker a designated public forum, Grace argued in his decision, meaning the protesters had a constitutional right to use the space.

Watson saw the policy as confirmation that the Feb. 1 protest had an impact on the university.

“I think the university is afraid of student protesters,” she said. “They are afraid of activists, and I think we can tell how fearful they are by the ‘Freedom of Expression’ policy.”

OU College Democrats, OU College Republicans, and all three student and faculty senates have criticized the policy. The Ohio ACLU called the policy unconstitutional in an October statement.

Goodburn is Jewish, and her grandmother is a Holocaust survivor. For her,

the current political climate in the U.S. is frightening. She sees a rise in racism, sexism and anti-Semitism she believes parallels the political climate in Germany during the Nazis’ rise to power.

That makes her particularly concerned about the “Freedom of Expression” policy, because she thinks it will stop people from standing up for those who need it.

“A lot of my ancestors are dead,” Goodburn said. “They died in Poland in the Holocaust. Someone really needed to stand up for the Jews, and so the fact that we have to fear being arrested again to protest and stand up for people is really concerning.”

THE AFTERMATH In the year since the arrests in Baker, activists feel their attention has been diverted from immigration policy — the topic of the Feb. 1 demonstration — to free speech issues.

Watson would like to see the conversation shift back.

“A lot of people who were arrested are tired of talking about being arrested, because the whole reason we were arrested … was because we were trying to create a sanctuary campus for international students and undocumented students,” she said.

She said students should help by being politically active and donating to Athens Friends of International Students, an organization that provides support to international students.

The university is working to revise the in-

terim “Freedom of Expression” policy. An advisory group, which meets behind closed doors, is reviewing public comments and will make ultimately recommend changes to the policy.

Goodburn said she wants those meetings to be open, and she wants the “fascist” policy rescinded, not replaced — although she said that’s “naive” of her.

“I’ve had conversations with the president of the university and Jason Pina, and they just will not drop it,” she said, referring to the vice president for Student Affairs.

“They will not get it, and I wish they would.”

Watson thinks the university still owes the arrested students, and the rest of the campus, an apology for the Feb. 1 arrests.

She thinks the university should draft policies that ban U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from coming onto campus.

The arrested students keep in contact through a Facebook page. The LGBT Center made a list with contact information after the arrests so the students could keep in touch.

Goodburn met her current partner, Dani Wasserman, at the demonstration. She said Thursday will mark their first year together.

For the most part, Watson sees the other 69 at random. She will recognize someone’s face across a bar and not know why.

“Then it’ll click, like ‘Oh yeah, we got arrested together,’ ” she said. “And that’s our only link, but it’s kind of beautiful in a way.”

@BAILEYGALLION BG272614@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 13

Though their retention rates are up, foreign students down in number GEORGE SHILLCOCK FOR THE POST Over the past decade, Ohio University has seen both an increase in the retention of international students and a significant decrease in their enrollment, a trend that coincides with many other universities in the Midwest.

Since 2009, the number of international students who enrolled at OU and the percent of those students who were retained into their second year have consistently fluctuated.

For instance, in 2012 the retention rate for international students was at 75 percent, and the most recent data has it at 89 percent this year, according to a previous Post report. The rate of enrollment has increased from 1,483 students in Fall Semester 2010 to a high of 1,881 in Fall Semester 2013 and stands at 1,353 as of Fall Semester 2017, according to data from the OU Office of Institutional Research.

“Over the last two decades, the United

“

Over the last two decades, the United States has become less accessible to a lot of international student populations, particularly students who might really find Ohio University — based on affordability and what they can study — to be the right place for them.

“

- Zachary Reizes, OU Student Senate representative for the Center for International Studies

14 / FEB. 1, 2018

States has become less accessible to a lot of international student populations, particularly students who might really find Ohio University — based on affordability and what they can study — to be the right place for them,” said Zachary Reizes, the OU Student Senate representative for the Center for International Studies.

A 27 percent decrease in enrollment from fall 2014 to fall 2017 among international students at OU has followed a trend among Midwest universities. Throughout the U.S, the number of new international students has decreased an average of 7 percent, according to a report from The New York Times.

Many factors are thought to have an effect on the decline of international students in American universities. U.S. immigration policy, including recent travel bans, and the rhetoric on immigration coming from the White House are concerns that New York Times report discusses. Reizes said the affordability of higher education and what students can study are also what draws international students away from the U.S. “There is still a large interest for the vast majority of students to come to the United States,” Lorna Jean Edmonds, the vice provost for Global Affairs and International Studies, said. “Let’s just say it’s no longer an automatic decision.”

Despite a drop in the number of international students enrolling at OU, the retention rate for those students has been improving. The most recent data from 2017 has international retention rates at a 24 percent improvement since 2012.

Edmonds said it’s always nice to see international retention rates go up, and they are as solid as the retention rates for domestic students.

OU’s success with international student retention rates came as no surprise to Reizes, Edmonds and Diane Cahill, the interim director of International Student Faculty Services.

“Generally, our Bobcat community has been welcoming to all new students, international students included,” Cahill said in an email. “Many students have noted how friendly and welcoming Athens is and that for some of these students, it feels like home.”

@SHILLCOCKGEORGE GS261815@OHIO.EDU

The top six countries by enrollment

INFOGRAPHIC BY CLAIRE HANNA

Millennials’ absurdist style of humor YOUNGER GENERATIONS USE NEW, BIZARRE MEMES TO COMMUNICATE LOGAN PASQUAL FOR THE POST Memes have been around for a while now. In fact, they’ve been around for enough time they have become an ever-growing part of culture, namely for millennials and members of Generation Z. As with any other type of media, those online jokes evolve with their audience.

The evolution of the jokes has an equal amount of influence on the viewers’ sense of humor. The world has seen countless instances of memes losing popularity, according to The Atlantic. It often takes place on social media websites such as Facebook, where parents share outdated memes.

Though it may be easy to make fun of older generations for being behind the times and sharing outdated memes, it might not be their fault. There are plenty of other factors that younger generations must consider when comparing themselves to older generations in addition to worrying about getting jobs, being in debt and delaying marriage and children.

“I feel like when the world is that bleak and there’s so little hope, I think millennials are really suffering a lot from that,” Stephanie Tikkanen, an assistant professor in communication studies, said. “Why not escape to this absurdist viewpoint of the world?”

Nothing makes sense in the traditional way, and millennials cannot relate to previous generations because their lives are so different, Tikkanen said.

“It makes sense that they would sort of veer toward this appreciation of the abstract,” she said.

Especially when people see big businesses like Wendy’s using memes from 2009 such as “like a boss” in 2015, it is apparent there is a breakdown between older generations and millennials and Generation Z. With the perception of the obscure and absurd that younger generations have, Tikkanen said in a world where those generations, on average, can’t afford the products, it makes sense that millennials would get upset. “(They’re) going to get annoyed when (the companies) try to co-opt that humor that’s supposed to be (their) escape and a

way to remind you of the fact that (they) can’t pay for things,” she said.

The problem most people encounter in trying to determine what has created its own cultural vocabulary is that a lot of those memes can be incredibly niche creations.

There are a handful of articles now about how the new tier of memes is a branch of neo-dadaism, which is a resurgence of an absurdist style of humor but also art, according to Merriam-Webster.

Referred to as a “counter-art” movement, it is easy to see how millennials and younger generations use the new style to communicate with one another.

“Whenever I share a joke with you, it’s in a specific cultural context,” Sarah Beach, a graduate student in communication studies, said. “So you’ll understand that joke and you’ll laugh at it because it’s in a specific context.”

Humor is basically a way people communicate with one another, she said. Like other types of communication, people put it into specific contexts in society.

“It’s probably going to violate that context, or it’s going to violate a social norm,” Beach said. “Or it’s going to push the boundaries of our society.”

As the world continues to change and, consequently, humor changes with it, one would wonder how that will shape the collective future sense of humor.

The world will evolve with the humor that the majority of society finds funny. Although it is clear that memes will continue to be a part of that humor, it is unclear which memes will be used.

“The ways (people share memes), or the platforms or softwares (they) use to perpetuate it or create new ones also play a role in that, too,” Beach said.

Madison Sweeney, a sophomore integrated social studies education major, reinforced the assumptions that millennials and younger generations truly understand and find these memes funny.

“Sometimes, if they’re in the right context, but I feel like they really have to be in the right context,” Sweeney said. “Otherwise, they’re just kind of too weird … to be funny.”

@LPASQUAL182 LP059813@OHIO.EDU

ILLUSTRATION BY LOGAN PASQUAL THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 15

MIX MIX

ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH OLIVIERI

A NEW SPIN ON SKATE CULTURE THE CULTURE OF SKATEBOARDING IS BACK IN THE MAINSTREAM, BUT THE SPORT ITSELF MIGHT NOT BE THE REAL FOCUS ALEXIS EICHELBERGER STAFF WRITER Austin Paulenske started skateboarding when he was 13. He had a cheap board from Walmart that he rode in his driveway until he graduated to skate parks, where he fearlessly tried new tricks without concern. It was fun to be good at something, he said.

The culture of skateboarding has gradually made its way back into the mainstream, perhaps as part of a cultural obsession with the 1990s. But the authenticity of the new wave of skate culture has come into question. Many, like Paulenske, think the spike in popularity has more to do with the fashion appeal. Thrasher T-shirts and Vans sneakers are trendy — the sport isn’t.

“Skateboarding was originally a counterculture,” Paulenske, a senior studying mechanical engineering, said.

“It was against social norms and stuff.

Now you see, like, sorority girls walking down the sidewalk in Thrasher T-shirts, and it kind of takes away from the uniqueness.”

The Pedaler and the Packer, an outdoor sports store, has catered to the needs of Athens’ skaters for nearly 40 years. The store doesn’t sell skating apparel, only equipment, and owner John Tobin said much of the skate gear he gets is specially ordered. If customers 16 / FEB. 1, 2018

ask for it, he’ll have it in a few days.

“I rely on the local skaters to tell me what products they want. I do an awful lot of special orders for them,” Tobin said. “It depends on what customers tell me they want and need, and I’ll get it for them.”

Tobin said he’s recently seen a shift in the kind of gear that sells.

“I’m seeing people move away from the skate-park type stuff and get more into longboards and cruiser type things for just skating the streets,” he said.

Nate Mascha, a freshman studying engineering technology and management, was introduced to skateboarding by his childhood babysitter. He looked up to the older boy and became a dedicated skater himself a few years later.

Mascha said many people have misconceptions about what skate culture really is. Some want to make it about money, clothes or an exclusive scene when really, it is about being a part of an inclusive group “There’s definitely a culture to skateboarding, but I think people look at the wrong aspects of it,” Mascha said.

“For me, the culture is the community.

Going to a skate park and knowing all the dudes are cool. They’re not going to judge you.”

An old misconception about skaters, Mascha said, was the burnout stereotype. Now the misconception has al-

A skater grinds on a box near the basketball courts on South Beach. Skate culture is making a comeback after peaking in the 1990s. (KELSEY BOEING / FOR THE POST)

tered, and skaters are perceived as hipsters dressed in trendy attire.

“I’ve seen dads that are in just regular casual wear ripping harder than anyone at the skate park,” he said. “Or little girls wearing, like, a pink helmet and a little tutu. It doesn’t matter how you look. People that think it matters — they’re wrong.”

Paulenske doesn’t skate as much anymore. Falling hurts a little more now than

it did when he was a teenager, and breaking bones is a bit of a hassle when you’re a college student. His love for the sport has remained, though.

“It relieves stress,” Paulenske said. “It’s always cool to be good at something.”

@ADEICHELBERGER AE595714@OHIO.EDU

International women’s fashion shows the native culture and traditions of their home countries JESSICA HILL FOR THE POST Every country, city and culture has its own style. Passed down throughout history, traditional clothing can shine light on a country’s past and how it connects people in the present. Three women studying at Ohio University described traditional fashion in their home countries and how it reflects their cultures.

SANAM AZADIAMIN, IRAN From Tabriz, Iran, Azadiamin came to Athens last summer to get her doctoral degree in industrial engineering.

Azadiamin is from northern Iran, and she said every area of Iran has different cultures and ethnicities. Kurdish people, for example, have kurdish dresses that are long, loose and elegant. She is Azeri, also known as Iranian Azerbaijanis, and they have their own traditional clothing.

One dress they wear on special occasions has many layers and long, flowy sleeves.

Azadiamin said the sleeves make traditional dances look beautiful and elegant as a man and woman dance together.

“I think the dress and the food shows most of the culture,” Azadiamin said. “And the nature of the culture. It’s kind of the symbol, like the flag of the country. The kind of work that people do at the time, for example.”

Historically, Azadiamin said, there were many tea farmers in northern Iran.

Women who worked in the fields needed to be comfortable and move easily. The Azeri dress reflects that with its length, loose shape and big skirt. With the dress, Iranians wear a colorful scarf and hold a basket, which was originally used to collect tea.

The most important part of the dress, Azadiamin said, is the colors. The dress should have multiple bright colors. She thinks one reason why the dresses are so colorful is because life was difficult for the farmers in northern Iran and wearing bold colors might have helped brighten their moods and lift their spirits.

Today, many Iranians wear those dresses only on formal occasions, like weddings and festivals such as Nowruz, the Iranian New Year.

Azadiamin said many Americans or Westerners have a view about Iran in which it is a conservative country without any color and where women just wear hijabs.

“It’s like that to some extent,” Azadiamin said. “Like we don’t have complete freedom to do whatever we want about clothing, but (the clothes) we have are so colorful. …

Regina Yoong, an international student from Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, poses for a portrait outside of Baker Center.

(MEAGAN HALL / PHOTO EDITOR)

We have a really good culture and we can show it in some traditional celebrations like Nowruz or Yalda.”

ANSAM AL HARTHY, OMAN Al Harthy, a junior studying applied nutrition, wears a traditional Omani dress during celebrations such as Eid Fitr and Eid Adha. The dress is short in length, about to the knees, with long sleeves. The dress is usually colorful and has silver and gold designs on the sleeves and the bottom of the dress. Women also wear matching pants to go with it.

The women wear two different head pieces: One is a scarf covering the head, and the other is a type of veil, or seethrough cloak.

Al Harthy, who is from Muscat, said traditional wear changes from city to city in Oman, especially women’s clothing.

Southern Oman has a different style from eastern Oman, for example. In the past, women would wear those traditional dresses all the time, Al Harthy said, although the clothing was not as detailed and elaborate as it is today.

When wearing the dress today, especially during a national celebration, it shows your identity, Al Harthy said. It shows “who you are” and the history of the culture.

She thinks the traditional Omani dress also reflects the country’s values.

With its length and long sleeves, it demonstrates modesty, an important characteristic to the culture.

“I think the colors also reflect on the occasion,” Al Harthy said. “Because whenever you see it during a celebration, it will be very bright and extravagantlooking with all those details. It’s also a way to celebrate.”

REGINA YOONG, MALAYSIA Yoong, a first-year doctoral student studying literature, said Malays, Chinese and Indians are the three major ethnicities in Malaysia, each one with their own kind of fashion.

During festivals such as Hari Raya, a major Muslim holiday, Malays wear a baju kurung or baju kebaya and go to “open houses” where friends and family open the door and invite people in celebration. A baju

kurung is a two-piece dress with a longsleeve blouse that falls to the mid-thigh and has a long skirt at the bottom. They can be whatever color, but the more sparkly they are or the kind of material, like silk, might show the woman is from a higher class.

A baju kebaya is similar to the baju kurung, but it has a more fitting cut. The baju kebaya also tends to have flowers embroidered on the top, Yoong said.

Although the baju kurung is worn for special occasions, it can be worn casually every day, Yoong said, who is from Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.

Yoong said there is a “harmony” that comes from traditional clothing.

When she wears the baju kurung on special occasions, she feels united with Malaysians and a remembrance that they all come from the same place.

“I think fashion just reminds you, especially traditional clothing ... of your origins, your whole history as a culture,” Yoong said.

@JESS_HILLYEAH JH240314@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 17

HOCKEY

A decade-long friendship on and off the ice Ohio’s Tyler Harkins and Matt Rudin finish each other’s sentences and have a nickname for their years-long chemistry ANTHONY POISAL FOR THE POST Tyler Harkins and Matt Rudin looked at each other with matching smiles.

The two were told they were about to be interviewed at the same time for a story on their nearly decade-long friendship, which started when they were 10-year-old peewee players for the Cleveland Barons youth hockey club.

“We finish each other’s...” Harkins said before pausing.

“Sandwiches,” they said together as a reference to a scene in Arrested Development.

The two said the line in-sync, as though they’ve said it together before and that they actually do finish each other’s sentences.

Harkins, a sophomore, and Rudin, a junior, have gotten to know each other well since their preteen days with the Barons. At the peewee and bantam stages of hockey, they played on the same line and helped each other develop the onice skills that carried them on paths that would intersect yet again in Athens.

During Rudin’s freshman year at Ohio, Harkins frequently texted him questions about what the campus was like and whether it’d be a fit for Harkins to play hockey and be a student. Rudin encouraged Harkins to continue pursuing Ohio, and he put in a good word to coach Sean Hogan about his former teammate.

After Harkins visited the campus and picked Ohio, the reunion with Rudin was complete.

On the ice, the two are still on the same line with the Bobcats, but that’s perhaps the only true similarity they share at Ohio compared to their days with Cleveland.

Harkins described himself as a “nerdy kid” whose job with the Barons was to find ways to keep the puck on Rudin’s stick. Rudin, who was 5-foot-9 and sported some much longer red hair that Harkins called “a beauty,” was frequently the tallest kid on the ice and the team’s most talented player.

Now, Harkins is no longer the aforementioned nerd, Rudin’s long hair is gone, 18 / FEB. 1, 2018

Junior Matt Rudin (left) and sophomore Tyler Harkins pose for a portrait in Bird Arena. (HANNAH SCHROEDER / PHOTO EDITOR)

and, at 5-foot-11, Rudin is never the tallest kid on the ice.

“But my skills are still here, though,” Rudin said.

His skills include a strong physical presence and a knack for scoring goals in front of the net, which complements Harkins’ precise passing abilities.

Unlike their days with the Barons, however, the scoring sequence that often finished with Rudin is now interchangeable.

Harkins and Rudin are second and third, respectively, in scoring on Ohio. Harkins is also tied for first on the team in goals (14), and Rudin is second (12). “(Rudin) works hard in the corners, and we’re just an all-around package,” Harkins said. “He’s got the intangible of, like, he’s

a hard worker and he’ll take the hit. He’ll battle in the corner, and that makes it easier for me because I know he’s going to win that battle and he’s going to be able to find me as well.”

Harkins and Rudin’s successes have been boosted by their keen knowledge of where each other’s position is on the ice at nearly all times. It’s an instinct that they share because of their years of developed chemistry, which they’ve dubbed the “Cleveland Connection.”

The bond also extends to the bench.

When the two players finish a low-quality shift, they’re not afraid to pin blame on each other or share their thoughts on why the play broke down — because the other will usually agree.

“We’re comfortable saying, ‘Oh you should’ve done this, you should’ve done that,’ or take the blame on something,” Harkins said. “The fact that we can talk to each other about hockey and no one’s going to get upset with each other when we say it makes it easier.”

It’s hard to find a duo stronger than Harkins and Rudin on Ohio, and the two showed no hesitation to describe themselves as the greatest battery on the Bobcats.

“By—” Harkins said before he stopped, laughed and allowed Rudin to finish the sentence.

“By far, yes,” Rudin said. “Hands down.”

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CULT CLASSICS People enjoy cult classic films for atypical storylines, relatable characters

GRAPHICS BY RILEE LOCKHART

GEORGIA DAVIS CULTURE EDITOR

T

he first time Ethan Samuel watched Office Space was several years ago with his family.

Office Space has an iconic scene involving a red stapler and signature characters, including a greedy boss. Those attributes contribute to the fun feel of watching movies like Office Space, Samuel, a junior studying communication studies, said.

Samuel has also seen Pulp Fiction, Wayne’s World and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Though those movies all fall under different subgenres of film, they are all considered cult classics.

In cinema, a cult classic is defined as a movie that is popular among a group of people or section of society.

“It tends to be a movie that’s a little out there, more of an art film or something that is just bizarre,” Alexandra Kamody, the director of The Athena Cinema, said.

Despite not being universally liked, cult classics hold their own with off-kilter visuals and atypical storylines that attract those who relate to them.

CULT CLASSIC CHARACTERISTICS The term cult classic was coined in 1970 when more obscure films like The

20 / FEB. 1, 2018

Rocky Horror Picture Show and Pink Flamingos came to the forefront. Those movies did not do well in their first runs, but they surged in theaters that screened underground movies for months on end.

With midnight movies shown on TV, films from the 1930s resurfaced and were labeled as cult classics, including the 1932 film Freaks and 1936’s Reefer Madness.

One of the more popular cult classics is Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, and it has been widely debated whether the film should be considered a cult classic because of its commercial success. In 1994, the film grossed more than $100 million at the box office and had an estimated budget of $8 million.

Then there are movies like Richard Kelly’s 2001 film Donnie Darko, which had a budget of $4.5 million and made just $500,000.

Liv Lewis, a freshman studying business law, watched Donnie Darko for the first time during her freshman year of high school. She clicked on a streaming site to watch the movie because she was bored and it starred one of her favorite actors, Jake Gyllenhaal.

Lewis thought the movie was good, but it wasn’t her favorite. One aspect of the movie that made it seem obscure was the “eerie” feeling.

“It wasn’t as happy as I wanted it to be,” Lewis said.

One aspect that connects people to the more obscure films is the “communal” viewing experience, Kamody said. When people see a cult classic for the first time, it is often with a group of friends.

The Athena, 20 S. Court St., often screens cult classics. It showed a series of film all dedicated to the genre and also shows them for Ohio University special weekends. Kamody’s favorites include Wayne’s World and The Big Lebowski.

What really sets cult classics apart are the subject matters. Kamody said cult classics are outside of the mainstream movies someone would see from a studio like Marvel and Disney, and they celebrate what is different.

“It’s kind of celebrating the quirky and the different. It’s just all about something outside of the mainstream.” Kamody said.

“If you are growing up and you feel on the outskirts of the mainstream society in anyway, you don’t necessarily see a lot of that reflected in the Hollywood movies.”

POTENTIAL FUTURE CULT CLASSICS Online forums have made cases for different movies and how they could become the next films to be considered

cult classics. Some titles include Wet Hot American Summer, Napoleon Dynamite, Spring Breakers and Pineapple Express.

Kamody thinks the recent Oscar-nominated film The Shape of Water could become one of those films. Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy movie follows a deaf woman who falls in love with a amphibious creature being held at a government facility during the Soviet Era. Elements of fantasy and sci-fi are not the first components that come to mind when considering cult classics, but Kamody said it is part of it whether people realize it or not.

Scott Martin, a junior study communication studies, said the 2001 comedy Super Troopers could also become a cult classic because of its characters and the fact it does not appeal to everyone.

Cult classics will always be watched, Martin said, because of their ever-evolving themes and soon-to-be nostalgic tones.

“It’s not like going to see the new Avengers movie,” Martin said. “(Cult classics are) good, and it’s something to talk about.”

@GEORGIADEE35 GD497415@OHIO.EDU

TOP GROSSING CULT CLASSIC Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Wayne’s World (1992) vs.

vs.

Wayne’s World (1992)

Pink Flamingos (1972)

Pink Flamingos (1972)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

vs.

vs.

vs.

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Wayne’s World (1992)

The Big Lebowski (1998) A Clockwork Orange (1971)

vs.

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Wayne’s World (1992)

Trainspotting (1996)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Winner:

Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)

Office Space (1999)

Wayne’s World (1992)

Clerks (1994)

$121,697,323

vs.

vs.

vs.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

This Is Spinal Tap (1984) vs.

vs.

vs.

Pulp Fiction (1994) Pulp Fiction (1994)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Heathers (1988) vs.

vs.

Pulp Fiction (1994) Heathers (1988) The Princess Bride (1987) Donnie Darko (2001) THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 21

the weekender Magic comes to Athena with ‘Potter’ marathon ALEXIS EICHELBERGER STAFF WRITER The Athena Cinema and the Ohio University Harry Potter Alliance will add a touch of magic to Sibs Weekend for the third consecutive year with a 12-hour Harry Potter marathon.

The marathon will feature the first four Harry Potter films intermixed with trivia games, a costume contest and raffles for prizes. Food from the wizarding world will also be served, including Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans and a potion drink.

Alexandra Kamody, director of the Athena, 20 S. Court St., said the theater has alternated between showing the first and last halves of the series the past two

years. Although attendance was good both years, the first four films drew a slightly better turnout. Kamody is excited to see if a similarly strong crowd will attend this year.

“It just seems like a good match for Sibs Weekend,” she said. “We feel like it really fits the needs of both the OU events going on with Sibs Weekend and the community with people just wanting to get out of the house and do something fun.”

Kamody said the Harry Potter marathons have drawn people of all ages to the theater, from young children to college students and adults.

“I think that Harry Potter just appeals to all ages, so it seems like we really get a good mix with the audience,” Kamody said. “Their love of Harry Potter is pretty

steady. It’s got some lasting power.”

The Harry Potter Alliance will run the trivia and costume contests throughout the day. Alexis Bennett, vice president of the Harry Potter Alliance, said the group brainstorms and searches trivia books to find questions that coincide with each of the films and uses social media to judge costumes. Winners will be given Harry Potter-themed prizes provided by the Athena.

Bennett, a junior studying English and world religions, said the Harry Potter marathon is a good opportunity to do something fun and family-friendly during Sibs Weekend, especially with younger siblings.

“Personally, my siblings are both younger than me and they aren’t really into a lot of the activities aimed at young-

er sibs,” Bennett said in an email. “But we’ve always been a Harry Potter family and watching the movies brings us back to when we were younger, before I moved away. It’s very sentimental for us and I think that can appeal to people, especially this weekend.”

Bennett encourages moviegoers to attend the marathon and embrace the opportunity to break out their best wizarding gear.

“This event is always such a wonderful time,” she said. “Everyone is so excited to watch the movies and be surrounded by others that love the franchise.”

@ADEICHELBERGER AE595714@OHIO.EDU

BSCPB welcomes up-and-coming rapper A Boogie wit da Hoodie for its annual Sibs Weekend Concert GEORGIA DAVIS CULTURE EDITOR Last February, Matthew Kinlow was the vice president of the Black Student Cultural Programming Board, and the annual Sibs Weekend Concert had just been canceled.

“We realized that was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing — the perfect storm of conditions made things go awry,” Kinlow, a senior studying biology, said.

But with only days leading up to the 2018 Sibs Weekend Concert, Kinlow, now the president of the organization, said there is no chance of cancellation.

A Boogie wit da Hoodie will perform Saturday in the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium at 8 p.m. Admission is $30 for the first 10 rows, $25 for the rest of

22 / FEB. 1, 2018

the floor and $20 for balcony seating.

Last year, hip-hop trio Migos — bestknown for its song “Bad and Boujee” — was set to perform for the Sibs Weekend Concert. Less than a month before the concert, though, Migos canceled its performance due to scheduling conflicts.

BSCPB started searching for an artist who could leave an imprint on the university at the end of the 2016-17 academic year because of the Migos cancellation.

“There was a need for it to be someone that we could secure,” Kinlow said. “We needed to do all of that very early on.”

BSCPB tries to book artists on the verge of superstardom, Kinlow said. A Boogie wit da Hoodie joins the likes of Brandi, J. Cole and Waka Flocka Flame, all of whom have performed at OU for Sibs Weekend.

“I think he’s excited to come here, and I think students are excited to see him,” Kinlow said of A Boogie wit da Hoodie.

A Boogie wit da Hoodie is best-known for his song “Drowning,” which has more than 200 million streams on Spotify. He has also been featured on Chris Brown’s “Pills and Automobiles,” Fetty Wap’s “Keke” and “Wait,” a new song by Maroon 5.

Mitchell Crawford, a freshman studying health administration, said he likes A Boogie wit da Hoodie’s music and is considering going to the concert.

“He has bangers,” Crawford said. “He’s not just straight-up rap.”

A Boogie wit da Hoodie mixes singing with rap, and Kinlow said that mixture will fit in with the Sibs Weekend crowd.

“Ohio has so much energy, and his ener-

gy matches,” Kinlow said. “We want people to be able to come and have a good time.”

Jack Korsok, a freshman studying business analytics and management information systems, said A Boogie wit da Hoodie’s songs are catchy, which will appeal to those here for Sibs Weekend.

“It’s a young crowd and he’s an up-andcoming artist, so I’m sure a lot of people know his name by now,” Korsok said.

BSCPB booked A Boogie wit da Hoodie at a good time in his career because he has new music set to debut this year, Kinlow said.

“In 2018, everybody is going to know who A Boogie is,” he said. “We’re right in the sweet spot. … This is perfect timing.”

@GEORGIADEE35 GD497415@OHIO.EDU

WHAT’S GOING ON? MAE YEN YAP CULTURE EDITOR Friday Ninth Annual Women of Appalachia Project at 5 p.m. at Multicultural

Center Art Gallery, Baker Center.

Ohio University’s Multicultural Center will host an opening reception for an art exhibition made by and dedicated to female artists with strong ties to the Appalachian region. The exhibit will be displayed until April 21. Admission is free.

For the Love of Athens Photo Exhibition

at 6 p.m. at ARTS/West, 132 W. State St. Twenty-five photographs featuring people, places and things in Athens County have been chosen and will be displayed in the ARTS/West Gallery throughout the month of February. Admission is free.

multi-genre dance party that will take place all night. Admission is $5 for ages 18 to 20 and $3 for ages 21 and above.

Sunday February Family Contra Dance at 3 p.m. at ARTS/West. Spend an afternoon filled with music and dancing with family members at ARTS/West.

Kids and adults will be taught dance moves until 5 p.m. Donations of $3 per dancer are highly encouraged.

48 Hour Shootout 2018 Screening at 6 p.m. at Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium. The School of Media Arts and Studies will screen completed films made during the 16th annual 48-hour Shootout Competition. Admission is free.

Becca Farley works behind the bar on Jan. 20 at Little Fish Brewing Company.

(HANNAH RUHOFF / FILE)

What: Siblings WipeOUT When: 11 a.m., Saturday

SIBS WEEKEND EVENTS

Where: Ping Center Admission: Free

What: BSCPB’s Apollo Night When: 7 p.m., Friday

What: Breakout! Escape Room

Where: Baker Ballroom

When: Noon, Saturday

Admission: $3

Where: Ping Center Admission: $10

What: Stargazing and Night Hike

DJ Barticus Y2K Millennium Dance Party at 9 p.m. at The Union Bar &

When: 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday

What: Canvas Painting

Grill, 18 W. Union St. Dance the night away to hits from the late ’90s to early 2000s with DJ Barticus. Admission is $5 for ages 18 to 20 and $3 for ages 21 and above.

Where: Ping Center

When: 1 p.m., Saturday

Admission: $10

Where: Baker Center

Saturday An Evening of Stories and Songs at 7

p.m. at Little Fish Brewing Company, 8675 Armitage Road. Professional storyteller Thomas Burnett and singer-songwriter Jeanie Thieken Creamer will perform at Little Fish for an evening mixed with stories and songs. Admission is free.

Trust Me Dance Party at 10 p.m. at

Casa Nueva, 6 W. State St. DJ B-Funk invites all to trust him and join the

What: Hockey: Ohio vs. Oakland When: 7:30 p.m., Friday

Admission: $15 for one canvas,

additional $10 per canvas

Where: Bird Arena

What: 50 Year Journey, Ron

Admission: $6 for students with ID,

Kroutel Paintings When: 1 p.m., Saturday Where: Kennedy Museum of Art, 100 Ridges Circle Admission: Free

$7 for children, $9 for adults What: Magician Daniel Martin When: 8 p.m., Friday Where: Templeton-Blackburn

Alumni Memorial Auditorium

What: Women’s Basketball: Ohio

Admission: $15

vs. Ball State When: 1 p.m., Saturday Where: The Convo Admission: Free for OU students with ID, $5 general admission

What: Conkle’s Hollow Day Hike When: 10 a.m., Saturday and Sunday Where: Ping Center Admission: $20

What: Men’s Basketball: Ohio

vs. Central Michigan When: 3:30 p.m., Saturday Where: The Convo Admission: Free for OU students

with ID, $5 general admission What: Hockey: Ohio vs. Oakland When: 7:30 p.m., Saturday Where: Bird Arena Admission: $6 for students with ID,

$7 for children, $9 for adults What: Midnight Meltdown When: 10:30 p.m., Saturday Where: Bird Arena Admission: $4 per skate rental What: WinterPOOLoza When: 1 p.m., Sunday Where: Aquatic Center Admission: Free for OU students

with ID, $5 for siblings/guests What: Wrestling: Ohio vs.

Gardner Webb When: 1:15 p.m., Sunday Where: The Convo Admission: Free

@summerinmae my389715@ohio.edu THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 23

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