March 5, 2020

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THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2020

CULTIVATING A FUTURE Athens program Farmer for a Day encourages Athens Farmers Market attendees to get involved with local farms

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Bob Stewart to retire after 33 years...P5 OU students celebrate Green Beer Day...P12 The culture of the Smiling Skull...P20

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Expanding our social media reach

O

ELLEN WAGNER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ver the past decade, social media has become so integrated into everyone’s everyday lives.

It’s rare to meet someone who doesn’t have a social media platform. As younger generations grow up with social media in their lives, they are interested in making new ways with which to be entertained on social media.

Social media is not all about only entertainment. It’s now the first place many go to find out the news, including myself.

People are seeking out information in the quickest way they can, whether it’s something they will remember or forget after about 10 seconds. While social media is a great tool, it also has been a major adjustment to newspapers across the country to learn how to use this tool.

In recent years, social media has created a large effect on journalism. Newspapers across the country have cut down their print from daily to a few times a week or have gone completely digital. The Post changed from a daily broadsheet newspaper to a weekly tabloid.

News publications have expanded to include all different forms of social media to attract all different types of audiences to their content.

Readers just don’t want to read a news article.

They want photos, videos, audio and other elements that will keep them interested in what they are reading.

The biggest forms of social media are considered to be Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Post uses these platforms as our main way of sharing our stories with our audience. We send out information as quickly as possible as soon as we know it.

While what we are doing now to share on social media is good, we are trying to find new ways to engage our audience with our posts and to have interest in the stories we are sharing.

Our social media director, Matt Geiger, was hired at the beginning of the semester to help us expand on some ideas. We are currently discussing ideas to expand on our current social media platforms as well as adding a few others.

Some of our newest forms of social media include Snapchat and Tik Tok accounts.

We want to start by using Snapchat as a way to give live updates to students as a way of live coverage of an event or breaking news. Students especially are always on Snapchat, and we want to be able to keep people informed in real time.

Our social media staff is looking forward to testing out Snapchat with upcoming events in Athens, including the primaries and fests.

Our staff also created a Tik Tok account to make fun videos about events happening in Athens or behind-the-scenes videos of what it’s like to be a journalist at The Post. We launched our first Tik Tok last week to introduce our staff and are continuing to brainstorm ideas to produce a couple of Tik Toks a week.

With all the forms of social media, we know we won’t always get it right. However, we want to try and fail to find out the best ways we would be able to reach our audience and be accessible to everyone, no matter what platform.

Follow us on all social media. The Post can be found on Facebook, Twitter (@ThePost), Instagram (@thepostathens), Snapchat (thepostathens) and Tik Tok (@thepostathens).

Ellen Wagner is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University and the editor-in-chief of The Post. Have questions? Email Ellen at ew047615@ohio.edu or tweet her @ewagner19.

COVER PHOTO BY GRACE WILSON

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLEN WAGNER DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR Taylor Johnston

EDITORIAL

NEWS EDITORS Abby Miller, Nolan Simmons ASST. NEWS EDITOR Ian McKenzie LONG-FORM EDITOR Ashton Nichols SPORTS EDITORS Matt Parker, Anthony Poisal CULTURE EDITOR Baylee DeMuth ASST. CULTURE EDITOR Riley Runnells OPINION EDITOR Shelby Campbell ASST. OPINION EDITOR Noah Wright THE BEAT EDITOR Molly Schramm ASST. THE BEAT EDITOR Mady Lewellyn COPY CHIEF Bre Offenberger SLOT EDITORS Jack Gleckler, Avery Kreemer, Chloe Meyers, Kevin Pan

ART

ART DIRECTOR Rilee Lockhart DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Kelsey Boeing PHOTO EDITOR Emilee Chinn

DIGITAL

WEB DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Midge Mazur SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Matthew Geiger DIRECTOR OF MULTIMEDIA Nicholas Langer

BUSINESS

STUDENT MEDIA SALES INTERNSHIP MANAGER Andrea Lewis MEDIA SALES Emily Cassidy, Ali Gifford, Kyle McCort

2 / MARCH 5, 2020

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Coronavirus cancellations

Over 30 students’ spring break trips canceled by OU because of coronavirus IAN MCKENZIE ASST. NEWS EDITOR

cluding the original $500 deposit, which was supposed to be nonrefundable.

She is concerned she won’t be able to study abroad during her time at OU now.

Eli Wanner, a junior studying history, said it’s been difficult to try to figure out what to do over spring break since the trip to Rome was canceled. He said he was frustrated the students still have to do coursework for the class despite not going to Italy.

Since the class was told Friday that the trip was canceled, Wanner didn’t find out if he would get refunded for the trip until Monday.

Wanner said he thinks the Office of Global Opportunities should have a plan in place to make sure students don’t have to wait to learn about the situation.

Jaclyn Maxwell, an associate professor of history who was going on the trip to Italy, said in an email that she is disappointed for the students who had been learning about Rome’s history for the semester.

Maxwell said she is, however, relieved that the trip was canceled because of the threat of quarantines and the “atmosphere of fear.”

Maxwell, who has been on the trip four times, plans to teach the course every other Spring Semester. She knew that when the CDC changed the warning level to three, the trip would be canceled, so she emailed the students.

All other spring break programs offered from the OGO are still scheduled, but the office is looking at the feasibility of traveling for all destinations. All summer and fall travel programs through the university have not changed

T

wo Ohio University Spring Break trips to Italy were canceled Feb. 28, along with another trip to South Korea, due to the coronavirus.

There were 25 students between two programs who were supposed to go to Italy over spring break, Carly Leatherwood, a university spokeswoman, said in an email.

There are another five students in Italy who were asked to return back to the U.S. and are currently flying back.

The Italy programs were canceled Feb. 28 when Italy was increased to a Warning Level 3 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There is widespread transmission of COVID-19, or the coronavirus, in Italy, according to the CDC. “I completely understand why it had to be canceled, but it’s devastating,” Jayne Yerrick, a sophomore studying journalism, said in an email.

There were also three students who were supposed to go to South Korea, which also has a level 3 warning. The trip was canceled before two of the students had left for South Korea, but the other student had already arrived in South Korea and has since returned to the U.S. Leatherwood said refunds will occur for students whose trips were canceled are on a case-by-case basis, depending on how students planned to travel as well as other factors.

Yerrick, who was supposed to go on the Italy: Piety and Power program, said she is getting a full refund, in-

COUNTRIES UNDER WARNING LEVEL 3 STATUS 1. Italy 2. South Korea 3. Iran 4. China either, according to the university’s website.

OU announced a temporary travel restriction to China on Jan. 31 in accordance with the CDC. There have been 60 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., none of which have been in Ohio, according to the CDC. Athens Mayor Steve Patterson said he was concerned for OU students who plan to travel internationally over spring break. He said he doesn’t want anyone to contract COVID-19 while abroad and then bring it back to campus or for students to get stuck in countries.

The Athens City-County Health Department has been preparing for public health emergencies since 2001, according to a news release from the department.

The health department has plans and policies that were used for H1N1 and influenza, according to the news release.

“The difficulty is finding out what to do now,” Luke Ruff, a freshman studying history who was supposed to go on the Italy: Piety and Power program, said in an email.

Ruff said the university handled the situation well, and he is getting his money back.

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Woman sues OU, football player and employees for allowing physical abuse The alleged abuser was charged with menacing by stalking in October 2019, but the case was dismissed IAN MCKENZIE ASST. NEWS EDITOR A former Ohio University student filed a lawsuit Friday against the university, which she claims was negligent after a former OU football player sexually and emotionally abused her.

The woman, who is referred to as “Jane Doe #1” to maintain her privacy, is a 21-year-old woman. The publicity of her true identity will cause further trauma, according to the lawsuit.

She is also suing former OU football player Amir Miller.

Miller, who was an OU defensive lineman, and the woman were in a romantic relationship for two years during which Miller “systematically physically, sexually, and emotionally abused” her, according to the lawsuit.

Miller was charged with menacing by stalking in the Athens County Common Pleas Court in January 2020, but the case was dismissed.

Carly Leatherwood, a university spokeswoman, said the university could not provide a comment about the lawsuit but that it is reviewing the suit.

The woman and her parents are also suing OU President Duane Nellis, the Board of Trustees, Board chair David Scholl and Dave Moore, who is the secretary of the board.

They are also suing Jim Schaus, the former athletic director; John Bowman, an athletic trainer; OU’s head football coach, Frank Solich; the assistant athletic director, Chris Rodgers; the director and the Title IX Coordinator, Kerri Griffin; and the assistant director and deputy Title IX coordinator, Karen Petko.

The Ohio University class gateway in Athens, Ohio. (KELSEY BOEING / DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY)

The abuse included physical assaults where she was punched and knocked to the ground, according to the suit. She was also allegedly imprisoned, sexually imposed and raped.

When the woman tried to end the relationship, Miller allegedly stalked her and her friends.

The woman made complaints to OU employees, but there was nothing done, according to the lawsuit.

Title IX coordinators were aware of Miller’s sexual abuse and harassment, but they chose to ignore her complaints, according to the suit.

The woman’s parents, who also re-

main anonymous, are also suing OU for being negligent and for suffering from emotional distress, according to the lawsuit.

The university’s actions were “extreme and outrageous that went well beyond all possible bounds of decency and should be considered utterly intolerable in a civilized community,” according to the lawsuit.

In April 2018, OU and the employees had a notice about Miller’s sexual harassment and abuse.

The woman also claimed OU established a practice that fostered a climate facilitating sexual abuse. She was de-

prived of her constitutional liberty interest and equal protection, according to the lawsuit.

The woman is also claiming she was subjected to discrimination because of her gender, because she was sexually assaulted and had emotional distress because of another student.

She claimed OU failed to take appropriate action, acting with deliberate indifference to her, according to the lawsuit.

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Bob Stewart retires from journalism school after 33 years The journalism school plans to have a new director hired by the end of March IAN MCKENZIE ASST. NEWS EDITOR

BOB STEWART Professor of Journalism at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism 1987-2020

A

fter 10 years of being the director of the journalism school, Bob Stewart is turning off his “Always Open” sign.

He has a new grandson, Francesco, who he hasn’t met yet, though he is going to New Jersey to meet him over spring break.

Alongside his grandchildren, Stewart’s father is 91 years old, and his wife’s mother is 89.

Stewart realized he was at a point in his life where he wanted to see his family, including his three grandchildren. Laughing, he said it’s not even babysitting. It’s just hanging out with them.

Stewart, 62, announced on Feb. 19 his plan to retire at the end of the semester.

He said he is “finally graduating” from the school after 33 years.

Stewart started working at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism teaching broadcast journalism in 1987, and he became director in 2010.

Stewart said he was asked to start an experimental class that focused on online journalism because he had experience from coding a project. He created Fundamentals of Online Journalism in the mid ’90s, which is still offered.

A few years later, he was chosen by Tom Hodson, who was the director at the time, in 2005 to be the associate director of the school.

Stewart said Hodson asked him to take over the position while they were in a cab in New York City. He said he was in disbelief that Hodson wanted him.

Before Stewart officially became director of the school in 2010 when Hodson’s wife got sick, Hodson asked Stewart to unofficially take over the school.

Stewart said this opportunity to cover for Hodson was like his tryout for the team, to see if he liked the role.

“It was the perfect way to practice,” he said.

When Hodson officially stepped down, he had to convince then-dean Greg Shepherd to hire Stewart because the two had a “bumpy relationship.”

When faculty members voted, only two people were against Stewart’s appointment.

He was signed to a three-year term.

Then a five-year term.

And then another five years, which he is

Director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism 2010-2020 Set to retire at the end of Spring Semester 2020 Bob Stewart poses for a portrait on College Green.

Stewart will end his tenure as director of the Journalism school at the end of the semester.

(PROVIDED VIA THE OHIO UNIVERSITY WEBSITE)

leaving early.

The next director of the school has to be a tenured faculty member, according to an email from Scott Titsworth, dean of the Scripps College of Communication, to the journalism faculty.

Aimee Edmondson, associate professor and director of graduate studies, said there are nine associate professors eligible: herself, Eddith Dashiell, Craig Davis, Elizabeth Hendrickson, Parul Jain, Victoria LaPoe, Hans Meyer, Mary Rogus and Jatin Srivastava.

There are also five full professors: Marilyn Greenwald, Bill Reader, Bernhard Debatin, Michael Sweeney and Yusuf Kalyango, but Kalyango is suspended for sexual harassment.

On Tuesday, March 3, Titsworth gave the applications to all journalism faculty members for review. On March 16, the faculty will meet with Titsworth for discussion about the applications.

Then on March 20, faculty members will meet, provide votes of “Acceptable” and “Not Acceptable” applicants and rank the candidates. Then the results will be given to the dean with a voting summary and comments from faculty members.

The plan is to have the new director chosen during the week of March 23. This will help the transition with Stewart leaving.

When he was chosen to be the director, Stewart’s biggest mentor was Ralph Izard,

who was director of the school when Stewart was hired to teach.

“Ralph Izard is an absolute legend,” Stewart said.

Stewart said he met Izard at a conference in Oklahoma in 1986, a year before he was hired and the year Izard was selected to be director.

When Izard described Athens to Stewart, who grew up in Thailand, he became enthralled with moving there.

Stewart said he was hoping that if he got an interview, it would be an in-person, on-campus interview so he could see the city.

Stewart was recently looking back at faculty meeting minutes and stumbled upon the meeting where they were hiring for his teaching position.

Stewart said he was the third choice for the job, but Izard later told him that he was the right choice, which he said was all that matters.

At the time, he was finishing his doctoral work in communications at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Before this, he wanted to write film scores. He studied music for two years in Alabama. Then he was a singer-songwriter in high school and wanted to do something with it, but it was much more difficult than he realized.

“Music is something I’ve always done,” he said, pointing at lyric sheets on his desk. “My

mother was a gifted musician.”

Stewart said that before she died, his mother had Alzheimer’s, but when they put a keyboard in front of her, “she cut loose.”

Stewart is the frontman of the Bob Stewart Band.

When asked if he is also retiring from the band, he said: “Are you kidding me? No.” After leaving his music program in Alabama, he went to Hunter College and got a bachelor’s degree in communications. Then, similarly to his doctoral degree, he got a master’s degree in communications from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Stewart said he originally thought about retiring in 2023, so he could see the school through the centennial. Then he thought about 2022, so it would be an even 35 years.

Then the buyout came around.

“Once I started thinking about it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” he said.

Stewart said 10 years is the perfect amount of time for him.

He said it is going to get really hard around OU because of the budget.

“The budget situation feels grim,” he said.

Stewart said a younger, more resilient director will be able to get the school through any difficult times.

When Stewart’s wife retired, he started thinking about the possibility of retirement.

Stewart’s wife, Penny Shelton, was hired at Holzer Health System in 2004 to be a family care physician. She had over 2,000 patients who she had to do tasks for, such as emails and computer work. After dinner, she would work for about an hour and a half.

Stewart said this was draining on her.

Now, Shelton is the only doctor at Holzer who is licensed in medical marijuana, which she made a part-time job.

Shelton used to work at the East State Street location, but now she works at the one on Court Street. The two walk to work together and get lunch together.

Stewart’s “Always Open” sign was a gift from Andy Alexander, a Scripps Howard visiting professional. He said students can see it from outside his office and even out his window on the street, so they know he is available.

Stewart and his wife are staying in Athens, just a 10-minute walk away.

@IANMCK9 IM581017@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 5

NEWS BRIEFS

City plans for possible coronavirus outbreak; Sorority and Fraternity office reinvents itself EMMA SKIDMORE STAFF WRITER CITY COUNCIL: MAYOR PRESENTS TIPS FOR MANAGING POTENTIAL CORONAVIRUS THREAT Mayor Steve Patterson spoke about three approaches the Athens City-County Health Department will use to prepare in the case of a local coronavirus outbreak.

The health department encouraged proper hand washing as well as “social distancing,” or standing about six feet away from others, and staying home in the case of illness. Patterson also said the health department was prepared for previous outbreaks, such as SARS and MRSA, and that he feels very confident about its training.

The health department has included information about the coronavirus on its website and social media.

Patterson also informed City Council about an American flag that is flying on the American Towers cell tower in Athens that appears tattered and at half-mast. American Tower claims that the hoisting mechanism for the flag is inoperable, he said.

Patterson said the city has found a way to issue American Tower a violation through Title 43 of the Athens Municipal Code, which deals with wireless telecommunication facilities.

FACULTY SENATE: FACULTY ASK FOR MORE TRANSPARENCY AND SHARED GOVERNANCE WITH BUDGET ISSUES A resolution was passed by the Ohio University Faculty Senate on Monday that asks the university to increase its level of transparency concerning the budget and promote shared governance with faculty.

Faculty Senate asked for the appointment of a university committee to specifically focus on this resolution.

It requests that provosts, deans and school directors hold quarterly meetings to explain budget issues and include at least two peer-selected faculty members in budget decisions that have an impact on academics, according to the resolution.

OU President Duane Nellis said the university budget will be balanced to meet student demands. He said the budget for programs that lack student

involvement will be cut in order to put more funding toward more popular, growing programs that could build revenue for the university.

Senators also discussed the university retention rate for undergraduate students. There has been a 2% increase in the retention rate, or the percentage of a school’s first-year undergraduate students who continue at that school the next year, and a 6% increase in the four-year graduation rate, Elizabeth Sayrs, senior vice provost for undergraduate education and student success, said.

Sayrs also addressed the OHIO Guarantee Experiential Learning Fee, which is $72 per semester for students enrolled in at least 12 credit hours at the Athens campus. The fee is in place to fund learning experiences and support services, she said.

SORORITY AND FRATERNITY OFFICE TAKING ACTION FOLLOWING HAZING INVESTIGATIONS The Sorority and Fraternity office has been making changes to the introduction to Greek life after 13 fraternities

were involved in hazing investigations.

Ariel Tarosky, director of Sorority and Fraternity life, said the office and the hazing task force have been working closely to solve power-based violence issues. There are mandatory training sessions, such as new member training as well as behavior programs from national chapters, Tarosky said.

The hazing task force also facilitates communication across all student organizations, not just Greek life. Tarosky said it’s important to foster open lines of communication and to build relationships with leadership as a preventative measure.

Carly Leatherwood, a university spokeswoman, said it was important to get everyone back on the same page about appropriate behavior and to agree upon cultural norms. Leatherwood said the hazing task force will help to develop new norms and promote shared governance. She said the university is trying to shift the focus to the positive aspects of Greek life, such as philanthropy.

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POLICE BLOTTER

Loud music reported; a heat pump stolen KIRSTEN THOMAS FOR THE POST JUST ASK ME NEXT TIME Deputies from the Athens County Sheriff’s Office were called to The Plains over the weekend for a loud music complaint.

The caller said she could hear her neighbor’s music through the walls of her apartment.

The neighbor said he would turn the music off.

NOT NEW FOR LONG Over the weekend, deputies responded to The Plains for a breaking and entering report.

It appeared that someone had broken into a vehicle and stole a new pair of shoes.

The case is still under investigation.

A LITTLE TOO EERIE Deputies heard chainsaws early Sunday 6 / MARCH 5, 2020

morning near River Road in Stewart.

The location the sound was coming from was found, and it appeared that the cut trees had already fallen.

The property owner was told about the incident and said he would look into it.

JUST TRYING TO RUN ERRANDS Deputies responded to the GoMart in Coolville over the weekend.

Belpre Police arrested a man with a warrant out for his arrest from the Athens County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies met with the Belpre officers at the GoMart and transported the man.

The man posted bail and was released.

HOW’D THEY GET AWAY WITH THAT? A Vore Ridge Road resident reported over the weekend that someone stole a heat pump from his residence.

The heat pump was stolen sometime within the past three weeks.

IS ANYONE THERE? A deputy noticed a vehicle with its headlights on at a local business over the weekend.

The deputy felt that this was not normal.

Nobody was in the vehicle, and the business did not show signs of forced entry.

The vehicle was locked, so the headlights could not be turned off.

No further action was taken.

tim of a scam.

The man told the sheriff’s office that he was having computer problems and was contacted by who he thought was Microsoft.

The man gave his credit card information over the phone to the caller.

After the call, the man realized it could have been a scam and canceled the transaction.

The man didn’t lose any money.

SINCE WHEN? A deputy responded to the Cannonville area Tuesday due to vehicle tags being stolen.

The owner of the vehicle said it had been on the lot where it was parked for about three weeks before realizing the plates were gone.

The tags were entered as stolen, and a report was taken.

SERIOUSLY? Deputies took a theft report Tuesday regarding a catalytic converter being cut off a vehicle.

The vehicle was in the victim’s yard when this occurred sometime in the past week.

The property owner had two suspects in mind who had been near the vehicle.

IS THIS A SCAM? A man called the sheriff’s office Tuesday, saying he thought he had been a vic-

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Spin e-scooters raise some concerns Mayor Steve Patterson’s main concern is with scooters being left all around the city and campus

MAYA MORITA FOR THE POST E-scooters have seen issues with their ability to operate in “no ride” zones but have still maintained a high ridership since being deployed in February.

Spin electric scooters have been located around Ohio University’s campus since Feb. 18 and serve to aid student transportation throughout campus.

Data from Spin shows the e-scooters have been used frequently since their arrival.

“Spin sent us kind of a snapshot of the ridership of (the scooters),” Athens Mayor Steve Patterson said. “They had indicated to us that ridership on them is more than they ... anticipated in the early weeks. That was interesting to hear.”

The main areas of usage at OU are on Mill Street, Stewart Street and Palmer Street, Patterson said. In addition, students appear to use scooters to go to their cars.

“Another place I have personally noticed is where OU students lease parking spaces out on the fairgrounds,” Patterson said. “I’ve noticed on Fridays there are a number of scooters sitting down there, too, which means they’re using that as a mode of transportation to get down to their cars when they go away for the weekend.”

In addition to the usage to get to 8 / MARCH 5, 2020

A Spin scooter sits outside Baker University Center on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020.

(JESSE JARROLD-GRAPES / FOR THE POST)

“

We may actually re-adjust the geo-fenced area in the Uptown area to where we expand slightly the ‘No Ride Zones’ because one of the things we’re noticing is people riding the scooters on say, West State Street or West Union Street, and when they enter a ‘No Ride Zone,’ although the power source for the scooter shuts off, the scooter can still move.”

- Steve Patterson, Athens mayor

cars, some students use the scooters as a way to transport to classes.

Andrew Johnson, a senior studying engineering technology and marketing, uses the scooters to get from his apartment to his classes.

“I live in River Park, and all of my classes are in Stocker,” Johnson said.

“What’s a half hour walk is way faster on a $2 scooter ride.”

Despite the advantages to the scooters, Patterson believes there are some problems with having them. Scooters are still being ridden in the “No Ride Zones,” and there is still a lack of proper parking, he said.

“There’s still a lot of scooters being ridden in areas where they are supposed to be geo-fenced,” Patterson said. “My concern is scooters just kind

of left randomly all over the place.”

In addition, Patterson has received complaints from Athens residents concerned about safety.

“I’ve heard from several of our older citizens who are sharing a level of concern of people buzzing by them,” Patterson said.

With those concerns in mind, Patterson has plans to enforce the “No Ride Zones.”

“We may actually re-adjust the geofenced area in the Uptown area to where we expand slightly the ‘No Ride Zones,’” he said, “because one of the things we’re noticing is people riding the scooters on say, West State Street or West Union Street, and when they enter into a ‘No Ride Zone,’ although the power source for the scooter shuts off, the scooter can still move.”

In addition to Patterson’s concerns, Johnson has had issues with the disconnection of the scooters in certain areas.

“Underneath the Richland Bridge, they disconnect for some reason,” Johnson said. “I’ve had two rides stop there.”

Despite the concerns that have risen with the use of the scooters, Patterson believes the scooters have so far served as a useful mode of transportation for OU students.

“If ridership is more than they had anticipated within the first month of them being deployed, that’s kind of interesting because it tells me they are being used,” he said.

@MAYACATEMORITA MM294318@OHIO.EDU

Members of Athens Makerspace and Athens residents met at Passion Works Studio on Sunday, March 1, to discuss the future of Makerspace. (PROVIDED VIA WENDA SHEARD)

Putting Heads Together Members, Athens residents meet to discuss the future of Makerspace

LILY ROBY FOR THE POST

M

embers and staff of Athens Makerspace met alongside Athens residents and supporters of ReUse Industries on Sunday, March 1, at Passion Works Studio, 20 E. State St., in order to give attendees an opportunity to discuss the future of Athens Makerspace, which closed this month.

The meeting was called by Passion Works, Rural Action and ACEnet. Athens Makerspace provided members of Athens and the surrounding area a space to create, build, work on projects and take classes in order to pick up or hone skills. The space closed due to the business missing rent payments after moving locations from Columbus Road to West Union Street.

Working closely with ReUse Industries, both programs were funded by nonprofit organization Ultimate Recycling Center and were developed with three final goals, laid out

by John Glazer, senior executive in residence for strategic development at the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs.

“ReUse has been a triple bottom line organization,” Glazer, who provided support to the board representing both ReUse Industries and Ultimate Recycling Center as a whole, said. “They’ve been aiming to create social value and benefit people, environment value and increase diversion rates and

find reuse for recycled and repurposed material. (They’re also) a financial organization trying to generate enough revenue to support all of those activities, and I think we can say that, for two of those bottom lines (social and environmental), that has been the success of ReUse.” The lack of financial success led to the subsequent closure of Makerspace and abrupt cancellation of all further classes and access to the studio, even for members who had just paid for a full-year membership in December, Glazer said.

Nellie Werger, a costume designer for the Ohio University Opera Theater, frequently enjoyed Makerspace in order to work on her projects. She is one of the numerous people affected by the abrupt closure, locked out of Makerspace and unable to access the personal items she had been working with.

“A couple of mannequins I was working with, with garments on them, and one of the sewing machines I took in there … is just locked in there,” Werger said, adding that she is resentful at the fact that Makerspace gave no warning to the members it would be locking its doors.

Werger said Makerspace told members it would honor its remaining classes but then proceeded to not make the rent payments, resulting in its doors being locked overnight. She was frustrated with the lack of communication from Makerspace, mentioning that there were many people who

MAKERSPACE: 751 W. UNION STREET would’ve willingly helped pay the nonprofit’s rent payments.

“There are a whole bunch of us that would have been absolutely willing to go out into the community, to write grants, to put up Patreons, whatever to help maintain and not lose it,” Werger said. “But they never gave us a chance … and that’s the part that really, really hurts ... because I believe that the community valued it but … was never given a chance.”

Makerspace subleaser Bruce Brunton has subleased to Makerspace for three years, but he said he, too, is not getting any communication from the board representing Ultimate Recycling Center.

“It becomes a legal issue now, and they don’t want to respond, and nobody’s gonna go in until I hear from the board … But I won’t give it very much time,” Brunton said. “Within a week, I’m going to start putting things in dumpsters and moving it out … Even if they want to auction, they’re not going to be able to get in there until some payments have been made.”

Partnerships with universities and querying staff for effective management techniques were among the topics discussed, alongside finding a proper location for the future Makerspace that is affordable, accessible and a proper size.

Faith Knutsen, director of social innovation and entrepreneurship at the Voinovich School, directed a group at the meeting considering governance. Knutsen highlighted a desperate need for transparency and financial literacy training within ReUse Industries.

Stephanie Katterhenrich, an Athens resident who attended the talk, highlighted an importance for there to be more diversity on the board.

“I think that when we talk about whether it’s all women or all men or whatever … it needs to be the best person (for) the job, and they need to be part of the actual job, and it isn’t a secondary thought to them,” Katterhenrich said. “When we get … people who are playing favorites or ... bending rules, that’s when you start to see a lot more of that kind of chaos happen within the structure.”

Ultimate Recycling Center is now working with the Athens County Common Pleas Court in order to begin a judicial dissolution process of the organization, Glazer said.

“Over the course of time, the court will review the circumstances of the organization … and will assess whether or not the judgment of people is correct that it cannot sustain under its current model,” Glazer said. “It will approve a winding down plan to bring the organization to an end. What that does for us is it makes ReUse reimagined a viable task.”

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Hearing Her History

Women’s History Month to celebrate women, educate allies RILEY RUNNELLS ASST. CULTURE EDITOR In March 1987, after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, the U.S. Congress designated the month of March as Women’s History Month. Now, 33 years later, Women’s History Month is in full swing of celebration at Ohio University.

The OU Women’s Center and other campus organizations are working together to create a full schedule of events for people to celebrate Women’s History Month.

Everything from panels of women leading discussions to film screenings at the Athena Cinema, 20 S. Court St., will be featured for people to participate in during the month of March.

The film screening on March 24 will be Suffragette, a story about a working wife and mother who joins the United Kingdom’s suffragette movement. The screening will be free and will feature a discussion about suffragettes and women by OU professor Carey Snyder.

Snyder, an associate professor of English, has a scholarly focus in suffrage literature and will discuss with the film’s audience how the film breaks the norms of separate narratives by focusing on working class women, rather than middle and upper class women, and how the film compares to other suffrage narratives.

“I think women’s contributions through history get overlooked, so I think pausing and remembering some of the pioneers who broke all kinds of barriers is important,” Snyder said.

Other important events include a speech from Jessica Lynch, a motivational speaker who will share her story of service and overcoming obstacles; a panel discussion exploring minority women’s mental health and stigmas surrounding them; a salary negotiation workshop sponsored by the American Association of University Women; and even a sash-making workshop prior to the screening of Suffragette for people to wear while they watch the film.

Geneva Murray, director of the Women’s Center, wants people to understand that even though the month and its programming is meant to celebrate women’s history, it’s also important to look at women’s accomplishments today.

“Not only is it a time where we reflect on the accomplishments of women throughout history, but also for us to utilize those experiences to inform what it is that we are doing today,” Murray said. “So as much as people can find programming that reflects back to them or things that they can do in their ca-

ILLUSTRATION BY RILEE LOCKHART

reers or in their lives, that’s really important.”

Other groups such as OU Libraries, American Association of University Women, Department of History, League of Women Voters and Veterans Center all have a hand in planning and sponsoring the programming.

Through the extensive collaboration with other groups to make the programming for the month, Murray has put a huge focus on representation for all women.

“We believe that everyone, including people who don’t identify as women, should participate in Women’s History Month because we can all learn from women’s history,” Murray said.

Students are looking forward to participating in the events to learn more about women’s history.

Andrea Gapsch, a junior studying English, appreciates the large amount of programming set up for International Women’s History Month.

“It’s really important to celebrate Women’s History Month because for so long, it’s gone overlooked, and a lot of experiences haven’t been researched or even explored at all,” Gapsch said.

Not only does Murray encourage everyone to participate in Women’s History Month, but she also wants people to understand that the Women’s Center does programming like this throughout the year. There are always opportunities to celebrate and elevate women through the Women’s Center.

“As much as we want people to come out and support Women’s History Month, we want people to know that we are also here all year in January, February, August, et cetera,” Murray said.

One of the ways to participate outside of the month is through the International Women’s Art Installation on April 13 in Baker Ballroom. The exhibition is annual, having featured pieces of sexual and domestic violence, examining women’s experiences within the media and women in various countries and cultures.

Murray hopes people come to the art installation to continue the dialogue and their own personal thoughts about women’s experiences in months outside of the designated celebration time.

For more information about Women’s History Month and other programs through the Women’s Center, visit the OU Women’s Center website.

@RILEYR44 RR855317@OHIO.EDU

Green Thumbs Up

Adam Blaney plants seedlings on his farm in Albany on March 2, 2020.

(GRACE WILSON / FOR THE POST)

The Athens Farmers Market sets up on Wednesdays and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 9 a.m. to noon, respectively, at the East State Street Mall, 1000 E. State St. Currently, vendors are set up both inside and outside the mall. The market is year-round.

Be a farmer for a day with the Athens Farmers Market KERI JOHNSON STAFF WRITER

T

here is nothing quite like fresh produce: bright, colorful greens; aromatic, delicate herbs; and swollen fruits bursting with sweetness. All of these can be found weekly at Athens’ own Farmers Market. For those invested in buying and eating local foods, they now have a chance to help out.

The Athens Farmers Market Farmer for a Day Program is an opportunity for people to get hands-on experience working at a local farm for a day. The program was the idea of Ed Perkins, president of the Athens Farmers Market executive committee and owner of Sassafras Farm, 10940 Lightfritz Ridge Road, New Marshfield. “(Farmer for a Day was) just a way to learn and experience a wide range of farms in this area,” Perkins said.

Sassafras Farms grows herbs, vegetables and small fruits year-round. Each day at the farm is different. Farmers for a day would join Perkins in a variety of activities — from weeding to transplanting to harvesting and market preparation.

The program is going on its third year.

It’s been a way for students who are interested in farming to see what it’s like, Perkins said. Though there have been participants, Perkins wishes more people would take advantage of the program.

“We want more people to participate,” Perkins said. “It’s a way for us farmers to connect to the community.”

Perkins added that Farmer for a Day has a wide range of participating farms.

“If somebody is interested in farming, they could get a wide variety of experience,” Perkins said. “(There’s) all sorts of things: orchards, apples, peaches and pruning; chickens and collecting eggs,

herb growers, picking herbs. There’s a maple syrup farm, too.”

Blaney Family Farm, 29760 State Route 143, Albany, is a vegetable farm that participates in the Farmer for a Day program.

Adam Blaney, of Blaney Family Farm, said his farm wouldn’t really exist without volunteering. He didn’t grow up gardening, but he fell in love with the agricultural lifestyle after a volunteering experience in West Virginia.

Blaney Family Farm is a newcomer to the Athens Farmers Market. This past February marked its one-year anniversary.

Blaney Family Farm had a successful first year, Blaney said.

Blaney Family Farm is built on the idea of farms being a part of the local economy.

The farm is a member of Community Supported Agriculture, a method for purchasing products directly from farmers.

“Our goal is to build community through local agriculture,” Blaney said.

“Everything we do, we want to do through (the) local community. To us, a farm is a great place for which a community can be built around.”

Blaney stressed that a “local mindset” is very important for Blaney Family Farm.

Blaney said buying produce from him puts shoes on his children’s feet – rather than outsourced produce from a corporate grocery store.

Blaney Family Farm provides lettuce and greens to local businesses like Kindred Market, 284 E. State St., and the Lake Hope Lodge, 27331 OH-278, McArthur.

Like Sassafras Farm, tasks for each day at Blaney’s farm varies. But one thing’s for sure: participants can expect to be treated like family for a day at Blaney Family Farm.

“If people come out and work, (they’ll) eat breakfast and lunch with us and our family,” Blaney said.

Participation in Farmer for a Day has led to internships and job opportunities, Becky Clark, promotions director for the Athens

Farmers Market, said. In fact, most farmers are happy to have visitors.

“Most (farmers) are willing and excited to show people around,” Clark said.

For Clark, Farmer for a Day is a way for people to get outside of Athens and see how people are making a living out of food and farming.

“Farming is cool,” Clark said. “It connects people more with (their) local food system.”

A list of Farmer for a Day hosts can be found online. The list is not entirely up to date, as Blaney Family Farm has not yet been added. Contact the Athens Farmers Market for full information.

@_KERIJOHNSON KJ153517@OHIO.EDU

THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 11

Green Beer Galore

Zach Deskins chugs a pitcher of green beer at Courtside Pizza on Green Beer Day on March 4, 2020. (RYAN GRZYBOWSKI/ FOR THE POST)

12 / MARCH 5, 2020

(ABOVE) Mackenzie Conroy works at Courtside Pizza for Green Beer Day on Wednesday, March 4, 2020.

(ASHLYNN MCKEE / FOR THE POST)

(LEFT) Darbey Krueger, an OU junior, sings “Sweet Caroline” while drinking Green Beer at Broney’s on March 4, 2020.

(RYAN GRZYBOWSKI/ FOR THE POST)

Students make memories before spring break during Green Beer Day festivities EMMA SKIDMORE STAFF WRITER Athens’ annual Green Beer Day saw a steady uptick of attendance as attendees enjoyed the warmer weather and let the green beer flow.

Green Beer Day is a well-known tradition for OU students and local bars. The tradition began when OU was on a quarter system, and students were away from campus on spring break and couldn’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Athens, according to a previous Post report. OU is now on a semester system, but the tradition of Green Beer Day has stuck.

The celebration kicked off around 2 p.m. but picked up around 4:30 p.m. Some students could be seen doing homework while celebrating, and others were decked out in festive green clothing.

For some, it was their first Green Beer Day experience.

“I like it,” Abby Bentley, a junior studying political science pre-law, said.

“I think it’s super festive and fun for St. Patrick’s Day before spring break.”

The bars were slow at the beginning

of the day, but most students said they were sure Court Street was going to pick up at the end of the night.

“I figure it probably will,” Joe Landusky, a senior studying political science pre-law, said. “People are just probably in class right now would be my guess, but I would imagine it’s gonna get a little rowdy around here.”

For others, however, this was the last Green Beer Day of their college careers.

“This one’s a little bit more bittersweet because it is senior year, and it is the last time, so I’m kind of sentimental,” Kyleigh Viessman, a senior studying integrated healthcare studies, said.

Students also said the weather was

“

telling of whether people were going to come out or not, as some remembered the cold weather last year.

“I think … people are finally coming out of their seasonal depression,” Viessman said. “They’re like ‘Oh, it’s Green Beer Day,’ (and we can) go out, have fun.’”

Other students joined the festivities for the novelty of it all.

“It’s the only day of the year the beer’s green,” Ethan Gildone, a senior studying sports management and marketing, said.

Gildone said he’s sure this year will be just as good as last year.

Many students also debated skipping their classes to participate. Theo Stokes, a senior studying chemistry on the pre-

This one’s a little bit more bittersweet because it is senior year, and this is the last time, so I’m kind of sentimental.”

- Kyleigh Viessman, a senior studying integrated healthcare studies

med track, said he had a study group in an hour while out at The J Bar. He was unsure if he was going to attend or not based on how the festivities panned out.

For those working, Green Beer Day isn’t something they dread. Ali Cutshall, the bar manager at Pigskin Sports Bar and Grill, said Green Beer can be hard to schedule workers for, but many employees were interested in working it this year.

“A lot of the employees are students, so they still do have class,” Cutshall said.

“But it wasn’t too bad this year. I had a lot of people that really wanted to work.

They would rather, you know, stay out and make money than go to class or party with their friends.”

For many students, it was another fun memory to make before graduation.

“I’m graduating soon,” Alex Vienna, a senior studying nursing, said. “I don’t have any classes, so you got to live it up while you can.”

@E_SKIDMOREGS ES320518@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 13

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Bruised Bobcats Ohio forward Ben Vander Plas (No. 5) dribbles past Akron’s forward Xeyrius Williams (No. 20) in a Mid-American Conference match held at the Convo on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. (NATE SWANSON / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

Bobcats play through pain, lose close game at Akron MATT PARKER SPORTS EDITOR AKRON – Jeff Boals slugged his way down the long hallway that connects the court to the visiting locker room within the confines of James A. Rhodes Arena.

The first-year coach was moments removed from watching three players on his team hit the floor, then need their athletic trainer to tend to them – no matter the severity of the bump, bruise, twisted ankle or cramp.

“We were banged up the whole game,” Boals said following the Bobcats’ 74-67 loss to Akron on Tuesday night. “Our guys battled.

We gave (Akron) everything we had. They

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were just gassed.”

The Bobcats’ central core of players all sustained some injury. Lunden McDay has been recovering from a sprained ankle, and then he dealt with cramps down the stretch against the Zips. Sylvester Ogbonda rolled his ankle in the second half. And Jordan Dartis didn’t even dress because of an injury that occurred during practice.

Perhaps their biggest blow happened with 11:53 left in the second half when Ben Vander Plas fell and clutched his left ankle. Ohio was clinging to an 11-point lead, but when its stretch big man went down, so did the dominance it had displayed for over half the game.

With Vander Plas on the bench, the Bob-

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cats got into an offensive funk that they hadn’t experienced all game. Five straight possessions with no points combat that with Akron’s ability to force Ohio to shoot contested shots, and it proved that the experience and lack of depth was too much.

“He’s a big part of what we do,” Boals said of Vander Plas. “The big thing coming in was we had to give ourselves a chance to win the game.”

And for the first 15 minutes of the game, that’s exactly what Ohio did.

Ogbonda from the top of the key hit a soft floater, and on the next possession, he hit a 3-pointer with his feet barely set behind the line. Shots from McDay, Vander Plas, Ben Roderick and, of course, Jason Preston shook away free from an early back-and-forth to instead a 13-1 run and a 13-point halftime lead.

With the momentum on its side heading into the second half, the Zips made the adjustments that Boals knew were coming.

They simply just didn’t have answers for them.

“I think their pressure bothered us,” Boals said. “We tried to set ball screens for Jason Preston, and they did a good job of crowding them. In the second half, we weren’t getting the movement that we needed.”

Akron’s pressure stemmed from a threeman press whenever Ohio inbounded the ball. It forced Preston to make uncomfortable passes, and it put a cog into the efficiency Ohio had in the first half.

The results in the press were evident as

the Bobcats’ shooting went from 68% from the field and 50% from 3-point range to 45% and 35%, respectively, at the end of the game.

“We didn’t really make shots,” Preston said. “I missed a bunch of layups. We missed the 3s we made in the first half. We missed a lot more shots in this game.”

Surely the Bobcats (15-15, 7-10 Mid-American Conference) would’ve wanted the upset over the Zips. If they had won tonight, they would’ve secured a home game in the first round of the MAC Tournament, which begins on March 9.

If it had won Tuesday, the ideas of resting Preston, who’s played six straight 40-minute games, could’ve been brought to fruition. It could’ve done a multitude of things, but now it’s forced to give the season finale a sense of purpose it would much rather not have.

“It is what it is. We can only move forward,” Preston said. “It’s money time now. There’s no time for days off.”

With the loss, it will have to move forward if it wants to secure a home game. Ohio is 11-5 at home, and when it last hosted a home tournament game, it was a game away from playing for a MAC Championship.

A short turnaround since the game is Friday, with the Bobcats banged up and bruised, they’re going to have to find the right formula of rest and preparation ahead of what now is their biggest game of the season.

@MATTHEWLPARKER5 MP109115@OHIO.EDU

WRESTLING

Memories from the mat Hunter Yeargan has many fond memories of his time at Ohio ELI FEAZELL FOR THE POST

Ohio’s Hunter Yeargan wrestles Utah Valley’s Ashton Seely on Feb. 21, 2020, in The Convo.

(MADDIE BRYANT / FOR THE POST)

H

unter Yeargan was 4 years old when he began wrestling at his local YMCA. Thanks to the opportunity to participate in the youth club, along with his introduction to USA Wrestling, UFC and Team Alphamale, his wrestling career got off to an early start and ended up leading him to Athens.

Yeargan’s introduction to Team Alphamale was shortly after he began watching UFC with his dad. He became a fan of their workouts and all of the wrestlers who were produced from the team’s camps. Today, Team Alphamale is still his favorite sports team as he prepares to finish his final year with the Bobcats.

His journey started in a small Missouri town with a population of fewer than 6,000 people.

In Willard, Missouri, Yeargan grew up loving hunting and fishing activities. If he wasn’t spending his free time bow hunting for deer, he was fishing for trout. He enjoyed these activities in both Missouri and Appalachia.

Athens gives its residents many op-

portunities to get outside, which was one of the factors that drew Yeargan to the Bobcats. With places like the Wayne National Forest less than an hour away from campus, Yeargan continues his outdoor hobbies at Ohio.

That doesn’t mean that the experiences are the same, however. Missouri’s land is mostly flat with occasional rolling hills. That’s a big contrast to the more treacherous hills and mountains Yeargan finds in Athens, which can make his hunting activities a bit more challenging.

Yeargan enjoys the change in scenery.

“It’s a challenge that I’ve accepted and really enjoyed,” Yeargan said. “Anything that gets me out in the woods is good to me.”

Of course, the outdoors isn’t the only thing that Yeargan is focused on at Ohio. He’s had plenty of successful and memorable moments wrestling with the Bobcats.

Some of Yeargan’s favorite duals are the ones that had large and energetic crowds.

“The energy from the crowd just feeds off onto you and in the match,”

Yeargan said. “It makes it more fun for everybody, I think.”

Duals such as the visit to Iowa State last year stick out to Yeargan because of the large crowds present there.

Even though the Bobcats lost the dual, the competitive atmosphere still sticks with Yeargan.

Another dual that sticks out to Yeargan is last year’s victory over Appalachian State. The Mountaineers were a tough team, but Yeargan was able to seal the Bobcats’ first dual win of that season with a sudden victory over his opponent.

So far, Yeargan’s final year with Ohio has been rough. He’s battled a torn rib cartilage, a partially torn right LCL and the flu, which forced him to miss some duals earlier in the season.

Fortunately for Yeargan, he’s won over half of his matches this season despite the setbacks. Now that he’s feeling much healthier, he feels confident he can finish out the year on a high note with the Mid-American Conference tournament approaching.

Yeargan is happy with his team’s overall performance.

“As a team, we’ve accomplished what we’ve wanted to accomplish,” Yeargan said. “We’ve also had a couple of setback duals, but we’ve come back every time and redeemed ourselves, so we just need to finish the year strong.”

Yeargan doesn’t expect to have a career in wrestling after this season. He could see himself coaching in the future, but he’s going to spend his time searching for a job and enjoying his hobbies after he graduates. He hopes to find a job in the engineering or construction field.

Living in Athens was a big culture shock for Yeargan. He values the things he’s learned while in college. He feels that his experiences have shaped him into a person that will be successful throughout his life.

He doesn’t think that any other place could compare, either.

“I think that there’s no other place that would have fit me as well as this place,” Yeargan said.

@ELIFEAZ EF195418@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 15

HOCKEY

A Championship to Remember 25 years later, the first hockey national title is still fresh in players’ minds ANDREW ALLISON FOR THE POST It’s been 25 years since Ohio defeated Penn State to win its first American Collegiate Hockey League national title. Even though that was a quarter of a century ago, that season is still fresh in the 1994-1995 team’s mind.

THE BUILDUP After being upset in the American Collegiate Hockey League national tournament a year prior, the 1994-1995 Bobcats found themselves facing the same team in the same spot. North Dakota State had beaten Ohio 4-1 in the round robin portion of the tournament.

The rematch lived up to the hype. Ohio trailed the Bison 4-2 before erasing the deficit in the third period. Though Ohio was able to complete the comeback, it was not able to get the win. The game ended in a 4-4 tie.

“That tie made things nervous,” Mike Lee, the goalie for the 1994-95 Bobcats, said. “We didn’t control our destiny. The same time, though, we came from behind in that game to get the tie. I think there was momentum that came from that game that carried us forward.”

The Bobcats did their part getting a win against the host school Arizona in the next game. The surprising part? North Dakota State suffered an upset from Michigan-Dearborn. That resulted in Ohio advancing to the championship game against Penn State the next day.

Going into the game, Ohio was confident in its ability to win the national championship. The team had just defeated Arizona 7-1, and coach Craig McCarthy felt like his team was playing its best hockey during this stretch.

“I felt really good about a month out,” McCarthy said. “Knowing that last month, we were going to tighten up a little bit on special teams and intricate parts.”

Usually, it’s just the coach of the team that gives a pregame speech to get the team excited and tells them how to play the game. That was not the case for the Bobcats, though. After the Arizona game, Arizona’s head coach came into Ohio’s locker room and gave a speech.

The speech he gave consisted of how he thought they were better than Penn State.

He didn’t stop there. He told the team how he hated the Nittany Lions, and he wanted 16 / MARCH 5, 2020

the Bobcats to use Arizona’s locker room in the championship game.

“He was almost like an evangelist or something,” Lee said. “The basic point was he was telling us that he hated Penn State.

He hated their coach and wanted us to use their locker room.”

GAME TIME Ohio didn’t need a confidence boost heading into the championship game, though. The team knew this was a game they could win based off how they played in the tournament. It didn’t need another team’s coach busting in the locker room to tell them they could do it.

“I’d say after that game we were very confident,” Dan Morrisa, a former player on that team and a national championship coach, said. “Talk about a team peaking at the right time. That’s kind of what we were.”

Once the championship game started, Ohio showed why it was so confident heading into the game. In the first period, Ohio capitalized on a power play opportunity to get on the board first. “(Ryan) Johnson passed the puck to me, and I chip shot it over to (Keith) Bilzco on the back post,” Leon Rozic, a defenseman on the team, said. “One of the key things in that game was our power play, which had just started to come together. It really started to gel, and it was a big difference in that last game.”

McCarthy described the goal as something the team could not have drawn up better on a chalkboard. From that goal on, he felt like his team got better and better as the game progressed.

However, the then-28-year-old head coach still felt like his team had to make a few adjustments at the first intermission.

Nothing major needed to be changed, just a little tweaking to make sure the Nittany Lions would not have a chance to get back into the game.

“We made one small adjustment on what we were going to look at on the power play,” McCarthy said. “One was making sure in the defensive zone we were picking up their best player coming off the faceoff.”

The adjustments worked. The Bobcats found themselves with a 4-0 lead late in the game. Once it got late into the game, the shifts got shorter. Even though it was late in the game and they had a four-goal lead, no player wanted to make a mistake.

Giving up a goal in that situation could have led to Penn State trying to make a comeback. Lee had no concerns about letting a puck go slide by him that game. For most goalies, the final minutes of the game seem to slowly tick away when there’s a shutout chance, but not that night.

“Going into that game, I had a feeling that

PROVIDED VIA OHIOBOBCATHOCKEY.COM

we were going to play well,” Lee said. “As a goalie, you get one of those certain days where you feel like you can’t get scored on, and that was one of those days.”

Lee’s feeling was spot on. Ohio shut out the Nittany Lions en route to a 4-0 win. This was the program’s first national title and first of three consecutive championships that McCarthy would win during his tenure as coach.

THE CELEBRATION BEGINS Once the clock hit zero, a week-long celebration began for the Bobcats. There was the usual celebration on the ice and in the locker room. The trophies were presented, photos were taken and families were met on the ice.

The interesting parts of the celebration began once the team got back to Athens.

The team arrived in town and was recognized at halftime of the basketball game.

They also took the trophy to all the bars on Court Street every night of the week.

“I think it continued on for a week or so,” captain John Grasso said. “A few of us might have gotten in trouble not being in class

Monday morning. It was a very good spring quarter. We were a close group.”

Among the celebration, though, there was an issue with the championship trophy.

The problem was that it was in two pieces the day before the team was recognized in The Convo.

The night prior, the trophy was thrown around at the bars. Luckily, the team was able to take it to a local hardware store and have it fixed before the ceremonies.

“The cup was in two pieces at one point,” Lee said. “We were at a party, and for some reason, it felt like the right thing to do to start throwing it around. I took it to a hardware store Sunday morning because the base was separated from the cup.”

Despite the week-long celebration, the memories of the championship season are still as fresh as they were the day after the game ended. The 1994-1995 team had a total of four Ohio Hockey hall of famers on it. This team left its mark on the program and will not soon be forgotten.

@17_ANDREW_ AA816819@OHIO.EDU

EXISTENTIAL BINGE-WATCHING

The unique countdown of Unus Annus JACKSON HORVAT is a sophomore studying journalism at Ohio University.

YouTube, perhaps more than any other platform, is extremely easy to get lost in.

From the shorter format of most videos to the sheer number of content creators out there, hours can slip by in the blink of an eye. It all but encourages unproductive binge-watching in which you lose chunks of your life without meaning. A newer channel that likes to focus on this idea is Unus Annus.

Mark Fischbach, also known as Markiplier, and Ethan Nestor, who runs CrankGameplays, started Unus Annus in November 2019. In their first video, the pair, usually known for gaming content, explained the intentions of the channel: to publish a video every day for an entire year. The catch, though, is that at the end of that year, the entire channel, along with every single video, will be deleted.

What’s come from it so far has been one of the most unique channels on YouTube.

The concept itself is a really strange one to apply to YouTube. The whole idea of the platform, after all, is to continually gain subscribers and views over an extended period of time. So to begin the channel with the expectation that everything will be gone in only one year makes it really difficult to define exactly what the two are trying to accomplish.

On one hand, it could be construed as a gimmick of sorts for views and profit.

Unus Annus currently stands at 2.34 million subscribers, so interest has certainly been piqued. Yet, while considerable money from views and merchandise can be acquired in a year’s time, the two are already successful outside of this collaboration. Not to mention, the promise that it will all be gone after only a year seems to suggest something else, as if Mark and Ethan are trying to make some sort of statement.

Huge concepts that are focused on in most of the videos, whether jokingly or seriously, include time and death. Unus Annus literally translates to “one year” in Latin, and it’s often paired with another common phrase of the channel, “memento mori,” or “remember death.” They constantly bring up and discuss the inevitability of time, it being the one thing no one can stop when it comes to the death of the channel, themselves or the viewers.

Through offering challenges for viewers to make their own videos or just simple encouragement at the end of videos, Mark or Ethan often try to spur those watching to not let opportunity slip by.

They want their audience to live life to the fullest and cherish the time that they are given. It’s a pretty impactful message when taken at face value. But they also don’t take themselves too seriously.

Those ideals are often mixed within videos about the two trying something new or going to unique local businesses in Los Angeles or even their first actual video in which they attempted to cook with sex toys. It’s a beautiful, chaotic mishmash of the personalities the two have come to be known for, set to the backdrop of a really dark obsession with death and the unstoppable flow of time. Maybe it’s

hard then to nail down the exact purpose, but it certainly seems like the two creators feel absolutely free to do whatever they want with this new channel.

No matter what the purpose actually is, Unus Annus is literally a once-ina-lifetime creation on YouTube. There’s nothing quite like it on the platform, and you can never really know what to expect from the daily upload. Whatever it ends up being, the madmen in charge will always get you questioning your own mortality while making you laugh so hard you can’t breathe, which maybe makes you question your own mortality even more.

The countdown, though, is now nearing just 250 days left until the end. And, while there are those aiming to reupload and archive the videos, it seems best not to go against Mark’s and Ethan’s wishes.

So be sure to check it out before it’s gone.

So much time since November has already flown by. And, as they end many of their videos: Memento mori. Unus annus.

Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Do you agree? Tweet Jackson by tweeting him @horvatjackson.

GOURMAND GRUENBERG

Average Joe’s guide to the cup of joe NOAH GRUENBERG is a junior studying music composition at Ohio University.

Every single field has people who appreciate its core elements to the extreme. Collectors become hoarders, amateur writers become newspaper columnists and people who eat narrow in on what they like to begin the route of the snob. Today, I’d like to turn attention away from the luscious world of wine and turn to coffee.

Wine and coffee share very similar origin stories. They both evolved as a drink with a function. Wine’s function was to cleanse the

palate and elevate the experience of dining.

Coffee, on the other hand, stimulates us. It’s no shocker that something like that is the goto drink of many in the morning.

Aside from the stimulation that drives us into a forced sense of attentiveness, it has taste. Its taste is frankly diverse. Many people approach tasting coffee to a similar process to tasting wine. Starbucks’ Australian website outlines four steps to approach tasting coffee. Step one is to note its smell. Describe

its aroma in your head or to your associate before you drink it. Secondly, sip the coffee.

Cover your mouth and note how you experience it. Third, note where on the tongue the coffee resonates, and note its weight on your tongue. Step four, as always, write down a description.

Obviously, this is the same approach any food snob takes to their food or drink. That further solidifies coffee as an art in itself and that it should be approached as such. This inspired me to experiment pairing a coffee with one of my breakfast dishes to see what would happen.

I cooked an omelet for myself with the usual suspects for ingredients: caramelized onions, garlic, melted sharp cheddar, freshly ground pepper, kosher salt and eggs furiously beaten until frothy. The ideal omelet, to me, is one that is light and fluffy, allowing the other players to take the stage in the mouth. I tried to find a lighter coffee to go with it, as to not

overpower the dish. What I chose was a very sweet Greek coffee called Venizelos. This is a coffee I got at the Dayton Greek festival, and I reserve it for special occasions.

My suspicions paid off major dividends.

The pair was a lovely culinary encounter and still brought me surprises. The sweet aftertaste of the coffee with the crunchy texture of the caramelized onions expanded in the mouth like a new frontier.

If there is a food you like, a taste that makes you feel like yourself, get a notebook. By learning about the taste and what goes into it, you learn about yourself and get the ability to share it with those you care about.

Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Noah? Email him at ng119217@ohio.edu THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 17

‘All the Bright Places’ proves love and beauty can be found in the darkest of places EMMA DOLLENMAYER FOR THE POST In the Netflix adaptation of Jennifer Niven’s 2015 novel All the Bright Places, two high school seniors, Violet Markey (Elle Fanning) and Theodore Finch (Justice Smith) navigate falling in love and self growth amid their tragic pasts that have led them into a downhill spiral of self loathing and depression.

Often, romances are destined for misfortune. Director Brett Haley keeps viewers who have not read the novel hopeful, though, as Markey progresses from someone who once ran in the popular crowd to someone who wants nothing to do with the outside world to, once again, someone who is open to finding tenderness and peace of mind with someone like Finch.

Viewers learn from the opening scene that Markey is dealing with some extensive demons, as both viewers and Finch meet her standing on the ledge of the bridge where her sister died. Although Markey insists she is not suicidal, it is clear that she is.

As for Finch, viewers see him as someone who is snarky, rebellious 18 / MARCH 5, 2020

and everything Markey isn’t. From the moment their friendship unravels, it is evident they are going to be unlikely friends.

What makes All the Bright Places so captivating is the beautiful scenery that is supposed to be representative of Indiana, the gentle music and the raw acting between the two protagonists.

Both actors illustrate what it is like to be in love and in despair all at once.

However, similar to the classic A Star is Born storyline, as Markey begins to cope with her pain and losses, Finch begins to pull further and further away from her. He never details the bullying he has endured because of his “freak” nickname, the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father and the likely temper and bipolar attitude he has stored away.

Smith’s acting is truly profound, as he encapsulates what living in high school is like for a depressed, black male teen. Finch and many boys alike shelter their true feelings by putting on a facade of being humorous and rebellious in hopes of convincing others that they are OK. Though All the Bright Places has all

‘All the Bright Places’ touches on love, depression and coping with the loss of loved ones. The Netflix original film is based off the novel of the same name written by Jennifer Niven. (PHOTOS PROVIDED VIA @THEYOUNGFOLKS ON TWITTER AND POPSUGAR.COM)

the elements to an exceptional film, the problem is it is not a movie to help the depressed find hope and heal — it’s for those who are left to deal with the aftermath of someone else’s depression and life. The film does not provide much suggestion as to what someone should do if they find themselves in Finch’s place rather than Markey’s.

Nonetheless, All the Bright Places is heavy on the heart and soul as it is relatable, funny and poignant all at once. With all the sadness that the film brings, it strategically incorporates love to remind audiences that it is an essential aspect to life that cannot be avoided, similar to death.

@EMMADOLLENMAYER ED569918@OHIO.EDU

Spring break essentials for the homebody and the sunbather ERIN GARDNER FOR THE POST Spring break typically involves some sort of traveling, but it doesn’t have to. Packing for traveling or going home is no small feat, and you’re bound to forget a few essentials. A plane or home can be a scary thing, but with this quick list, packing will be a breeze. Here are items or things to do for spring break whether you’re staying in or going out: STAYING IN? PILLOW Everyone has a favorite pillow, and going home without it would make for some restless nights. Avoid that, and pack your pillow because making your childhood bed as comfortable as possible is spring break survival.

SELF-CARE ITEMS Going from being able to smack deepfried mac ‘n’ cheese bites from Union Street Diner at 1 a.m. to telling your parents where you’re going on a Saturday can be frustrating.

It’s important to self-care, especially if you’re “not doing anything.”

THE SERIES YOU’VE BEEN PUTTING OFF OR A BOOK YOU WANT TO READ Spring break is the time to sit back and relax. Binge-watch the show or shows that assignments have been preventing or reading a book. Now that the weather is nicer, reading outside with a beverage is an option.

HOMEWORK Hold the groan. By day two, boredom sets in, so why not do some homework and get ahead? Future you will be thanking you when the finals start to pile up.

SLEEP The 9 a.m. doesn’t exist for a week. Take advantage of the break, and sleep in.

GOING OUT? EXTRA PHONE CHARGER It’s inevitable that you will lose your phone charger in the packing process, or it will break and fray. The spares from the airport are fine in a pinch, but they’re not worth the price. Invest in an extra from Apple, and future you will thank you when you’re at the beach and your phone is at 1%. If you’re feeling extra travel savvy, pick up a power pack to

it’s important to have the right documents.

Make sure to pack a passport if needed, a driver’s license, plane tickets, credit cards and cash.

ILLUSTRATION BY CHERI MARSHALL

charge your devices on the go.

REUSABLE WATER BOTTLE It’s important to hydrate while traveling.

Bringing a water bottle to the beach or the night life is a good idea because saltwater and alcohol are notorious factors for dehydrated skin. Staying hydrated and healthy is a spring break necessity. So is saving the planet.

SUNSCREEN AND ALOE Slapping on sunscreen before a day in the blistering sun is prevention at its finest.

The sun is bound to burn the skin no matter how many times sunscreen is reapplied, so packing aloe is a good idea. Be mindful when packing sunscreen and aloe if a flight is involved. Liquids can be tricky.

MEDICATION Medication may be a forgotten item when packing, but it’s an important item. The last thing you want is to be stranded in another country without your medication.

CLOTHES THAT MATCH THE WEATHER Wherever the destination, clothes matching the weather is a good thing to have. If a beach is involved, make sure to pack extra swimsuits, flip flops, casual clothes, beach towels and a change of shoes. If a big city is involved, make sure to pack comfortable shoes, camera and casual clothes. It’s important to be mindful of the weather changes and pack umbrellas, rain jackets and hats. The last thing a group wants is to get stuck in poor weather and be unprepared.

CONDOMS Spring break typically involves alcohol and sex. 15- to 24 year-olds “acquire half of all new STDs,” and “one in four sexually-active adolescent females has an STD, such as chlamydia, or human papillomavirus (HPV),” according to CDC’s 2018 sexually transmitted disease surveillance data. When enjoying spring break, you should protect yourself from STDs by engaging in safe sex. Male and females should carry condoms on them, so there’s no excuse for not forgetting one.

APPROPRIATE DOCUMENTS When traveling domestically or abroad,

@ERINGARDNER_ EG245916@OHIO.EDU

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B A R S BIKERS BOOZE The culture of the Smiling Skull Saloon

D

The Smiling Skull Saloon on West Union Street in Athens on March 4, 2020.

ASHTON NICHOLS LONG-FORM EDITOR PHOTOS BY GRACE WILSON | FOR THE POST

espite it being 9:30 a.m., Locke Wolf leaned across the counter of the Smiling Skull Saloon, watching outside.

The saloon isn’t open yet, but there

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are people outside smoking cigarettes and waiting for the doors to open.

“They’re ready for us to open,” Wolf said. “It’s like that every day.”

He’s drinking black coffee this morning as he does every day. His dark red beard is long enough to nearly touch the bottom of his stomach, and part of it is

covered by the black fl at cap on his head.

While not being directly on Court Street with the plethora of other bars in Athens, the Smiling Skull Saloon, or “The Skull,” remains a long time staple of the town. Inside, the bar hasn’t changed much from when it opened 27 years ago.

It’s decorated with many skulls and neon

signs. A 1990s Pac-Man Arcade Machine sits in the corner. Patrons who choose to sit at the bar sit on upright barrels.

Wolf said being at 108 W. Union St. is a lot different than having a bar on Court Street because there is not usually a huge abundance of students, besides on Wednesday night when the bar does karaoke.

“This one is different than any other, I think. I’m speaking for a lot of people when I say that,” Wolf said.

“Bikers for the summer, karaoke singers all winter long.”

Lauren McCain said she likes going to the Smiling Skull because it has a different vibe than the rest of the bars Uptown. She likes hanging out with the locals.

“It’s different from the bar scene here because it’s actually fun,” McCain, a sophomore studying journalism, said. “It’s so much more fun than being around other college students.”

Locke, 32, is part owner of the bar with his older sister, Adrienne Whitney, who is 35. Their father, Chris “Detroit” Wolf, started the bar in 1993 and ran it for 23 years before dying of cancer three years ago. After Chris died, Locke and Whitney decided to continue running the bar.

Although it wasn’t unexpected for them to take over, Whitney said it never crossed her mind until she got older. Whitney began bartending in 2005.

Shortly after, Wolf began standing by the door and also bartending.

“It’s not changed much at all, and it probably won’t in the future,” Wolf said.

Both Wolf and Whitney were both born and raised in Athens. They also have an older sister, who now lives in Cleveland.

Although Wolf has three kids, two boys and one girl, he said he wants them to get an education instead of taking over the bar.

“It’s tough,” Wolf said. “You gotta have thick skin sometimes. Mine isn’t thick enough sometimes, but on a personal level, I want my kids to go and get an education and go find something they have a love for and not just something that has been handed to them.”

Grasping his black coffee mug with fingers that have up to three skull rings adorned on each of them, Wolf tapped to the beat of the music coming from speakers. On his right wrist is a silver chain bracelet with a large silver skull on it. Through and through, Wolf is a biker.

“Our dad was into bikes I think before even having this place,” Wolf said. “Back in the day, it was a bunch of older guys who got together and went bar hopping.

There’d be poker runs and benefits for people who have lost loved ones or people who are ill or a veteran.”

Whitney said biking often has a rep-

(ABOVE) Bob Rankins laughs at the Smiling Skull Saloon on West Union Street in Athens on March 4, 2020.

(LEFT) Siblings Adrienne Whitney (left) and Locke Wolf (right), pose for a portrait on the back deck of The Skull in Athens on March 3, 2020.

utation for a “tough guy culture,” but really, it is just people being themselves and hanging out. While Whitney herself doesn’t ride, she often sits on the back of her husband’s bike while he does.

“You get to drink and act reckless,” Whitney said with a laugh. “Everybody loves to do that.”

When Wolf isn’t working, he’s riding. He said he often goes out west to places like Las Vegas or California. This August, he said he’s hoping to go to Sturgis, South Dakota, for the 80th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The trip is about 20 hours.

“You get a patch,” Wolf said excitedly.

“Sounds ridiculous, but yeah. It’s really just getting on the road and forgetting

about everything else and going somewhere new maybe. I’ve been riding since I was a kid.”

During the summer, bikers who are Athens residents or are touring through often make a stop at the Smiling Skull.

When the weather is cold outside and is not good enough to bike, Wolf said he still sees a large number of regulars.

“We’ve known all these people since we were kids, and a lot of them are still our patrons,” Wolf said. “We’ve seen some of them go, come and go, or die. So there’s a lot of sentimental value here.”

Michael Pack is one of those regulars who has been coming to the bar since it first opened its doors. He even met his wife, Amanda, at The Skull while she was

bartending there while in college.

“It’s a cross between the typical Athens mentality. A little biker thrown in there. A little hillbilly thrown in there,” Pack said. “But most people that come here are from Athens. They have lived in Athens for a long time. Everybody that comes here knows everybody else.”

Like most patrons, Pack is also a biker. He said everyone who goes to the bar is his friends and family.

“This is the only biker bar around,” Pack said. “We like to line up out front occasionally, about five times a year at least.”

In total, he estimates there are about 100 regulars who traverse The Skull, coming in between when it opens or after work. The busiest time is around 3 p.m. when happy hour begins.

Wolf said the Smiling Skull is one of few bars in Athens that opens at 10 a.m. Most open in the afternoon around 3 p.m.

“It’s always been this way and always will be,” Wolf said.

Jed Anderson has been coming since he was a child. Now, he works as a bartender.

Sporting tattoos and wearing overalls, Anderson said he loves the bar and describes it as “one big, messed up family.” He has been bartending at The Skull since July but worked at the door before that.

“My mom used to come here, and she would bring me when I was a kid,” Anderson said. “I’ve known them all since I was 4 or 5 years old. We still have the same people coming in.”

Whitney said she loves being able to work with her brother and loves being able to make the bar a part of Athens culture by welcoming everyone. She said she is proud to carry on her father’s tradition.

“We’ve got a lot of people in this community who don’t have anywhere else to go. And they like to have a good time just like everybody else,” Whitney said. “So while we are welcoming to the university population, we’re just as welcoming to people who might come in, out or off the hills to have a good time, too.”

As more locals gather outside, waiting for the clock to strike 10 a.m., Wolf finished up his coffee. Whitney is behind the bar organizing glasses. Wolf said a lot of the people who come through the bar are people he’s known for years.

“You have coffee drinkers and whiskey drinkers at this hour,” Wolf said. “We do count on them to get it going, but the nightlife is where it’s at. Dad always said, ‘Open the doors, and they will come.’”

@ASHTONNICHOLS_ AN614816@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 21

the weekender

Athens County Board of Developmental Disabilities to host March on Court Street HANNAH BURKHART FOR THE POST

The Athens County Board of Developmental Disabilities, or ACBDD, will host the third annual March on Court Street for Disability Awareness on Friday in honor of March being Developmental Disability Awareness Month.

Arian Smedley, assistant superintendent of ACBDD, said the superintendent of ACBDD, Kevin Davis, was inspired to start an annual march in Athens for Developmental Disability Awareness Month after participating in the women’s march. Developmental disabilities are long-term problems that can affect either physical or mental abilities.

The purpose of the event is to have people with and without disabilities come together and bring awareness, Smedley said. She believes the Athens march is the first one in the region and quite possibly the state.

The first March on Court Street brought out just under 100 people, and the second brought out a couple hundred. Smedley said the board’s goal is to meet or exceed last year’s turnout.

Smedley said the plan is to converge on the fourth floor entrance of Baker University Center, where participants will shout where they are from and hold up signs in support of the march’s goal. The march ends at the Athens County Municipal Court, 8 E. Washington St., where remarks will be made by State Representative Jay Edwards and possibly a county commissioner.

“It’s not often we have public events like this,” Smedley said. “It’s a fun time. People are proud to come out and celebrate the month. The energy in the room is just really electric when we take over the entrance way of the fourth floor of Baker.”

People from as far as Zanesville show up to the event, along with several local school 22 / MARCH 5, 2020

IF YOU GO WHAT: Disability Awareness March on Court Street WHEN: Friday, 9:45 a.m.

WHERE: Meet at fourth floor entrance of Baker University Center ADMISSION: Free

Attendees of the Disability March on Court Street parade signs at last year’s march. (PHOTO PROVIDED VIA ACBDD FACEBOOK PAGE)

districts, public officials and local adults.

The theme of this year’s Developmental Disability Awareness Month is “Let’s Connect.” Marching down Court Street with not only friends and family, but also strangers is a way to connect and bring awareness to an important cause, according to the Facebook page.

“Anyone is welcome to come,” Smedley said. “The event is great because it increases awareness and inclusion in the county.”

Carolyn Lewis, a member of ACBDD, said oftentimes people who do not have to deal with disabilities personally do not think about how difficult it can be.

To Lewis, events such as March on Court Street help educate others on what people who have disabilities and their families deal with every day.

“It shows the strength of the community coming together to help highlight the issues of people with developmental disabilities,” Lewis said. “It celebrates the diversity of people who have developmental disabilities because one shoe does not fit all.”

Lewis mentioned a phone application

called Athens City Source that Athens offers that allows people to take pictures of areas in the city they believe are particularly dangerous for those with disabilities and send them to City Hall.

Lewis and various Athens residents participate in what is called a “walk and roll” every few months where people, both walking and in wheelchairs, come together to check various places in Athens and make sure there are no areas that are safety hazards to those with developmental disabilities.

“The community needs to understand what the disabilities are and what services there are,” Lewis said. “Athens has been blessed with a lot of services for families with developmental disabilities.”

Marissa Owens, a first-year master’s student studying college student personnel, said it is important to bring awareness to the fact that not everyone who has a disability will have a specific look. Owens herself has a disorder that is imperceptible to the eye. It is a genetic disorder called Ehlers-Danlos that affects her connective tissue.

“For social occasions, like going out, I

may need to sit down, and I can’t go somewhere that is standing room only,” Owens said. “It impacts my social life so that my friends have to make accommodations for things we do.”

Owens is a member of the Accessibility Liaison Council, which partners with City Council to make Ohio University and Athens accessible. She believes that Athens in particular is a physically inaccessible campus because of the hills, and because it is a rural area, it is not close to a lot of outside resources.

“I really appreciate actually having an event that is open to the community and to the school that helps recognize that the people within our community that have disabilities can be your friends, neighbors and classmates,” Owens said. “So try to fight for accessibility and make our campus and community more accessible and inclusive for all.”

@HANNAHNOELBURK HB239417@OHIO.EDU

WHAT’S GOING ON? TAYLOR BURNETTE FOR THE POST

FRIDAY March for Disability Awareness at 9:45 a.m. at Athens County Board of Developmental Disabilities, 801 W. Union St. This is one of the ways the ACBDD is recognizing Developmental Disability Awareness Month, which is in March.

Bring your signs, your banners, your voice and your friends.

Admission: Free

6 W. State St. The Funk Factory from Toledo will make its Athens debut at Casa, also featuring local band Acrylic Grooves.

Admission: $5 cover

Art Reception: Savannah Freeman & Hannah Sickles at 5 p.m. at ARTS/

West, 132 W. State St. This is a free evening of original, hand-made artworks by Savannah Freeman of Moonville Print Shop and Hannah Sickles of Saturday Darlings Studio. The reception will also feature free food and drinks and live piano from Metra Peterson and vocals from Chelsa Peterson Morahan. Admission: Free

The Funk Factory at 10 p.m. at Casa

Nueva Restaurant and Cantina,

West End Distillery

WEST SIDE BOOK SWAP

SATURDAY Bruce Dalzell & Matt Moore at 8 p.m.

at Donkey Coffee and Espresso, 17 W. Washington St. This is part of Matt Moore’s tour of Southeastern Ohio, so come see him perform songs in the round with Bruce Dalzell. Admission: Free DJ Barticus Y2k Millennium Dance Party at 9 p.m. at The Union Bar

and Grill, 18 W. State St. DJ Barticus invites you to party at The Union like it’s 1999 or 2005. If you love rap or dance music or like to party, this is the place for you.

Admission: $3 over 21, $5 under 21

MUSICIAN’S OPEN STAGE

FRIDAY Mar. 13th 5-8 pm

DESIGNATED SPACE

OPEN STAGE

Poetry, prose and spokenword open stage.

EVERY TUESDAY 9-11 pm donkeycoffee.com

Little Fish Yoga at 10 a.m. at Little Fish Brewing Company, 8675 Armitage Road. A slow flow practice is taught with modifications for poses to make the class open to all skill levels. The classes are donation-based. Admission: Donation-based

The Front Room • Baker Univ. Ctr

OPEN STAGE

Showcase your talent-or just enjoy a cup of coffee as a spectator

EVERY FRIDAY 8:00 pm

THE RANDYS

West End Ciderhouse

OPEN MIC NIGHT

Join Chris Monday for Open Mic Night. $1 off most house & draft taps

EVERY MONDAY 7-10 pm

Dairy Barn Arts Center

OH+5

The twelfth in a series of competitions, OH+5 is a regional, all media juried exhibition of contemporary artwork. promote artists residing in Ohio and its five bordering states.

Through Mar. 14th $5 General; FREE for Members

dairybarn.org

MOVIES 10

14333 US RT 33

THE WAY BACK Wetland Wade at 2 p.m. at Lake Hope State Park, 27331 State Route 278. This is a recreation program to learn about wetlands and their importance in ecosystems. Wear warm rain boots.

Some nets and buckets are provided. Meet at the Hope Furnace.

Admission: Free

@THATDBEMYLUCK TB040917@OHIO.EDU

Church of the Good Shepherd • 64 University Terr

SPIZZWINKS (?)

The Yale Spizzwinks are an all-male a cappella group comprised of Yale undergraduates with history dating all the way back to 1914. The concerts feature a diverse musical repertoire—from Beatles classics to Sinatra jazz standards to pop hits by artists like Bruno Mars and Adele—and can appeal to audiences across all ages and musical tastes.

FRIDAY Mar. 20th 7-9 pm $10 General; $5 Students $25 Priority Seating

spizzwinks.com

Casa Cantina

FREE EARLY SHOW

SUNDAY

The swapping is casual!

Enjoy a cider, bring any unwanted books, and come peruse the evolving collections of your neighbors.

WITH MEGAN WREN

EVERY THURSDAY 8-11 pm

SATURDAY, Mar 7th 6:00 pm

Tea with a Librarian at 2 p.m. at

Ohio University LGBT Center, Baker Center 354. Every Friday, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., the LGBT Center hosts “teas” with their librarians.

This serves as a great academic tool or just a great learning experience on a variety of topics.

Admission: Free

OPEN STAGE

Tony’s Tavern

1:05 pm 4:00 pm 7:00 pm 9:50 pm

WORD OF MOUTH JAZZ BAND

INVISIBLE MAN

TUESDAY, Mar 10th 9:00 pm

1:25 pm 4:05 pm 6:45 pm 7:20 pm

1:20 pm 4:05 pm 6:45 pm 10:00 pm

ONWARD

BIRDS OF PREY REd Brick Tavern

1:25 pm 4:10 pm 7:05 pm

with Sharell Arocho

all showtimes are for Saturday March 7. see website for more listings

KARAOKE

WEDNESDAY Mar 11th 6:00 pm

moviesten.com

Kennedy Museum of Art PICTURE THE WORLD: BURHAN DOĞANÇAY AS PHOTOGRAPHER This exhibition, from the artist’s personal archive of roughly 30,000 images taken in more than 100 countries.

Through Mar. 22nd

FREE ADMISSION ohio.edu/museum

Kennedy Museum of Art

PATTERN & DISRUPTION: DINÉ LIFEWAYS AND EMBEDDED MATHEMATICS

An exploration of the Diné (Navajo) weaving design from the perspective of their traditions and beliefs, and how fundamental mathematical ideas are also embedded in the designs.

Through Sept. 27th

FREE ADMISSION ohio.edu/museum

Find More News, Sports, Culture @ thepostathens.com THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 23

Student Senate aims to spread its voice by representing all on campus A large majority of students don’t know what Student Senate does GRANT RITCHEY FOR THE POST

Ohio University’s Student Senate is trying to bridge the gap between the Senate and the student body after a poll came out that said most students don’t know what the organization does.

The poll asked students if they knew what Student Senate does. When asked if students would like to learn more about how Student Senate represents OU, about 27% answered “yes,” while “no” had about 72% of the vote.

“Nothing,” Josh Green, a junior studying multimedia arts, said when asked if he knew what Student Senate does.

Another question asked if students knew how to reach out to Senate to discuss an issue, and 72% also said “no.”

Senate has provided reusable to-go boxes, sexual assault banners around College Green, resuable market bags and the Bobcat Safety app.

The first step of rebuilding communication is by making sure all views are represented, Student Senate President Lydia Ramlo said.

“We should have different representatives for different pockets at this campus,” Ramlo said.

A way for this to be done is by making sure the election process isn’t based on popularity, but what the candidate can change for the better, Ramlo said. If these two statements reign to be true,

A Student Senate meeting in Walter Hall on Feb. 26, 2020. (GRACE WILSON / FOR THE POST)

WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW STUDENT SENATE REPRESENTS OU?

YES 27%

Ramlo believes Senate’s impact and voice will be heard.

This doesn’t mean students aren’t reaching out to the Senate. In February, international graduate students went to Student Senate advocating for change in health care plans and pricing, according to a previous Post report.

Classified employees also went to a Senate meeting to advocate for unionization, as concerns of job cuts continue to rise.

Ramlo is working on projects to advocate for students, such as the Survivor Advocacy Program, or SAP, and Coun-

NO

72%

seling Psychologists Services, or CPS. There are discussions about forming a student health committee, which would be a part of getting back free STI checks at Hudson Health Center.

The diversity of Senate has been another critical piece of Senate trying to represent all voices. With black, international, LGBTQA and minority affairs commissioners, to name a few, it’s been Senate’s goal to give representation for different groups on campus.

“That’s our whole goal,” Treasurer Jayden McAdams said.

Senate is looking at other methods

of getting their message across. Using social media platforms like Twitter has been one avenue Senate is using to spread their message, McAdams said.

McAdams started the “Ohio University Student Senate Podcast,” which is designed to talk to administration and members of Senate.

With these plans both now and future, Ramlo said there is still more work to be done toward communication.

“We need to bridge this gap,” Ramlo said. “The lack of communication between Senate and the student body has been an issue since my four years in Senate.” @RITCHEY_GRANT GR619615@OHIO.EDU

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