September 6, 2018

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

The Road to Recovery The closing of the Hocking Correctional Unit may have broader implications for Ohio’s rehabilitation system

P 12

OU makes millions from unused swipes P8

Ohio’s quarterback conundrum P17

Cost of animal-assisted therapy P20

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Independence — the backbone of student journalism

LAUREN FISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Student journalists are a bit eclectic.

We get excited when the Board of Trustees come to town to talk about money, even though we don’t make much money ourselves. We typically aren’t the most tidy bunch, but we’re nothing less than intelligent, dogged and, for the most part, pretty kind.

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard a bit about the state of our local newspapers, whether it’s in the form of the whole “print is dead” schtick or from alarming headlines about news conglomerates buying up small-town papers. And while I’m not one to believe the doomsday premonitions, there’s certainly a cause for concern.

Declining interest in print advertising, a move toward digital news sources and “fake news” rhetoric from politicians — all of these factors play into the struggles faced by the local and regional papers our democracy has depended upon for decades.

Student newsrooms tend to feel many of the same problems faced by local newspapers, plus the additional pressures of

administrative oversight and a separate set of financial hardships. As a result, student journalism is in trouble. And I’m not just talking about The Post.

I’m talking about The Independent Collegian at University of Toledo, which disclosed the details of its financial situation this spring in an editorial titled “Our Newspaper is Dying.” The paper gained its independence in 2000 after it claimed the university was threatening its journalistic freedom.

I’m talking about the formerly independent Daily Campus at Southern Methodist University, which ran out of funding this spring and was ultimately absorbed by the university’s journalism school.

I’m even talking about the revered 124-year-old Daily Tar Heel, which recently reported it’s been losing $200,000 per year.

Across the country, student newspapers — many of which have been around for well over a decade — have been crumbling. Some are absorbed by journalism schools. Some turn to consolidation, slash print production

or go online-only. Others end up closing their doors and halting their operations entirely.

Editorial independence is, and must always be, of paramount importance to any collegiate media outlet. It’s how we cover our university without having to worry about issues like prior review and censorship. It’s how we tell the stories we need to tell without worrying about anybody stopping us. Student newsrooms are responsible for having their fingers on the pulse of campus and the local community.

Without them, we’d be lost.

Come what may, The Post will be here to guide you. We’ll continue working hard to hold officials accountable and to bring you stories that entertain and inform. We’ve been doing it for more than a century, and we have no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

Lauren Fisher is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University and the editorin-chief of The Post. Have questions? Email Lauren at lf966614@ohio.edu or tweet her @Lauren__Fisher.

Cover photo by Alexandria Skowronski

THE

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF LAUREN FISHER MANAGING EDITOR Maddie Capron DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR Alex McCann ASST. MANAGING EDITOR Jessica Hill CREATIVE DIRECTOR Abby Gordon EDITORIAL NEWS EDITORS Sarah M. Penix, Ellen Wagner INVESTIGATIVE EDITOR Bailey Gallion SPORTS EDITOR Spencer Holbrook CULTURE EDITOR Alexis Eichelberger OPINION EDITOR Chuck Greenlee COPY CHIEF Laila Riaz ART ART DIRECTOR Abbey Phillips GRAPHICS EDITOR Riley Scott DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Meagan Hall DIGITAL DIGITAL PRODUCTION EDITOR Megan Knapp SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Kate Ansel BLOGS EDITOR Georgia Davis MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Alex Penrose DIRECTOR OF PODCASTS Madeleine Peck

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Work orders pile up for some Ohio University residence halls more than others TAYLOR JOHNSTON FOR THE POST Between 2012 and 2017, Ohio University’s Facilities Management received 2,600 work orders. Fifty-eight percent of those orders were submitted because of an issue within a residence hall.

Students, faculty and staff can submit maintenance requests through OU’s Facilities Management if there is an issue in a building on campus. Steve Wood, the associate vice president for Facilities Management and Safety, said work orders can be made by phone or submitted online.

“When (the work order) is received … it is farmed out to the appropriate shop or technical experts for our review,” Wood said.

Of the work orders submitted between 2012 and 2017, 166 of them were for issues of mold within a residence hall.

If a work order states there is mold in a residence hall, the environmental health and safety department follows up to verify.

“Usually Nathan Rath, (the environmental safety coordinator) would be one of our first responders,” Wood said. “He would go out and actually validate if there is mold. It could be dust, dirt or a number of other factors.”

Of the work orders during the same time period, 226 orders contained the word “bug” or “cockroach.” Thirty-three contained the words “bed bugs,” but not all of those were confirmed to be bed bug

58 percent of work order are for residence halls — here are their locations on campus.

outbreaks.

If there is a pest issue in a residence hall, OU Facilities Management and Safety has different ways to handle those issues, Chad Keller, environmental health coordi-

nator, said.

“It depends on the situation,” Keller said.

“For the more routine issues, we deal with them in-house. For non-routine issues or issues we can't handle within a house, we

have contractors that we bring in.

Hannah Rastatter, a junior studying nutrition, said the number of work orders submitted because of problems within the residence halls seems high.

“I never submitted any work orders while I lived in the dorms,” she said.

Of the residence halls on campus, Bromley Hall has the most work orders at 105. Sargent Hall, Dougan House, Boyd Hall and Smith House follow.

“The size of Bromley is definitely contributing to its preponderance,” Wood said. “I am not aware of any other issues that are driving it as a problem area that we need to concentrate on.”

After Rath assesses the situation, he lets the appropriate departments within Facilities Management and Safety know what action needs to be taken, Wood said.

Alaina Falbo, an undecided freshman, has not had to submit a work order yet.

“So far I am happy with my dorm experience,” she said.

Some work orders have more precedence than others depending on what kind of order it is classified as, Wood said.

“We have goals of an immediate work order needs to be addressed within 24 hours, an urgent work order needs to be addressed within 72 hours and a routine matter needs to be dealt with within 45 days.” Wood said.

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ALL SHOOK UP

Overpriced rent pains college students NICK SHOOK is a senior

studying political science pre-law at Ohio University.

In 2013, CBS reported the top 10 cities with the lowest median rent rates for one-bedroom apartments. They found that Wichita, Kansas, had the cheapest median rent at about $625 per month. The 10th spot on the list is Kansas City, Missouri, with a median rent of $730.

Fast-forward five years and here we are as the country’s gross domestic product, typically, has only grown since 2013 (with the exception of Quarter One in 2014). Since then, the housing market has not begun to provide affordable housing in most major urban areas. As rising rent prices push young adults into suburbs outside of the city they work in, problems associated with traffic and sustainability begin to arise.

But housing issues aren’t confined to cities. It also stretches all the way here in Athens County, home of Ohio University.

OU’s Athens campus undergraduate population for 2016-2017 was 18,209 students. For the sake of simple math, let’s approximate that number to 18,000 total students, considering the majority of first and second-year, or half of the students, live on-campus (as required by the university), that leaves about 9,000 students who live off-campus.

Again, these are not the actual numbers, we are just going with this for reference.

And to compare Athens rent prices to the CBS report, let’s consider a one-bedroom apartment for the majority of this. Even though most students don’t live in a one-bedroom, we’ll visit a three-bed-

room price as well to be fair.

Athens has a median rent price of $525 for a one-bedroom apartment outside of the town-center and $850 for housing near the town-center area. Assuming that town center is Court Street or the campus area, the farther you would stray from there is getting farther from that. Thus, students will pay about $7,200 each year for rent and utilities living outside of the town center, while students who opt to stay closer to campus will be paying about $10,000.

Working 25 hours a week while in school fulltime with a minimum wage job (which is $8.15 hourly in Ohio) would bring home about $10,500 before taxes annually. This is, typically, what a student at OU would be making should they work a minimum wage job at 25 hours a week. But many OU students have roommates. OU Commons is a popular apartment complex for students. Offering studios, two and four-bedroom apartments. It’s not as expensive as it’s farther from the town center. The cost, per person, of a two-bedroom apartment is $550 a month. This includes some utilities as well. At 25 hours a week, the average student would bring $815 home a month, leaving $265 for whatever else they may need to spend money on.

That means students are left with the option of living far off-campus and just making it by or living close to campus and being forced to work more hours or pick up a second job. Of course, if none of this appeals to you there’s always the residence

halls which, costs about $7,000. So living situation aside, 2016’s collegiate graduates averaged a debt of $37,172 per student. Worrying about making rent during school on top of impending debt is certainly an unfortunate circumstance.

As a student in this situation, I can either take out another private loans and go further in debt without a strong credit score, or work my tail off and hope I have enough to pay the bills at the end of every month. My life has been formatted around the latter for the past three years, from working for the university during school to working seasonal jobs when I’m home for the holidays, to working two or even three jobs during the summers to save money for the school year.

Now don’t take this the wrong way. I have enjoyed the my time at OU, but the one thing that has stressed me out the most hasn’t been studying for the LSAT or applying for law schools. It’s been me asking myself “How am I going to pay for this?”

A home is a basic human right, and college towns prey on students and overcharge them on poor housing to make a profit. So while your dishwasher may not work in your overpriced apartment a mile away from campus, don’t forget about your probable debt as well.

Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Do you feel rent pains too? Let Nick know by emailing him at ns258814@ohio.edu.

BEDPOST

Sex sells, even in relationships JACKIE OSBORNE is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University.

I am the worst at moving on. I am that girl who even though I’m breaking your heart, I want to “still be friends.” To echo the words of my best friend, “Yeah, honey, that’ll never work.”

We’re all guilty of running back to those who we’re comfortable with. In the three relationships I’ve had in 21 short years, I have gone back to each guy, relapsing as if they are a drug I suddenly realized I missed. In the case of one, he and I broke up four separate times, each of which ended with a furious argument. Until, of course, that late-night text filled with regret came in, and I was leaving home at 1 a.m. to spend a night with him. I thought I was doing my exes a favor by not ignoring their feelings and sticking around in their lives, but really, I was ignoring mine.

My mom has a repeating phrase: “Sex changes you.” Although I can’t say how many times I’ve rolled my eyes, thinking she was trying to keep my teen-

4 / SEPT. 6, 2018

age mind from getting any ideas, it’s time to admit she is right. Not only for me, but for everyone reading this.

This isn’t a parental rant about premarital sex or abstinence. This is a call for everyone to stop sacrificing their happiness in a relationship because the sex is great.

Having a phenomenal sexual connection can blind you. It takes over the bond you have with someone and convinces you that everything is great as long as the sex is. Maybe that’s why make-up sex feels so fantastic. You think that all the pent up anger and frustration you unleashed on your partner beforehand has dissipated, and all is well again. But is it?

I am exhausted from watching my friends run back to their “sex-es.”

And then I watched my friend Allison cry herself to sleep at 3 a.m. after I chased her angry ex-boy-

friend off the phone. I listened to her talk about how she wanted a happy relationship, and he couldn’t provide that. But a month later, we’re in the car as she seductively describes the amorous weekend the two of them had. And, oh, by the way, “we’re back together.” Like a good friend, I asked if that made her happy, and she replied affirmatively. I think even she knew she was lying.

So she texted me: “I haven’t heard from him all day.

I’m tired of him treating me like s---.” But guess who then had another great romantic weekend together?

Intimacy in a relationship is important, but so is your happiness. Stop thinking that great sex makes up for the empty space in your chest. Fight for what you deserve from a partner before you reach that step.

Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Do you agree? Tweet her @JackieOu_ohyeah.

‘Eighth Grade’ shows what it’s like to be a teenager in the 21st century MOLLY SCHRAMM ASST. BLOGS EDITOR Eighth grade: a pinnacle when all that matters to teenagers is fitting in with their classmates and the people around them. Between school, parents and, nowadays, social media, it can seem, at least in Eighth Grade, that the world is crashing down on you.

Bo Burnham, stand-up comedian and musician, covers all of this and more in his directorial debut. The film follows Kayla (Elsie Fisher) who is attempting to survive her last week of eighth grade before graduation. Kayla is type-casted as the quiet girl. Though she truly doesn’t speak much, she’s really just your average awkward kid, which is something many people can relate to. With little to no friends and a single dad who just doesn’t understand her, one can’t help but sympathize with Kayla’s situation.

That is exactly why the film is such a stand-out for Burnham. In his directorial debut, he was able to encapsulate his comedic style without damaging the integrity of the story. Burnham shows that he’s capable of tackling bigger issues and topics. He’s versatile, and because he grew up in the digital age, he’s got an advantage of showing what it likes to be a middle-schooler in the digital age.

Throughout Kayla’s many struggles within her last week of class, there’s one constant: her YouTube videos. Whether this was inspired by Burnham’s start on YouTube himself or just the massive use of the platform by middle-schoolers nowadays, it’s used as an outlet for our protagonist. Kayla’s videos are a coping mechanism for what she deals with in her daily life, similar to many real-life vloggers.

Those realistic aspects of Eighth Grade show that it’s a film that doesn’t need sugar coating. There are no cliches or stereotypes necessary to carry the story.

Burnham shows the cruel reality of middle school in the 21st century. The girls

Provided via @boburnham on Instagram

are catty and self-centered, and the boys (even up through high school) are gross and insufferable. Without romanticizing the ups and downs of middle school, Burnham was able to create a story centered on a down-to-Earth girl, who’s just trying to make by in life.

Kayla consistently is battling herself in her head, and it would be naive to say that adults don’t do that too. Adults, college students especially, are just as apt to judge themselves and second-guess their lives.

It seems this is what Burnham was aiming to show with Eighth Grade. This is a film that people of all ages can find something in. One could say it’s universal to a degree.

From Burnham’s beautifully written screenplay to his pinpoint camera shots which convey the same level of emotion, it’s a no-brainer that Eighth Grade will be a contender in this year’s Academy Awards.

Rating: 4/5

@_MOLLY_731 MS660416@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 5

NEWS BRIEFS

Four reports of sexual assault since beginning of Fall Semester; Shively Court receives renovations SARAH M. PENIX NEWS EDITOR Here’s the news you need to know this week at Ohio University: FOUR REPORTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT SINCE BEGINNING OF FALL SEMESTER The Ohio University Police Department received a report Wednesday of a rape in an unknown OU residence hall.

The anonymous report came from the OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital after the woman reported the rape to hospital staff.

At about 8 a.m. Wednesday, the woman said a man she knew touched her without her consent. She told him to stop, but the man continued and used force to engage in sexual conduct, according to the crime alert.

This was the fourth report of sexual assault in Athens since the beginning of OU’s Fall Semester, and the third to occur on OU’s campus.

An unknown man pulled a woman into an unknown residence hall either late Sat-

urday night or early Sunday morning and raped her, according to an OUPD report. At about 10:30 Saturday night, a woman was forced into a vehicle, driven to Wray House and raped, according to a second OUPD report. On Sunday, a man sexually assaulted a woman off-campus, according to an Athens Police Department report.

SHIVELY COURT RECEIVED $1.8 MILLION IN RENOVATIONS THIS SUMMER Incoming freshmen were greeted with a host of new dining options this fall following a summer renovation of Shively Court.

The dining hall was given a “front-ofhouse” refresh, university Spokesman Jim Sabin said. The renovations cost $1.8 million and were entirely funded by Culinary Services.

The redesign also includes expanded menu options. Those new options include Mexican-style street food and more vegetarian and vegan options.

Lizzie Shuga, an undecided freshman, hasn’t been eating meat recently but says there are still plenty of options available.

“I don’t think it’s hard to find food to eat,” Shuga said.

While sandwich and sub options are still available inside Shively Court, they are no longer at Shively Grab ‘N Go. Instead, Culinary Services offers a Mexican-style street food concept.

Culinary Services decided to be “ontrend” by offering Mexican-style street food with flour tortillas made from scratch in front of customers, Sabin said.

The Culinary Services Advisory Committee, a student focus group, was involved in the decision to make those changes.

The salad bar has also been redesigned and expanded to include an assortment of vegan and hot and cold vegetarian items, Sabin said.

Emma Allenson, an undecided freshman, is a vegetarian and said she thinks there still aren’t that many options.

“It’s not at the level of Boyd, but it’s still pretty good,” Allenson said.

The list of daily food options is available at Culinary Services’ website, and vegetarian and vegan options are notated.

RICK NEAL CHALLENGES STEVE STIVERS TO FIVE DEBATES Democratic congressional candidate Rick Neal challenged incumbent Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Upper Arlington, to five debates, including one in Athens.

Neal and his campaign emailed and sent a letter to Stivers with a proposal that suggests four standard debates and one town hall-style debate in the cities of Athens, New Lexington, Wilmington, Lancaster and Upper Arlington. The debates would be moderated by members of the media.

“We have had some indications that they want to do it,” Neal said. “I think it is a terrific opportunity, especially because Rep. Stivers doesn’t do town halls, and it’s a great opportunity for folks to hear firsthand from the candidates.”

Neal said they have not received an official response from Stivers or his campaign.

Adam Rapien, Stivers’ campaign manager, said the campaign looks forward to reviewing the campaign letter.

@SARAHMPENIX SP936115@OHIO.EDU

POLICE BLOTTER

Milkweed mistaken for marijuana; suspicious man confronted about using library Wi-Fi JACKIE OSBORNE SLOT EDITOR Some people need to stay off the dairy weed.

The Athens County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in Athens Township for an alleged discovery of marijuana growing in the caller’s backyard on Tuesday.

Deputies determined that it was actually a milkweed plant. The property owner was given permission to dispose of it as they saw fit. With no criminal issue present, deputies returned to patrol.

BURIED BONES On Aug. 29, the sheriff’s office was called to Plum Street for a report of possible hip and femur bones found beneath a crawl 6 / SEPT. 6, 2018

space at a house that was being remodeled.

Deputies took pictures of the bones and sent them to the county coroner, who determined they were not human. The case was closed.

WHERE’S THE WI-FI? On Saturday, deputies responded to a report of a suspicious person in The Plains.

According to the report, there was a man outside The Plains library after the facility had closed. Deputies made contact with the man who said he was just using the Wi-Fi. With no criminal activity present, deputies returned to patrol.

CLEANING CREW The sheriff’s office responded to Buchtel for an activated commercial burglary

alarm on Sunday.

On the scene, deputies found a contracting crew was doing a scheduled power washing of the building. Documentation of the scheduled service was provided, and no further action was needed.

BRUSH WITH THE LAW The sheriff’s office responded to a call to Old St. Route 56 in New Marshfield for an incident report.

A woman said a friend stayed with her, and that he “dumped some brush” on the property. She made contact with her friend, who would not clean it up.

The woman was told to contact her landlord to see what action he would want to take. The case was closed.

BIKE PROBLEMS On Aug. 31, the sheriff’s office took a report of threats and harassments on Sycamore St. in Chauncey.

The woman said she was in her yard when she saw a man and two women walking her driveway and no trespassing signs were posted on the property in plain view.

When she told them to leave, the man started to go back down the driveway but turned around and began yelling at her and calling her names, according to the report.

Deputies patrolled the area and asked several pedestrians if they had seen the man but was unable to locate him. The case was closed.

@JACKIEOU_OHYEAH JO019315@OHIO.EDU

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Taste and Waste

The District on West Green is one of many dining options on campus. (KEVIN PAN / SLOT EDITOR)

OU makes millions from students’ unused meal swipes MORGAN BEARD FOR THE POST Students bought nearly 3.5 million meal swipes during the 2017-2018 school year — but used only a portion of them.

Because students allow swipes to expire, and due to markups in the structures of the plans, millions of dollars students spend on plans go unused.

Ohio University, like most four-year universities, requires students who live in its residence halls to buy residential meal plans. Those dining plans are a way to ensure that each student has access to food, but the plans come with costs that may go unnoticed by students.

Using public data collected by the Ohio University Culinary Services, we conducted an analysis comparing OU’s meal plan options to other public four-year universities in the state on the basis of total cost and value for money. The analysis also examined the differences between meal plans offered by OU and how much students actually use their plans.

The records show students are letting between $16.6 million and $17.3 million in meal plan value disappear per year by letting swipes expire and by using them at markets where their value is decreased.

That accounts for almost 40 percent of the Culinary Services’ roughly $40 million 8 / SEPT. 6, 2018

annual budget.

Richard Neumann, the director of OU Culinary Services, disputed those numbers but was unable to provide alternative figures. When asked about unused balances, he listed some of the ways his department uses the extra money.

“The money that isn’t spent?” he said.

“Again, we have scholarships that we contribute to: $3.16 million this year, next year $3.5 million. It goes to fund other projects on campus. It is used to provide goods and services for the students. It doesn’t go into anybody’s pocket.”

The bulk of the money is not being returned to students’ pockets. The swipes students don’t use is absorbed by Culinary Services, according to Neumann.

Neumann said the money goes toward overhead and that running a university culinary department produces more overhead than running a restaurant or convenience store. For example, the university has to work around scheduling constraints due to student workers’ course loads, he said.

OU offers four dining options for freshmen. They can choose 14 or 20 meals per week and select between Traditional- or Flex-style plans. For sophomores, a Traditional 10 plan is also available. No matter what option students pick, any leftover meals they haven’t used by the

end of the week are deleted.

Flex plans differ from Traditional plans in that students can use their meal swipes in the university-owned markets on campus, such as Jefferson Marketplace or Boyd Market, in addition to in the allyou-can-eat dining halls. Students get to spend $6.50 for each meal swipe they use in the markets and are also allotted $225 in Flex points per semester to use at university coffee shops, markets and dining outlets, such as West 82.

The Culinary Services website lists Flex 14 first out of its meal plan offerings and highlights it with a statement reading, “FACT: Nearly 60 percent of all students on a Meal Plan choose the Flex Meal Plan option.” Flex 14 is the least cost-effective for students.

In a comparison of the 50 total meal plan options offered by all of Ohio’s fouryear public universities, OU’s Flex 20 and Flex 14 plans are the most expensive and third-most expensive plans in the state based on total price ($3,228 and $2,894 per semester, respectively).

Both Flex 14 and Traditional 10 were among the most expensive plans in the state based on cost per meal. Each meal on Flex 14 costs an estimated $12.24, and each meal on Traditional 10 costs an estimated $12.04.

There is also significant inequality be-

tween the plans offered by OU. For example, when the $225 in bonus flex points aren’t counted in the total, Flex users still pay about $2.50 more per meal than the equivalent Traditional plan. That means a Flex 14 user pays $30 more per week than a Traditional 14 user for the freedom of using their meal swipes in campus markets.

However, that freedom might be costly. Flex 14 users pay $12.24 per meal swipe without flex points, and Flex 20 users pay $9.63 — but those same meal swipes are valued at only $6.50 when redeemed in campus markets. That means Flex 14 users see 47 percent of the value of their meal swipes disappear when they use them in markets; for Flex 20, the value lost is 32 percent.

In other words, items bought in markets with Flex 14 swipes cost students 88 percent more than the listed price, or 48 percent more for Flex 20. So, a $5 jar of peanut butter would actually cost a student $9.42 if they were on Flex 14 or $7.40 on Flex 20. But students continue to spend more than a quarter of their meal swipes at markets.

Some students chose Flex plans specifically to use some of their swipes to have convenient access to dry food and household items, often without realizing that they are losing money on every purchase.

“The reason I get Flex 20 is because

OFF-CAMPUS DINING VS. ON-CAMPUS DINING

I like to use the extra (swipes) I have at the markets, but now I don’t know if it’s worth it,” junior Claudia Grable said when she was told about the loss in value, adding that it didn’t seem fair to give students only $6.50 per swipe.

Grable is not the only one who is choosing not to use all her swipes at dining halls.

Over the course of the 2017-18 academic year, an average of only 43 percent of the more than 3.4 million meal swipes allotted to OU students last year were used in dining halls. 28 percent were used in markets, and 29 percent, or about 973,000 meal swipes, were never redeemed at all.

Neumann contradicted these findings but said he lacked the records needed to refute them.

“There’s information that I don’t have records of that would indicate that it isn’t only 45 percent,” he said. “We use a good percent of (meal swipes) in the markets and in the dining halls. More than 45 percent. My numbers would be much higher than that. I don’t have it exactly because there’s no need to keep an exact copy.”

“

The reason I get Flex 20 is because I like to use the extra (swipes) I have at the markets, but now I don’t know if it’s worth it.”

- Claudia Grable, a junior However, the data used for the analysis came directly from public records from Culinary Services, of which Neumann is the director. Several of the spreadsheets that included the information in question bear his name.

Because the amount of money lost at markets depends on whether the student

INFOGRAPHIC BY MEGAN KNAPP

is using swipes from a Flex 14 or Flex 20 plan, it is impossible to determine exactly how much money is being lost in total.

However, using a best- and worst-case scenario, the amount of meal plan value that students didn’t use last year was between $16.6 million and $17.3 million.

That money was never redeemed for goods and is the equivalent of 100 percent profit for the department.

Still, Neumann disagreed with the idea that students weren’t getting what they paid for.

“Our program encompasses more than the dining halls,” Neumann said.

“Students pay for the cafes, West 82, they pay for Latitude (39), they pay for Smooth Moves, the three markets. You’re just looking at a small slice of what we do and trying to infer that they’re not getting their value.”

However, students cannot use their meal swipes — whether Flex or Traditional — at the Latitude 39 or West 82 dining facilities or at the cafes on campus, as these facilities only accept flex points, Bobcat Cash or money for payment. Smooth

Moves, the smoothie shop in Boyd Market, does accept meal swipes and, although it is unclear why these swipes would be left out of official reports or whether they were counted into swipe totals.

OU also offers virtually no low-cost options compared to other universities.

The cheapest OU plan offered, the Traditional 10, actually costs more money than paying for 10 meals per week in cash and is the third-most expensive meal plan in Ohio based on cost-per-meal.

Flex 14, OU’s most popular plan, offers students a savings of only $1.89 per week compared to buying the same number of meals in cash. Considering how many swipes go wasted, many underclassmen would actually save money if they were allowed to pay to enter to dining halls as they go.

@MORGANCBEARD MB775514@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 9

Meet the three candidates for state auditor GEORGE SHILLCOCK STAFF WRITER One Republican, one Democrat and one Libertarian are campaigning against each other in the race to become Ohio’s next auditor of state.

Former Congressman Zack Space, state Rep. Keith Faber and Robert Coogan, a finance professional, were nominated by their parties to replace Republican Dave Yost, the auditor who has met the term limit. The Nov. 6 general election will dictate the next auditor of state.

The candidates are running for auditor at a time of change. The new redistricting commission, which was set up this year, includes the governor, state auditor, secretary of state, two more political appointees and at least two members of the minority party.

ZACK SPACE Space, a Democrat, previously served as the representative for Ohio’s 18th Congressional District from 2007 to 2011.

Before being elected to Congress, Space practiced law for nearly 20 years.

Space said he believes the auditor position has broad and extensive powers, but the main responsibilities include ensuring all state and federal dollars are being spent and accounted for in an appropriate fashion. The auditor has a responsibility to ensure tax dollars are not being used to pay off voters.

“As Ohio’s next auditor, I intend to shed a light on this corruptive behavior and of course those politicians. I don’t care what party they’re in, who are taking big campaign contributions and turning around and paying off donors with state money,” Space said.

Space said he also wants to focus on ending partisan gerrymandering through his role on the redistricting commission when it has to redraw congressional districts after the 2020 census.

“The concept of politicians picking their voters is basically an affront to basic democratic principles,” Space said. “It has created hyper-partisanism (and) Republican and Democratic districts.”

Space said he does not wish to attack his opponents personally, but he does believe that Faber’s actions about issues Ohioans care about most show that he doesn’t care about them.

“Here we have a senator and now state rep. who has actively engaged in complicity regarding, with respect to (Electronic 10 / SEPT. 6, 2018

The exterior of the Athens County Board of Elections’ office, 15 S. Court St. (FILE)

Classroom of Tomorrow), the largest political scandal in the history of the state of Ohio, and this guy wants to be our auditor,” Space said.

KEITH FABER Rep. Faber, R-Celina, is a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, representing the 84th District. Faber previously served eight years in the Ohio Senate and was elected president of the Ohio Senate from 2013 to 2016.

Faber said the main job of the Ohio auditor of state is to be the chief compliance officer for the state and make sure local and state officials follow appropriate rules, regulations and procedures.

He said another part of the job includes catching people lying, stealing and cheating with the criminal investigation unit within the auditor’s office.

“An auditor, while a partisan election, is not a partisan officer. You wear the jersey of the umpire,” Faber said.

Faber said as an auditor he wants to make state government run faster, better and for cheaper. He wants to utilize performance audits to get that done.

Performance audits are examinations of programs and procedures of a governmental or non-profit entity to assess

whether it is achieving economic efficiency and effectiveness in employment of available resources.

Faber said while Yost has done a good job as auditor, he could have done many more performance audits. He said Yost did only two a year, but he wants to do every state agency every four to six years. Faber said Yost has saved Ohioans about $250 million, but his goal is to save $1 billion.

While Space said Faber and other state Republicans were the cause of the ECOT incident, Faber said it was a Republican governor, attorney general and auditor who investigated and are fixing the issue.

“While there have been charter school failures, there is still an awful lot of public schools that are not meeting their potential as well,” Faber said. “I still believe giving moms and dads authority to make decisions about their kids’ educations is a wonderful alternative.”

While all three candidates believe political affiliation should not play a role in the auditor’s decisions, Faber believes a Republican is a better choice for the job. “(Space) wants to try to weaponize the auditor’s office for political gain,” Faber said.

banker, is the Libertarian candidate running for the Ohio auditor of state. He is also a former accountant from Liberty Township, Ohio.

“I’m the only candidate with auditing and accounting experience,” Coogan said.

“The auditor position deserves an independent view.”

He said that on issues like ECOT, Ohio needs an independent voice to moderate between the two parties. He said Republicans can’t be unbiased because of their fiscal involvement, and Democrats can’t either because they have politicized the situation.

“The appearance of a conflict of interest will always be there with the two major parties because there will always be in the influence of money,” Coogan said.

Coogan said he wants to get the name of the Bipartisan Redistricting Commission changed to say “nonpartisan” because the name does not take into account other parties besides Republicans and Democrats.

“I will be the voice of reason and fairness and equitable voter redistricting in that commission,” Coogan said.

ROBERT COOGAN Coogan, a former professional and

@SHILLCOCKGEORGE GS261815@OHIO.EDU

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Driverless cars could hit Athens roads GEORGE SHILLCOCK STAFF WRITER Autonomous vehicles could soon be on the streets of Athens.

DriveOhio is considering Athens as a test site for the new technology.

Last month, Athens City Council voted to allow the City of Athens to enter into an agreement with DriveOhio. DriveOhio is an initiative within the Ohio Department of Transportation, or ODOT, which is organizing test sites for autonomous vehicles.

Those vehicles will be shuttles that will operate without a driver. However, the vehicles will still have a driver stationed inside to control the vehicle in case of an emergency.

“We have hills, we have roundabouts, we have some features that aren’t common in every city in Ohio,” Athens City Councilman Peter Kotses, D-At Large, said. “It puts us in a position where DriveOhio is excited to see us be part of a test site.”

Kotses said the ordinance helps keep Athens in consideration for being a test site.

He said a lot still needs to be figured out, such as who will partner with the city to bring autonomous vehicles to Athens and what DriveOhio has in store for the test sites.

“We know that this technology is coming … and it is rapidly advancing,” Matt Bruning, ODOT’s press secretary, said.

“We want to make sure Ohio is in a position to be a leader in this and we think we have done that.”

Bruning said rather than being chosen

by ODOT and DriveOhio as a test site, the city will have to work with both private entities and the agency to set up the infrastructure needed for Athens be a test site.

At a city council meeting in August, Mayor Steve Patterson said city officials are exploring multiple routes in Athens, which could include Stimson Avenue, Mill Street, South Green Drive and West Union Street, among others.

Since the potential routes could run through with Ohio University’s campus, OU could be involved in project planning.

“Ohio University looks forward to exploring the partnership opportunities

presented by the talks between the City of Athens and DriveOhio regarding the potential for driverless vehicles in Athens,” OU Spokesman Jim Sabin said in an email. “Ohio University is participating in the planning phase as a resource and will evaluate next steps in due course.”

Kotses said if Athens is chosen, there could be an opportunity to bring new infrastructure technology to the city through the partnership. One of those technologies could be traffic signals that are activated by radar, rather than ones activated by metal plates beneath roads.

The agreement comes at a time when driverless vehicles are making headlines for both their innovation and their potential safety hazards. Earlier this year, a pedestrian was killed in Tempe, Arizona, after a self-driving car operated by Uber struck her, despite an emergency backup driver being behind the wheel.

Bruning said DriveOhio and the private companies that make the vehicles will ensure they are as safe as possible and follow stringent standards. He ac-

knowledged that some people will still have reservations about the vehicles.

“As people hear more and more about how autonomous connected vehicles work and how they can make our roads safer, I think there is a greater acceptance,” Bruning said.

Bruning said it is not yet known whether Athens will be a test site for these vehicles or how many test sites will be established in Ohio. He said any city in Ohio can start conversations with DriveOhio.

“I don’t think anyone really knows what the future of transportation is going to look like for the next 20 to 30 years, but right now, this is promising technology, and it is good to see if we can help facilitate an initial solution to growing our road systems,” Kotses said.

@SHILLCOCKGEORGE GS261815@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 11

The doctors’ hallway at the Hocking Correctional Unit on Friday. (ALEXANDRIA SKOWRONSKI / FOR THE POST)

Shuttered

Why the closure of a local prison has broader implications for the state

J

A yard connects two of the Hocking Correctional Unit buildings. The facility is fenced in by two layers of barbed-wire fences with a mangle of barbed wire in between to deter prisoners from escaping. (ALEXANDRIA SKOWRONSKI / FOR THE POST)

12 / SEPT. 6, 2018

BENNETT LECKRONE | SENIOR WRITER

ail space means more to Fred Moses than just a place to house inmates — it can also be the difference between life or death.

Moses, the municipal court judge for Hocking County, runs a specialized drug court to help combat addiction in the area. The drug court offers addiction and mental health treatment to inmates selected for the program.

“I have to make decisions on who stays in and who gets out,” Moses said. “You’re basically deciding who might live another day and who doesn’t.”

The program can save lives, Moses said — but only when there is enough jail space available to house the inmates.

Jail space is particularly sparse for women. Moses has just five female beds available at the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail, which he shares with the Hocking County Common Pleas Court.

Recently, Moses’ staffers had to call seven separate jails around the region to find a place for one female offender who used fentanyl, a powerful opioid, earlier that day.

Moses feared she could die if she got out.

“We have to lock a lot of people up to keep them clean and keep them safe,” he said.

joked about the thoroughness of the tour as the group slowly wound through the hallways and empty rooms of the building, likening it to an official inspection.

Mohr said there was clearly a connection between dropping inmate intake and increasing community sanctions populations. He added that local facilities could be more effective in treating drug offenders.

Mohr said the ODRC is investing about $100 million more per year in communities than it did when he became director in 2011.

On Aug. 31, Moses, along with Ohio University President Duane Nellis and U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers, toured the Hocking Correctional Unit near Nelsonville. Moses said the facility could give his drug court more resources than ever before and potentially save lives.

A NEW PURPOSE Long before it was surrounded by barbed wire and fences, the Hocking Correctional Unit opened in 1955 as a tuberculosis ward.

The building was one of many hospitals built across the U.S. to combat the disease, also known as the white plague, and house those affected by it. As treatment of tuberculosis changed in the 20th century, the purpose of the building was adapted as well. It first became a children’s facility, then a prison by the early 1980s.

Now, the Hocking Correctional Unit is undergoing renovations as part of its most recent change, and officials involved with the project hope it will treat a different kind of epidemic sweeping the nation: drug addiction.

Ohio is in the grips of an opioid epidemic: 4,050 Ohioans died of accidental drug overdoses in 2016 — a 32.8 percent increase from 2015, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

The Appalachian Recovery Project, a coalition of both private and public entities such as local addiction treatment services and businesses that was selected to repurpose the facility, hopes to turn the former prison into both a treatment facility and a potential jail space for women.

Rick Hodges, a health executive in residence at OU and the director of Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health, which is involved with the project, said he hopes the facility could help rehabilitate people with drug offenses, offering them services like medically assisted treatment, inpatient and outpatient therapy, GED education and job training.

“This is unique in that it’s designed to be from incarceration to hopefully reintegration in the community,” Hodges said.

A variety of local and regional treatment groups are involved with the project, including STAR Community Justice Center, which operates a treatment facility near the Ohio River in Franklin Furnace, about a 90-minute drive southwest of Athens.

STAR will help operate the facility’s first floor, which will be set aside as a drug treatment facility. On the second and third floors, dormitories stretch the length of the brick building. Officials involved with the Appalachian Recovery Project hope those rooms could provide jail space for up to 210 female inmates.

Eddie Philabaun, the executive director of STAR Community Justice Center, said about 50 beds on the first floor

will be available for inpatient treatment.

Treatment will also be available to inmates in the facility who need it like those sent from Moses’ drug court.

Ellen Martin, the CEO of Health Recovery Services in Athens, said she has attended meetings as part of the project to develop the facility.

“If you begin your path to recovery while you are in a secure setting and you start to make linkages and bonds, it makes it more likely that when you are in a situation where you’ve been released, you are much more likely to follow through on the path you’ve began,” Martin said.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, or ODRC, will still own the facility and help with some of the renovation costs. ODRC will also help maintain the facility for some time, like a landlord, Hodges said. ODRC support, combined with counties paying to house their respective inmates, will help pay for the jail, and Hodges said the facility won’t be paid for through a specific local tax levy.

While the details are still being decided, Hodges hopes the facility will open in the first half of 2019.

A CHANGING SYSTEM When the closure of the Hocking Correctional Unit was announced in January, it sent shockwaves through much of Southeastern Ohio.

The facility, which employed 110 staff members and provided Nelsonville with hundreds of thousands of dollars in sewer and water revenue each year, had been a presence in the region for more than 30 years.

The aging facility, however, was not worth the cost of maintenance, ODRC officials said. By the beginning of the year, the Hocking Correctional Unit was the ODRC’s most expensive prison camp,

“

We need to change our model in the way we care for people in the prison and jail system, and this is our effort to try to transition to that. We can stop the flow of people going in and out of the criminal justice system and also help them improve their lives, get jobs and reconnect with their families.”

- Bill Dunlap, deputy director of the AthensHocking-Vinton Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board

amounting to $11.5 million in annual costs for the upkeep of the facility and its 430 inmates.

By comparison, similar-sized camps, like those in Richland and Trumbull counties, each cost about $3 million annually, according to a fact sheet provided by the ODRC. Other camps also operated more efficiently and with fewer staff members.

However, cost was only one factor in the state’s decision to close the facility.

More low-level offenders are being rehabilitated in their communities instead of in prison, according to the ODRC fact sheet.

Prison intake in Ohio was at an all-time high about 10 years ago but has since fallen. In 2015, intake fell below 20,000 for the first time since the year 2000. Female intake has dropped as well.

ODRC Director Gary Mohr was hours from retirement as he walked through the now-empty prison with Moses, Nellis, Stivers and others as part of the tour. Mohr

A LOOK AHEAD Despite the increasing investment and heightening admissions to community sanctions programs, some say there is still much more work to be done to address Ohio’s prison population — and they have made prison issues a statewide conversation.

Tiffanny Smith, an attorney with the Ohio Justice and Policy Center, said despite the falling intake, Ohio’s prisons remain well above capacity.

According to 2014 data, Ohio’s prisons are built to hold 38,579 people, but as of Aug. 21, Ohio’s prison population is more than 49,000. While the ODRC has projected a decrease in the population, Smith said it isn’t enough.

“People are sleeping on floors already,” Smith said.

Mohr acknowledged that Ohio’s prison population has been slow to decline.

“Ohio’s been on a path, quite frankly, that’s been an aberration around the country,” Mohr said. “Our prison population has not declined like other states.”

While debates about prison population continue, local officials are excited to see how the new facility will impact the area.

The Hocking County Sheriff’s Office, which would take control of the jail portion of the facility, would create about 50 new jobs if the jail opens as planned, Chief Deputy David Valkinburg said.

The facility won’t just help incarcerated individuals but would also have a positive impact on the region, Bill Dunlap, the deputy director of the Athens-Hocking-Vinton Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board, said.

“We feel like we’re wasting people’s lives and time when they put them in jail, and they sit there and do nothing,” Dunlap said. “We need to change our model in the way we care for people in the prison and jail system, and this is our effort to try to transition to that. We can stop the flow of people going in and out of the criminal justice system and also help them improve their lives, get jobs and reconnect with their families.”

@LECKRONEBENNETT BL646915@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 13

Veteran Union Street Diner waitress Jodi Webster serves customers on Wednesday. (KELSEY BOEING / FOR THE POST)

The highs and lows of restaurant work HARDIKA SINGH FOR THE POST Jodi Webster, a server at Union Street Diner, loves her waitressing job, but she has had some interesting tales to tell about it.

She described an incident about 15 years ago, when a customer “mooed” at her. She replied to the customer, “Well, honey, since this ain’t a farm, why don’t you take your horse’s a-- outta here?”

“It’s just sad,” she said. “Until you work in this field, you have no idea what it is like. It gets stressful. Come work an hour and you will see what it is like.”

According to Data USA, 2.25 million people in the United States work as servers. Most bartenders and servers are paid below the minimum wage, with the average waiter making only $16,678 annually.

They make most of their money from tips earned. Their struggles, however, are often under-appreciated, and many must deal with difficult customers often.

Webster described another incident 14 / SEPT. 6, 2018

where her co-worker, who identified as gay, was left a $1 bill by a customer who “wiped his a-- with it.” Webster then took the $1 bill and instructed the customer to never return to Union Street Diner. “(That) ain't the worst thing you can ever have happen,” Webster said.

Webster’s car door was kicked in by some customers, and her co-worker’s car was turned upside down about 15 years ago because he identified as a gay man.

“A lot of people are just entitled nowa-days,” she said. “I don’t care if you are white, black, green, purple, striped, gay, lesbian. You treat me good, and I treat you how I want to be treated.”

Webster said the worst customers she dealt with were under the influence of drugs, and usually they don’t know what they are doing, which she said can be frightening.

She also said she prefers to serve drunken college students over rude customers, and believes she can serve college students better than people who insult her.

“The ones you think are going to be your best customers are usually your

worst customers,” she said. “You have your good, and you have your bad.”

Dustin Zimmerman, a bartender at Lucky's Sports Tavern, however, has his own struggles with drunken college students. He believes bartending to be a difficult job sometimes, especially on a Saturday night when “a million people are waving money at you.” The loud music and large orders can be overwhelming.

He said he was once tipped $30 on a $20 order but received no tip on an $80 order. He gets frustrated by people who don’t tip appropriately and finds it rude when people don’t tip at all.

But he likes his job because he gets a chance to interact with people. He explained that “money is good sometimes, and money is bad sometimes.”

“People treat us well,” Zimmerman, a senior studying communication studies, said. “You get the occasional mean person and jerks and stuff, but for the most part people are nice.”

Michael Miller, a shift lead at Pita Pit, described that on one out of three nights,

he might get a rude customer who makes lewd jokes. He said once, a customer, who was behaving in a drunken way, kept repeating “your mother’s sauce” when a female server asked him what sauce the customer would like.

“She was pretty uncomfortable,” Miller said.

Miller, however, enjoys his job because it has a more “chill environment” than other fast-food restaurants. He also enjoys the product.

Webster agrees that waitressing is a fun job. Despite having some experiences that would scare “normal people to death,” she has stuck with her profession for years because her co-workers look out for each other.

“I love my job, though,” she said. “With all the bad that does happen, I actually can say I love this place. Probably more than anyone that lives here. This is my home. I treat my home and people that come into it just like my kids.”

@HARDIKASINGH28 HS152416@OHIO.EDU

A Golden History As the OU Department of African-American studies celebrates 50th anniversary, its director hopes to continue engaging students and faculty through programming and scholarships HARDIKA SINGH FOR THE POST The Ohio University Department of African-American studies, established in 1969, is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

The program is one of few in Ohio, and it focuses on academic excellence and social responsibility in teaching, service and research. According to its website, the goal of the department is to produce global citizens who are able to recognize problems in modern society. Alumni of the program continue to do work in various fields after graduating, including law and LGBT youth advocacy.

Robin Muhammad, the department chair and associate professor of African-American studies, has been employed at OU since 2005. For the 50th anniversary, she wants the department to continue to do “what they have always done.” She wants to hold film screenings, hold panel discussions and give scholarships.

“The difference will be that we will be marking our 50th year anniversary,” Muhammad said.

She also wants to emphasize partnerships with local organizations and other departments and to continue them. One of those partnerships, with the OU Multicultural Center and other units, provided for a free screening of BlacKkKlansman on Aug. 31.

Muhammad believes everyone needs to take courses in African-American studies, regardless of their race, because it provides an interdisciplinary approach.

She also highlighted the tradition of remaining relevant to a larger group of people in the Department of African-American studies. The department remains committed to the question of,

Robin D. Muhammad, chair and associate professor of the African American studies program at Ohio University poses for a portrait. (MATTHEW JONES / FOR THE POST)

“how can we help the communities in which we live?”

The department engages people outside of Ohio University in historic preservation, panel discussions and service projects, which provide platforms for students to interact with Athens residents.

“One of the goals of African-American studies is to address a certain level of invisibility,” she said.

Muhammad said she always knew the African-American studies department was going to have its 50th anniversary when she celebrated the 40th anniversary.

“There was no question,” she said. “There was no question in my mind that we were going to make it to 50 and beyond.”

Muhammad does her best to continuously make African-American studies more accessible. The department keeps

an updated curriculum and tries to keep it innovative and interesting. It also, however, keeps it centered around the black experience.

“We maintain that integrity,” she said. “The people who might be curious or might want to challenge themselves will have an excellent resource to fill those gaps of knowledge.”

Lauren Wise, a sophomore in the pre-veterinary program, took

a course in the African-American studies department for her humanities credit. She took a class with Akil Houston and liked it because the class looked at the similarities and differences between popular music now and in the past. Wise enjoyed the class because she got a chance to examine and analyze different forms of media in a new way.

“Out of all the options, it seemed like it would be the most interesting one to take,” she said.

She is also excited about the African-American studies department celebrating its 50th anniversary. She thinks it shows that other people, besides people of color, are interested in learning about the subject matter.

“There is always room for understanding among everyone,” Wise said.

Betty Miller, a sophomore studying political science pre-law with a minor in African-American studies, finds the classes in the program interesting. She likes to read the books for the syllabus and has also learned some new things, such as the differences in labor and language regarding slavery in the northern and southern parts of America.

Miller explained she learned more about African-American history in college rather than school because most of the time, high school does not really talk about racial issues. Miller believes society has achieved a lot over the course of history in terms of equality and inclusiveness “But we still have a lot more to do,” Miller said. “We’re going in the right direction.”

@HARDIKASINGH28 HS152416@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 15

Rosh Hashanah celebration will bring Jewish students together BAYLEE DEMUTH STAFF WRITER Amid their busy schedules, Jewish students all over Ohio University are getting ready to celebrate one of their holiest holidays, the Jewish New Year known as Rosh Hashanah.

Rosh Hashanah is a time when Jewish people can be found celebrating with their families, going to temple services and hosting feasts with traditional platters to praise God for creating the world from new.

Levi Raichik, rabbi and co-director of Chabad at OU, does not see Rosh Hashanah as just another arbitrary date on the calendar.

“When us Jews call it the Jewish New Year, we really believe that it’s not just the beginning of the year,” Raichik said. “It’s when we think about why God is re-creating the world and what is my place and responsibility in it.”

This year, Rosh Hashanah will begin the evening of Sept. 9 and end the evening of Sept. 11. Chabad will be hosting a four-course gourmet new year dinner at 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9. The meal is free of charge for any Jewish students who RSVP before Sept. 5.

Raichik’s wife, with the help of some students, will be home-cooking the meal that will feature several traditional foods of Rosh Hashanah.

“We will be having a fish head at the head of the table because we want to start the year ahead,” Raichik said. “And we’ll also be serving challah, which is a type of bread that’s usually braided, but for Rosh Hashanah it’ll be round to symbolize the passage of time.”

Chabad is expecting more than 90 students to attend this formal event to ring in the new year. The more crowded the better, Raichik said.

On Sept. 10 at 12 p.m., Chabad will hold a 30 minute meditation at the center where Jewish students will discuss the meaning of the day, partake in prayer and blow the shofar, a ram’s horn.

“Back home when people went to the temple they’d be there for three or four hours, but to accommodate classes we’re making the service a lot more college oriented,” Raichik said.

Nate Chernomorets helped start Chabad his freshman year, with Raichik, 16 / SEPT. 6, 2018

and acknowledges that everybody is busy in college, but when it comes to Chabad, there are no strings attached and people can come and go as they please.

“Everybody comes together from different backgrounds and celebrates in different ways,” Chernomorets, a senior studying managing information systems and business analytics, and the vice president of Chabad, said. “It’s just wild seeing everything that’s happened under the sun.”

Chernomorets would attend Rosh Hashanah services as a young child and celebrate with all his family and friends. A tradition of the new year he still practices is dipping apples in honey.

“Dipping apples in honey is something I think most Jews do to symbolize the sweetness of the new year,” Chernomorets said.

To Sarah Horne, a sophomore studying journalism, dipping apples in honey was something she engaged in more as a child.

“I think it’d be fun to go out and buy an apple and do the whole thing, but finding time to do those little things is hard sometimes,” Horne said. “The older I’ve gotten the more focused I’ve been on the services and prayer.”

Last year Horne livestreamed her temple’s Rosh Hashanah service in her dorm room and engaged in the service.

“To me, Rosh Hashanah is a time I get to restart,” Horne said. “It’s like a new beginning and I love the fact that I get to celebrate it with my family, even if it is through my computer.”

Chabad’s service will discuss the spiritual and mystical meaning of the day with the blowing of the shofar as the centerpoint. To Raichik, the blowing of the shofar is what the whole ceremony is about.

“It symbolizes the inauguration of God in a way,” Raichik said. “When we talk about the new year and the new world, that’s why we blow it.”

Aside from the blowing of the shofar, Raichik is excited for the meditation in general.

“In college, students are more open to spirituality and I don’t want to treat them like children,” Raichik said. “The service is gonna be a lot of fun and you’ll meet a lot of Jews that you’ve never met before.”

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Ohio quarterback Quinton Maxwell calls out plays during the Bobcats’ game against Howard on Sept. 2, 2018.

(MEAGAN HALL / DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY)

Rourke and Maxwell continue to duke it out for starting quarterback PETE NAKOS ASST. SPORTS EDITOR Quinton Maxwell spent all offseason hearing about Nathan Rourke being the next great quarterback. The Bobcats brought Rourke to Mid-American Conference Media Day in Detroit, their entire season ticket promotion push is centered around a picture of him and parking passes have his picture. Nathan Rourke is supposed to be the face of the Ohio football program.

Finally, did Ohio have its quarterback to lead it to a conference championship?

But then Rourke struggled in the first three series of Saturday’s game against Howard, and Maxwell impressed, leading Ohio to the win, which was his first win since 2016.

Beating a Football Championship Subdivision school might not merit future starting quarterback reps. But it does prove Maxwell is more than capable of moving the Ohio offense down field in critical moments.

Still wearing his uniform, helmet on the ground and bandana off, Maxwell seemed like he was finally at peace after Saturday’s

game. He threw two touchdown passes and rushed for two more after entering the game at the start of the second quarter.

“For me personally it was kind of reassuring, saying, ‘all right, I’m settled in, I’m into the flow of the game,’” Maxwell said after Saturday’s game. “It felt good just to kind of get that out of the way and we can get on and get rolling.”

Maxwell started the season opener against Hampton game last season, but only played in two series before exiting. A week later against Purdue, he attempted just six passes and was pulled. That was the last time he started a game for Ohio.

Whether it was the plan to keep him in or put Rourke back in, it’s unknown. It’s obvious that Rourke didn’t bring his best game. Maxwell did.

But this is definitive: on Saturday, Quinton Maxwell turned one of the most secure quarterback jobs in the Group of Five into a noteworthy quarterback question.

To fully understand how sudden the quarterback change was Saturday, it’s important to comprehend what Rourke did for the program last season.

Rourke led the Bobcats to a 9-4 record

in 2017, throwing for 2,203 yards and 17 touchdowns in the process, as he firmly took control of the starting job for — what seemed obvious — the rest of his time in Athens. He rushed for 21 touchdowns, too, the most among quarterbacks in Division I. He did enough during his sophomore season to warrant some national buzz heading into 2018. The quarterback has found his name on watch lists for Maxwell, O’Brien and Manning awards.

Saturday against Howard, he played in three series and was 2 of 8. He had three chances to punch in a touchdown from the 5-yard line on his last series and failed.

Rourke’s first quarter of the season didn’t impress anyone. For the rest of the game, he stood on the sidelines while holding his collar. He warmed up a few times and walked over to Maxwell to give advice.

His answers were short and calculated after Tuesday’s practice. He admitted that it was the first time he’d ever been benched in his football career.

Now, coach Frank Solich has a larger problem on his hands. In a week and a half, he and the Bobcats will head to Char-

lottesville, Virginia. It will be Ohio’s first Football Bowl Subdivision opponent of the season.

Following Tuesday’s practice Solich made it known that Rourke will be the starter against the Cavaliers.

Yes, it’ll just be Week 2 of the season.

But quarterback battles are usually determined in the spring and summer, not the season. It isn’t a quarterback competition, but it’s the closes the Bobcats will come to announcing one.

Based on Rourke’s comments, it doesn’t seem like appreciated that he had such a short sample size.

At the end of the day, Ohio will have to eventually do what nearly every other football program in the country is doing: playing just one quarterback for the entire game.

“I think there’s a good chance that we’re going to share snaps,” Maxwell said. “Both of us know that we can go in there and perform well. Whatever happens will happen, all I can do is control my attitude and effort.”

@PETE_NAKOS96 PN997515@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 17

Special teams making a difference for Bobcats SPENCER HOLBROOK SPORTS EDITOR Michael Farkas and his family went to dinner Saturday at Cutler’s Restaurant at the Ohio University Inn after the Bobcats beat Howard. He had punted eight times — three of them sailed over 50 yards.

After dinner, he saw Tim Albin, Ohio’s offensive coordinator, who was in a recruiting dinner. Albin’s offense struggled at times against Howard, and Farkas helped flip the field position throughout the game. Albin pulled Farkas aside to tell him how he felt about the redshirt junior punter’s performance. “(Albin) pulled me aside and said, ‘Hey, you helped save the game and we’re lucky to have you,’” Farkas said. “It’s a good feeling, especially when it comes from him and coach (Frank) Solich.”

Farkas deserved the thanks from his coaches. The three punts that traveled at least 50 yards followed drives of fewer than five plays for the Bobcats.

One was when Ohio was down 16-3 and in its own red zone. The Bobcats needed a punt that flipped field position, and Farkas delivered.

Another was when Ohio was clinging to a six-point lead late in the fourth quarter. Farkas’ punt went 58 yards, hampering Howard’s chance at a game-winning drive.

As Ohio’s offense continuously failed to close out the game with first downs, Farkas was there to put Howard in a bad spot. That’s his job, and he’s good at it — his average punt was 46.0 yards Saturday, good for 16th nationally.

On the flip side of those spiraling punts is the defense, the beneficiary of Farkas’ skill as a punter. When Farkas is punting well, Ohio’s defense has an advantage.

On the 58-yard punt toward the end of the game, Howard had to start at its own 7-yard line thanks to the punt. The Bison were pinned deep, and their offense had to drive 93 yards to tie the game and potentially take the lead.

“We talk about, on defense, field position plus momentum equals points,” defensive coordinator Jimmy Burrow said.

“The better punter you have, the better field position you’re going to have. It creates momentum. If he can flip the field one way or the other, a lot of times, points (are) the result. It’s a huge weapon in your arsenal.”

Those moments are nothing new for Farkas, and when he comes off the field 18 / SEPT. 6, 2018

Michael Farkas by the numbers: YEAR

PUNTS

2016

71

40.8

2017

58

40.6

2018

8

41.0

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after those, he knows he’s appreciated.

Specialists are often outcasts on teams, rarely practicing with the rest of the team. They come to practice, do their punting and kicking duties and watch the other units.

That’s not the case for Farkas.

“I hear a lot of people don’t always feel welcomed on their team as a specialist, and here, it’s completely different,” Farkas said. “Couldn’t ask for a better group.”

Of course, it’s easy to be welcoming to a fourth-year punter who has success.

Farkas’ resume stands on its own; he has a career average of 41.0 yards per punt on 137 punts. He’s also the holder for kicker Louie Zervos’ field goals and extra points.

He’s been consistent throughout his time at Ohio, and he is part of a colorful special teams unit.

Farkas and Zervos have been around the program for four years. They have worked hard in their time in Athens, with the goal of becoming the best special teams unit in the country. Farkas says Zervos is already there: the best kicker in America. Their shared success as specialists has earned them respect in the locker room.

And although he’s one of the most successful players on Ohio’s roster, relative by position, Farkas is only in his third year playing at Ohio. He’s got plenty of time to improve. But for now, he’s good. And he knows it.

“I just try to help the team, but everyone in the best position possible,” Farkas said. “Pin them as deep as possible, and I go from there. I do my job and it helps everyone else.”

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HOCKEY

Ryan Higgins transitions from Blue Jacket to Bobcat MATT PARKER FOR THE POST There were only two programs Ryan Higgins wanted to visit during the recruitment process.

The two perennial national championship contenders, Ohio and Lindenwood, were the only two schools Higgins was interested in. Each in the American Collegiate Hockey Association, the two programs have a combined seven national championships, countless league titles and impressive records year in and year out.

With such stand-out resumes for a wide-eyed recruit to examine, deciding which program to join could’ve been one of the most difficult decisions for anyone to make.

But for Higgins, the decision was all too easy.

“In one week after my first visit to OU,” he said, “I knew this was the place I needed to be (at).”

The Hamilton native said it was an easy decision for multiple reasons.

“It’s a legit program,” he said. “They finished fifth (in the country) last year and I think we have a good shot (this season) with only four freshmen and everyone else returning.”

Aside from being a “legit” program, the at-home feel and location of Bird Arena further sold Higgins to commit to Ohio.

Above all, it was the hockey family he was leaving behind and the one he was joining.

For the past three seasons, at least one player has joined the Bobcats after having played a season with the U18 Ohio Blue Jackets. In total, there are five players from the Blue Jackets who are current Bobcats.

Higgins now already has relatability and comfortability with a few teammates, despite not even having shared the ice at Bird yet.

Kyle Craddick, a sophomore forward for the Bobcats, is a former player of the Blue Jackets. He never spoke to Higgins before the commitment, but Craddick knew it would be a significant addition to

the roster.

“I’ve heard nothing but good things about him,” Craddick said via text message. “Columbus does an outstanding job developing (and) advancing their guys on.

I’m glad he chose here.”

Right after committing to Ohio, Higgins said his phone nearly erupted with phone calls and text messages from current Bobcats who once played for the same team he did.

With such a warm welcome wagon and comfortability, the expectations are high for Higgins. Former U18 players Gianni Evangelisti, Timmy Thurnau and Craddick combined for 80 points last season. Jimmy Thomas was one of the ACHA’s premier goalies after he posted a 25-9 record with a .920 save percentage.

Clearly the standards that Higgins’ predecessors have laid out in front of him are huge, but it’s nothing he is worried about.

“I feel excited (about the opportunity),” Higgins said. “I don’t necessarily feel any pressure, it’s more relaxed because I know I’m following their path.”

Higgins’ on-ice performance will take care of itself as he progresses through both the ranks at Ohio and in the ACHA. The 5-foot-9-inch, 165 pounds freshman is eerily the same size as some of Ohio’s best forwards, proving that bigger doesn’t mean better. A quick skater and with a strong two-way game, Higgins has the potential to follow the routes of senior Cody Black and junior Tyler Harkins who also possess the aforementioned traits In time, Higgins will earn his ice time, and score goals and net assists. All he’s worried about now is just taking it one day at a time, starting with the team’s first official practice on Sept. 13.

“I’m just ready to get on the ice,” he said. “It was good to get my feet underneath me with school and everything, but now I’m ready to get on the ice and get the season going.”

@MPARKER_5 MP109115@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 19

Healing Hands, Hooves and Paws ALEXIS EICHELBERGER | CULTURE EDITOR

T

o Rinda Scoggan, her standard poodle Buddy has always been smart.

He was easy to train and has a good, calm temperament. He’s what Scoggan called a “people dog.” During their visits to the dog park, he is typically more interested in meeting the owners than he is the other dogs.

When Scoggan, now a senior counselor at Ohio University Counseling and Psychological Services, worked in an all-male correctional facility, she sometimes brought Buddy to work with her. She found that the men she spoke with seemed to do better during their sessions when Buddy was there.

Those observations piqued her interests in the therapeutic help animals can provide to people, and she began researching what it would take to get Buddy officially certified as a therapy dog. When she began working at Marietta College, she proposed the official certification process to her supervisors, who encouraged her to go forward with the training so Buddy could join her on campus.

20 / SEPT. 6, 2018

Now, Buddy comes to “work” at OU approximately once a week. He accompanies Scoggan during each of her counseling sessions on those days, acting as a comforting presence in whatever way her clients feel most comfortable with. Some pet him while they talk. Some allow him to lie at their feet or sit next to them. In any case, Buddy’s calming effect provides a loving and understanding presence that sometimes makes difficult conversations a little less challenging.

“Animals love you unconditionally,” Scoggan said. “They kind of have this sense of when you’re sad or when you’re upset, or when you need a little bit of extra stuff. And they just love you unconditionally. They want you to pet them and hold them, and it really doesn’t matter what else is going on.”

Last year, Scoggan began bringing her newly trained dog, Dug to work with her, too. The golden retriever has been a certified therapy dog for a year, and Scoggan hopes to begin bringing him to work more and eventually “retiring” Buddy. But until then, both dogs will continue to visit campus, accompanying Scoggan during her time in the office and providing comfort for other students in group sessions when discussing a traumatic event or during destress sessions facilitated by other campus organizations.

Animal-assisted therapy was conceptually developed in the 1960s, and though the idea was at first met with criticism, it has since grown drastically in use. Now, animals are used as agents of healing and comfort for people with a range of ailments and disabilities, including cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, autism and schizophrenia.

Despite its growth in popularity and acceptance, some financial hurdles often still stand in the way of those who wish to access and provide animal-assisted therapy. But to those who have seen the healing power of four-legged friends, the benefits are unmistakable.

TEACHING TO HEAL As animal-assisted therapy has grown in practice, so have educational opportunities for those wishing to share it with others. This year marks the inaugural year of Hocking College’s animal-assisted therapy program, a two-year degree program that equips students with the skills to care for and facilitate healing through either

horses or dogs.

Cynthia Conner, manager of the canine therapy program and kennel operations at Hocking College, said the school wanted to offer the program to give students hands-on training and experience working directly with animals. Conner said few colleges in Ohio and surrounding states offer animal-assisted therapy programs, and students often have to resort to studying online rather than learning through application.

Conner, who began working with animals when she was a teenager and has experience in therapy, veterinary medicine and grooming, said animals can often have a very soothing effect on people and offer an outlet for emotional trauma. She said as more research has been conducted, it’s been found that people, especially children, often respond much better and are more comfortable around animals than they are with other people.

“Animals just have a calming effect,” Conner said. “If they’re calm and they’re loving, not very many people can say no to a dog that’s sitting there staring at you with their sad little eyes saying ‘hi, I’m here to love you.’ That’s pretty much what all dogs feel if they’re trained properly and socialized well. What person can tell a dog, ‘no’?”

COST OF CARE To those who have witnessed its impacts first-hand, animals have the potential of providing obvious health benefits.

And luckily for them, OU students can spend time with Buddy and Dug free of charge. All services provided by Counseling and Psychological Services are free to students, along with the other campus programs that the dogs sometimes attend.

However, not all who seek out animal-assisted therapy have that same luxury. The cost of animal-assisted therapy often varies depending on the animal and the providing organization, but it can climb to hundreds of dollars per session. The National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy, a prominent provider of horse-assisted therapy in California, calculates that each session costs between $115 and $300.

In many cases, animal-assisted therapy, and other similar therapies such as art or dance therapy, is not covered by health insurance. A study published by the Interactive Autism Network in 2011 found that out of 8,000 families surveyed, only 12 percent

“

If the person means (an animal) no harm, they’ll relax instantly. It’s like they just know.

I think they see on a different level than we do. I think when they look at you, they look at your soul. I honestly do.”

- Wayne Boyd, owner of New Beginnings Animal Center reported that insurance covered some or all of the costs for animal-assisted therapy provided to their children with autism.

Daniel Skinner, an assistant professor of health policy, explained that when animals are used for medicinal purposes as therapy animals are, they become much more than a pet in the eyes of the law and insurance providers. Of course, different health insurance plans provide for different treatments. But the challenge when trying to persuade an insurance provider to provide for a treatment is concretely demonstrating efficacy.

“A lot of times it has to do with clinical evidence,” Skinner said. “So, a therapy dog or a therapy animal of some sort may not have any clinical tests beneath it in terms of randomized trials or the concepts that insurance companies typically use to say, ‘Yes, we’ll fund that.’ ” In addition to demonstrating a clear medical need for or benefit received from the therapy, it can also be a challenge to prove to insurance providers that the alternative therapy is worth the cost, as opposed to using a pharmaceutical or other clinically backed treatment.

“There are all sorts of things that people want that they claim helps them,” Skinner said. “So it’s like this constant negotiation of trying to demonstrate efficacy.”

AN HONEST REMEDY Along with demonstrating effectiveness, insurance providers are additionally concerned with safety. Therefore, providers of animal-assisted therapy must also acquire insurance in the case that a client is injured during a session. The cost for that insurance can be “staggering,” Wayne

Boyd said.

Boyd has loved and worked closely with animals since he was a child. He began training and rehabilitating stray dogs when he was only 9 years old and later worked with exotic animals such as large cats, zebras, giraffes and more. When he moved to Athens, he delved into nonprofit work, and he eventually opened his own all-species rescue farm in Glouster called New Beginnings Animal Center.

The farm officially began operations in 2014. Boyd and his colleagues rescued and rehabilitated dogs, cats, horses and other animals, and they helped many find new homes through adoption. Additionally, they used the animals to help others cope with disabilities and mental illnesses.

Children with autism and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder would visit the farm and spend time with the animals or ride the horses, enjoying the calmness and refuge the time provided them free of charge.

Michele Summers, vice president of New Beginnings, joined Boyd in his venture and helped him start the rescue operation.

“I think we’ve both been rescuing animals most of our lives,” she said.

Nonprofit groups like New Beginnings often do not charge those who seek their therapy services, countering the lack of insurance coverage those families often face. However, as Boyd noted, the costs of running such an operation can add up quickly.

Extenuating circumstances forced New Beginnings to close temporarily at the beginning of the year. But Boyd hopes to reopen soon, potentially by partnering with other therapy-oriented nonprofit groups, so he and his colleagues can continue to provide a free, fun and healing service to the area.

Animals, Boyd said, are honest in the purest sense. They cannot lie, judge or disrespect a person. They simply exist and live honest and loving existences, and that is what makes them such natural and powerful agents of healing.

“If the person means (an animal) no harm, they’ll relax instantly,” Boyd said.

“It’s like they just know. I think they see on a different level than we do. I think when they look at you, they look at your soul. I honestly do.”

@ADEICHELBERGER AE595714@OHIO.EDU

THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 21

the weekender Three shows in the Athens area to see this weekend

MOLLY SCHRAMM ASST. BLOGS EDITOR

IF YOU GO

The weekend is arriving, and there are tons of concerts in the Athens area to attend.

Whether music lovers are seeking rock music or folk is more their vibe, there’s definitely something for everyone. Here are some shows happening in different area venues.

WHAT: SPARE CHANGE WITH ACRYLIC GROOVES AND FREAK MYTHOLOGY

CASA NUEVA | 6 W STATE ST. Friday at Athens’ Mexican-style eatery Casa Nueva, audiences are in for a rock and roll-filled night. The night starts with Athens’ own Acrylic Grooves. The six-piece is a growing rock-band, and according to their Facebook page, they’ve formulated a style that everyone can rally around.

Following Acrylic Grooves, Cincinnati-based band Freak Mythology are gearing up for another show in Athens.

“It’s so much fun to play in Athens,” guitarist/vocalist Ryan Shephard said. “We try to do it as much as possible.”

Shephard said shows in Athens are special because there’s a passion in the town’s music scene, which doesn’t always occur.

To round off the night, $pare Change, a psychedelic rock band are set to play.

ADMISSION: $5 for 21 and up

STUART’S OPERA HOUSE | 52 PUBLIC SQUARE, NELSONVILLE Next up, Stuart’s Opera House, located 25 minutes outside of Athens, has a great show for anyone interested in Americana bands, marketing director Brian Koscho said.

Birds of Chicago is a collaborative effort between two singer-songwriters that first made its appearance at the 2018 Nelsonville Music Festival.

“They were really well received, and unbelievable musicians who put on a great show,” Koscho said.

Koscho explained how the Opera House 22 / SEPT. 6, 2018

WHEN: 8 P.M., FRI. WHERE: CASA NUEVA, 6 W. STATE ST.

WHAT: JAKE DUNN & THE BLACKBIRDS WITH DRIFT MOUTH WHEN: 9 P.M., SAT. WHERE: THE UNION BAR AND GRILL, 18 W UNION ST. ADMISSION: $6 Ryan Shephard performs with Freak Mythology in Covington, Kentucky. (KELSEY BOEING | FOR THE POST)

is open to acts from multiple genres. The staff enjoys presenting music for people who love music, and he said Birds of Chicago fits perfectly into that wheelhouse.

“Being that it’s an old opera house, an old theater, Americana and folk music sound great in the room,” Koscho said.

The Opera House has added a new addition where people can go and enjoy music. Birds of Chicago will be performing in the Opera House’s brand new Grand Lobby. Completed last year, the 4,000 squarefoot lobby is located downstairs, and Koscho said it is a great way to enjoy a more casual, laid-back show. Because it’s only been open to the public since last December, there have only been a couple lobby shows, which ensures that anyone going to see Birds of Chicago this Friday will be in for a new experience.

THE UNION BAR AND GRILL | 18 W UNION ST. Finishing off the weekend, The Union Bar and Grill has a show planned that may appeal to country fans. Also based in Ohio, Jake Dunn & The Blackbirds are set to play Saturday night. The Americana-style fivepiece could be compared to the likes of Sturgill Simpson, according to its website.

Liv Rees, a senior studying civil engineering, said Jake Dunn has always played shows around her hometown and Saturday is a perfect time for her to finally see him.

An avid fan of music and live shows, Rees expressed her love for the Union and the different artists they bring in.

“The Union is a great place and awesome atmosphere.” Rees said in an email.

“Athens is lucky to have the Union.”

Jake Dunn & The Blackbirds will be

supported by a country band who equally encapsulate modern and classic country.

Drift Mouth is a band that’s no stranger to Athens. Lead singer and guitarist Lou Poster said the band is always excited to play in Athens, especially at The Union.

“It’s long been a hub of midwest and national music culture,” Poster said in an email.

Poster went on to explain how Drift Mouth has never played with Jake Dunn & The Blackbirds before.

“On our last tour, Jake Dunn & The Blackbirds were either a day or two ahead or behind us, depending on the date,” Poster said in an email. “We are really looking forward to finally linking up with them.”

@HALLEWEBER13 HW422715@OHIO.EDU

WHAT’S GOING ON? ALEXIS EICHELBERGER CULTURE EDITOR

FRIDAY Pop-Up Studio for the Ohio Pawpaw Festival at 10 a.m. at 5281

Washington Road, Albany. Channel your inner artist and join in the celebration of the 20th Pawpaw Festival by helping organizers make decorations and art for the festival.

Continues Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Sun., Sept. 16. Admission: Free Crafternoon at noon at the Ohio University LGBT Center, Baker 354.

Practice some “craftivism” and have fun making hearts for Passion Works and creating two displays for the Office of Multicultural Student Access and Retention and the LGBT Center. Admission: Free Fall Fest at 4 p.m. on the top level

Bryn Perrott Art Show Opening at

6 p.m. at Jackie O’s Taproom, 25 Campbell St. This artist will kick off a month-long showing of her woodcuts with a craft beer celebration, which will also feature a collection of stickers, pins and prints. Admission: Free

MOLLY HUGHES Production Designer for the highly acclaimed box office success, The Fault in Our Stars and most recently finished production on the Walt Disney motion picture, The One and Only Ivan. Before her venture as a Production Designer, Molly was an Art Director on the Harry Potter films.

The Zeroes at 9 p.m. at Casa Nueva,

6 W. State St. The Columbus-based indie rock group will make a stop in Athens during its fall tour around the state. Admission: $5

SUNDAY

BACKGROUND THE FROM OUT OF

FOLLOWING THE PATH OF A PRODUCTION DESIGNER

Improv with Yang Miller at 3 p.m. at

the Dairy Barn Arts Center, 8000 Dairy Lane. Learn to be the funniest person you know by learning to create a full mini-play based on a single word. Admission: $30

Kennedy THE

LECTURE SERIES

Monday, 7:30 PM, September 10, 2018 at Ohio University’s Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium Admission to this lecture is free.

Seating is limited, doors open at 6:30 PM ohio.edu/kennedylecture

Little Fish Trivia Night 5 p.m. at Lit-

tle Fish Brewing Company, 8675 Armitage Road. Little Fish offers teams to show off their smarts every second Sunday of each month.

Each member of the winning team will receive a voucher for a free $4.50 beer. Admission: Free

at 2:50, 5:10, 7:35 and 9:55 p.m.

Sorry to Bother You (rated R) - Friday at 5:15, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m.; Saturday at 2:45, 5:15, 7:30 and 9:45p.m., Sunday at 2:45, 7:30 and 9:45 p.m.

Rosh Hashanah dinner and services

of the Athens Parking Garage, 7 E. Washington St. The organizers of Ohio Brew Week will bring craft beer, cider food vendors and live music to the top of the parking garage. Proceeds will benefit Honey for the Heart. Admission: Free

at 6 p.m. in the Baker Center Theater Lounge. Celebrate the Jewish new year with Hillel at OU with a tasty holiday meal and religious service. Admission: free for students and children; $15 for community members. RSVP to Hillel.

SATURDAY

MOVIE TIMES & BAR DEALS

Friends of Athens Public Library Book Sale at 9 a.m. at the Athens Pub-

The Athena Cinema movie times

lic Library, 21 Home St. Support the library by browsing a range of items, including children’s, young adult, romance and holiday books, along with CDs and DVDs. Most books will cost $1 for 3, with new and speciality items starting at $1. Admission: Free

O h i o U n i v e r s i t y ’s K e n n e d y L e c t u r e S e r i e s We l c o m e s

BlacKkKlansman (rated R) - Friday at 5, 7:20 and 9:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2:35, 5, 7:20 and 9:30 p.m; Sunday at 2:35, 5, 7:20 and 9:30 p.m Eighth Grade (rated R): Friday at 5:10, 7:35 and 9:55 p.m.; Saturday at 2:50, 5:10, 7:35 and 9:55 p.m.; Sunday

Bar deals in Athens Broney’s Alumni Grill - $2 draft pints, $3 Bloody Marys Cat’s Corner - Sunday “beat the clock” from 2-8 p.m.: beer pitchers start at $2 and go up a dollar every hour; happy hour from 3-6 p.m.: two for $4 beer, $4 wine and $3 double well liquor Cat’s Eye Saloon - Happy hour, weekdays from 4-9 p.m.: PBR glasses start at 40 cents, 5 cent increase every half-hour; $4.50 pitchers from 3-9 p.m.

The J Bar - Sunday: Jameson, Jack Daniels and Rumple $3 shots, $2 Arnold Palmers Lucky’s Sports Tavern - Happy hour, weekdays from 4-9 p.m.:

$1 domestic short drafts, $1.75 domestic bottles, $1.75 mixed drinks The Over Hang - Friday: $3 F-bombs; Sunday: $1.50 well rum drinks, $4 domestic beer pitcher The Pigskin Bar and Grille - Happy hour from 7-9 p.m.: $2 domestic beer; $2 well liquor The Pub - $5 domestic beer aquarium; $12 rainbow shots (8 shots in total) Red Brick Tavern - ‘Brick Break’ daily from 6-9 p.m.: $5 domestic buckets, $1 well rum, $2 well Monster, $3 specialty Monster The Smiling Skull Saloon - Happy hour on Fridays from 5-7 p.m.: $2 beer; Sunday: 50 cents off import beer Tony’s Tavern - Sunday: $1.25 Pabst Blue Ribbon and High Life, $1.75 Hot Nuts The Union Bar & Grill - Happy hour from 3-8 p.m.: 50 cents off Bloody Marys; Sundays: 50 cents off margaritas @ADEICHELBERGER AE595714@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 23

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2017

THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017

Virtual healing

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2017

The MAC’s rising star

DEFENDER THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

OF THE TURF

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

Claire Buckey claims her territory on Pruitt Field despite recurring health problems P12

Free speech policy causes concerns P11 Cover: Medical field utilizes VR P12 Embracing local agriculture P20

ANOTHER REMEDY

President

Duane Nellis

+

Breaking down OU’s budget P12

MORE AND MORE WOMEN ARE CHOOSING TO TREAT MEDICAL CONDITIONS WITH ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE INSTEAD OF DOCTORS VISITS PAGES 20-21

After a nearly yearlong nationwide search, Duane Nellis took office as Ohio University’s 21st president on June 12.

Now, Nellis reflects on his past and shares hopes for the future.

Safety Javon Hagan’s new role P16 Exploring the world of animation P20

Comparing expression policies P9

A sit-down with the president P12

Nellis in college P10

Sustainable volunteering P20

Hockey’s second-year starter P14

Effects of marijuana depenalization 9

OU Southern’s equine program 12

Volleyball setter’s move from Italy 18

Nellis’ previous employment P20

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2017 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2017

GRASS-ROOTS

ELECTIONS

L I F E S T Y L E Mamerto Tindongan finds life more valuable with less P20

DECK CAN GO HERE FOR A HALLOWEEN-RELATED STORY YAY BOO MWAHAHAHAHAH

Evaluating Trump’s presidency P8 TACO exceeds majority vote P15

PAGES 16-21

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DECISIONS FOR ATHENS Hispanic students balance college P20

Pumpkin’s rise to Athens celebrity P12 Setting up haunted houses P16

Looking for an enriching college experience centered around teamwork and creativity?

Quilt empowers sexual assault survivors P19

THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018

Foundation of The Post hasThe been serving Ohio University OHIO HOCKEY and the Athens area for more than 100 years, and we’re always hiring.

Baker 70: one year later

How Bill Gurnick put the Bobcats on the map P20

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Faculty diversity rises slowly P8 Photo story: MLK March P12

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Closing the gender gap in STEM 11

COVER: Ohio’s next big investment 12

NEWS SPORTS CULTURE OPINION BLOGS MULTIMEDIA VISUALS PROJECTS Basketball’s star center P18

Dave Jamerson’s journey to God 20

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2018

Healing the scars

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T H W B H E Post-grad possibilities P10

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E Y I L L E A R D

A love for cult classics P20

Sibs Weekend events P22

THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2018

Pipe bursts in residence hall P8

It’s Women’s History Month. ‘The Post’ compiled a collection of stories to celebrate women in Athens and Ohio University.

Cultural problems with ‘Friends’ P19

Hockey works on power plays P21 Businesses in action P10

THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2018

UNEARTHING A SECRET

She walks

THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018

by faith P12

The story behind a patch of farmland, a man and his reputation P12

THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2018 THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2018

FOOD ISSUE

UNCERTAIN FREEDOMS P14

ATHENS CULTIVATES RESTAURANTS AND DISHES THAT STUDENTS AND LOCALS HAVE COME TO KNOW AND LOVE. THIS ISSUE IS DEDICATED TO THOSE FAMILIAR FLAVORS.

The turnover rate of businesses P9

One team, one video game P19

Caligraphy in the digital age P20

Brunch life in Athens P6 Carriage Hill one year later P9

Donkey’s most regular regular P19

From junior college to Ohio P20

Athletes’ diets in season P17

Cover story: family kitchens P18 Updates on Union explosion P9

Land of opportunity P12

A dazzling history P20

THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018

Fridging in comic book culture P18

REFLECTING ON THE YEAR Take a look at the different faces, places and events that highlighted the 2017-18 academic year through the lens of ‘Post’ photographers