April 18, 2019

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2019

OU responds to racist video P4

Ohio’s mushroom hunters P8

The sound of Velvet Green P13

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Graduation is coming; time to say goodbye

LAUREN FISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Well, I knew this one was coming.

Four years may have passed by quickly, but I never could’ve imagined just how fast senior year would go. And yet, here we are, just two weeks from graduation. This From the Editor’s Desk will be my last.

I’ve told the story of how I ended up at this school a thousand times to prospective students and overzealous parents. I’ve perfected the art of telling it with all the necessary cinematic details — how I was supposed to spend these four years in a big city school, how I sat on the Civil War monument and cried to my parents about how badly I wanted to go anywhere but Ohio University.

I explained how in the first week of freshman year, I sat in that same place and ate dinner with a group of newfound friends.

Sophomore year, it was where I met my college sweetheart for date nights. Junior year, it was where I called my family to tell them I got the scholarship opportunity of a lifetime.

The tour group parents always like to hear about that one.

With graduation just a few weeks away,

there’s been endless talk of bucket lists to check off, senior shuffles Uptown and goodbye dinners. There’s a strange sort of anxiety that you need to have the full Athens experience. You need to sample every restaurant on Court Street and to climb every hill to take in the full view of the town you’re leaving behind.

There’s no such thing as a universal experience here. And there’s no need to strive for perfection in it. Maybe it just hasn’t hit me yet. Truthfully, I was hoping that by the time I sat down to write this, I’d be feeling all nostalgic and weepy about “the best days” coming to an inevitable end.

Sure, these years have been nothing short of wonderful. Cleaning out my desk and leaving this newsroom is going to be a damn near impossible task. This is my home. It’s where I found my voice and met my best friends.

It wasn’t a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination. The 2 a.m. deadline to get the paper to press was, at first, exhilarating. But a person can only take so many of those deadlines before they realize it’s kind of exhausting. Running a newspaper on top of being a college student and trying to maintain a sem-

blance of a social life is no easy feat — just ask any editor in our office. Still, it’s been a great year. A rough year, yes, but a great one.

And now, I think it’s time to say our goodbyes.

To our readers: Thank you for every email and handwritten letter and for your willingness to support your local student newspaper.

Without you, none of this would be possible.

To my staff: What a wild ride this has been.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to find the words to express just how much I appreciate the work you’ve done this year. Be proud of what you’ve created this year. I couldn’t have asked for a better team.

I truly believe it’s been my greatest privilege to serve as editor-in-chief of this publication. Thank you for the challenges and for the memories. Here’s to many more to come.

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

Cover illustration by Riley Scott

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 THE BEAT EDITOR Georgia Davis DIRECTOR OF MULTIMEDIA Alex Penrose DIRECTOR OF PODCASTS Cal Gunderson STUDENT MEDIA SALES INTERNSHIP MANAGER Andrea Lewis

THE

POST

ISSUE 27, VOLUME 109 1 PARK PLACE, ROOM 325 EDITOR@THEPOSTATHENS.COM PHONE | 740.593.4010 FAX | 740.593.0561

ONLINE THE BEAT thepostathens.com/the-beat FACEBOOK thepostathens TWITTER @ThePost

FRONT DESK HOURS 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

Monday through Friday.

Closed Saturday and Sunday.

1 Park Place Baker University Center, Room 325 Athens, OH 45701 (740) 593-4010

Send us your letters Do you ever find something in The Post thoughtprovoking, questionable or even infuriating? Let us know!

We are always interested in hearing about the way our readers respond to our content every day.

Your opinion is welcome. Letters should be fewer than 500 words. Longer submissions will be considered as guest commentaries, but space is limited. All letters must be signed by at least one individual; anonymous letters will not be accepted. The Post does not accept letters soliciting donations or news releases. Please include your year and major if you are a student. Letters can be submitted online at www.thepostathens. com, by email at editor@thepostathens.com or at The Post’s front desk in the media wing on the third floor of Baker University Center.

We reserve the right to edit submissions for clarity, vulgarity and Associated Press Style.

IN PERSON Baker Center, Room 325 ONLINE thepostathens.com/letters

BY EMAIL letters@thepostathens.com

The Post is an independent media outlet run by Ohio University students. We distribute the paper free of charge in Athens, Ohio, when classes are in session. Editorial page material represents the opinions of the editors, columnists and letter writers. Opinions expressed are independent of Ohio University and our printer.

Advertisement Policies The Post will not print advertisements that violate local, state or federal laws.

All advertisements must display good taste. The Post reserves the right to refuse any advertisement. If questions arise, the editor will make the final decision.

The Post will not run real estate or employment advertisements that discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, sexual orientation or national origin.

All advertisements are subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act. Phone numbers will not be printed in the Personals section.

If errors are found in a classified ad, please notify The Post by 4 p.m. the day the ad runs. Though The Post cannot be responsible for errors, a corrected ad will run free of charge on the next publication date. Cash refunds will not be given.

Notify The Post by 4 p.m. of cancellations for the following day.

EDITORIAL

OU must hold racist behavior accountable As Ohio University students, we were disheartened and surprised by a tweet that has circulated on social media recently.

Several white OU students quoted a Vine that included the N-word and implied that black people are going to steal from a store.

The video, and the people who were involved in it, told a message that black people are not welcome at our university.

We tend to assume that everyone in the beautiful college town of Athens holds the same values and beliefs that we do, so to see fellow students and people our age display explicitly racist behavior comes as a shock.

But the reality is that the majority of OU students and faculty members hold implicit biases, some less implicit than others.

It is no secret that The Post has struggled with diversity, and we are continuing to work on this. Last week, Winsome Chunnu-Brayda, the director of OU’s Multicultural Center, took time out of her Thursday evening to chat with our staff about implicit biases in the media and microaggressions.

She not only talked about ways we can improve as a media outlet in our coverage of different cultures, but she also helped us understand how daily dialogues can affect people of color and other minorities.

We often don’t realize how some of our

everyday language can be misinterpreted or simply make others feel uncomfortable.

Chunnu-Brayda helped open our eyes and made us think more deeply about the things we say in classrooms, in everyday social situations and, perhaps most crucially, in our newsroom.

Still, this isn’t enough. We will continue to hold these cultural competency workshops year after year, in hopes of improving how we cover diverse issues and how we act as people.

We ask that the university do the same.

In the first few months of a student’s time at OU, they are exposed to so much.

Often, these experiences are new and unlike what they experienced in their hometowns and high schools. New students take two mandatory workshops, Haven and Alcohol Edu, in their first year. These are important experiences for students, as they teach them about sexual assault and alcohol competency.

But we need to expand to another crucial facet in every college student’s life: cultural competency.

Ohio University claims to take pride in its international student population and frequently boasts of its enrollment of people of color. But stories of disclusion, discomfort

and blatant racism are well-known.

In a statement about the video, Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones called the video a “racial incident.” In reality, the video portrays explicit racist behavior. The university needs to stop dancing around racism that comes out of the university and must instead fully confront it.

When University of Alabama students posted a video in March 2018 in which a student said a racial slur, that student was expelled. While we do not want to suggest a course of action on the university’s behalf, we believe something must done in this instance.

OU needs to take action to put money where its mouth is, so to speak, and put more effort into making people of color feel represented and comfortable.

Creating mandatory cultural competency workshops for all students would be a step in the right direction. For years, students have been advocating for the implementation of these classes.

This can’t be the only course of action, though. Perhaps the university can make certain cultural classes mandatory, such as Introduction to African American Studies and Difficult Dialogues: Religion, Race and Sexuality. Continuing dialogue, holding those accountable for explicit racism

and ensuring the faculty population is more representative of OU’s student body can also help contribute to making campus feel more welcoming.

But to simply write the situation off and undermine its danger is extremely harmful. Ohio University can do better.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors: Editor-in-Chief Lauren Fisher, Managing Editor Maddie Capron, Digital Managing Editor Alex McCann, Assistant Managing Editor Jessica Hill and Creative Director Abby Gordon. Post editorials are independent of the publication’s news coverage.

Corrections: In the April 12 tabloid, the article “Providing Care from Home” misspelled Marjorie Stone’s name.

In the April 4 tabloid, the article “Radio stations provide service in rural areas” incorrectly stated the acronyms of several radio stations.

Want to

WORK WITH US? NEWS

SPORTS

CULTURE

OPINION

THE BEAT

MULTIMEDIA

Join The Post | editor@thepostathens.com

SUMMER IN MAINE Males & Females Meet New Friends! Travel!

Teach your favorite activity.

TENNIS | SWIM June to August Residential APPLY ONLINE TODAY! TRIPP LAKE CAMP for Girls 1.800.997.4347 | www.tripplakecamp.com THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 3

University responds to racist student video COURTNEY PERRETT FOR THE POST A video of Ohio University students received thousands of reactions on Twitter due to its racist nature on Monday.

The video included four OU students.

One of the students said “One, two, three, four, how many n-----s are in my store?”

Maurice Swift, a sophomore and resident assistant at OU, posted the video to Twitter after discovering it on a GroupMe chat.

“This is unacceptable, and as a minority at Ohio University, this makes the community feel unwelcomed and unsafe,” Swift said in the tweet. “Something must be done, and our voices must be heard.”

Swift said he had a strong reaction to the video.

“I was extremely disgusted at first,” Swift said in an email. “But I decided not to let my emotion cloud my judgement.

So instead of acting on the video, I sent it to my supervisor to see what I could do about it.”

Jasmyne Channel, Swift’s supervisor and OU resident director, immediately filed an Equity and Civil Rights Compliance report and forwarded the video to OU’s director of Housing and Residence Life.

“A lot of the residents on campus feel very unsafe, unheard and uncomfortable,” Swift said in an email. “I feel that we get mistreated, and when we voice our opinions, it gets swept under the rug. We never get the justice we deserve.”

OU’s Twitter responded to Swift’s tweet of the video on Monday.

“Thank you for tagging us. We are disappointed that this happened,” OU’s tweet said. “This behavior contradicts OHIO’s values, and the proper departments are looking into this post.”

University spokesperson Carly Leatherwood said in an email that racism in any form is not tolerated at OU. “We are aware of the racist post that is circulating on social media, and the appropriate offices on campus have reached out to students who have expressed concern as well as to the student who made the post,” Leatherwood said in an email.

The university will conduct a process to determine whether the Student Code of Conduct has been violated or not.

Leatherwood said in an email that the Division of Student Affairs and the Division for Diversity and Inclusion are avail4 / APRIL 18, 2019

able to provide resources and support to anyone with concerns about the incident.

OU Black Student Union responded to the tweet on Monday.

“We, as a Black community, feel uncomfortable & unwelcome in response to this,” OU Black Student Union said in the tweet. “Occurrences like this are an unfortunate reminder that ignorance and cultural insensitivity are alive at Ohio.”

Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones responded to the incident on Twitter on Tuesday and understands the hurt the incident has caused. She said she is aware of the “racial incident” and was appreciative of all who were outraged and brought it to the university’s attention.

“This type of behavior is never acceptable on our campus or in our community,” Hall-Jones said in a responding tweet.

“I encourage us all to reflect on our own biases, stereotypes and critique our own behaviors moving forward. We are better than this.”

Student Senate President Maddie Sloat and Student Senate President-elect Lydia Ramlo sent out a media release on Tuesday condemning the discriminatory behavior on behalf of Student Senate and stands with constituents calling on the university to take disciplinary action.

“In hearing the experiences shared by members of our black community, these actions not only hurt people of color on this campus but also break down the Bobcat community we strive to create every day,” Sloat and Ramlo said in the media release.

Sloat and Ramlo also stated that the incident demonstrates a need for increased cultural competency.

“Student Senate maintains its commitment to advocating for more dedicated programming regarding cultural competency, working with administrators and students alike to ensure actions are taken to combat these behaviors moving forward,” Sloat and Ramlo said in the media release.

Sloat and Ramlo encouraged OU students to hold each other accountable for any incidences of discrimination or hatefulness and should work together to create a safer, more inclusive environment on campus.

@COURT_PERRETT12 CP160517@OHIO.EDU

O’Bleness therapy dogs comfort patients and staff NOLAN SIMMONS FOR THE POST Patients at OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital can expect to see two therapy dogs making their rounds.

Halle, a six-year-old golden retriever certified by Alliance of Therapy Dogs, and Jazz, a six-year-old goldendoodle certified with Therapy Dogs International, visit O’Bleness on alternating Tuesdays, comforting patients and staff alike.

“The benefit is just to have something soft, just to hug and talk to for a minute to take their mind off, you know, what’s going on in their world,” O’Bleness volunteer manager Amy Radekin-Lent said.

“It’s really humbling. I don’t have a better word for that.”

The therapy dog program began in early December with the help of Steve Trotta, Halle’s trainer and a physical therapist at Ohio University, and Pat Vogt, former O’Bleness volunteer manager.

Trotta said the idea for the program came to him after bringing his former golden retriever, Quincy, along with him to a nursing home.

“One day a patient who was a little

agitated and whatnot didn’t recognize me, didn’t want me to (do her) therapy, and Quincy jumped up on her bed … and curled up there with her, and it clicked (with me) that your physical therapist, that’s Quincy,” Trotta said. “Ever since then, I’d thought that that would be neat to do. If I didn’t bring the dog, the residents didn’t want to see me.”

For the past 20 years, Trotta has been raising golden retrievers with his wife Jenny. In addition to Halle, they currently own two other golden retrievers named Fenway and Willow.

Though she has only been a licensed therapy dog for a few months, Halle has spent a lot of time comforting people.

Last December, Trotta took his three dogs to Alden Library to help students de-stress during final exams. Before that, she was in a production of Annie with the River Players.

Trotta plans on getting Fenway accredited through TDI, which would allow him to be brought into the hospital along with Halle and Jazz.

Jazz, who was brought into the program about a month after Halle, is owned

by Debbie Willis, a former EMS paramedic

and current TDI assessor. Jazz is accredited through TDI and is also an accredited Disaster Stress Relief dog.

In 2018, Jazz and Willis visited the victims of Hurricane Michael and Hurricane Florence through a partnership between the Salvation Army and TDI. The dogs comforted people who had lost their homes in the storms, Willis said.

“We stayed with the Salvation Army and wherever they would go, we would go,” Willis said. “They say the first thing you do is feed the people at canteen trucks, and they would go out to feed the people.

That’s where people would come, so that’s where we would go.”

Jazz and Willis are part of a TDI chapter with other dogs and their handlers in Jackson County. Recently, the chapter has walked in marches in support of special needs awareness and suicide prevention.

To be a therapy dog, the hospital requires that the dog be accredited through one of the major pet therapy programs, including ATD and TDI. This means they must pass a series of trials which test their ability to remain calm, including how a dog reacts to large groups of people or another dog in the hospital.

Both Halle and Jazz are registered volunteers with the hospital. The dogs each have their own hospital name tags and will soon both get a kind of personal “baseball card” that their handlers can give patients, O’Bleness Hospital Marketing and Communication Manager Keely Stockwell said.

Both patients and hospital staff love to see the dogs, Radekin-Lent said.

“I mean, you get all kinds of reactions, like bright-eyed. Everybody smiles and it’s happy,” Radekin-Lent said. “They’ve heard of the pet therapy program, but because it’s in our community, they’re just really receptive and excited.”

Trotta said his favorite part is seeing the hospital staff light up.

“I take her to the oncology center every once in awhile, and that’s a really tough row to hoe sometimes when you’re dealing with cancer patients day in and day out,” Trotta said. “They get a kick out of Halle and probably Jazz coming in to see everybody.”

@NOLANSIMMONS37 NS622217@OHIO.EDU

NOW RENTING 2020 2021!

check out some of the BEST LOCATIONS IN TOWN 1-10 Bedrooms with MANY EXTRAS!!

Very Affordable pricing and Low Security Deposit

Sign up online to Schedule a viewing! www.ourentals.com 740.594.9098 THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 5

PUZZLES

ENHANCE COMMUNICATION | BUILD COMRADERY | ENERGIZE YOUR TEAM

OUTDOOR PURSUITS

CHALLENGE PROGRAM www.ohio.edu/recreation/outdoorpursuits

6 / APRIL 18, 2019

OU College of Business works to incorporate sustainable practices into curriculum RILEY RUNNELLS FOR THE POST Climate scientists recently predicted that the planet will reach catastrophic temperatures because of global warming as early as 2030, if current trends continue.

In response to data, sustainable practices aimed at protecting the environment are becoming more common in all facets of life.

Sustainability is defined by the U.N. as meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising future generations’ abilities to meet their needs. That involves balancing environmental, economic and social elements.

Many people have already started finding ways to live sustainably within their own lives, minimizing their personal impact on the planet. Now, students in the Ohio University College of Business are learning to implement sustainability into their careers in the private industry too.

Colin Gabler, an associate professor of marketing in the College of Business, is aware of the environmental challenges the world faces and works to inform students of those challenges every day.

“Sustainability and the environment are issues that change daily,” Gabler said.

“For instance, the policy under the (President Donald) Trump administration is much different than it was under the (former President Barack) Obama administration, and so we discuss what that means for business, citizens and all stakeholders.”

Gabler teaches a course called Sustainability and Marketing, where students investigate the overlap between the two in a business context. The course focuses on current events that combine the environment with business. Gabler hopes to teach students that businesses have the opportunity to make changes to create a more sustainable future, but decisions can be difficult when they impact multiple stakeholders.

For instance, if a company invests in green technology, it benefits the planet but could cost stakeholders more money. Gabler teaches the trade-offs between business and stakeholders and how big businesses are one of the key institutions that shape the planet.

“The goal is to develop responsible, analytical, curious businesspeople who are ready to tackle the issues of our changing planet,” Gabler said. “You do not need to be in the College of Business to register, and I greatly encourage students from across the university to enroll.”

For the past four years, Gabler has had students from the class present in the Stu-

ILLUSTRATION BY TAYLOR JOHNSTON

dent Research and Creative Activity Expo.

Gabler incorporates field studies, surveys, observational analysis, interviews, focus groups and many other methods to get students excited about the course material and their upcoming presentations.

This year, a student group in Gabler’s class presented an Earth Day marketing plan at the Student Expo. After conducting surveys to see what the event’s problems were and how to better market and promote it, the group worked to rebrand the event and increase awareness. The students redesigned the logo and the website, and created a Snapchat filter.

Brandon Kopitke, a freshman studying accounting and business pre-law, enjoys combining the business world with more sustainable practices.

“The business world needs to be more environmentally friendly,” Kopitke said.

“We’re one of the biggest industries, and a great way to get people more excited about business is the appeal of being environmentally friendly. Plus, it’ll not only work on the business side but greatly help the planet.”

Caitlin Banick, a freshman studying busi-

ness, tries to help the environment in any way possible and thinks the business world could greatly use more sustainable practices.

“It’s important for the College of Business to teach sustainability because business is such a huge part of society, and I feel like if we learn it in college at a young age, then people will not only make changes in their daily lives to help the planet but also take those lessons to their future jobs in the business field,” Banick said.

Gabler knows disastrous events like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill can also show the fragility of manmade technology and the repercussions of neglect and human error. He doesn’t know, however, if tragedies like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch will make any business owners change their ways or make any consumers use less plastic.

“I think that is the challenge moving forward,” Gabler said. “Can we actually change our business and consumption strategy as a society and learn to live in this new paradigm we have helped create?”

Gabler always looks for ways to warn students and others about the environmental struggles the world faces. He

knows people are relatively aware of what’s going on because it’s impossible to turn on the news or scroll through social media without reading about new studies talking about rising sea levels, climate change, melting polar ice caps and a plethora of other problems. However, the next step relates to what people are going to do with that information, and he thinks his course in Sustainability and Marketing offers a great first step.

“The next step is to be proactive about it,” Gabler said. “To not just be aware but informed so that when students hit the workforce, they are the ones developing creative and innovative solutions to help solve the environmental problems. The university requires so many things of our students to get their degrees, but we’re not going to be able to sit around and discuss Shakespeare, enjoy a Matisse painting or develop a marketing plan if we destroy the planet where all of these human activities take place.”

@RILEYR44 RR855317@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 7

Matters of Mushrooms ASHTON NICHOLS | SENIOR WRITER

F

or some people, family traditions include eating Sunday brunch or going to a state fair. For others, it will include walking through the woods in search of mushrooms.

Mike Hopkins has been hunting morel mushrooms for over 31 years. His father and grandfather hunted and took him along when he was 6 years old. He said he hunts as much as he can outside of work. “(I carry it on) just because of all the wonderful memories I had as a child,” Hopkins, who lives in Springfield, said. “I enjoyed it myself as I grew older, and I love eating the mushrooms. Never going to quit until I can’t hunt them anymore.”

Allen Roe views mushroom hunting as a spiritual time for him.

“It’s getting in the woods and going off quietly,” Roe said. “Some people go to church to be close with God. I go to the woods. That’s where I feel closer to everything around me. In general, morel hunting is calming. It’s peaceful.”

He lives near Dresden and has been hunting mushrooms for over 35 years, beginning when he was 5 years old.

“They’re very hard to grow; therefore, wild is the main way they are found,” Roe said. “For it’s more about spending time in the woods. It’s about getting away from the crazy, hectic, everyday life. And there’s the benefit that they are delicious.”

For Troy Eden, the smell of spring brings back memories. He spent 27 years in the military and said it was nice to come back to the Athens area in the springtime.

“Wherever I was at, I’d at least try to get back this time of year for mushroom hunting because it reminds me of home,” Eden said.

Today, he lives near Beavercreek. He’s been hunting mushrooms for 42 years after his family got him into it.

“It has to be thousands of hours that I’ve spent in the woods since I was a little boy hunting mushrooms,” Eden said. “It has helped create a passion of wildlife con8 / APRIL 18, 2019

servation and preservation of our national and state parks. It’s great family time.”

Don King was not born into a family of mushroom hunters. He discovered it 15 years ago when he saw someone on a PBS cooking show go into the woods and gather mushrooms to cook them.

Several years later, King bought an identification book for mushrooms. He found morels that were growing by his house and soon cut them.

“It actually took me several days to work up the courage to eat them, even though I was fairly certain what they were,” King, who lives near Kent, said.

Once he worked up the courage to eat them, he said they tasted amazing, and it made him feel much more confident to look for more.

King has been able to turn his passion for mushrooms into a business. He is known as The Mushroom Hunter and has a Facebook page with more than 10,000 followers. He also takes people on hunts and does weekend hunting and camping trips.

He said he takes people to hunt for two to three hours and then will take people camping for an entire week, about four to six times per year. When he’s not teaching, he is hunting on his own, which is about five to 10 hours a week.

“There’s such an interest out there, and people are afraid to do it on their own,” King said. “For the first couple of years, it was not very successful. I had maybe half a dozen people interested at the most. And at some point, it just sort of blew up.”

THE HUNT Mushroom hunters often have fierce competition with each other and keep their mushroom locations extremely secret. It’s common that people will pass on the locations from family member to family member, Roe said.

“If you tell one person, they’ll tell 10 people, and then they’ll tell 10 people and

“

I go to the woods. That’s where I feel closer to everything around me. In general, morel hunting is calming. It’s peaceful.”

- Allen Roe, mushroom hunter

before long, you go to your spot and you can’t walk through the woods without running into 10 people,” Roe said.

It often depends on the day for how many mushrooms Roe will find. Sometimes he has found two, other times 200.

It is all about where he looks.

The trick to mushroom hunting, Eden said, is that someone must “look up to find them down.”

Eden will search for certain trees.

“The elm trees, old apple trees, orchards, grape vines is where I would always find mushrooms,” Eden said. “But specifically, during the life cycle of the old elm trees, they start to die, and mushrooms would blossom about them. I would always look up to identify the trees before I would start looking for mushrooms.”

Morels grow in two different ways: saprobic and microrisal, King said. Saprobic mushrooms decompose dead matter, which is why morels can be found by dead trees. Microrisal mushrooms grow in a symbiotic relationship with living trees.

Roe said he looks at elms that are dead but still standing. When searching, he looks for the stem because they are white and will stand out more so than the brain of the morel.

“If you can find a dead elm where the bark is slipping, you have a higher chance

of finding them than in just walking through the woods,” Roe said.

Tyson Bolin hunts for morels because he likes the taste. He’s from Meigs County and will hunt about three to four times per week.

He said he once found 87 morels underneath one tree, each the size of a soda can.

“Everyone has their secret spots,” Bolin said, chuckling. “What I’ve found out is that the spots die out, and they’re not consistent. They might be good one year, but then the following year they won’t be as good. You’ll have to find another spot.”

Soil temperatures are also said to be a factor for when mushrooms come out.

Hopkins said that ideal temperature is around 55 degrees Fahrenheit. He said he has had his best hunting in central Ohio.

Eden said that morels typically start their season in Georgia and move north.

He has a trip scheduled this season to both Tennessee and Illinois to hunt.

“I have tasted variations, and I think Southeastern Ohio mushrooms taste different than western Ohio,” Eden said. “Depending on the soil composition, you get different flavors.”

Many mushroom hunters also hunt other species.

Hopkins said he also hunted oyster mushrooms. They grow on trees from late summer through the fall, and he will fry them. They can be tan to white-colored and have a fishy smell.

Eden said he not only searches for different variations of morels but also for horsetails and chicken of the woods.

“My wife and I have taken several outdoor courses, so when we go through the woods, we’ll pick all different kinds of things,” Eden said. “Nettles, like the stinging kind of nettles, we will boil them and make quesadillas out of them.”

King said he stresses to people who hunt that morels are not the only mushroom that can be found in the woods.

“When I seriously think about morels

and their overall flavor and the culinary aspects, they’re not even in my top 10 favorite mushrooms,” King said. “I’ve tried over 80 different species of mushrooms here in Ohio. The more really great mushrooms I try, the lower on the list morels go.”

He said his top three favorite mushrooms are parasol mushrooms, chanterelles and black trumpets.

Once morel season ends in May, King said he looks forward to continue hunting other species.

“I’m not sad when morel mushroom season ends. I’m actually excited because I know that in summer and fall, there will be many, many more species in different varieties,” King said. “I don’t get depressed about mushrooms until the end of November.”

When he’s not hunting mushrooms, he’s involved in a lot of different Facebook pages dedicated to mushroom hunters and will do his best to debunk myths.

He said that it is common for people to believe that the mushroom should be cut from the ground, but really, it is OK to remove it.

“Mushrooms hunting, if done properly, is 100 percent sustainable,” King said. “Plucking mushrooms out of the ground does not harm the actual organism and does not affect future production of those mushrooms.”

THE FALSE MOREL The morel has a look-alike, called the verpa bohemica, or false morel. It looks the exact same as a morel, but it is toxic.

Hopkins said the gyromitra mushroom is another type of false morel and looks like a big, red brain.

He recommends that beginners take someone with them who can identify the different kinds.

“The big thing is that if you cut a morel down the middle, good morels will be hollow inside,” Hopkins said. “If there’s anything in the stem or cap, then there’s a false morel, and I wouldn’t eat it because it could be toxic.”

Eden said he and his wife make spore tests by putting the mushroom on a white piece of paper and counting the spores after a few hours. The spore count determines the toxicity of the mushroom.

THE AFTERMATH Once Roe brings the mushrooms home, he cuts them up and soaks them in salt water.

“Anything you bring home from the wild is going to have wild on it: bugs, dirt, etc. I soak them 24 hours in salt water,” Roe said. “The salt water kills bugs.”

During mushroom season, his refrigerator is often filled with bowls of salt water and mushrooms.

“My wife will complain because she will go grocery shopping and not have room for the groceries,” Roe said.

Bolin said morels have an earthy flavor.

“You can cook them about any way you want,” Bolin said. “We like to fry them, put

them on pizza, put them in lasagna or spaghetti. It’s like a regular mushroom.”

The different colors do not taste differently, Bolin said, but different sizes have different flavors.

King said that he will eat the vast majority of the mushrooms he finds himself, or he will dehydrate them to use later. He will also take extras to farmers markets and barter with them.

“Since selling wild mushrooms is technically not legal on a commercial scale in Ohio, I basically take small bags of them to my farmers market, and I’ll barter with other vendors there,” King said. “I’ll barter to get meat or veggies or eggs or things like that. But mostly I cook them for myself and friends and family.”

Roe said he absolutely will not sell his mushrooms. If he has surplus of more than he will eat, he will freeze them. He also will take some to his grandmother.

“My favorite thing to do is to wait until there’s three inches, four inches of snow on the ground and send my friends a picture of my fried mushrooms on my plate,” Roe said. “They’re always so jealous when I have mushrooms in the winter.”

TRADITIONALIST Some people also have traditions when looking for morels.

Eden said he has a mushroom hunting stick that is carved like a cane. He always takes it with him into the woods.

“I’ve had this cane with me for 20 years,” Eden said. “I think it’s put as many miles in the woods as I have these last 20-something years. I guess it’s lacing up a comfortable pair of shoes and getting comfortable with it.”

Roe said most people will hunt with a photo of a mushroom.

“Every mushroom hunter has a picture of a mushroom that they have found,” Roe said. “They have it on their phone, and when they’re in the woods, they’ll look at that picture to refresh that image in their mind, and then they’ll go looking for it.”

Bolin said he puts his mushrooms in a mesh bag, or an onion sack. It is to help the spores fall off and replant new mushrooms while he is walking through the woods.

Hopkins said his dad looks at the moon, but he himself doesn’t because he considers himself not superstitious.

“My favorite thing to do in my life is to go mushroom hunting,” Hopkins said. “It’s because I love being out in nature. It’s the time to be with yourself and also you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor with my most favorite delicacy. As far as food goes, it’s the morel mushroom.”

A morel mushroom grows in the ground. Morel mushrooms grow in two different ways: saprobic and microrisal. Saprobic mushrooms decompose dead matter, while microrisal mushrooms grow in a symbiotic relationship with living trees. (PROVIDED via Don King)

A box of morel mushrooms sits on the ground. Morel mushrooms typically start their

@ASHTONNICHOLS_ season in Georgia and move north. (PROVIDED via Don King) AN614816@OHIO.EDU

THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 9

CONGRATULATIONS TO T H E 3 6 T H A N N U A L L E A D E R S H I P A WA R D S G A L A W I N N E R S !

V I K TO R I A M A R I N O VA

CARLA TRIANA

TRAM NGUYEN

MOSS NASH

DEJAE’NAYE WILKINS

ALEXANDRIA MADRY

ALANA CORNELIUS

R O S A A V I ÑA

C O U R T N E Y A R C H I BA L D

SUE-YEON RYU

GRACIE BEHA

KYLEE DEAN

AMI SCHERSON

DYL AN DENNER

CELESTIA HATHHORN

ZACHARY REIZES

AIESEC IN OHIO

2 / APRIL 18, 2019

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT UNION

STUDENT ATHLETE ADVISORY COMMITTEE

I M A N I E VA N S

MALLORY GOLSKI

TA T I A N A FA R M E R

BRIANNA MCELRATH

E D E N TA D E S S E

NANA AGYEKUM

E R I K A H I DA L G O

FA Y E S L O M A

EARL HOPKINS

S A R A S T. P E T E R

ISA ARANTES

TO D D S I M M O N S

COLLIN SHARPE

AILSA HECKSCHER

CODY HUEBNER

SAMANTHA OWENS

K A T E LY N P E A C O C K

N E S TO R A V I L A

SHADES

BOBCAT STUDENT NURSING ORGANIZATION

JESSICA JIMENEZ

JASMYN PEARL

LEXI WELLS

O H I O U N I V E R S I T Y ’ S D I V I S I O N O F S T U D E N T A F FA I R S W O U L D L I K E TO T H A N K A L L O F O U R C O M M U N I T Y C O N T R I B U TO R S A N D C A M P U S PA R T N E R S F O R C O N T I N U I N G TO S U P P O R T A N D E M P O W E R O U R S T U D E N T S .

THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 3

Multicultural students to celebrate graduation with Kushinda/Ritos de Pasaje JILLIAN CRAIG FOR THE POST Every year on the Friday evening prior to Ohio University’s commencement ceremony, seniors who identify as multicultural celebrate Kushinda/Ritos de Pasaje with friends, family, faculty and staff at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.

Kushinda/Ritos de Pasaje is a celebration African-American and Latinx students, respectively, observe upon graduation from college. Kushinda is a Swahili word for “to win,” and Ritos de Pasaje is Spanish for “rite of passage.”

“We wanted to do that as a way of encouraging men of color to aspire to be in college or graduate,” Winsome Chunnu-Brayda, the director of the OU Multicultural Center, said. “It’s a way of acknowledging that we know that there are challenges that are different from women of color and that we see it and we support it.”

The celebration started at Ohio University in 1997 and was originally celebrat-

ed separately. Since the two ceremonies were so small on their own, Kushinda and Ritos de Pasaje were later combined into one ceremony.

Kushinda/Ritos de Pasaje consists of a speaker, an OU alumnus who comes from a multicultural background and a reader who introduces each individual graduate and shares what that students plans to do after college. Students who attend Kushinda/Ritos de Pasaje do so voluntarily.

“They see it as a last opportunity to celebrate each other and celebrate their culture in a way that is not celebrated in the mainstream society,” said Chunnu-Brayda.

A mixer for Kushinda/Ritos de Pasaje is held in addition to the ceremony, which is planned by the Kushinda Committee.

Students who will celebrate the event are looking forward to the ceremony.

“Graduation in general is phenomenal, but to be recognized as a culture, as a society, for what we did is pretty great,” Malcolm Brown, a senior studying specialized studies, said. “Especially being African-American or being Latino

or being whatever culture that you are, it’s hard enough to even get into college, but to graduate is a feat of its own.

So just to be recognized for that all is pretty great.”

Kushinda/Ritos de Pasaje also provides an additional sense of support for graduating multicultural students.

“Having a separate graduation really instills in our hearts and drives it home that we are supported through other avenues on campus,” Niaree Williams, a senior studying social work, said.

Those who do not identify as multicultural often may not understand why a separate ceremony is held. Students who identify as multicultural believe the ceremony is important because it recognizes accomplishments made by multicultural students that hadn’t been accomplished years ago.

“It’s important to have our own celebration because one, we celebrate culture differently, and two, our achievements are still new,” Imani Smith, a senior studying psychology, said. “This is something that

we didn’t do years ago.”

The ceremony is also important to many because it validates accomplishments made by multicultural students.

“It’s to validate the students who are graduating, to let them know that their achievements matter,” Smith said.

Students who are both multicultural and first-generation students, such as Smith, are excited to celebrate an accomplishment her family members previously had not attained.

“It’s good to see that I’ve beat the statistics, and I’ve been able to overcome a lot of the things that my family members haven’t,” said Smith. “I’m a first-generation student, first-generation grad, so it’s really important to me because I’m able to carry on a legacy for my family that no one else was able to do, really.”

@JILLIANCRAIG18 JC986517@OHIO.EDU

WELCOME BACK STUDENTS

LARGE 1-TOPPING

Prime Campus Locations

Now Leasing

Athens & The Plains

PIZZA

7

$ 99

CODE :799

443 E. State Street

(740)

594-7272 (PAPA)

for 2019 - 2020 1-6 Bedrooms Palmer, lmer Hocking, Stewart, E. Union lmer, Milliron, West Washington, Coss West State, Franklin

740-594-4441 www.BobcatRentals.net 12 / APRIL 18, 2019

info@BobcatRentals.net

86 North Court Street

Offer good for a limited time at participating Papa John’s restaurant. No double toppings or extra cheese. Certain toppings may be excluded from special offer pizzas or require additional charge. Additional toppings extra. Not valid with any other coupons or discounts. Limited delivery area. Delivery fee may apply. Customer responsible for all applicable taxes. Prices mat very in Alaska and Hawaii

Late Night Special

Wacky Wednesday

Early Bird Special

One Large 1-Topping Pizza

One Large up to 5-Topping or Specialty Pizza

One Large 1-Topping Pizza

PROMO CODE: LN599

PROMO CODE: WW999

PROMO CODE: MT699ATH

Wednesday Only. Expires 12/31/19

Monday & Tuesday Only. Expires 12/31/19

5

$

9

99 $

9pm to Close. Expires 12/31/19

6

99 $

99

Up-and-coming band Velvet Green brings fresh sound to Athens BAYLEE DEMUTH STAFF WRITER A bass amp found in the dumpster, some ‘70s rock influence and a bond created through multitudes of laughter are just a few elements that make up the Athens-based band Velvet Green.

Velvet Green came together as a band last summer but got its big break with its performance at the Athens Halloween Block Party in fall 2018. Since then, the band has booked countless gigs at The Union Bar and Grill and various house shows. Velvet Green is a relatively young band comprised of high school students and freshmen at Ohio University.

But the members have proven their youth doesn’t hinder their talent.

The band describes its sound as “junk funk.” Harper Reese, a senior at Athens High School and a guitarist in Velvet Green, said the “junk” came from the fact that the members are all relatively inexperienced and describe their equipment as “total crap.”

“I had a bad guitar for a while, but I just got a new one,” Reese said. “Our music is kind of like funk but with some rock influence.”

The band is heavily influenced by artists like Steely Dan and The Meters. With their sounds in the back of their heads, the band members started writing and performing their own songs. Velvet Green has begun to branch out and find its own sound, but lyrics are something it plans to work on more in the future.

“It’s easy to not care about lyrics when all you’re doing is playing out because people don’t hear the lyrics unless you’re playing an acoustic set,” Reese said. “But when you’re at a house party, no one really cares about the lyrical content.”

Velvet Green plays mostly house shows for the exposure, but the money made from shows is put to new equipment.

“We bought a drum set with some money we’ve made, but we’re saving it up right now because we’re not sure what to buy,” Reese said. “But studio time is probably what we’ll put it toward in the future.”

Some may not think the members of Velvet Green are mature or capable enough to play quality music because its members are young. The band, though, has been treated with nothing but respect from peers and musicians alike.

“It’s definitely nice, adults responding to us as musicians instead of simply judging us based on age,” Reese said. “I assumed we weren’t very good just because of how young we were, but we’ve gotten a lot of validity.”

The band has received significant

Harper Reese, Shea Benezra, Cora Fitch and Mitch Spring, of Velvet Green, joined by bandmate Sam Debatin on FaceTime, pose for a portrait in Donkey Coffee. (KELSEY BOEING / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

praise for its sound from musicians of various music genres.

“Any guy can come and say how much they like our set,” Reese said. “But having another musician coming up and telling you that you’re good, you know they’re being truthful.”

Because she’s able to relax and not feel the pressures of performances she would expect at serious venues, Cora Fitch, a junior at Athens High School and the band’s vocalist, doesn’t typically stress too much. But when Velvet Green gets the chance to play at The Union, its gigs need to be more thought out.

“Some performances, depending on the vibe, are way easier to experiment with our music, like at a house party,” Fitch said. “It’s also easier to do sets there because it’s way less nerve-racking for me. Everyone is just drunk and having a good time.”

To balance playing in a band and keep-

ing up with school, Fitch joked that she just doesn’t sleep.

When it comes to preparing with and prioritizing the band, Shea Benezra, an OU freshman studying political science and who is the band’s drummer, usually finds himself putting the band first.

“I don’t think it’s that difficult because we generally play on weekends,” Benezra said. “Even without a whole lot of practice, I think we’re decent, and people should still come to see us.”

Back home in Brooklyn, New York, Benezra’s school didn’t have much of a music scene, so coming to Athens and joining Velvet Green was something his parents were willing to fully support. All of the family members of the band have shown support for Velvet Green through future endeavors the band is working on.

“We’re building a cabin that we’re going

to turn into a studio,” Benezra said. “Another bandmate and I are gonna live in it next year, so we’re not even living on campus.”

Velvet Green has big plans and is hoping to potentially book some gigs in New York where Benezra is from, but nothing is set in stone. For now, the band is focusing on sharing its sound with Athens and the surrounding area, cracking inside jokes along the way.

To Mitch Spring, a senior at Athens High School and the bassist, being part of the band is just another excuse for him to hang out with his best friends.

“We get to play music and perform together, so it’s always fun,” Spring said.

@BAYLEEDEMUTH BD575016@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 13

BASEBALL

Ohio pitcher rises to SUMMER @ SINCLAIR top of starting rotation GET AHEAD.

TAKE YOUR GEN ED CLASSES IN THE SUMMER! Make the most of your summer: take classes at Sinclair Community College. Check out available courses and ask your advisor how Sinclair courses can transfer back to Ohio University. Take 12-week, 8-week or Flex classes at one of our convenient locations or online.

LEARN MORE WWW.SINCLAIR.EDU/SUMMER19

Classes Begin May 13

Dayton | Centerville | Englewood | Huber Heights | Mason | Online

University Townhomes Starting at $1900 at Milliron NOW LEASING for 2020-2021

per semester

3 and 4 Bedroom Units Spacious Kitchen Dining, & Living areas

On Site Parking Available Near Bike Path NEW Dishwashers & Cabinets NEW Granite Countertops

Security Deposit ONLY $ each

99

INDIVIDUAL LEASES Rent by the Room!

For floorplans, photos, and more info call: 740.594.9098 text: 740.591.6069 or visit www.ourentals.com 14 / APRIL 18, 2019

ANTHONY POISAL STAFF WRITER Jack Liberatore saw coach Rob Smith emerge from the dugout and knew what was coming next.

He was going to hear another message about how hard he worked, how reliable he was and how proud Smith was to have him as a starter. Liberatore had just dominated Toledo for seven shutout innings and fought for two more outs in the eighth, but his time was up. He had done more than enough.

Liberatore shook the hands of each teammate around him and walked off the mound to an applause from the Ohio bench and fans at Bob Wren Stadium. None of it was new to Liberatore. With a 2.47 ERA, he’s ascended into one of Ohio’s best starters in his first full collegiate year, and starts like the one he had Saturday in the Bobcats’ 5-2 win aren’t rare for the right-hander.

They’re routine.

“He most certainly has one of the better brains for a younger player,” Smith said.

“It makes it easy for me to put him in a big role like that.”

But his success didn’t come without patience. Liberatore watched pitchers like Michael Klein, Butch Baird and Gerry Salisbury — all seniors — lead the starting rotation in 2018. He had big shoes to fill if he wanted to crack the rotation in his first full year, and Liberatore prepared to go from the bench to the rotation and skip any time in the bullpen as soon as he shed his redshirt.

With just a three-pitch repertoire, Liberatore needed to offer more if he wanted to make the jump. A quality starter rarely relies on just a fastball, changeup and curveball, so Liberatore spent the off-year refining on a fourth pitch — his cutter.

Liberatore had little issue picking up the pitch, which pairs well with his fastball, but he only saves it for select moments. His four-seamer clocks in around 88 mph, and if a batter has seen the fastball a few times in an at-bat, Liberatore can mix in the cutter to add right-to-left movement on the pitch and hopefully throw off the batter.

An out-pitch is meaningless, however, if a pitcher is rattled on the mound, and that’s what has made Liberatore special. He’s separated himself from other Ohio pitchers by his ability to never be overwhelmed. Well, at least it never looks like he is.

Liberatore keeps a straight face throughout his starts whether the bases are loaded or empty, and his mound presence and ability to appear in control on the

Ohio pitcher Jack Liberatore poses for a portrait at Bob Wren Stadium on April 11.

(COLIN MAYR / FOR THE POST)

mound never changes.

It’s worked, too. Liberatore has been an expert at avoiding the big inning, and opponents have rarely been able to score runs in chunks, if they score at all. His 1.36 WHIP proves that.

A bad outing hasn’t ruined Liberatore’s confidence, either. His worst start of the season was March 10 against Wright State when he allowed six runs, all earned, in only three innings of work. He gave up his first home run of the season and took the loss in a 12-1 blowout.

His next start was much different. Liberatore shut out Army through 6 1/3 innings and gave up just three hits while striking out six batters in one of Ohio’s most flawless starts of the year. It was the only game the Bobcats won against the Black Knights.

“He’s mature and he handles pressure well,” Smith said. “I think it’s his ability to manage himself mentally. I consider him a quiet competitor, but he competes in a matter that I think is very aggressive.”

Liberatore has been everything Ohio could have hoped for, and his importance will only grow if the Bobcats continue their push for a spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

He’s ready to carry Ohio into the postseason. The question, though, is whether the Bobcats are ready to return the favor.

@ANTHONYP_2 AP012215@OHIO.EDU

the weekender Dancing for a cause at Fiesta Latina HANNAH BURKHART FOR THE POST The Ohio University Latino Student Union (LSU) and Infectious Tropical Disease Institute (ITDI) are collaborating to host a culturally-themed celebration Friday, and portions of the proceeds go to an important cause.

Fiesta Latina will be a celebration full of music, dancing and food hosted by The Union Bar and Grill. Proceeds will go toward a fundraiser to help build a new home for a family in Ecuador that lost its home because of the spread of an infectious disease.

LSU Vice President Eleonor Elias, a senior studying psychology, said Chagas disease, or the “kissing bug” disease, has infected much of Ecuador, causing deaths. The disease makes people’s intestines grow and eventually leads to heart attacks, Elias said. The disease has particularly affected many poorly made houses in Ecuador.

“Obviously families can’t afford their own homes, so ITDI raises money for the houses and even goes to Ecuador to help build them,” Elias said.

Many houses in Ecuador are not secure, and the insect carrying Chagas disease enters the houses through cracks. Lori Lammert, IDTI director of operations, said the “kissing bug” sucks the blood of humans and deposits its feces, which carries a parasite that spreads Chagas disease, onto the skin.

“A lot of diseases can be prevented through new housing,” Lammert said.

Elias said the event will feature a dance night with primarily Latin music.

However, she said in the past there has not been a wide range of genres played, so the organizers will try to have different genres playing throughout the night.

“Lots of people love it. I think it should be a hit because we have not had one in about two years,” Elias said.

Lammert said students will go to Ecuador to learn about research through the Tropical Disease Research and Learning Program.

WHAT’S GOING ON? MEGAN GORDIN FOR THE POST

FRIDAY Seabury Quinn, Jr. Playwrights’ Festival at 8 p.m. in the Elizabeth

Evans Baker Theater in Kantner Hall. Enjoy works written by graduate students in the OU School of Theater, with performances spanning two weeks. See Stitched with a Sickle and a Hammer by Inna Tsyrlin on Friday evening.

Admission: Free with OU ID; $10 for adults and $7 for other students/seniors

SATURDAY Fiesta Latina will take place at The Union Bar and Grill on Friday. (BLAKE NISSEN / FILE)

IF YOU GO WHAT: Fiesta Latina WHEN: 9 p.m., Friday WHERE: The Union, 18 W. Union St. ADMISSION: $5

Lammert said the program has built and remodeled six houses in southern Ecuador.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chagas disease is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and is only found in the Americas.

Fiesta Latina is fundraising specifi-

cally to build a home for the Espinoza family in Ecuador. OU students in the Tropical Disease Research and Learning Program will go to help build the house in Ecuador from mid-June to early July.

A portion of the entry proceeds will go toward the construction of the house. On May 4, the two organizations will hold another fundraiser for the same cause at Chipotle Mexican Grill from 4-8 p.m.

“I’m glad people are coming together and will hopefully bring awareness to the cause. … People will likely realize the disease impacts millions of people worldwide,” Lammert said.

@HANNAHNOELBURK HB239417@OHIO.EDU

Amethystone with special guest Megan Bee at 6 p.m. at Casa Nue-

va, 6 W. State St. Enjoy an evening with good food and music by rock group Amethystone and Athens folk singer Megan Bee. Admission: Free

SUNDAY Little Fish Easter Egg Hunt at 1 p.m.

at Little Fish Brewing Company, 8675 Armitage Rd. What better way to celebrate Easter than with an egg hunt complete with prizes? Kids 3 and under will hunt at 1 p.m., and everyone older will hunt at 2 p.m. Kids can drink ginger ale and juice for free all day.

Admission: Free

THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 15

Bobcats Helping Bobcats is a way for students, staff and faculty to support students on the Athens campus who are experiencing emergencies that may impact their overall well-being and ability to be successful in college.

Learn how you can get involved with Bobcats Helping Bobcats at bit.ly/bobcats-helping-bobcats

Interested in contributing to the university food pantry, Cats’ Cupboard?

Make a monetary donation via www.ohiofoodpantry.com or give goods through our Amazon needs list: http://bit.ly/bhb-needs-list For more information or to apply online, visit bit.ly/bobcats-helping-bobcats or call 740-593-1800.

1 / APRIL 18, 2019