August 30, 2018

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2018

Hero, Redefined With the rise of a new generation of heroes and fans, the face of comic book culture culture is changing

Peyton White’s post-grad golf journey P6

Inside OU’s emergency blue lights P8

P16

Asian-Americans counter racism P20

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Getting to know each other

LAUREN FISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Whether you’re reading this in our weekly print edition or online (in which case, kudos to you for actively seeking out this column), you’re participating in the century-old Ohio University tradition of reading The Post.

There are probably a few things you should know about us. We’ve been on campus for more than 110 years, we’ve changed our name several times over the past century (The Daily Yell is still my personal favorite) and we’re run entirely by students.

But l won’t bore you with all the details. I haven’t even introduced myself yet.

My name is Lauren Fisher. I’m a lifetime Ohioan, born and raised in Cincinnati. In other words, I have some staunch opinions putting chili on spaghetti, I think every year is “our year” for the Bengals to get past the first round of the playoffs and even though I’m lactose intolerant, I’ll still eat Graeter’s ice cream by the pint.

Last year, I juggled coverage of university administration and student life as The Post’s assistant news editor. I’ve been into the whole

“journalism thing” since my sophomore year of high school, when I reluctantly joined our student newspaper purely because the creative writing class had filled up, and according to my guidance counselor, I needed an elective if I ever wanted to graduate.

Truth be told, I hated journalism. Hated it.

In my young and stubborn eyes, it was too cold and calculated. Nobody was about to tell me that there was a formula for writing a story, or that I had to keep my opinions to myself when writing about, say, price increases in the cafeteria.

But of course, opinions can and do change.

I caught the bug, so to speak, and suddenly, I was watching Spotlight three times a month and joining the campus paper as soon as I arrived at OU. This year, I can’t wait to set a course that’ll take The Post to new and exciting places.

While we’ll still be The Post you all know and love, we want to be more than just your campus newspaper.

Now more than ever, amid a time of

turbulence and distrust with the press so often in the center of the conversation, we are reminded of the importance of reporting in-depth, factually accurate stories that pack a punch and hold authority accountable.

That’s why this year, The Post is proud to welcome its first-ever investigative staff. Led by former News Editor Bailey Gallion, this team of seasoned reporters will dive deep into the stories that matter most to OU and the greater Athens community.

This week, check out Ashton Nichols’ Page 8 story, which delves into the use — or disuse, rather — of the blue light system on campus.

I can only hope that you’re just as excited as I am about the year to come. The Post will be with you every step of the way just as we have been from the start Lauren Fisher is a senior studying journalism 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

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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ODDS AND ENDS

‘Scott’s Tots,’ revisited CHUCK GREENLEE is a senior studying communication studies at Ohio University.

If you have a Netflix account, you have probably watched The Office. It’s arguably one of the more popular shows ever, at least since its debut in 2005. Yet there is one episode that fans are torn on: “Scott’s Tots.”

Michael Scott, played by Steve Carell, is the eccentric regional manager of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company Scranton branch. Scott is caring, a bit overzealous and painfully awkward; he’s lovable in his own right, though. Moments of his father-like characteristics shine, most notably when he was the only one who went to the office secretary’s art show.

Scott, however, is a man who may care a bit too much. It’s a “too much of a good thing” sort of deal.

Ten years prior, Scott made a promise to a group of underprivileged school children that he would pay for their college tuition in its entirety. (Spoiler: Being regional manager of a paper company does not bring in enough money to pay for four years of college for

around a dozen-ish kids.) The kids invite Scott to thank him without knowing that he isn’t able to live up to his promise. Scott shows up. It gets awkward, which the show thrives off of. But it may have been a bit too awkward.

People familiar with The Office know that the awkward moments are key to the humor of the show. So why not make an entire episode that is just uncomfortable? That seems to be the idea of “Scott’s Tots.”

But people hate this episode enough to skip over it no matter what. But what people may not want to admit is that this infamous (not the best word, roll with it) episode is defining of the whole series.

Scott’s promise exemplifies his character as a whole: It’s audacious, it’s brash and it seems lofty.

He claimed he expected to be a successful business person at this point in life, but alas, he wasn’t. The shame you see when the kids begin to thank him

feels real. It’s painful to watch.

That’s the point of The Office. The show itself wasn’t meant to be about anything glamorous, it was about a mundane office in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Nine-to-five monotony and superficial office relationships are understood by anyone who, you know, lives that life. We all have high hopes early on in life, so Scott thinking he could afford college tuition for a dozen kids isn’t out of the realm of possibility. It’s how he knew for at least seven years he couldn’t afford it, but knew he was in too deep.

“Scott’s Tots” is hard to watch, and it should be.

It’s a semirealistic situation people can see and feel second-hand shame for.

Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk to Chuck? Send him a tweet @chuck_greenlee.

MISCHIEF MANAGED

Essential ‘Pottercasts’

GEORGIA DAVIS is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University.

Potterheads are always looking for reasons to revisit the Harry Potter series, and there is no better medium to do that than with podcasts. The intimate experience of listening to people talk about Harry Potter provides an immediate connection to the person on the other end of the microphone.

With classes starting, there is no better activity to do than listening to podcasts while walking around campus. Add these to your list of ones to listen to: “POTTERLESS” Mike Schubert is a 25-year-old man who, for some reason, never read the Harry Potter books. To remedy this, he decided to make a podcast about it.

Schubert reads the Harry Potter books one section at a time, and he brings fans of the series on to talk about it. Some of the guests are from other podcasts, mostly in the Multitude podcast family, and others are Vine or YouTube stars.

“Potterless” is the perfect podcast for anyone who has wanted to reread the series but doesn’t have the time. Schubert recalls the books in great detail, pointing out the most ridiculous flaws in the books’ structure and writing (Nothing is perfect; not even the Harry Potter books) and making bombastic predictions, some of which are insanely spot-on and others that are, well, you’ll see.

“Potterless” provides listeners with opportunity

4 / AUG. 30, 2018

to recall the first time they read the books and follow along on the beautiful journey of listening to someone else do the same.

Rating: 5/5

“HARRY POTTER AND THE SACRED TEXT” In this Potter podcast, Vanessa Zoltan and Casper ter Kuile approach the books as if they were part of a religious text. Each episode covers one chapter, and the hosts look at it through a theme such as commitment, loneliness or fear.

Most of the episodes have a runtime of under 45 minutes, making it easy to listen to the episodes while driving or walking. But for those who really want to engage in the text, try meditating or doing yoga while listening.

Before each episode of “Harry Potter and the Sacred Text,” read the chapter they will discuss and use the podcast as a study into the text. Look at the theme Zoltan and Kuile are discussing that week, and read it through the same lens. That practice allows listeners to fully envelope themselves in the text and remind them of what’s going on because the hosts don’t recount the series.

Rating: 3.5/5

“THE POTTEROTICA PODCAST” As the hosts of “Potterotica” say, “This podcast is rated ‘H’ for horny.” Allie LeFevere, Lyndsay Rush and

Danny Chapman take it upon themselves to hilariously read erotic Harry Potter fanfiction one chapter per episode.

Each season is a new character pairing, so the listener can create their own experience by choosing which seasons to listen to. Between each season, the hosts read a shorter fanfiction called a “quickie.”

“Potterotica” is the perfect podcast for people who have never read fanfiction, let alone erotic fanfiction. LeFevere, Rush and Chapman make listeners comfortable by talking about the stories through a comedic lens. There are refreshing takes on the characters post-Battle of Hogwarts, and it lives out Harry Potter fans’ biggest fantasies, including a Snape-Hermione pairing in season one.

Don’t be afraid to listen and laugh along to “Potterotica” in broad daylight. It’s not a podcast that people should only listen to in their bedrooms with headphones in. Listen on your way to classes, work or driving to a family reunion. Heck, even get your grandma to listen. She would surely appreciate the recommendation.

Rating: 4.5/5

Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. What is your favorite Harry Potter podcast? Tell Georgia by tweeting her at @georgiadee35.

10 drinks to try from Athens bars JESS UMBARGER ASST. CULTURE EDITOR With graduation upon many of us, there are a few different bucket lists everyone is making: places to go, food to eat and drinks to try. Make sure to try these staple Athens drinks before heading to the real world, where drinks are much more expensive.

RAZZ WHEAT FROM JACKIE O’S Razz Wheat is a great drink to have after a long day of classes when it’s hot outside. Stop by Jackie O’s, 22 W. Union St., and grab the raspberry flavored ale for $5.

It’s not as heavy of a beer as some of the others they have on tap, so if you’re not a beer person, this is a good drink.

VEGAS BOMB FROM THE CRYSTAL Vegas Bombs are some of the easier shots to take, so do not be afraid of the name. Grab some friends to do a round of shots for $3 each to start off the night at The Crystal, 34 N. Court St. The drink has berry vodka and Redbull in it and will give your crew a shot of energy to start off the night.

LUCKY’S LEMONADE FROM LUCKY’S SPORTS TAVERN If you’re looking for an alcoholic drink that barely tastes like alcohol, this is it. It costs $2.50, and Lucky’s, 11 N. Court St., takes a twist on normal lemonade. It also has the drink available for its $5 liquor pitchers Wednesday nights.

AQUARIUM FROM THE PUB Grab an aquarium for $4 Sundays and Wednesdays from The Pub, 39 N. Court St., and feel like you’re drinking out of a goblet in medieval times. Just one aquarium can hold two and a half beers, so don’t be shy about sharing with a friend. Aquariums are cheaper than getting individual drinks, so you could say you’re being financially responsible while drinking them.

BLACKOUT FROM PAWPURR’S BAR This drink lives up to its name, so take caution. Blackouts may taste sugary, but they can put people under pretty quickly

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if they have had a lot. It also doesn’t help that the pretty blue drink at Pawpurr’s, 37 N. Court St., comes with a cherry on top to make it even sweeter and costs $4.

BLACK WIDOW FROM THE PIGSKIN BAR AND GRILLE Black Widows ($4.25) from Pigskin, 38 N. Court St., have five liquors in them, so don’t start your night with this drink. The fillers of the drink are cranberry, sour mix and Sprite, so the liquor is covered by a sugary pop flavor, hiding how much alcohol is really in them.

BRAIN STOMPER FROM OVERHANG Brain Stompers are basically what Fruit Loops would be if they were a drink. With three different kinds of alcohol in it, this Overhang, 63 N. Court St., staple can live up to its name if you have more than a couple. Its citrus flavor makes it go down easily, but be careful: only one or two of these will do the trick. It’s $2 on Thursdays.

CHAMPAGNE SLUSHIE FROM BRONEY’S ALUMNI GRILL In the mood to feel a little fancy? Well, Broney’s, 7 W. Carpenter St., makes champagne even fancier than it normally is. The drink ($4) is a great way to cool down after a hot day and feel like a kid again.

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HOT NUT FROM TONY’S TAVERN The only warm drink you’ll find in Athens is at Tony’s Tavern, 7 W. State St. A hot nut is a shot of coffee with liquor, so if you want to try spiked coffee, Tony’s is the place for you.

This shot is great for warming up during a long night out in the winter because we all know cold weather doesn’t stop bobcats from going out. It costs $1.75 on Sundays.

MARGARITA FROM CASA NUEVA Casa Nueva, 6 W. State St., is known for its margaritas. It has a ton of options for any budget. You can also get either just one glass ($4.50) or an entire pitcher. There are also different flavor options, including strawberry.

@JESS_UMBARGER JU992415@OHIO.EDU

Correction: An article from the Aug. 23 issue with the headline “A useful waste” incorrectly named the Mid-American Conference. Additionally, a graphic in the article with the headline “Coffee Conundrum” incorrectly listed the price of a regular black coffee at OU coffee shops.

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NEWS BRIEFS

53 citations, arrests over welcome weekend; driverless cars could come to Athens SARAH M. PENIX NEWS EDITOR Here’s the news you should know this week: 53 CITATIONS, ARRESTS REPORTED OVER WELCOME WEEKEND According to reports from the Ohio University and Athens police departments, there were 31 citations and arrests for drug or alcohol violations — such as possession of marijuana paraphernalia and possession, underage drinking and disorderly conduct — issued during welcome weekend.

OUPD arrested and issued citations to 23 people during welcome weekend. There were 11 citations for marijuana possession and paraphernalia, and four citations for

underage drinking and alcohol violations.

The number of drug and alcohol citations issued by OUPD have remained similar throughout the past three years.

According to a previous Post report, there were 20 alcohol and drug citations issued in 2017, while there were 23 in 2016.

OHIO STATE HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICER ACCUSED OF THREATENING INMATE Jeffrey T. Moorhead, an Ohio State Highway Patrol officer of Jackson, was accused Monday of threatening an inmate in the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail.

Moorhead pleaded not guilty to charges of theft in office, a felony of the fifth degree; dereliction of duty, a misdemeanor of the second degree; trespass in a habitation, a fel-

ony of the fourth degree; burglary, a felony of the second degree and interfering with civil rights, a misdemeanor of the first degree.

Keller J. Blackburn, the Athens County prosecutor, said in a news release Moorhead is accused of entering the jail while on duty and using his position to obtain an interview room which he used to threaten an inmate due to personal issues.

DRIVERLESS VEHICLES COULD EVENTUALLY COME TO ATHENS Athens City Council members voted Monday night to allow the City of Athens to enter into an agreement with DriveOhio, an Ohio Department of Transportation initiative seeking to increase smart vehicle investments in the state.

Councilman Peter Kotses, D-At Large,

said that could mean autonomous vehicles on local roads.

“This is for having a test loop within the city of Athens looking at a driverless vehicle,” Kotses said.

Kotses clarified that although the vehicle would be “driverless,” someone would be stationed inside to control the vehicle.

Athens has come up in statewide discussions regarding smart vehicles, Athens Mayor Steve Patterson said. Patterson recently attended a meeting with state officials in Marysville about the project.

Patterson said autonomous vehicles could help expand access to rural areas, and would help Athens.

@SARAHMPENIX SP936115@OHIO.EDU

POLICE BLOTTER

Student found outside of church; brothers fight over pizza JACKIE OSBORNE SLOT EDITOR One student showed up for church a little early Sunday.

At about 5 a.m., an Ohio University Police Department officer found a student sitting at the back side door of the First United Methodist Church.

The officer saw he had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, was unsteady on his feet and smelled of alcohol. The student was issued a citation for disorderly conduct by intoxication and taken to Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail pending his sobriety.

This was one of four alcohol-related issues reported by OUPD over the weekend.

The department also issued 11 citations for marijuana possession or paraphernalia.

CRAWFORD CONUNDRUMS OUPD reported to North McKinley Avenue near Crawford Hall that a student 6 / AUG. 30, 2018

passed out in the roadway around midnight Saturday.

The student was transported to OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital and was issued a citation for disorderly conduct by intoxication.

An OUPD officer responded to Crawford Hall for a student in the second-floor men’s restroom at about 11 p.m. Saturday.

He smelled of alcohol, unsteady on his feet, had slurred speech and bloodshot eyes. The student was transported to OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital for treatment. The case was forwarded to Athens County Prosecutor for review.

CANDY THIEF The Athens Police Department took a report of theft from a vehicle on West Union Street on Saturday.

The woman said someone entered her car between Aug. 20 and 24. She reported that a change purse containing about $5

in change, a Garmin GPS and some candy were stolen.

There was no damage to the vehicle and no suspects at this time.

WHERE’S THE PIZZA? Last Wednesday, the Athens County Sheriff’s Office responded to a West Third Street for a fight that occurred between “two adult brothers over pizza,” according to the report.

Deputies spoke to the two men about why a physical altercation happened over pizza. The brothers were both served minor misdemeanor charges for disorderly conduct by fighting. The case was closed.

IT’S A BOY! On Saturday, deputies took a report of an explosion in the Guysville area.

The noise was found to come from the festivities of a gender reveal party in the area, according the re-

port. The sheriff’s office congratulated the local couple on their baby boy.

TAKE WHAT YOU CAN GET The sheriff’s office took a report of a possible theft at Jet Star Drive in Hockingport on Friday.

A man reported he had been in jail for some time and while he was gone, he had allowed his live-in girlfriend to sell certain items in their house to pay for bills, according to the report.

When he returned on temporary release, he found that most of the household items were gone. He believes his girlfriend had taken most of the items, sold them, kept the money and ran off.

Deputies said they would speak to a prosecutor before investigating the issue further.

@JACKIEOU_OHYEAH JO019315@OHIO.EDU

CLASSIFIEDS

THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 7

Blue light phones are rarely used for emergencies ASHTON NICHOLS SENIOR WRITER Ohio University spends about $4,600 each year maintaining its emergency phones on campus, according to a university spokesperson. But police say they can’t remember them ever being used in an emergency or crime in progress.

Many universities and colleges provide emergency phones marked with blue lights, but several universities have moved away from the technology in recent years, claiming the phones are rarely used. At OU, if a student pushes the button of one of the 78 emergency phones on campus, it will direct them to the OU Police Department dispatch lines.

The University of California, Davis began removing all 107 of its public safety phones in 2011. It replaced them with 18 key-service phones on campus. The phones cost UC Davis a total of about $36,000 to maintain annually.

In 2015, the University of Colorado Boulder began removing some of its 80 blue light phones due to the availability of cell phones. A news release from the Colorado University Police Department chief read that more than 90 percent of the calls CUPD received from the blue light phones were pranks or hang-ups.

The blue light phones at OU

are not always blue, but most have a blue light on the top of them. Some have a gray box and some are green. They’re scattered throughout campus — next to most residence halls, on College Green or near the bike path.

The Office of Information Technology tests each of the blue light phones on a monthly basis, OU Spokesperson Dan Pittman said.

Most of the time when someone presses the button, it’s a prank or test, OUPD Lt. Tim Ryan said. People often push them and then walk away.

The South Green bike path light, located by the pumping station, accounts for 40 percent of all activations. It’s been tested or used more than 3,000 times since Jan. 1, 2017. It’s not clear why the phone has been activated so many times, but Ryan said the department isn’t receiving any legitimate calls from the phone.

“They’re not coming here,” Ryan said. “No one is calling us from the bike path to report something.”

The emergency light outside of Tiffin Hall is also often used with more than 700 activations since Jan. 1, 2017. The light outside of Bromley has been used more than 700 times as well.

Ryan can’t remember any time OUPD was dispatched to a crime in progress because of a blue light phone.

“I think people push them and keep walking. I think that’s the number one reason,” Ryan said.

“Sometimes drunk people push them and think they’re calling something, but they’re not and then walk away. When we get them, they’re either being tested

by OIT, or someone has pushed it not wanting the police.”

If a phone is pressed and the dispatch officer does not hear anything, OUPD usually has to go to the location due to protocol, Ryan said.

OU was not able to provide data to The Post for how many calls are real emergencies.

“Mass majority are false alarms,” Ryan said. “We had a dispatcher who retired after 25 years and said she can’t remember ever getting a call for a crime in progress.”

There are also known issues with some phones. The Ryors Hall emergency phone can’t dial out. The lights next to Armbruster House and the former phone at the since-demolished O’Bleness House are listed as “bad phones” in records provided by the university. Ryan said he didn’t know what that meant.

Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle said it’s easier for students to pull out their cell phones than to use the emergency phones.

Pyle said he thinks most of the activations are pranks because of the alarm patterns within the city.

“As an example, we have 400 alarms a month around the city, but maybe one of them is legitimate, for intruder, fire, whatever,” Pyle said.

“The majority are false alarms.”

The City of Athens, however, doesn’t have an emergency system like the blue lights on campus, Pyle said. If someone needs emergency assistance, a cell phone is their best bet.

Alyssa Drexler, a sophomore studying music therapy, said she has never used a blue light phone or heard of someone using one.

She said a cell phone would be her go-to in an emergency situation.

“I’ve never seen anyone use them or talk about them,” Drexler said. “We had classes about alcohol education and being safe on campus, but I’ve never even heard of them mentioned.”

Ryan said he thinks these emergency phones make people feel safer on campus, even if they are rarely used.

“I don’t know that it actually makes you safer, but it makes people feel safer,” Ryan said. “I think that years ago, before everyone had a cell phone, it made sense to put phones just in case, but even then I don’t think they were used that often.”

@ASHTONNICHOLS_ AN614816@OHIO.EDU

BLUE LIGHT USAGE ON CAMPUS South Green

3,682 8 / AUG. 30, 2018

East Green

West Green

Baker Center

1,751 1,056 374

Athletic facilities

College Green

The Ridges

North Green

327

93

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Construction continues at The Ridges on Wednesday. (BLAKE NISSEN / PHOTO EDITOR)

Breakdown of The Ridges renovations ELLEN WAGNER NEWS EDITOR Construction and renovation projects will continue at The Ridges during the Fall Semester.

The Ridges Advisory Committee, which is made up of members representing Ohio University, the City of Athens and Athens County, reports recommendations to OU President Duane Nellis and periodically provides feedback on the comprehensive land-use plans for The Ridges.

The committee meeting Wednesday was held to discuss current renovation projects and future construction for major renovations in the historic part of the buildings and road repairs around The Ridges.

While much of the construction is still in the design stage and budgets are still to be confirmed, some projects will begin as early as September.

Steve Mack, interim executive director of facilities management, said there will

be renovations of Buildings 13, 14 and 18 beginning with abatement, or clean-up, in October. The renovations for those buildings will cost $13.2 million. “(The abatement will) prepare us and get us ready for the primary project in March,” Miranda Kridler, university planner, said.

Construction will begin March 2019 and move-in is scheduled for April 2020.

Improvements for those buildings will include wide corridor space for open offices, polish and patch existing terrazzo floors, repurpose existing furniture, remove office doors for light exposure and upgrade the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, or HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems.

Konneker Research Center, or Building 25, will have HVAC and boiler system upgrades, which will start in September and is set to finish in November 2020. The project will cost $5 million. It will also have a generator quick disconnect that

will cost about $285,000 and a chiller replacement. Both of those projects’ construction schedules are still being determined.

Construction to repair the circle roadway around The Ridges was approved at the August Board of Trustees meeting with a budget of $702,000. The construction is scheduled to be completed in October 2019.

Building 20 will be demolished, which will cost about $2.7 million. The space will be used for a parking lot and walking path from Richland Avenue to The Ridges. Construction will start in September 2019 and is scheduled to be completed by February 2020.

Building 37 will update humidity control for printing services on the lower level and updating HVAC on the second level.

The budget and schedule for construction are still being determined.

Discussion for the failure of the floor slab in Building 29, the grounds shed, also

took place at the meeting. The two options discussed include full-depth floor replacement and removing the structure and building connector to add an access ramp to Building 14.

The chilled water plant cooling towers will be replaced by July 2019. It will cost $408,700. Other projects are still in early design stages with budgets to be determined, including wall stabilization in Building 7 and roof repair on Buildings 32 and 33.

Joe Shields, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the committee spent a lot of time understanding the historical context, parts and architecture of The Ridges when it came to planning construction.

“We spent a lot of the time … really understanding the whole scheme of this place and what it means to everyone,” Shields said.

@EWAGNER19 EW047615@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 9

July unemployment rates

INFOGRAPHIC BY ABBEY PHILLIPS

Athens lags behind the national unemployment rate during July GEORGE SHILLCOCK STAFF WRITER Ohio’s unemployment rate reached 4.6 percent in July during a year where the state’s progress toward reducing it has remained stagnant.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reports that throughout 2018, the statewide unemployment rate has fluctuated between a high of 4.7 percent in January and a low of 4.3 percent in May. Athens County’s unemployment rate in July was even higher at 6.9 percent.

“Unemployment is traditionally higher in our area than in the state as a whole,” Richard Vedder, a professor of economics, said.

10 / AUG. 30, 2018

Compared with other states, Ohio ranks at 42 — near the bottom — along with Washington, Arizona and Nevada. Only four counties in the state have higher unemployment rates than Athens. Monroe County ranks the highest at 7.5 percent, Adams at 7.2 percent and Huron and Meigs counties at 7.0 percent.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate is reported to be at 3.9 percent. Ohio has consistently lagged behind or close to the national rate over the past 10 years since the Great Recession.

Ohio State Rep. Jay Edwards, R-Nelsonville, said that despite Ohio’s and Athens’ low rankings, the area is seeing a large amount of

job creation, and it needs to continue in order for Ohio to improve.

“The types of jobs you are seeing are tech-savvy jobs that are on the coast,” Edwards said. “You’re seeing more robotic-type jobs than blue collar manufacturing jobs, but we still feel like they are out there and we are hoping we can bring them back.”

In a previous Post report, the Appalachian Regional Commission listed Athens as a distressed county in its evaluation of Appalachian county economic statuses for fiscal year 2018. Threeyear averages of unemployment, per capita market income and poverty rates were factored into this data.

“The more rural areas defi-

nitely don’t have as many opportunities,” Lauren Adkins, a junior majoring in global studies, said.

“It is more difficult to sustain (jobs) here.”

Adkins said she had a very difficult time finding a job in Athens while she lived here and eventually had to move back home to West Virginia in order to find one. She said to get more jobs back, there needs to be a change in both political viewpoint and an influx of different people, new infrastructure and new businesses.

The Wall Street Journal reported that youth unemployment hit a 52-year low of 9.2 percent in July. That number came from people between ages 16 and 24 looking for work this summer.

Vedder said the current job market is great for most college graduates, but it depends on a person’s field of study. He said the chances of finding employment can vary based on what type of job they are looking for, what they were trained for and if they are willing to accept a job outside of the field of study.

Sarae Johnson, a junior studying exercise physiology, said the job market for graduates is very competitive right now.

“I think the biggest thing with unemployment is networking,” Johnson said. “Just knowing people in places will help you have the upper end.”

@SHILLCOCKGEORGE GS261815@OHIO.EDU

Athens People’s Justice League working to attack harassment culture SARAH M. PENIX NEWS EDITOR The People’s Justice League, or PJL, is working to combat harassment in Athens through incident reporting and bystander training.

After seeing a spike in hate crimes around the country, the non-profit organization created an app called the PJL Incident Reporter and re-launched the Active Bystander Coalition this year. Both efforts aim to attack the culture of harassment in Athens.

“We’re hoping that we can start to create a culture in the uptown Athens area that sends a consistent message that these types of behaviors are not going to be tolerated anymore, so that people who do them get the idea that they’re not going to get away with them, and they don’t continue to escalate to more, different types of violence,” Sarah Fick, founder of the Athens-based PJL, said.

The app allows community members to report harassment in the area so people are aware of potentially unsafe locations.

Fick launched the app in January as an extension to the resources available on the PJL website, which includes an incident reporter.

The interactive map pins locations of different incidents, varying from accounts of racial profiling by police to verbal and sexual harassment.

“To have the app on their phone or just view our website, (people) can go and look at those incidents and be prepared for places that seem less safe or also be prepared as active bystanders,” Fick said. “And know what’s going on in our community and be ready to step up and do something if they should see something like that personally.”

The stories are self-reported by bystanders or people who have experienced harassment, so the reporters categorize the story themselves. After, Fick reviews the report, uploads it to the app and shares the information on social media.

“Most of our stories are sexual harassment just because we started out with a focus on that,” Fick said. “We do have a few stories here and there about different types of harassment.”

Police, class, racial, sexuality, gender and disability harassment are categories identifiable by colors on the incident report map. There are about 100 reports on the app, Merrill Tebay, a PJL spokeswoman said.

Lexi Fogle, an undecided sophomore, sees the app as a helpful resource for people who have experienced harassment.

“If I was ever in an incident like that, it’d be good to have something to go to,” she said.

PJL is also working to stop harassment culture through collaboration with bars Uptown.

“We just kind of started out of our own experiences and our own frustration with these issues, and then we got reinvigorated again during the (President Donald) Trump campaign because of the spike in hate incidents that we saw, largely reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center,” Fick said. “That’s when we had this invigoration of doing the bystander trainings again.”

Through the Active Bystander Coalition, PJL trains bartenders and other service providers on how to deal with situations that could turn into or be considered harassment.

“We train them to notice early warning signs and step in as active bystanders and throw people out if that’s what’s needed, and also how to respond respectfully to someone who’s disclosing that they’re a survivor of violence to them,” Fick said.

Once an establishment completes training, PJL gives the bar or restaurant a sticker to mark it as a participating business. PJL has done such efforts sporadically since 2013, when the organization was founded.

“It should be something that every single bar and even other businesses really look into and try to participate in,” Sean White, co-founder and director of Little Fish Brewing Co., said.

Participating businesses include The Union Bar and Grill, Little Fish Brewing Co., Donkey Coffee, West End Cider House, Jackie O’s Pub and Brewery, O’Betty’s Red Hot, The C.I. and The Crystal.

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TOP: Members of the Class of 2022 cross the Richland Avenue Bridge and turn onto President Street as they head toward the Campus Involvement Fair on College Green. (BLAKE NISSEN / PHOTO EDITOR) BOTTOM LEFT: The Marching 110 performs at the Campus Involvement Fair on College Green. (HANNAH RUHOFF / PHOTO EDITOR) BOTTOM RIGHT: President Duane Nellis speaks during Convocation and welcomes the Class of 2022 to Ohio University. (HANNAH RUHOFF / PHOTO EDITOR)

12 / AUG. 30, 2018

Bobcats return to Athens The Marching 110, Ohio University President Duane Nellis and other OU figures welcomed the Class of 2022 to campus at Convocation. The freshmen then followed the 110 to College Green for the Campus Involvement Fair.

AUGUST 26, 2018

ABOVE: (From left) Ohio University Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Gigi Secuban, President Duane Nellis, Vice President for Student Affairs Jason Pina and Executive Vice President and Provost Chaden Djalali watch a video during Convocation. (HANNAH RUHOFF / PHOTO EDITOR) TOP RIGHT: The Marching 110 performs at the Campus Involvement Fair on College Green. (HANNAH RUHOFF / PHOTO EDITOR) BOTTOM RIGHT: Students participate in an activity using their smartphones during Convocation. (HANNAH RUHOFF / PHOTO EDITOR) THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 13

Welcoming international students to campus HARDIKA SINGH FOR THE POST International Student Orientation (ISO), which is about two weeks long, is specifically created for the graduate and undergraduate international students. It welcomes students to Ohio University and introduces them to American culture.

The orientation helps students with immigration paperwork and holds mandatory information sessions on topics like Title IX, graduate student success, living in Athens and more. Social events are typically also held in Donkey Coffee and Espresso, Rollerbowl Lanes and other locations.

This fall, there are about 243 incoming international students from about 59 countries. The number increased from last year, as there were only about 170 incoming international students last fall.

Viktoria Marinova, graduate assistant for International Student and Faculty Services Orientation, believes ISO went well because she received emails where people talked about how much they enjoyed it. She was especially proud of her team for working hard for the past few weeks.

“My team works really hard in both mandatory stuff as well as the social activities to make everybody feel welcome,” Marinova, who is studying public administration, said. “And, to make them feel like they are having a good time.”

During ISO, Marinova and her team organized events that were aimed specifically at inculcating students into university culture. Marinova highlighted one of her events — a social in Donkey Coffee and Espresso — which she deems an Athens staple.

“We do have a whole bunch of programming that is designed to help students understand what is going on,” Marinova said.

Marinova also highlighted the living in Athens session, which was presented by peer advisers who provided students with information on how to get a driver’s license, student ID, state-issued ID, social security number and more.

“We definitely try really hard to give as much information as possible,” Marinova said. “We make sure that they know (we) are available to ask us questions if there is something they did not understand or hear or might have forgotten about.”

International Student and Faculty Services organizes events throughout the semester with the help of Global Connections to connect international students with do14 / AUG. 30, 2018

mestic students. However, Marinova wants to improve the ISO by providing a platform for relationships between the domestic and international students.

“Sometimes, there tends to be a gap,” Marinova said. “Both parties are very guilty of it.”

Boy Dhessa Pasha, an incoming graduate international student from Democratic Republic of the Congo studying communication and development studies, found ISO intense and was expecting something less heavy.

“But, it was worth it,” Pasha said.

Pasha believes ISO does not give international students a chance to connect with domestic students. He said during ISO, he could only hangout with other international students.

“It’s just a place where just a group of international people gather,” Pasha said. “You don’t really get to meet the local ones.”

Pasha wants to improve that connection by increasing opportunities for social events and by making them mandatory. He wants to attend one or two major events per day instead of having them throughout the entire day.

“It’s not helpful to put social activities in the same day when you had a busy day with mandatory activities,” Pasha said. “So, social activities should be put in days when people can know at least that my main reason to go to campus today is social activity.”

Gaone Manatong, a graduate student studying communication and development studies, however, believes ISO is a great opportunity to make friends with other international students.

“It’s very important to attend all these things, even if you’re tired,” Manatong said.

“During orientation, that’s when you make friends with which you’re going to spend the semester or year with.”

Manatong also observed graduate international students being more forthcoming and participatory than a handful of undergraduate students. She believes ISO is an important first step to get accustomed, not necessarily to the American culture, but to understanding how the university works.

“The welcoming part of ISO is very important for somebody coming from a different country and coming to a country like America to know they are welcome here, to know they are wanted here,” Manatong said.

@HARDIKASINGH28 HS152416@OHIO.EDU

ILLUSTRATION BY RILEY SCOTT

LGBT Center celebrates 20-year anniversary BAYLEE DEMUTH FOR THE POST To Jeremy Sierra, a graduate student studying critical studies and education, the students who are part of the Ohio University LGBT Center have become more diverse and intersectional in recent years.

“Whenever I would stop by the center my freshman year, there would generally be many gay white men, but now I’m seeing more transgender people and people of color,” Sierra said. “In the past, I think people were more worried to come because they didn’t see themselves being represented, but now they do and I’m very excited about it.”

To celebrate the growing presence of LGBTQ-identifying people at OU and its 20th anniversary (or “rainbowversary”), the center plans to host many events throughout the fall and spring. delfin bautista, director of the LGBT Center, is still in the process of figuring out all the events the center will hold, but one of the bigger occasions will take place

during OU’s Homecoming weekend. As of now, there will be two events happening during that weekend.

“We’re planning on having a lunch discussion featuring my predecessors Jenny Hall-Jones and Laura Harrison, as well as former Director Mickey Hart where they will all share their experiences from back in the day,” bautista, who uses they/them pronouns and the lowercase spelling of their name, said. “They’re creating videos that will capture their experiences that we can keep and archive as well.”

The other event that will be going on will be a drag show, held in partnership with the OU Alumni Association. The drag show will be held in Baker Theatre the Friday night of Homecoming weekend, but no further plans have been made.

“We have no idea what it’s going to look like yet, but we thought it would be something different and fun to do,” bautista said.

Later in the year, Alden Library will also be helping the LGBT Center create displays of the center’s history through pho-

tos and narratives that they are wanting to display all around campus.

With the growing number of members the LGBT Center has seen in the past 20 years, bautista has seen an increase in awareness of LGBTQ people on campus and in Athens as a whole.

“More folks are becoming aware of who we are and what we’re here for,” bautista said. “There has been a higher demand for SafeZone training, guest lecturing and class involvement on different levels in the past few years.”

Students who are part of the LGBT Center used to appear in classrooms occasionally, but now they find themselves in the classroom on a weekly basis.

“Many times students share their own experiences, and it kind of drives home differently when their own stories are told,” bautista said. “Things click a little more, and there’s a noticeable shift in the way people engage with the story.”

Using social media, LGBT Center staff and students have made more frequent appearances in classrooms talking about

their experiences or specific subjects set out by the professor.

“Anything we find interesting or is relative to the LGBT or intersectional community, we post on our sites,” Darragh Liaskos, the communications coordinator for the LGBT Center and a senior studying media and social change, said. “Through our media, we’ve been asked to hold Speakouts, which is just a panel of students that go to a classroom and talk about their stories.”

Although Liaskos is an employee of the LGBT Center, she has still been given an experience that makes her job one of her favorite things she does at OU. “Being a part of the LGBT Center has been one of my favorite experiences at OU,” Liaskos said. “It’s not only a safe space, but it’s also so welcoming here, which is definitely refreshing.”

@BAYLEEDEMUTH BD575016@OHIO.EDU

The OU LGBT Center is celebrating its 20th anniversary with events throughout the year. (PROVIDED via the LGBT Center)

THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 15

Wakanda’s leading lady Shuri from Black Panther is getting her own comic book, and fans are stoked HARDIKA SINGH | FOR THE POST

A

ward-winning sci-fi author, Nnedi Okorafor, a Nigerian-American writer, will release a comic book centered around Shuri from Black Panther in October.

In the comic, Shuri, the daughter of King T’Chaka and Queen Ramonda, and the half-sister of T’Challa, is portrayed in a much stronger role than before. When T’Challa is lost in space, Shuri is forced to leave her comfort zone of working in her lab to lead the people of Wakanda. She faces the dilemma of choosing herself and science over her beloved nation.

16 / AUG. 30, 2018

a white guy with glasses, wearing a white lab coat and a sour look on his face,” Stokes said. “Scientists look like everybody else, but we don’t see it represented, particularly when it comes to people of color, Black women, Latino women and more.”

Jacob Haskins, a graduate student studying college student personnel, believes Shuri’s character in Black Panther was great because she was a scientist and a confident female. However, Haskins also finds it interesting that she did not try to fight for the throne after T’Challa was overpowered by the villain, Killmonger.

“I think it was just a part of their society where men are in charge,” Haskins said. “Although she has a strong character and stuff, she just didn’t want to fight that battle.”

He also agrees with Madry on creating more representation for people of color.

He believes it is important for kids to be able to see themselves in comics.

“I’m a white man, so comic books have always been cool for me,” Haskins said. “I can see myself in the character and see a piece of me in it.”

Lawrence Wright, a freshman studying chemical engineering, is also very ex-

“

It will help inspire pretty much everyone to feel like they can do more of what they want to do, rather than just seeing the stereotypical male from white culture have all the good roles.

“

Alexandria Madry, a sophomore studying nursing, thinks it is pretty cool to have the representation of Shuri in comic books. She believes Shuri is underestimated in the movie.

“You don’t really see many comics for African-American women,” Madry said.

“With the movie coming out, a lot of people looked up to her as an ideal. So, a comic book would be really cool.”

Madry believes Shuri helped with more behind-the-scenes technical stuff and wasn’t given her due credit in the movie.

“They put her brother in front of everything,” Madry said. “She got credit, but not as much as she should have gotten.”

Patty Stokes, an assistant professor of women’s, gender and sexuality studies, recognizes that the central character in the movie is a man, but highlights that the supporting characters are all women.

“I love them very much,” Stokes said.

Stokes thinks Shuri’s character explores beyond the rigid, narrow character of a scientist. Shuri engages with everyone instead of being a stereotypical “detached from the rest of the world” scientist.

“People tend to think of a scientist as

ILLUSTRATION BY RILEY SCOTT

- Lawrence Wright, a freshman studying chemical engineering

cited to read Shuri’s comic book. He believes comic books play an important role as they help people understand different cultures and different parts of the world.

“Different representation and different points of view are good to have,” Wright said. “Once (people) see how well it is, because I definitely know it’s going

to do well, it will inspire other authors to create work similar to this one.”

He believes the comic book is a mustread for the younger generation.

“It will help inspire people from different cultures,” he said. “It will help inspire pretty much everyone to feel like they can do more of what they want to do, rather than just seeing the stereotypical male from white culture have all the good roles.”

Wright hopes there is a movie following the comic book centered around only Shuri and “how good she is.” He believes the authors could have done more to showcase her talents and strengths.

“They could have given her the throne for a bit,” Wright said.

Wright believes it is important for him to read the novel because if the authors are taking time to write about something that relates to him, then he should read it.

“If not then what I am really doing?

Not representing my culture,” he said.

“Wakanda forever.”

@HARDIKASINGH28 HS152416@OHIO.EDU

FOOTBALL

Taking back the MAC SPENCER HOLBROOK | SPORTS EDITOR For Frank Solich and Ohio, getting there will be more challenging than staying here.

The Bobcats sure got here quickly. Entering his 14th season as the head coach in Athens, he established a pattern of consistency early on. They have had nine seven-plus win seasons and three straight.

Consistency is great, but winning championships is always the end goal.

The Mid-American Conference has always somehow escaped Solich. It’s been within his reach more four times, and he’s been as close as any coach who hasn’t won it. His Bobcats lost to Central Michigan in 2006 and 2009. They blew a second-half lead to Northern Illinois in 2011.

They had the ball, down six, in the fourth quarter with a chance to upset undefeated Western Michigan in 2016, but fell.

Solich is aware of the drought; it’s hard not to be. He makes sure, however, not to let that define him or his program.

“I don't have to win a MAC championship to feel like I'm a good coach,” Solich said. “I know that's the case. I don't need a MAC championship to know that these guys are good coaches. I know that.

What we would like to do is win a MAC championship for everybody involved. For the families, for the fans, administration, everyone associated with Ohio and obviously the players. We're wanting that to happen as much as anything.”

This season, that want — a void that is missing from an otherwise impressive Solich resume — could become a reality. That reality is possible because of the recent success of the Bobcats’ offense, specifically quarterback Nathan Rourke.

Rourke’s name has shown up on various preseason watch lists: the Manning Award, the Maxwell Award, the Davey O’Brien

PETE NAKOS | ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

OHIO’S 2018 SCHEDULE 9/1 Howard 9/15 @ Virginia 9/22 @ Cincinnati 9/29 UMass The Bobcats’ defense celebrates after an interception by redshirt sophomore safety Javon Hagan (#2) in the first half of their game against Miami on Oct. 31, 2018. (CARL FONTICELLA / FILE)

Award, just to name a few. He’s garnered national attention from every outlet and commentator that might have something to say about the MAC. Last season was just a start, or so Solich hopes. He set the program’s single-season record with 39 total touchdowns and 132 points scored.

Reporter: “Happy game week, Nate. Are you ready?”

“We’re in trouble if I’m not ready, right?” Rourke said.

BIGGEST ON-FIELD QUESTION To put it simply: the front seven.

A season removed from leading the MAC and finishing 10th in the nation in rush defense, the front seven that led that charge returns just one starter in the form of linebacker Evan Croutch.

He’ll have to help fill the void of a vocal linebacker core that included Chad Moore and NFL draftee Quentin Poling. Croutch isn’t concerned about the want to stop the run first. It’s what brings together the Bobcats on defense.

Poling was the middle linebacker last season, but Croutch will take over a large portion of the quarterbacking duties in the front seven even though he’ll play weak-side linebacker Saturday.

He expects his teammates to help him out, but he wasn’t elected a captain for no reason.

“A lot that I learned from those guys was playing smart football,” Croutch said. “It’s what they do and did. They really understood what was going on, and what was going to come. That’s what I’m going to bring to the field.”

FINAL ASSESSMENT Offensive coordinator Tim Albin has been telling Rourke all week, “You can’t win the MAC this week.”

And it’s true. Ohio opens the season against Howard, and then it’ll play three more non-conference games before diving into MAC play.

The Bobcats opted for a week two bye, and they’ll string together 11 straight weeks with a game after that. The season might come down to a war of attrition. If that’s the case, a healthy Ohio has the best chance to win the MAC. If the Bobcats run into injuries, though, it’s tough to see them in good position in November and December.

@SPENCERHOLBROOK SH690914@OHIO.EDU

10/6 @ Kent State 10/13 @ Northern Illinois 10/20 Bowling Green 10/25 Ball State 11/1 @ Western Michigan 11/7 @ Miami 11/14 Buffalo 11/23 Akron

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

MAKING THE CUT ANTHONY POISAL | FOR THE POST

P

eyton White was nervous. It was his first day on his new job, and he had a lot of uncertainties ahead. It started with a tee shot on the first hole, a 392-yard par 4, at El Reunion Golf Resort in Antigua, Guatemala, in March.

White, who graduated from Ohio University in 2017, after four seasons with the men’s golf team, was beginning his career on the PGA Latin America Tour.

For the next 13 weeks, the 22-year-old would travel to six different countries in and around South America to play golf for a living.

Nervousness was nothing new to White. The Huntersville, North Carolina, native had to fight off nerves en route to becoming his alma mater’s single-season record holder with an average of about 72 strokes per round in 2017, when he won two events.

But these nerves were tougher to manage. Instead of only having to focus on adjusting to a new course each week like a college golfer, White had to adjust to a new lifestyle.

“Dude, you're traveling to a country that you've never been to with a lot of people you don't know on a tour that you've never played on in the biggest tournament that you've played in,” White said. “But that's what we play for, man.

It's sick.”

Peyton White, right, and Ty Herriott — then the Ohio University men’s golf captains and OU seniors — pose for a portrait at the OU Driving Range on West State Street. (PATRICK CONNOLLY/ FILE)

18 / AUG. 30, 2018

Peyton White poses for a portrait during his freshman year at Ohio University. At that point, he had already established himself the top golfer on Ohio’s men’s team. (KATIE KLANN / FILE)

and environment each week.

“I felt like I belonged,” White said. “When you're under pressure, and you're not fully trusting what you're doing, then it kind of magnifies that, and you're on a tour with 144 of the best players in the world. These guys are no joke, and it's not a matter of making cuts anymore. You have to play well to make the cut. The moment you don't feel like you belong, then you don't belong."

Before the tour, White previously visited parts of the Caribbean and South America, but only for vacation.

This time, it obviously wasn’t a vacation, but some people looking for a vacation probably wouldn’t mind some of the locations White, and other players on the tour, stayed.

White said he stayed at a villa on the golf course in Guatemala that had a hot tub and three bedrooms. When White traveled to a Westin resort in Costa Rica for a tour event in May, his family, best friend and girlfriend visited as well. A night's stay at the resort currently costs upward of about $350, according to its booking website. As a tour member, White stayed for free.

The easy living accommoda-

tions made it easy for White to adjust to life off the course. He mainly lived with Otto Black and Jack McBride, two Americans who played in college for Toledo and NC State, respectively, and Harrison Endycott from Australia.

Speaking English worked well among White’s inner circle of people he talked with daily on the tour. Outside of White’s tour mates, however, English wasn’t nearly as effective.

So, White is now partially fluent in Spanish. He said he quickly picked up the language after being immersed in the culture and traveling to some areas where English was rarely, if ever, used.

White found that the textbook Spanish students in the U.S. typically use to learn is “useless,” and the best way to learn the language is through conversing in a true Spanish environment.

White said that in Mexico, the standard Spanish greeting for asking someone how they’re doing, “Hola, ¿cómo estás?,” is not pronounced like how it may sound to someone reading the phrase for the first time.

“You say that, and they don't know what you're saying. Because that's like, I don't know,” White said. He laughed as he tried to pronounce the greeting how he remembered hearing it — with more speed.

“You say ‘Holacómoestás?' like really, really quickly,” he said.

White was able to adjust to most of the lifestyles that come with living in South America. He is current-

Peyton White hits an approach shot at the Cordoba Golf Club in Cordoba, Argentina, in April while playing on the PGA Latin America Tour. (PROVIDED via White’s Instagram, @peyton_white25)

“

I felt like I belonged. When you’re under pressure, and you’re not fully trusting what you’re doing, then it kind of magnifies that, and you’re on a tour with 144 of the best players in the world.

- Peyton White, a 2017 OU alumnus

ly back home in the U.S. preparing for the second half of the 2018 PGA Latin America season, which begins in September. Besides looking to improve his score, there’s one other thing White wants to increase before he returns to South America — his weight.

White said he lost 17 pounds after the first leg of the tour.

How? Well, White was trying to eat healthy and keep his body in form, but he was cautioned against using the tap water in South America. The water issues limited what kind of food he was able to eat, and he only ate vegetables if they were grilled.

When White needed water, he only used plastic water bottles.

“I've been working on putting (the weight) back on. It's different,” White said. “You can't drink tap water, you can't brush your

“

White shot a 72, even-par, on his first 18 holes of professional golf, and he followed it up with a 73 the next day.

The two scores may have been enough to place him in the upper ranks of a college event one year ago.

Instead, he missed the cut by four strokes. His first professional tournament was over. Players who miss the cut in the PGA receive little to no share of the tournament’s purse, which is typically around $175,000 per tournament in the Latin America Tour.

White didn’t make his first cut until his third event, the 87 Abierto OSDE del Centro in Córdoba, Argentina, in April. After four rounds, he tied for 58th place at 5-over par and left Córdoba $669.38 richer then when he arrived.

In addition to making his first cut and adding some cash to his bank account, White accomplished something he had never done in his eight years of playing the sport.

He notched his first ever holein-one.

White, who started playing golf in 2010, remembers even the most minuscule details about his first ace.

There were gusty winds blowing inward from Córdoba Golf Club’s 10th hole, which he recalled was about 142 yards away, sloped downhill and had a bunker in front of the pin’s placement on the right side of the green. White pulled out his 9-iron — he usually used the club for targets about 160 yards away, but he hoped the strong winds would pull the ball back.

He took his shot. The ball landed over the bunker, rolled toward the hole and disappeared.

White remembered what happened before and during the shot, but what about after?

“I don't know what happened afterwards because I just freaked out,” he said. “It was my first one, like ever, and the biggest golfer's nightmare is dying without a hole in one.

I was going berserk. And some of my buddies were there on the tee as well, so we just went nuts.”

White said his limbs were still shaking from disbelief and excitement as he played his next hole, but he was at ease. It wasn’t until then that he finally felt settled in and comfortable among his new surroundings, which included a different country, city

teeth with it. Nothing like that."

But White can’t wait to return to work. The schedule for the tour’s second half includes events in Chile, Peru and two events in Brazil.

No matter what country he’s in, however, White is just going to continue soaking it all in. He’s three years removed from being a teenager, and his job is spending nine hours at a golf course nearly every day. Not many golfers would complain about that.

“Getting to do what you love, like truly, truly love, is one of the better things out there,” he said.

“I don't know how many people do what they truly love, so I'm blessed to be able to do it. It is a job, but it's the best one out there for me right now."

@ANTHONYP_2 AP012215@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 19

ILLUSTRATION BY MEGAN KNAPP

New Wave of Racism Asian-American students encounter microaggressions from strangers, friends, co-workers and others that can have detrimental long-term effects Meghan Morris For The Post

E

ver since they were a baby, Maile Thi Nguyen has felt like a foreigner on United States soil. Adopted from Vietnam, Nguyen never felt fully American nor fully Vietnamese, as many people questioned Nguyen’s and their brother’s backgrounds. Strangers on the street would ask Nguyen’s mother where they were from and get confused by the child’s white parents, because both of the kids were adopted from Asia. Someone once joked that the parents had gotten one for half off.

20 / AUG. 30, 2018

Nguyen’s own grandmother has even called the children foreigners. Encounters like these continue. Most recently, Nguyen had a professor call them “exotic.”

“I remember feeling foreign, being almost rejected from my Asian friends growing up for ‘not being Asian enough,’” Nguyen, a 2018 Ohio University graduate who uses they/them pronouns, said. “My other Vietnamese friend said I was ‘basically only half Viet’ because my parents are white.”

Throughout U.S. history, Asian immigrants and people of Asian descent have experienced discrimination similar to that faced by other racial minorities.

Students, like Nguyen, underwent this bigotry firsthand.

Asian immigrants played a crucial role in the development of the U.S. working as miners, railroad builders, factory workers, fishermen and farmers, according to the Center for Global Education. However, worries of Asian workers stealing American jobs led to violence against them.

During the Chinese Massacre of 1871, a mob of white men in Los Angeles killed as many as 28 Chinese residents while attacking and robbing countless others. A similar invasion called the Chinese Massacre at Deep Creek resulted in 34 Chinese miners robbed, killed and mutilated by white ranchers and schoolboys in Oregon.

Besides direct violence, the government also played a role in lowering Asians’ statuses in the U.S. The Immigration Act of 1924 prevented all Asian immigrants, except for Filipino nationals, from achieving citizenship and naturalization, owning land and marrying Caucasians. In 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which relocated more than 117,000 people of Japanese descent into internment camps.

While those formal laws have been overturned and direct violence of Asian-Americans has decreased, mistreatment of Asian-Americans has become more rampant in the form of subtle yet hurtful comments, often called microaggressions, that can have detrimental long-term effects.

Nguyen, former president of Students Teaching About Racism in Society, said microaggressions can affect a student’s mentality because they are not easy to recognize until later on. Those remarks can come from strangers but are usually said by friends, co-workers and authority figures who actually have good intentions, according to a Columbia University article. “(These comments) are even more hurtful when they are coming from a professor or someone in a place of power,” Nguyen said. “They have a responsibili-

“

It’s a very intersectional form of racism. It’s definitely a race-based issue, but it’s also cultural, it’s ethnic, it’s religious.

- Amal Afyouni, a senior studying political science and sociology/criminology

“

Raquel Wu poses for a portrait outside of Baker Center on Friday, April 20, 2018.

(MIJANA MAZUR / FOR THE POST)

ty to create an environment where their students feel safe to express their opinions and to participate in dialogue.”

Nguyen is not alone in those harrowing experiences. Thirty-five percent of Asian-Americans say they have personally experienced insensitive or offensive comments because of their race or ethnicity, according to a 2017 NPR survey.

Students’ experiences overt and covert racism while attending university because these institutions mirror the views of society, Emmanuel Jean-Francois, an associate professor in comparative and international education, said. Colleges often have policies against discrimination based on race as well as offering training on sensitive topics. But there’s a more simple answer, he said.

“It’s common for universities to say ‘we want to embrace diversity,’ (but) what institutions can do is keep that awareness alive and acknowledge that sometimes we have bigots among our students and among our staff and that isn’t something we condone,” Jean-Francois said. “It has to be an ongoing process that evolves as the mindset of the community is evolving as well.”

While it can seem harmless to some people, asking questions such as “where are you from?” can make Asian-Americans feel like perpetual foreigners. Even if they speak perfect English and have lived in the U.S. for generations, they will always receive questions that imply not belonging, Nguyen said.

“You’re never fully Asian, but you’re never fully American,” Nguyen said.

Raquel Wu, a junior studying psychology, has a Taiwanese mom and Chinese dad who raised her in the U.S. But college peers still assume she was born elsewhere.

Wu was passing through the dorm as some students were watching Star Wars, and someone asked who in the group had not seen the movie series. A few people, included Wu, said they had not. But the

guy made an effort to single Wu out and mockingly said he knew why she did not watch it. Wu had to tell him again that she was born in the U.S., a fact he claimed to have forgotten.

“It’s not the mistake that matters, it’s the intent,” Jean-Francois said. “When you provide the context of why you ask people about their personal identity, they take it differently.”

Asian-Americans have been at the bottom of conversations surrounding discrimination for decades, Amal Afyouni, an Arab-American senior studying political science and sociology/criminology, said.

But now, South Asians from countries such as Afghanistan, India and Pakistan have increasingly been targets of overt and covert racism because they are confused with Middle Easterners, she said.

The growing existence of the Islamic State and attacks in the Middle East have created the misconception that anyone with darker skin is a terrorist.

Asian-Americans can encounter a different form of racism than other minority races because theirs involves more than skin color, Afyouni said.

“It’s a very intersectional form of racism,” she said. “It’s definitely a race-based issue, but it’s also cultural, it’s ethnic, it’s religious.”

Andrew Liu, a Taiwanese-American 2018 OU graduate, said many of the hurtful comments he has received have been about his heritage and culture. Sometimes, people of Asian descent are even lumped with other racial minorities when people see anything non-white as the same.

When Liu was at his cousin’s wedding in Michigan, he took a walk around town with a relative and was verbally abused by an older black man who started screaming racial slurs. He made misguided comments about losing American jobs to them and praised President Donald Trump’s judgment in keeping their kind out of the country. His cousin remained calm and prevented the man from causing any harm.

“I froze in fear,” Liu said. “It can happen anytime and anywhere. Luckily, I had someone who handled it with much more maturity.”

Microaggressions have even affected the private parts of Asian-American student lives.

Liu said there is major discrimination against Asian-American men in the dating world. They are not thought to be desirable partners because they are seen as less masculine than white men and have stereotypes about small penis size.

“A lot of my friends typically can’t download dating apps because they might get a handful of matches compared to Caucasian friends,” he said. “It’s a huge blow to their self-esteem.”

However, some harm to Asian-Amer-

Amal Afyouni poses for a portrait in the Multicultural Center, located in Baker Center, on April 19, 2018. (MEAGAN HALL / DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY)

ican students comes from people who are not educated enough to know how to mention insensitive topics or when not to bring them up at all.

Wu has seen much more ignorance than outright discrimination in day-today interactions. Friends often make jokes about her ethnicity, but she finds most remarks harmless. She has heard comments about eating dogs and having small eyes along with racial slurs. But it makes her most upset when her friends mockingly use a Chinese accent.

“They’re my friends, and I understand that they don’t actually think that way,” she said. “But it gets very, very frustrating to the point that I don’t want to talk to them.

They’re just doing it to mess with me.”

Unlike Wu’s friends, many people who say hurtful comments about race do so unintentionally.

Afyouni does not see any malicious intent when people ask questions about her race or ethnicity because most are good-natured inquiries that come from friends, professors and those who had just met her. However, she has ended friendships with friends who were too stubborn to learn how to speak about race in a respectable way.

She tries to educate people who say hurtful remarks about her race or ethnicity. She takes a moment to assess the situation, repeats the comment to the person and why it is problematic before she tells them the accurate information.

“Think before you open your mouth,” Afyouni said. “It’s not as much of a growing problem as it used to be. People are becoming a lot more educated.”

@MARVELLLOUSMEG MM512815@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 21

the weekender Alumni to perform instrumental music open to interpretation

HALLE WEBER FOR THE POST Us, Today, a Cincinnati-based instrumental band, two of whom are Ohio University alumni, will be returning to Casa Nueva on Friday. The show starts at 10 p.m. and a cover of $5 will be charged.

Us, Today has played at nearly every venue Athens has to offer and will be returning to Athens on Sept. 14 for the Pawpaw Festival.

Much of the inspiration for the group’s new album Computant, including several song titles, came from spam that the band received on its Facebook page, band member Kristin Agee said.

Agee suspects the random compilation of spam, ranging from political rants in broken English to invitations to join the Illuminati, is due to the band’s similarity in name to USA Today.

Whatever the reason for the annoyance, it got the band’s creative juices flowing.

The intro to “Hello Viewer” is one of the trio’s limited spoken-word endeavors. Agee said she recorded it, then put effects on her vocals with the program GarageBand to achieve the haunting result.

“It’s a statement on everyday life and social media and how it’s a noise in the background of our lives,” Agee said. “A part of our lives is deleting these stupid Illuminati invitations and it takes up brain space.”

22 / AUG. 30, 2018

IF YOU GO WHAT: Us, Today, The Awful Kind and No Plastic Flowers WHEN: 10 p.m., Friday WHERE: Casa Nueva, 6 W. State St. ADMISSION: $5 for 21 and up

Band member Joel Griggs said that spoke to the larger theme that the band wanted to convey with the album.

“We’ve become so incorporated with our devices and that way of thinking that it’s hard to separate human interaction from computer interaction,” Griggs said. “It’s so infused with our lives that it is our lives now. It’s not just something we do.”

Agee, on the other hand, said that “Spellcaster (Dr. Spirit)” is the standout on Computant because it was recorded in one take.

“As a recording artist, in the studio, you try to get your idea of perfection, and for us to all have landed on that in the same try,” she said. “It really never happens.”

Griggs said he liked the challenge of relating to the audience solely through the music, without the use of lyrics.

“We’ve always tried to focus on being original and letting that

Us, Today will perform at Casa Nueva on Friday. (PROVIDED via Alias Imaging - John Carrico, Adam Henry, Cody Gunningham)

be the connective tissue,” Griggs said. “We’re kind of all over the place stylistically, so if you like a certain type of music, you may hear something you like and we may open you up to something you’re not that familiar with.”

Agee said being an instrumental band also affects the live

show experience.

“I think being instrumental leaves our music pretty open-ended, open to people’s interpretation,” she said. “I really enjoy, after shows, having people tell me what they were experiencing, because I feel like everybody experiences our music

differently. And that’s cool. And we’re open to that.”

Agee said she is frustrated by audience members who have suggested that the band get a lead singer, however. ”We’ve thought really long and hard about the music, and we’ve worked really hard on it,” she said. “So it’s just a little insulting when people think that we just never considered getting a singer and obviously, we’d be better if we got a singer.”

The trio also made it clear that the life of a road musician is far from glamorous. Agee said she came to that conclusion when the band opened for Grammy award-winning musicians, who proceeded to crash on her couch.

Band member Jeff Mellott added that the band’s tour vehicle for local shows is an old Chevrolet suburban named Sharon. The band did so much bonding in the car, they named a song after her.

Mellot expressed how writing and touring with the band helped him settle into postgraduate life, after leaving Athens.

“When you’re in school, you have these ideas of what you want to do and what you want to become. And I think it’s good when you’re out of school to have something to latch onto and be creative and continue your endeavors to get better as a musician and a person.”

@HALLEWEBER13 HW422715@OHIO.EDU

WHAT’S GOING ON? ALEXIS EICHELBERGER CULTURE EDITOR

FRIDAY The Athens Harvest Festival is hap-

pening all weekend, starting Friday afternoon at Lake Snowden.

It will feature local bluegrass acts, vendors and food, along with a fireworks display Sunday night.

Admission: Up to $30 Free Film Night at 8 p.m. at Donkey

Coffee and Espresso. The coffee house will show the movie Chase Trane, a documentary about the jazz musician John Coltrane. Admission: Free

SATURDAY Socialist Coffee Hour at 11 a.m.

at Donkey Coffee and Espresso.

The International Socialist Organization is hosting the gathering to share thoughts, answer questions, and talk about how socialism could be implemented.

Admission: Free In the Pines and Caution Step at 9

p.m. at the Smiling Skull Saloon.

The two groups will team up to provide some psychedelic guitar and progressive rock as an outlet for students who might be feeling stressed about the new school year. Admission: $3

SUNDAY Vision board-making at 10:30 a.m.

at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Athens. Explore your foundations, faith and future

through art made with magazines, catalogs, scissors and glue.

Admission: Free The 2018 New Orleans Crab Boil and Dance Party at 5 p.m. at Eclipse

Company Store. The venue will sell authentic New Orleans low country crab and beer to enjoy while dancing to the tunes of three jazz groups. Admission: $5 cover fee; $23.50 for crab boil

MOVIE TIMES & BAR DEALS The Athens Cinema movie times ‘Eighth Grade’, R: Friday, 5:10 p.m., 9:55 p.m., Saturday, 2:50 p.m., 5:10 p.m., 7:35p.m., 9:55 p.m., Sunday, 2:50 p.m., 5:10 p.m., 7:35 p.m., 9:55 p.m.

‘Sorry to Bother You’, R: Friday, 5:15 p.m., 9:45 p.m., Saturday, 2:45 p.m., 5:15 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9:45 p.m., Sunday, 2:45 p.m., 5:15 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9:45 p.m.

‘BlacKkKlansman’, R: Friday, 7p.m., Saturday, 2:35p.m., 5p.m. 7:20p.m., 9:30p.m., Sunday, 2:35p.m., 5p.m.

7:20p.m., 9:30p.m.

Bar deals in Athens Broney’s Alumni Grill: $2 draft pints, $3 Bloody Marys.

Cat’s Corner: Sunday “beat the clock,” 2-8 p.m.: beer pitchers start at $2 and go up a dollar every hour; happy hour, 3-6 p.m.: two for $4 beer, $4 wine and $3 double well liquor.

Cat’s Eye Saloon: Happy hour weekdays 4-9 p.m.; Friday: PBR glasses start at 40 cents, 5 cent increase every half hour, $4.50 pitchers from 3-9 p.m.

The J Bar: Sunday: $3 shots of Jameson, Jack Daniels and Rumple, $2 Arnold Palmer drinks.

Lucky’s Sports Tavern: Happy hour on weekdays, 4 to 9 p.m.: $1 domestic short drafts, $1.75 domestic bottles, $1.75 mixed drinks.

The Over Hang: Friday: $3 F-bomb (Jager and root beer shot); Sunday: $1.50 well rum drinks, $4 domestic beer pitcher.

A blue drink at Lucky’s Sports Tavern. (BLAKE NISSEN / FILE)

LATE NIGHT LARGE 1 TOPPING

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599

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443 East State St.

LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED

(740) 594-7272

Papa John’s Athens

Offer good for a limited time at participating Papa John’s restaurants. Not valid with any other coupons or discounts.

Additional toppings extra on double-layered pepperoni offer. No double toppings or extra cheese on any large pizza offer. Limited delivery area. Delivery fee may apply. Customer responsible for all applicable taxes. © 2012 Papa John’s International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. N8112 FC

The Pigskin Bar and Grille: Happy hour 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, 6 to 9 p.m.: $5 domestic buckets, $1 well rum, $2 well Monster, $3 specialty Monster.

EXP. 1/31/19

LUNCH SPECIAL ONE SMALL 2-TOPPING PIZZA & 1 20 OZ. PEPSI

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$

99

EXP. 1/31/19

Smiling Skull Saloon: Happy hour Fridays, 5-7 p.m.: $2 beer; 50 cents off import beer on Sundays.

Tony’s Tavern: Sunday: $1.25 PBR and High Life, $1.75 Hot Nut The Union Bar & Grill: Happy hour, 3-8 p.m.: 50 cents off Bloody Mary; Sundays 50 cents off margaritas @ADEICHELBERGER AE595714@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 23

740.589.7752 www.holzer.org/uptown

No Appointment Necessary Wide range of services including: • Preventative Health Services

• Physicals

• Common Skin Disorders

• TB Skin Testing

• Cold and Flu

• Women’s Health Services

• Asthma

• Pregnancy Testing • STD Testing

• Immunizations Conveniently located at:

5 N. Court Street, Suite 1 • Athens, Ohio