March 16, 2017

THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017

100

YEARS OF MELODIES

OU’s School of Music celebrates a century of musical creation, memorable performances and culture of ‘togetherness’ P20

ALLEGATIONS CAUSE RIFT IN ENGLISH DEPT. P16 RAISING CHILDREN IN ATHENS P12 OHIO LOOKS BEYOND TITLE LOSS P15

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Emma Ockerman

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

MANAGING EDITOR Elizabeth Backo DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR Seth Archer ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Hayley Harding

‘Post’ solicits help with covering opioid epidemic

EDITORIAL

NEWS EDITORS Kaitlin Coward, William T. Perkins SPORTS EDITOR Charlie Hatch CULTURE EDITORS Alex Darus, Sean Wolfe OPINION EDITOR Chuck Greenlee COPY CHIEF Rachel Danner

ART

ART DIRECTOR Abby Day DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Alex Driehaus GRAPHICS DIRECTOR Samantha Güt SPECIAL PROJECTS DESIGNER Matt Ryan

DIGITAL

DIGITAL PRODUCTION EDITOR Hannah Debenham SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Hannah Wintucky BLOGS EDITOR Jeremy Hill SENIOR MULTIMEDIA PRODUCER Patrick Connolly BUSINESS MANAGER Matthew Barnett

Send us your letters

THE

POST

ISSUE 23 VOLUME 107 1 PARK PLACE, ROOM 325 EDITOR@THEPOSTATHENS.COM PHONE | 740.593.4010 FAX | 740.593.0561

ONLINE

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.

POST BLOGS thepostathens.com/blogs

IN PERSON Baker Center, Room 325

FACEBOOK thepostathens

ONLINE thepostathens.com/letters

TWITTER @ThePost

BY EMAIL letters@thepostathens.com

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 Cost: 10 words: $3 students, $3.75 businesses, $.10 each additional word. Free lost and found daily, space permitting

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.

The Post is an independent newspaper 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.

For the past few months, reporters at The Post have been researching and reporting on how the opioid epidemic came to impact Athens and Ohio University, all for a special issue devoted to the topic set to be published April 13.

The April issue will not be the first time The Post has tackled the topic — a look through our archives shows student deaths occurred years ago due to heroin or prescription painkiller abuse. In the past few years, reporters have covered the epidemic even more so in the surrounding area, as opioids (including heroin, fentanyl and prescription drugs) resulted in 2,590 overdose deaths in 2015. Still, we might not be doing enough.

EMMA OCKERMAN / Those deaths don’t often EDITOR-IN-CHIEF go unnoticed by immediate family and friends, though they sometimes go uncovered by news media. As our small team of reporters has seen in the past few months, the stigma surrounding those who speak out about recovery or overdose deaths is immense.

Somehow, a problem considered to be at an “epidemic” level has turned an immense, suffering population into an “other.”

One way The Post has attempted to reach out is through a survey that can be filled out online, which our staff has promoted through social media. We have also taken to putting posters Uptown to see if anyone might want to chat with us. We’ve talked to a lot of people so far, thankfully, but there is no amount of reporting great enough to allow us to tell every side of this important story. We’d sure like to get very, very close.

If our readers know anyone who might have an interesting perspective to give, I would like to strongly encourage them to reach out, even if it is just to share a way we might want to avoid stigma or otherwise problematic coverage of the opioid crisis.

Emma Ockerman is a senior studying journalism and editor-in-chief of The Post. Want to talk to her? Tweet her at @eockerman or email her at eo300813@ohio.edu

Advertising 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.

Cover Design by Abby Gordon and Samantha Güt

Common Applications

Fall applicants Fall admissions

16,248 10, 628

16,206 10,957

21, 832

2017

2016

2015

Ohio University sees a spike in fall applications and admissions from 2015 and 2016 to 2017 due to the Common Application.

10,000

14, 992

11,000

12,000

13,000

14,000

15,000

16,000

17,000

18,000

19,000

20,000

21,000

22,000

¨ GRAPHIC BY SAMANTHA GUT

Common App causes application rise TAYLOR JOHNSTON FOR THE POST When Julianna Kickbusch applied to Ohio University using the Common Application, she found that it took about the same time to apply to one university as it did to apply to multiple.

“When applying to schools that did use the Common App, it was very easy, since it went to more than one school at a time and I didn’t have to apply to all the other schools using the Common Application separately,” Kickbusch, a senior at Olentangy High School in Lewis Center, said.

Ohio University has seen an increase of about 35 percent in applications compared to this point last year, something officials credit to the move to the Common Application.

Craig Cornell, senior vice provost for Strategic Enrollment Management, said the Common Application has helped

make it easier for students to apply to OU and is one of the reasons why there has been an increase in applications. This academic year, OU joined 700 other schools throughout the country using the Common Application, according to an OU news release.

“We have had a significant growth in applications primarily related to going on to the Common App,” Chad Mitchell, chief of staff for the vice president for Finance and Administration, said. “It was somewhat expected that we were going to have this jump in applications.”

As of Jan. 1, OU had admitted 14,992 students, compared to about 11,000 students admitted at the same point last year — a 37 percent increase.

OU has admitted 18,335 prospective students as of March 13, Cornell said.

“This has been possible due to the fact that, even though we have grown in applications, growth has been very pro-

portional in all academic colleges, demographic categories, in and out of state balance and academic preparedness,” he said in an email.

It is common for enrollment to remain at about 4,500 students for incoming classes, Cornell said. Compared to the same point over in time over the past two years, OU has admitted about 4,000 more students, according to a Budget Planning Council presentation.

OU has adjusted its projections to account for more admitted students and is in regular contact with academic leaders, Student Affairs and all other offices to keep track of how many students the university is admitting, Cornell said.

“Approximately 4,300-4,500 students is our goal as we know we have the capacity to fully support those students and see them be successful,” Cornell said in an email. “We are also able to adjust if needed if we start to see those numbers fluc-

tuate in any way.”

Mitchell said though the university is up about 35 percent in applications, the university was down about 200 housing deposits at the end of February compared to the same time last year.

“This is not a perfect indicator (of the size of the class of 2021),” he said.

Mitchell said the university sees a steady growth of housing deposits during Spring Semester, but a lot of deposits come in near May 1, which is the deadline.

“Admitted students submit the housing deposit (or commuter exemption) to confirm their intent to enroll,” Cornell said in an email. “We keep daily track of our student admits and commitments, and we know that when you grow an application pool, it is common to see lower commitment rates.”

@TF_JOHNSTON TJ369915@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 3

WHAT WOULD YOU WEAR

Pink-knit hats appear on runway Fashion Week in Milan was almost as political as the Oscars. Italian designer Angela Missoni took to the runway with an army of models to KAYLA make a fuzzy pink stateBEARD ment. After debuting a is a senior new line of cozy Missoni studying sweaters, the models journalism with paraded down the runa focus in web way donning identical design at Ohio pink-knit hats remiUniversity. niscent of those worn by protesters at the Women’s March last month. Missoni herself joined her models — and her mom — in wearing the custom pink hats, and invited audience members to grab the matching hats, which had been placed on their seats, and join her in “(showing) the world the fashion community is united and fearless,” according to Vanessa Friedman of the New York Times.

The appearance of the pink fuzzy hat on the high-fashion runway is huge. What started as one woman’s simple idea to knit

a hat and make a difference at the Women’s March erupted into an international movement of knitters and activists dedicated to using a small fashion statement to make a much larger political one. The Pussyhat Project was founded by Krista Suh and Jayna Zweiman, two knitting-newbies and Women’s March protesters who, prior to the event, organized a knitting initiative to make and send thousands of pink “Pussyhats” to marches around the country.

The hats took inspiration from President Trump’s leaked comments about grabbing women “by the p---y,” and the project caught on quickly. Those who tuned into televised coverage of the marches could clearly see how many marchers boarded the pink-hat bandwagon.

Fashion is neither a stranger to politics nor activism. If you’ve ever seen a t-shirt with a political statement across its chest, then you know clothes are a sure-fire way to send a message or show support for an issue. What makes these hats significant, however, is the ease of accessibility the internet afforded to the activists who made them. On the project’s website, on

YouTube and on social media, women and girls around the world could find patterns and tutorials to help them knit, crochet or sew a hat of their own. Not only was the hat easy to make for people of various skill-levels, the project provided an opportunity for those who could not directly participate in the marches to show support by making and donating hats.

By both creating and gifting the pussyhats, project participants allowed the hats to transcend a singular purpose.

These hats weren’t just a means of making a political statement — they were, and still are, a show of solidarity with women all over the globe. Knitters sent encouraging notes and personal contact information with the hats they donated, connecting with women around the country. Additionally, since the hats do not typically have words or symbols, the hat itself has become a symbol of feminine resistance. Their pink color, which is traditionally feminine, and their catear shape (symbolic of a pussycat, and suggestive of the reclaimed insult) make them almost iconic. Like any good fash-

ion statement, brand or political symbol, the hat is simple, easily identifiable and stylish, making it a perfect way for like-minded people to unite.

This perfection wasn’t lost on Missoni in Milan and by bringing pussyhats to the runway, the designer snatched them from the realm of grassroots activism to that of high-profile fashion activism. Personally, I’d love to walk around in my own set of cute pink cat ears. But the fact that a hat is cute is just a bonus when your reason for wearing it is in support of women’s rights and equality. On Jan. 21, women around the world showed their support for one another by showing up to the Women’s Marches. And on that day, simultaneously, those women forged an international bond that can be remembered and revived with one pink knit hat, further proof that fashion has a unique way of uniting people.

Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Do you have a pussyhat? Let Kayla know by tweeting her @QKayK.

PRESS START

What happened to Xbox?

The start of this year alone sure has been crazy for great games. NieR: Automata, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Gravity Rush 2, Nioh, The Legend of ZelLOGAN GRAHAM da: Breath of The Wild is a junior alongside the launch of studying the Switch, two Kingmedia arts dom Hearts HD collecwith a focus tions (I can’t get enough in games and of that nonsense), Night animation in The Woods and, beat Ohio fore too long, Persona 5.

University.

There’s just one problem: None of these games are on Xbox One. So what happened? Where are Xbox One’s great exclusives? Did the Xbox One become just a Halo box and what are they going to do when their new console Scorpio comes around?

All of Xbox’s problems in the now can be traced back to 2013, with the console firmly established as a second fiddle sales4 / MARCH 16, 2017

wise, even if both launch lineups were equally mediocre, with promises of Halo and Uncharted down the line. Of note is how the Xbox One flopped spectacularly in Japan, unlike the 360 before it.

Unlike the 360, which dominated the last generation (after the Wii died), the One is adrift in a new market with more demand for bizarre Japanese games in the West, to the point that NieR and Persona are now considered AAA games in their own right, after being niche titles in the past. Heck, Final Fantasy even managed to escape the hole it had been in since the Final Fantasy XIII Trilogy.

In my opinion, credit for this shift goes to From Software’s Dark Souls series, sort of a half-step between Western and Japanese sensibilities. So, when Bloodborne, a Dark Souls successor exclusively for the Xbox’s direct competitor, it signaled to the mainstream that if they wanted stuff like that, PlayStation was the place to be.

Meanwhile, Xbox One continued to have Halo, but not all was sunny amid

the gunfire. Microsoft had created a new studio just for the franchise when Bungie left, 343 Industries. Halo 4 arrived for the Xbox 360 in 2012 to great reviews and sales. It seemed as though things would be great until Halo 5 rolled around. While still reviewing and selling well, Halo 5 proved to be the Final Fantasy XIII of the franchise, replacing paid map expansions with microtransactions, removing the signature couch co-op that was the reason I always played Halo games, along with an overhyped narrative hook that left Master Chief with less than half of the total playable missions. An effort to lift mechanics from the modern Call of Duty games left the signature gunplay of the series less unique and without a place of is own.

But their true problem lies in a difficulty cultivating talent on all levels of their console business to compete with Playstation, best exemplified when their team-up with Platinum Games for Scalebound fell through.

They had a game that was legitimately different and unique but they canned it be-

fore Platinum and Square Enix put out the equally different and unique NieR Automata on PS4 to great reviews. Even when they do have a game to put out, it’s usually playing second fiddle to whatever Playstation has at any given time. Quantum Break vs. Uncharted 4 for instance, and Halo Wars 2 vs. Horizon Zero Dawn. It’s gotten bad enough for them that they have to buy timed exclusives for a year to remain relevant, namely Rise of The Tomb Raider and Dead Rising 4.

Whatever Xbox has planned for the future, however, is beyond my sight.

Will Sea of Thieves be any good? Will the Scorpio save the brand, or be a fancy console with no games? What games can they get to make the Scorpio relevant? Will people actually buy it? I probably won’t.

Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Are you still playing Xbox? Let him know by emailing him at lg261813@ohio.edu.

ON A HIGH NOTE

Lorde wows crowd on SNL HALLE WEBER is a freshman studying journalism with a focus in news and information at Ohio University.

It’s not every day that a performance under the blaring lights of mainstream music gives me chills, but Lorde’s Saturday Night Live performances of “Green Light” and “Liability” did just that.

I sat through the entire iHeartRadio Music Awards and the only thing that caught my attention was Ed Sheeran’s “Castle on the Hill,” but even a talented artist like Sheeran makes meaningless pop music to sell singles at least half the of time. Lorde has never bought in, and I really don’t see her ever doing so.

For “Green Light,” Lorde appeared onstage in a crop top and baggy trousers. She danced around awkwardly like a kid in a dorm room — like one of us — but at the end of the upbeat

song, she paused for a sentimental moment.

The track has many layers, so it’s only natural the performance did too.

It mirrored the pattern of a slightly unhinged youthful life. Going out, getting wasted, trying to forget that we have feelings but eventually having to face reality. The artistic depth and integrity were very impressive.

“Liability” was unlike anything I’d ever seen.

The song is perfect enough on its own, but the performance took it to a whole new level.

Dressed in white robes and a dramatic headpiece, Lorde sat back to back on a piano bench with co-writer Jack Antonoff of Bleachers.

“Liability” is about feeling isolated and different from everyone else, which is a

common backstory for artists but rarely articulated so well.

“The truth is I am a toy/That people enjoy/’Til all of the tricks don’t work anymore/ And then they are bored of me,” she breathes in the bridge.

The room bursts into applause, and Lorde flashes a rare smile. Her feelings are valid, but she is wrong: I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of her.

Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post.

Did you catch Lorde on Saturday Night Live?

Let Halle know by emailing or tweeting her at hw422715@ohio.edu or @HalleWeber13, respec-

STREETVIEW

“What do you think it would be like to raise a child in Athens?”

“Well, I do, so I think it’s a nice environment for kids because the university provides so many great opportunities to see fabulous concerts or art exhibits or whatever you have.”

Dr. Sarah Poggione, associate professor of political science and mother of one

“Here in town there’s obviously a very strong college environment, so with the drinking and college students out at all time, it’s kind of hard for a kid to ... not be around trouble ... The people that do come out of it seem that they have good kids.

It’s hard, but it’s possible I suppose.”

Liv Wilson, junior studying theatre

“I think Athens would be a great place to raise a kid. It’s a lot like where I grew up ... I think it would be easier than a lot of places. Kids get a lot of exposure to different people because it’s a university, but then they also have this nice small town community.”

Jack Bruno, sophomore studying physics

“It would be interesting. It would depend on where you live. Location’s pretty important.

If you’re living on Mill Street or something it might be more difficult.”

Austin Sherman, senior studying biology pre-med

“I’ve noticed that kids here in Athens are more attuned to environmental issues. I think maybe because they grew up in the Appalachian region, they’re kind of more humble in that aspect ... I think it’s a good place to raise a kid.”

Kaitlin Kulich, sophomore studying journalism

-photographs by Kevin Pan THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 5

NEWS BRIEFS

Council, senates meet after spring break In the week following spring break, city council talked about infrastructure improvements, and Faculty Senate.

JONNY PALERMO FOR THE POST RESIDENTS DIVIDED ABOUT CHANGES TO EAST STATE STREET Potential changes to East State Street, which include the addition of a bike lane, a sidewalk on the south side and another turn lane, were popular topics of discussion during Monday’s city council meeting.

The reason for the changes is to reduce congestion and traffic, Andy Stone,

city engineer and director of Public Works, said.

“We are trying to support higher volumes as traffic on East State has been increasing over the years and make it safer for everyone,” Stone said.

Residents who spoke at the meeting were divided nearly in half between those who opposed the changes and those who supported them.

DESCUTNER DISCUSSES POTENTIAL GUIDELINES FOR PROTESTS DURING FACULTY SENATE Ohio University interim President David Descutner was present for Monday night’s Faculty Senate meeting, where members passed a resolution commending the Board of Trustees for showing transparency during the recent presidential search.

Descutner also discussed plans for the process of dealing with protests on cam-

pus in regard to the students arrested during the Baker Center sit-in in February.

The OU Police Department is collaborating with the Center for Student Legal Services to draft new guidelines that clarify where protests are acceptable on campus.

“These guidelines will soon — once Student Legal Services has a chance to review and we come to an agreement on them — they will go up on websites and we will also create a brochure of this,” Descutner said.

NEW GSS RESOLUTION SUPPORTS THE RIGHTS OF INTERNATIONAL, IMMIGRANT STUDENTS During Graduate Student Senate’s meeting Tuesday night, members passed a resolution to support international, immigrant and undocumented students’ rights.

The task force will be composed of OU

graduate students, including the six GSS members who sponsored the resolution.

Descutner was also present to field questions about how the Office of the President will continue to support international students.

Fatma Jabbari, international affairs commissioner, asked Descutner if international students would be able to have a choice in the health insurance they use, instead of being required to pay for the university’s insurance plan.

“As of now, we only have one option, which is what the university recommends is what we have to get,” Jabbari said. “We are OK with the university assisting us in looking at our health care providers, but at the same time we would like to see a choice.”

@HEEEEERES_JONNY JP351014@OHIO.EDU

POLICE BLOTTER

Man arrested after Wendy’s brawl LAUREN FISHER FOR THE POST

W

hile some chose to ring in the final day of classes before spring break with Netflix and naps, one student found himself behind bars and facing charges after an early morning Court Street brawl.

On March 3, the Athens Police Department responded to an active fight outside Wendy’s, 40 S. Court St., at about 1:30 a.m.

Officers approached one of the men in-

volved, noting a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. When asked about the injuries he sustained during the fight, the man “became irate,” pushing by officers in an attempt to flee the scene after being told he was under arrest for underage alcohol consumption, according to the police report.

The man, who was later identified as an OU student, was apprehended by officers and served charges for underage consumption, obstructing official business, resisting arrest with injury and possession of a fake I.D. He was transported to Southeastern

Ohio Regional Jail.

The Ohio University Police Department experienced a fairly quiet spring break, with six reports of criminal mischief, four drug-related incidents, two reports of theft, two cases of forgery, one incident of disorderly conduct and two alcohol-related incidents.

BOOZY BABBLING On Friday, deputies with the Athens County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence in The Plains after receiving a report of a dispute. Upon arriving on the scene, deputies found both parties intoxicated, with one man lying unresponsive on the couch. When he awoke, the man was “speaking gibberish,” unable to answer basic questions and speaking to law enforcement about things that “did not make sense,” according to the police report.

Deputies determined the man “would benefit” from seeing a counselor, and transported him to OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital. No further actions were taken.

MYSTERY CALLER On Monday, deputies were called to a residential street in The Plains after receiving a call regarding an active burglary.

While searching for the location of the al-

6 / MARCH 16, 2017

CLASSIFIEDS

Jimmy

PRIME LOCATIONS

NOW LEASING 1-6 Bedrooms

WE DELIVER! TO FIND THE LOCATION NEAREST YOU VISIT JIMMYJOHNS.COM

86 North Court Street 740-594-4441 www.BobcatRentals.net

©2017 JIMMY JOHN’S FRANCHISE, LLC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

leged crime, however, the caller continuously hung up the phone and would not give a valid address, according to the police report, causing confusion for law enforcement.

Deputies patrolled the street, making contact with nearby residents “at and near” the source location of the phone call, but none reported that a burglary had taken place. Units continued to patrol the area, but were unable to locate the caller. No further action was taken in the case.

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY DRUNK Late in the evening of March 2, officers

from OUPD were called to Stewart Street regarding a report of a highly intoxicated male. The man, who was found to be underage, had glassy bloodshot eyes, “loud slurred speech” and was unable to stand on his own, according to the police report.

Further investigation revealed the man was in possession of fake I.D.s from both Pennsylvania and Florida, each bearing his photo. He was issued citations for underage consumption by intoxication and possession of a fake identification card, and he was subsequently transported to Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail.

@LAUREN__FISHER LF966614@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 7

Ohio medical marijuana regulators propose THC limits The limits would be based on the content of a specific compound found in marijuana NORA JAARA FOR THE POST Ohio’s proposed limits on medical marijuana recommendations are among the most restrictive in the nation, causing advocates to worry the program won’t serve the patients most in need.

The State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy presented a draft proposal in February to the Ohio Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee containing recommendations for 90-day supply limits on medical marijuana. It based recommendations on Tetrahydrocannabinol — commonly referred to as THC — content.

“They’re somewhat placing limits on a specific compound that doesn’t necessarily mean anything or mean as much as they believe it does,” Brad White, a spokesman for the medical marijuana advocacy group United Ohio, said.

The pharmacy board broke down the

proposed amount of plant material into two tiers, capping THC content at 35 percent. The plant material qualifies as Tier I if it contains up to 23 percent THC, and qualifies as Tier II if it’s more than 23 percent. Patients are limited to six ounces of Tier 1 plant material and four ounces of Tier 2 plant material.

Patients would be limited to 40.5 grams of THC for oils for vaporization, 19.8 grams for patches and nine grams for edibles, oils and tinctures.

White said many factors influence the potency of the plant, and all the compounds taken together determine its effects on a user.

Janet Breneman, founder of the Ohio Cannabis Nurses Association, also questioned the decision to place limits on the plant material based on THC content.

“People don’t really purchase it as much for the THC content as they do (for) what the strain is and what the other compounds of the plant are,” Breneman said.

Breneman said she became interested in learning about “alternative” medicines such as marijuana after her husband died of cancer and that she started the association to educate people.

Mary Jane Borden, co-founder and treasurer of the Ohio Rights Group, said the approach should be more individualized due to the variety of conditions covered under the law and called the focus on THC a mistake.

“It seems like we’re taking a uniform approach to dosing,” Borden said. “I think they ought to go into it with a little bit more of a flexible framework.”

White said if the regulations leave some patients unserved, they will either continue suffering or turn to the black market to get what they need.

“The challenge is that each of these conditions are going to vary widely in terms of amount of product needed to address their symptoms,” White said.

“And even beyond that, every single person within a certain symptom set is going to have a wide range of consumption as well based on their life or the severity of those symptoms.”

Oregon and Colorado are two states that keep data on conditions reported by patients registered with their medical marijuana programs, and severe pain tops the list in both states for adults.

A report from Oregon indicates about 89 percent of reporting patients cited

severe pain and about 29 percent cited spasms. The most recent report from Colorado suggests about 93 percent of patients who reported their condition cited severe pain and about 25 percent cited muscle spasms.

The same data from both states shows seizures are the most common condition among minors registered with their programs.

Advocates for medical marijuana patients in Ohio say there should be exceptions to the proposed amounts for severe cases, so physicians have the option to recommend more based on their judgment. Some states, such as Illinois, allow physicians to request a waiver if they feel their patient needs more than the regulated amount.

“At no point are they going to get a community of advocates that are going to say, ‘Okay, well, it seems like Ohio’s got a good law. We’re just going to sit on the sidelines now,’ ” White said. “If anything, they get more ramped up to want to change the law.” @NORAJAARA NJ342914@OHIO.EDU

Summer@SINCLAIR Get Ahead. Catch Up. WWW.SINCLAIR.EDU/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 4-week, 8-week or 12-week classes at one of our convenient locations or online.

LEARN MORE WWW.SINCLAIR.EDU/SUMMER

Summer Registration Begins March 27 Visit www.sinclair.edu/dates for a complete list of all Summer 2017 term dates.

Dayton | Eaton | Englewood | Huber Heights | Mason | Online 8 / MARCH 16, 2017

Researchers disagree on effectiveness of ‘megaschools’ The proposed consolidation of Athens elementary schools into a single campus has created contention between both citizens and researchers BENNETT LECKRONE FOR THE POST

P

roponents of a plan to consolidate Athens' elementary schools into a larger single campus say the change could help students, but according to some researchers, students suffer in larger schools.

The proposed consolidation of the schools by the district’s Facilities Steering Committee is meant to improve equity among students in a district that, according to data from the United States Department of Education, is polarized.

According to Niche, a website that compiles data from the Department of Education, the FBI and other sources, the number of students who receive free or reduced cost lunch at the schools vary greatly. At The Plains, 76 percent of students receive free or reduced cost lunch, whereas at East Elementary, only 22 percent of students do.

Athens City Schools Superintendent Tom Gibbs said the new building would provide a uniform educational experience.

"We’re basing it on building buildings for about 200 students per grade level," Gibbs said. "In regards to how many classrooms there are for each class, the plan was to have 10 classrooms for each grade level, so about 20 students per class on average, understanding that it would fluctuate from year to year."

In a survey sent to citizens of Athens, opinions varied on whether the schools should be consolidated.

“While it is nice to have all your kids in the same school, I think that grade level schools would help with the inequity that exists currently,” one parent said in the survey. “Having had my children at both The Plains and Morrison and having attended East myself as a child, there is quite a disparity. It seems that the more economically and educationally challenged children are often shuffled to The Plains.”

In a previous Post report, Athens Mayor Steve Patterson said consolidation could lessen the inequity in the district.

“There’s a sense out there that the educational experience at the different schools can be influenced by one’s socio-

economic status,” Patterson said. “Combining them together mitigates that to some degree.”

Not everyone agrees with Patterson's stance. A petition created by a group called “Small Schools for ACSD” has garnered nearly 400 signatures, and the group claims there is a large body of research against consolidation.

Research by former Ohio University professor Craig Howley suggests smaller schools are actually more effective at improving equity than consolidation.

“Smaller schools promote substantially improved equity in achievement among all students, and smaller schools may be especially important for disadvantaged students,” Howley’s report states.

According to Howley’s research, which is based on tests conducted across the country, schools should “not design, build, or sustain mega-schools serving upwards of 500 to 2,000 students.”

However, not all researchers agree with Howley’s stance. Researchers William D. Duncombe and John M. Yinger for the American Association of School

Administrators claim in their research that consolidation helps cut costs and allow districts to provide more services to students.

“Larger districts may be able to employ more specialized teachers, putting them in a better position to provide the wide range of courses required by state accountability systems and expected today by students and parents,” Duncombe and Yinger's report states.

According to the Facilities Steering Committee’s financial forecast, Athens City Schools may desperately need reduced costs. On the current budget, the district makes $137,913 more than it spends, but by the year 2021, it will operate at a loss of more than $3 million. While the district would still have a positive balance, it would have less money for extra activities.

Gibbs said the state, which the Facilities Steering Committee has been working with, would provide funding for the renovations. @LECKRONEBENNETT BL646915@OHIO.EDU

THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 9

New book details Ohio’s mining history The book — the eighth an OU student and her father have collaborated on — describes the day-today lives of those who lived in company towns, impact of the coal industry and ‘forgotten places’ LUKE TORRANCE FOR THE POST The history of Southeastern Ohio is often hidden among its green hills. It lies in forgotten towns and abandoned mines that are scattered across the region, reminders of an industry that once dominated the area and contributed to the growth of the state as a whole.

When Elise Meyers Walker helped to write a book on coal mining in the region, she wanted to pull the history from those forgotten places.

“When people drive through (southeast Ohio), they see a boring farm area,” Walker said. “But there is so much more to it than that.”

The book Carrying Coal to Columbus: Mining in the Hocking Valley, which Walker, who is currently completing an online MBA at Ohio University, wrote with her father, David Meyers, and Nyla Vollmer, a local resident. The book was released in February.

“I don’t think of it so much as a book

about coal as a book about the region,” Walker said. “Coal was so big in building and founding the state.”

As the book notes, it was actually the iron industry that spurred the coal industry in Ohio. Early settlers would find iron ore in the woods, melt the ore in big clay ovens and send the pig iron to cities such as Columbus.

“At the time, they used charcoal to fuel these things,” Meyers, who previously served on the board at the Hocking Valley Museum of Theatrical History in Nelsonville, said. “So they decided to turn to coal. And these guys started creating canals to transport the coal, and then railroads, and one thing led to another.”

Beyond the macro level, the book also focuses on the day-to-day lives of the people who worked in the mines and lived in surrounding towns.

“We have a lot of information about the lives of miners, and especially the women,” Meyers said. “There was so much coal dust in the air that they would wake up

with coal soot around their nostrils — the women would have to clean continually.”

Carrying Coal to Columbus is the eighth book the father and daughter have collaborated on, and almost all of the books have focused on some aspect of Ohio’s history. Their book on coal mining in Ohio has been a work in progress for several years.

“Several years ago, I proposed this book to my publisher, but another someone had a similar idea so we backed away from it,” Meyers said. “At the time we were bummed … we waited a few years, and I’m glad I waited because it’s a better book for it.”

Vollmer became involved by accident.

She works as a nurse and part-time historian of her hometown of Haydenville.

When Meyers was driving through the town, he decided to stop at the local museum only to find it closed.

“Then this woman stopped and asked if I wanted to go inside, so she got the keys and showed me around,” Meyers

said. “That was Nyla.”

Vollmer, who co-founded the Haydenville Preservation Society, has spent years chronicling the history of her small town that is just upriver from Nelsonville.

“Most people don’t realize the importance (coal) had on the environment and business and everything,” she said.

“Ohio started as cow paths and has really grown, and a lot of that is coal.”

But coal’s integral role in the life of Ohioans seems to be slipping more each year. Promises to bring coal jobs back to Ohio have been around for a while, Meyers said, because the state’s coal industry has been in decline since the Great Depression.

“I would never say never,” he said of a coal comeback. “But the high point was the early part of the 20th century and it’s been a decline since then … maybe if it can be extracted more efficiently, or burnt cleaner, but I don’t think it will be back.”

@TORRANTIAL LT688112OHIO.EDU

Be SMART for SUMMER Tri-C has the lowest tuition in Northeast Ohio so you can earn college credits and save money this summer. Credits transfer seamlessly to four-year colleges and universities.

Register Now Classes begin May 30, June 12 and July 3

www.tri-c.edu/summer Where futures begin

SM

17-0088

10 / MARCH 16, 2017

Coffee shops expect customers to know caffeine limits Despite high caffeine levels in some drinks, coffee shops often don’t limit customers AUBREE DIX FOR THE POST

A

thens is home to multiple coffee shops, but caffeine consumption isn’t always regulated by suppliers despite the impacts it can have on health.

This academic year, Indiana University placed a limit of four shots of espresso on drinks after one student ordered 20 shots. Some local coffee shops in Athens, however, feel it is a consumer’s job to know how much caffeine they can handle.

Donkey Coffee and Espresso’s owner Chris Pyle, 48, said the shop has no limit on the number of espresso shots, each of which costs 80 cents.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever thought about (it being liable if someone suffers medically),” Pyle said. “We do have one person that every once in a while comes in and he orders, like, eight shots at one time.

That’s a ton. I mean, that’s a lot of shots.

But I don’t think it’s enough to do permanent damage.”

Pyle said he may consider placing a limit on espresso shots per drink, but he also feels it’s the customer’s responsibility.

Holliman, a freshman studying journalism, usually orders a venti iced Caffe Americano.

According to the Starbucks website, a venti Caffe Americano — with and without ice — contains approximately 300 milligrams of caffeine. The grande contains 225 milligrams, the tall contains 150 milligrams and the short contains 75 milligrams.

“I try not to, but I can easily exceed two large cups a day,” Holliman said.

“Sometimes I’ll order one extra shot, ’cause my drink of choice usually comes with four espresso shots. Say I have an exam or something and I didn’t sleep well … I’ll ask for an extra shot … but I typically don’t.”

Holliman said her restraint from ordering extra espresso is “more for monetary reasons.”

“Sometimes I’ll get an upset stomach, but I feel like I drink so much coffee now that if I do have jitteriness or something I don’t notice it,” Holliman said. “There will be times when people are like, ‘Oh, Taren, you’re shaking,’ but I’m like, ‘Oh, really?’ ” Michelle Debord, a junior studying marketing and business analytics, is nearing her fourth year as a barista at Court Street Coffee.

Debord said Court Street Coffee does not place a limit on how many shots of espresso can be ordered with each drink, and the amount of espresso per drink size varies. A small hot drink contains one shot of espresso but can hold about three, a medium contains two shots but can hold about five and a large contains three shots but can hold about seven.

After that, Debord said a new cup would be needed.

“You just wouldn’t be able to fit any more shots than seven shots into a large cup,” Debord said. “I guess you could get 14 shots, but you’d probably need to buy two large cups essentially in order to fit it into that.”

Each extra shot of espresso costs 60 cents at Court Street Coffee, and each shot is about one ounce. “(Overconsumption of espresso) is not a liability for us considering people are coming in and ordering it under their own circumstances,” Debord said. “Due to the person basically providing consent by buying the drink, I don’t believe that we’re liable for any medical harm or issue that is done to them in the future after drinking the drink.”

Debord said there’s a regular customer who orders a large coffee with three extra shots of espresso, totaling six shots. She said that can be harmful since “you really only want around five shots a day.”

“We do expect customers to know what they can handle and what they can’t handle,” Debord said.

International

Consulting Program Tr a n s l a t e t h e o r y t o p r a c t i c e

Gain consulting experience in Athens working on international business projects

Satisfies Global Perspectives AND Internship Requirements

APPLY ONLINE! DEADLINES: Summer: April 15 Fall: July 15

www.business.ohio.edu/oicp

The Global Leadership Center is accepting applications for the 2017-2018 academic year

1 2 3

}

Do you want to become a more engaged leader and build global awareness?

Do you want to tackle collaborative projects for real-world clients?

Have you always wanted to travel abroad?

If you answered "yes" to any of these, then the Global Leadership Center may be the right certificate program for you. Visit www.ohio.edu/global/glc to learn more.

CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

@DIXAUBREE AD144815@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 11

Raising children in Athens can provide resources, dreams of pursuing college REBEKAH BARNES / SENIOR WRITER MARCUS PAVILONIS / ILLUSTRATOR

C

raig and Kathy Davis traded a life of living and enjoying the perks of being outside of New York City in Hoboken, New Jersey, for mountain biking and quilting in Athens in 2007.

Although the two were trading an urban hub for the hills of Ohio University, making the move almost 10 years ago wasn’t hard.

“That was a huge change — I left a great job and all of that,” Craig, an associate professor in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, said. “But getting married, graduation, moving to New York, moving away from New York — those are all decisions that I never thought twice about.”

In a town that is interwoven with the university, the two feed off each other to create an atmosphere that can be a bit different for raising a family.

12 / MARCH 16, 2017

“Childcare is really tough, and there’s a limited amount of it. Without programs like ours, then … all of these parents — the (approximately) 650 after-school students — … those parents have to find something else.”

— Jo Ellen Sherow, Kids on Campus manager

UNIVERSITY IMPACT Their twins sons, Jason and Andrew Davis, are 15 and attend Athens High School.

Even though they’ve lived here for the past decade, they said they would consider attending OU for college.

They’ve been exposed to the university for years, but that exposure is one thing Kathy said she enjoyed seeing during her children’s time in younger grades.

“When they were in elementary school, a lot of (student teachers from the university) would come in and help out,” Kathy, who works part-time in the OU admissions office and is a stay-at-home mom, said. “I really liked that because not only were the teachers getting help, but the students were getting more one-on-one attention.”

Catherine Penrod, associate lecturer and the director for the Center for Professional Communication and the integrated business cluster in the College of Business, has two daughters — Madeline, 8, and Aubrey, 7. She said she enjoys that her daughters are able to interact with students both in and outside of the county.

“I think it’s a real benefit because they get to learn more about interacting with people of great diversity, which is a good thing for them and their learning and growing,” she said.

College students also interact with the younger children in the area through Kids on Campus, a primarily grant-funded after-school program for students who are in academic or socio-economic need, Program Manager Jo Ellen Sherow, said.

The program works with five different school districts — Athens City, Alexander Local, Federal Hocking, Trimble Local and Southern Local — and brings in college students and local residents to give children snacks, academic help and recreational time.

Parents in the districts can apply to be a part of the program if their child qualifies for help to enroll based on financial or academic need. It is free for the family.

“Childcare is really tough, and there’s a limited amount of it,” Sherow said. “Without programs like ours, then … all of these parents — the (approximately) 650 after-school students — … those parents have to find something else.”

Andrew Holzaepfel, senior associate director of student activities, wants to expand the impact of OU beyond the student population. He has two kids, Nina, 12, and Jayden, 14. Holzaepfel coordinates the Performing Arts and Concert Series.

Holzaepfel said one of his favorite programs is the “yellow bus show,” where children from southeast Ohio are able to come to campus and experience a different piece of the arts.

“Getting them on the campus, I hope … they start dreaming of going into higher education,” he said.

THE COLLEGE SCENE Although there are college students helping out in the classroom and in after-school programs, there are some less desirable aspects to living in a college town that sometimes can’t be avoided.

“It has started some conversations about partying and things like that — in a good way,” Kathy said. “You should talk to your kids about that.”

For instance, when Jason and Andrew were 7, the family went to the Halloween parade Uptown, and they saw several college students’ “risqué” costumes.

Deanna House, an OU assistant professor of management information systems, has two sons, one in first grade and one in second grade. She said wouldn’t be surprised if one of her sons tried to sneak into a college party when he’s older. But she doesn’t think her parenting style has adjusted much to account for her kids being exposed to beer bongs and binge drinking.

“I think part of being a parent is giving your kids the chance to grow up and make their own decisions,” House said. “You provide them with the tools and hope that they implement them at the time.”

Penrod said her daughters have prompted conversations following different opinions and protests. She said it’s her job as a parent to “train them to be productive … effective adults” — and exposure and such conversations are part of that training.

“When they see people standing outside of the courthouse holding up protest signs, they ask a question about what’s going on,” Penrod said. “It’s gives an opportunity to have a discussion with them and share with them what’s happening — in a manner which they can understand it, obviously.”

ADJUSTING TO ATHENS Kathy said when Craig was interviewing for the university job, she looked at places in town that she knew she would visit often, such as Kroger and the library.

“It sounds silly but I was like, ‘If I lived here, I’m going to be going to these places’ and I just really liked what I saw,” Kathy said.

House liked what she saw after her move from Dallas in 2013, too. While she thought she wouldn’t be able to live without a Target or the commodities of living in a city, she said she ended up not needing them. But one thing she did want that she hasn’t found were better schools for her boys.

“For me, I’m not going to compromise on that. … You have the small town feel,” House said. “But I think for some, myself included, when things are sort of outside of what’s needed in the norm, there are some challenges. … (But that’s) totally handled in a big city.”

She plans to move in the next few months to work at the University of Tampa in Florida, and hopes that a larger city will have schools to support her children. She said Athens gave

her a chance to decompress and find she didn’t need many things to make her or her family happy, giving her a new mentality going into bigger-city living.

As far as raising a family in a college town, House and Penrod both said it is all about researching and knowing family priorities.

A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE The Davises live in a home with no cable, but with woods in their backyard and a black lab named Trooper. When friends from New Jersey visit, they often call the

Davises’ abode a “country home.”

Kathy turned to her sons and asked if they had a choice, would they rather have grown up in Hoboken or Athens, curious as to what their answers would be.

Perspective matters for Andrew.

“Probably here,” he said. “If you asked me that now and I had grown up in New York, I would have been like ‘Ew, (Athens is) such a small town.’ ”

@REB_BARNES RB605712@OHIO.EDU THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 13

WOMEN’S BASKEBBALL

Bobcats find redemption with national invitation JIMMY WATKINS FOR THE POST Following a crushing Mid-American Conference Tournament elimination, Ohio will have a chance to say goodbye to its seniors on a lighter note.

Ohio was one of 32 teams selected Monday to play in the National Invitation Tournament. They will play at Penn State on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center.

Ohio finished 1-1 against Big 10 Conference competition in non-conference play, splitting games with Illinois and Michigan.

Penn State finished 7th in the conference with a 9-7 conference record, defeating both Illinois and Michigan.

Penn State’s strengths could be problematic for Ohio.

Penn State posted a positive turnover margin and ranked in the top four in offensive rebounding in the Big 10 during the regular season. Meanwhile, the Bobcats have struggled to rebound all season and forcing turnovers was one of their biggest strengths.

Not only that, but Penn State would’ve ranked 4th in the Mid-American Confer-

ence in scoring. And as Ohio showed in their quarterfinal loss to NIU, they are capable of detrimental scoring droughts and prolonged defensive lapses.

It would be a great story for coach Bob Boldon to lead the seniors who changed his program to a deep run in the WNIT. His team blew a big lead in a conference tournament that saw three of the top four seeds eliminated before the semi-finals. Toledo, the team that won the tournament, lost to Ohio twice during the regular season.

The Bobcats may have missed their chance at destiny, but they know their performance this season hasn’t lived up to the standards set by Quiera Lampkins and Jasmine Weatherspoon. This tournament is a final chance to prove themselves.

But Penn State is also trying to keep its season alive. And to advance in this tournament, Ohio will need to sure up the lapses that knocked them out of the previous one.

The Bobcats advanced to the WNIT Sweet Sixteen in 2016. @JAJIMBOJR JW331813@OHIO.EDU

MEN’S BASKEBBALL

Season ends early for ’Cats after loss in tournament

Ohio men’s coach Saul Phillips hangs his head after a foul was called in Kent State’s favor late in the second half of the Bobcat’s 68-66 loss in the MAC Tournament semifinal.

(CARL FONTICELLA / PHOTO EDITOR)

LUKE O’ROARK FOR THE POST It’s easy to play “what if” with the 2017 Bobcats.

What if Antonio Campbell didn’t break his foot midway through his senior season?

What if Jaaron Simmons wasn’t trapped at the top of the 3-point line with the season on the line?

What if Ohio doesn’t blow multiple second-half leads during the regular season?

But that’s all speculation and coach Saul Phillips won’t flirt with those ideas.

“We’re not going to make an excuse,” Phillips said. “I don’t think I’ve had a group that showed the resiliency and togetherness throughout this whole process.”

The reality is Ohio finishes its 2016-17 season 20-11 despite preseason goals to reach the NCAA Tournament.

But after Campbell broke his foot and lost the rest of his final season Jan. 19, Phillips and the Bobcats had to salvage their season without their best player.

With Simmons and freshman Jason Carter developing a 1-2 punch thanks to screen and rolls and motion-based offense, Ohio went into the MAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed.

With four injured players — including last year’s MAC Player of the Year — Ohio just lost steam, and it’s out of time.

After a 68-66 loss to Kent State in the MAC semifinals, the Bobcats’ declined to

14 / MARCH 16, 2017

play in a postseason tournament, confirming rumors that the team wouldn’t play in any other tournament besides the NCAA or National Invitational Tournament.

“I mean, it’s over,” Simmons said. “It’s over now. There’s nothing you can do to get it back, so you’ve got to move on.”

Positives did show, however, near the end.

Simmons took the reins for the Bobcats, and the rest of the MAC. He finished with 16 points and six assists per game on 43 shooting percentage. He earned First Team AllMAC and All-MAC Tournament selections.

He even reached the 1,000th point milestone in just two seasons.

Jordan continued his historic 3-point shooting pace, finishing his sophomore year ninth-best in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage at 44 percent.

Carter bulldozed his way to one of the best freshman campaigns in Ohio history.

He averaged 14 points and nine rebounds after being thrust into the starting center position 18 games into the regular season.

And from these three, Ohio’s future remains on an upward trajectory.

“I know this, and some of you guys that have been around the team all year long, if you didn’t concede that this group exceeded expectations after what we went through, then you just don’t like me or the team,” Phillips said. @LUKEOROARK LR514812@OHIO.EDU

HOCKEY

Ohio’s 2016-17 season in review The Bobcats’ loss in the ACHA National Championship ended an otherwise strong season

JORDAN HORROBIN STAFF WRITER

T

he puck left the stick of Central Oklahoma forward Josh Wyatt at his team’s blue line.

It wobbled down the ice, unharmed, until it slid into an empty net and sealed Ohio’s fate.

Ninety-four seconds later, the Bobcats’ season ended. They came up short in the finals of the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament — losing 3-0 to Central Oklahoma — to cap an impressive season in a dispirited way.

“It’s pretty painful,” senior captain Matt Hartman said.

“But we made a great run these past two weeks. It was something really special to be a part of.”

Hartman wasn’t speaking in hyperbole.

The Bobcats had a special year.

Their regular season was spectacular, but it pretty much always is. It was Ohio’s 15th consecutive season with 25-plus wins.

The run through the 16team, single-elimination ACHA Tournament is what made this season different. Ohio’s appearance in the national championship game was its first since 2004.

“I was really proud of this group, for sure,” coach Sean Hogan said.

SENIOR LEADERS The foundation of Ohio’s success this season was its group of 10 seniors, an abnormally high number on a roster of 28 players.

All season long, Hogan praised the leadership of his veterans. During the national tournament, when emotional composure and

mental stamina are most crucial, having so many seniors is an advantage.

“Player-led teams this time of year are the ones that have the most success,” Hogan said after Ohio’s semifinal win Monday. “It’s not so much the voice at the top, the head coach.”

There’s a certain steadiness that comes with being a senior and being around the same program for four or five years.

Ohio’s seniors can be credited for why the Bobcats didn’t lose more than twostraight games all season, and why they won three games in a row to make the national championship.

Four of the team’s top five scorers in the national tournament were seniors, and the seniors as a whole scored 11 of the team’s 20 goals.

“Everything we do going forward is built on what they did,” Hogan said. “So it’s almost like standing on the shoulders of giants.”

scorers.

Of the bunch, Evangelisti, a forward; Houston, a defenseman and Jimmy Thomas, a goalie, had the biggest impacts.

Evangelisti, who spent the majority of the year as the third-line center, would’ve likely finished as the Bobcats’ leading scorer had he not missed a couple of games with a knee injury late in the season. He finished with 32 points, good for third on the team, in 28 games.

Houston finished the year as the quarterback of his power play unit and one half of the team’s top defensive line. His speed, stickhandling skills and vision on the ice will serve him and his team well for years to come. He had 28 points in 33 games this season.

Thomas entered the season as a newcomer behind two seniors, Aaron Alkema and Ryan Heltion, who’d been mainstays in the Ohio net the previous three seasons. By the end of this season, however,

FRESHMEN IMPRESS As old of a team as Ohio was this season, it was somehow young at the same time.

In preparation for the departure of seniors, Hogan brought in a class of eight freshmen. Most of the new players contributed significantly, including four — Gianni Evangelisti, Jake Houston, Austin Heakins and Tyler Harkins — who finished in Ohio’s top 11 regular season

@JORDANHORROBIN JH950614@OHIO.EDU

Ohio University’s Eighth Annual Meteorological Symposium Free and open to the public!

Speakers from:

Ohio’s Patrick Spellacy celebrates after scoring a goal during the ACHA tournament semifinal at Ohio Health Ice Haus in Columbus on March 13.

Oklahoma. (MATT STARKEY / FOR THE POST)

Hogan tapped Thomas as the starter for the national tournament.

“It’s always a hard call to go with a young guy over an older guy,” Hogan said.

“But Jimmy obviously took us to the national final.”

Ohio playing deep into the season was a benefit to all the freshmen, even the ones who were scratched most of the year.

“I’m just hoping the freshmen, the younger guys aren’t satisfied with this,” senior forward Liam Geither said. “And they can come back next year stronger than ever. And they can come back and win it.”

If not next year, perhaps in three years, when the current freshmen are the next large senior class, the national championship experience early in their careers could pay off.

Date: March 25th 2017 Time: 12:00 – 5:30 pm Location: Walter Hall info and RSVP at More www.scalialab.com/ symposium17.html

THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 15

/

DIVISION IN

THE DEPARTMENT

University response to sexual harassment allegations leaves graduate students feeling isolated BAILEY GALLION FOR THE POST

I

n the wake of sexual harassment allegations against English Professor Andrew Escobedo, some female graduate students say they have felt silenced during the process or experienced retaliation for speaking out.

Interim President David Descutner has moved to dismiss Escobedo after the Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance found that he sexually harassed and inappropriately touched female students in incidents as early as 2003. Six students filed complaints with the office, and investigators found enough evidence to find Escobedo in violation of university policy in four of those cases.

Two of the female graduate students who filed complaints, Christine Adams and Susanna Hempstead, have filed a federal civil rights complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Eastern Division arguing that Escobedo’s actions violated their right to equal access to education. They also argued in their complaint that former English Department Chair Joe McLaughlin ignored a 2006 complaint against Escobedo and that the university remained “deliberately indifferent” to the allegations against Escobedo. Escobedo declined to comment.

After the two women filed the complaint, other graduate students rallied behind them. Many of those early conversations took place in secret.

Anonymous written messages appeared in bathroom stalls in Ellis Hall. “(Escobedo) is a predator. You are not alone,” read one, according to the memorandum of findings. Some graduate students held secret meetings to draft a letter to English faculty asking for Escobedo’s dismissal. Forty-six graduate students signed the document.

Some of the 46 students are survivors of sexual violence themselves, and for them the allegations and the responses to them are especially difficult to tolerate.

Sundberg said her ex-husband physically abused her and she has post-traumat16 / MARCH 16, 2017

ic stress disorder from that experience.

She said she “can’t even look at” the professors who voted to keep Escobedo in the department.

“I know that’s harsh, but I … personally felt very hurt by (their support of Escobedo), even though I was not one of the victims,” she said. “It felt like a tremendous betrayal.”

Sundberg was one of four English graduate students who agreed to be interviewed for this report. She, April Fuller, Rachael Tanner and Sarah Minor participated in a group interview to shield each other from facing potential retaliation alone.

None of the 50 English faculty members listed on the faculty directory page agreed to be interviewed for this report. Some said they did not want to speak publicly on the matter while the process was still ongoing, and others did not return emails.

At a Feb. 7 discussion among tenured faculty members, 14 voted in favor of dismissing Escobedo, eight voted against and two abstained.

Disagreement between faculty members who want Escobedo to remain and those who want him dismissed has divided the English department, Fuller, a literature master’s candidate, said. She said some of the faculty have been friends with Escobedo for more than 13 years, and they can’t see past their friendship with him.

“Several of them are very open about wanting to keep him and several are saying that they would never speak to the other people ever again because they want to keep him,” she said. “There’s a lot of tension in the air.”

Retired English Professor Samuel Crowl said he did not want to be interviewed because he was not a part of official proceedings, but added that he was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the charges against Escobedo.

“He’s a distinguished scholar, a fine teacher and a most genial and co-operative colleague,” he wrote in an email. “I am having difficulty in reconciling the man I know with the man accused of sexual harassment.”

Christine Adams, left, and Susanna Hempstead, center, listen to a speaker during a rally outside of Ellis Hall on Feb. 24. The rally was held in response to the university’s treatment of the sexual harassment allegations against English professor Andrew Escobedo. (ALEX DRIEHAUS / FILE) Some of the graduate students said their subordinate role in the department has made it difficult to speak out. They feel the university prioritizes the needs of faculty over those of students because students eventually graduate and leave. Sarah Minor, a creative writing Ph.D. candidate, said the department’s reaction to the allegations has made her feel “expendable.”

Tanner said she feels pressured to get along well with faculty for the sake of her career.

“They do have a position of power over our lives here, and our lives past here,” she said. “A lot of times ... if you’re likable, you get a job. And it’s also that if your faculty mentor talks well of you while you’re on the job market, you get a job.”

Tanner and Sundberg said they have experienced retaliation for speaking out against Escobedo. They did not want to describe the incidents because more could still follow. All four graduate students said they have considered leaving the English

program, but also stressed that the majority of department members have condemned Escobedo’s actions and supported the students speaking out against him.

“There have been people who have come up to me in the elevator and they wanted to make sure no one could hear them, but they’d say, ‘I’m really proud of what you’re doing,’ ” Fuller said. “I think a majority of the department … they do support what we’re doing, even if they don’t actually come forward and say they support it.”

As Escobedo’s disciplinary process nears its end, some graduate students are unsure how the English department will recover from the division.

Minor is proud of the work she and her fellow students have done and considers the disciplinary process against Escobedo a victory. But the past year has also cast doubt on her desire to be a professor and disrupted professional and personal relationships.

“For the remainder of my time here, it will be made more challenging to walk in

the hallway and go to the restroom and send an email to everyone in the department,” she said. “Even small things will be made more difficult because … the institution is mad for being poked, for having some part of it fixed.”

Although the harassment allegations have divided the department, many graduate students have grown closer together.

Sundberg didn’t know Adams, Hempstead or Tanner until the allegations came to light. She now knows them all well.

On Feb. 24, students held a rally demanding Escobedo be dismissed. All four graduate students interviewed for this article were present, and so were Adams and Hempstead. Sundberg said the past year has felt isolating and scary, and that the rally was a relief.

Minor said the process through which the university has dealt with the allegations has been very impersonal, but the rally highlighted the way the events have impacted individuals and the community.

“The nature of this assault is very personal,” she said. “It’s all about very personal relationships. …These are personal experiences that are going to affect humans for the rest of their years.”

Minor said Adams and Hempstead have been an inspiration to her. She said they’ve stood up for themselves and supported each other and those around them — including her — throughout the process.

“It’s not over for them, and it won’t be over for them for quite some time,” she said. “I think they’ve sacrificed more for the sake of this process than any of us will really understand.”

@BAILEYGALLION BG272614@OHIO.EDU

A rally was held outside of Ellis Hall on Feb. 24 in response to the university’s treatment of the sexual harassment allegations.

(ALEX DRIEHAUS / FILE)

Demonstrators yell during a rally outside of Ellis Hall on Feb. 24.

(ALEX DRIEHAUS / FILE)

Sasha Gough, left, and Gwen D’Amico, right, listen to a speaker during a rally outside of Ellis Hall. (ALEX DRIEHAUS / FILE)

THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 17

Wolf Tree Collective creates safe space, focuses on simplicity EMILY DOLL FOR THE POST Wolf Tree Collective offers classes varying from yoga to support groups designed to give people from all walks of life a safe space to visit.

Wolf Tree Collective, 74 E State St., got its name from the wolf tree, which is a giant tree that many different species inhabit.

Wolf Tree Collective has adopted a similar goal: to bring together different types of people and give them a place to call home.

The organization focuses on showing people the joys of simple things in life and helping people feel included in something bigger than themselves.

Laura Post, the executive director and founder, said she created the organization when she saw families she volunteered with wanting to have a more meaningful connection with others than just one-on-one interaction. She wanted Wolf Tree Collective to give people that opportunity as well as showing them how they can have those connections without a huge hassle.

“Our mission is to provide resources and a home away from home to all types of people,” she said. “We want to show people how they can thrive through simplicity.”

Along with creating a safe space, Wolf Tree Collective encourages people to build bonds with each other. It offers group activities and conversation hours to do this.

During conversation hours, people can come in and socialize face-to-face.

Wolf Tree Collective has daily classes such as yoga, art classes and workshops.

From March 17-19, Boaz Ramos, a yoga instructor who has spent the past decade traveling and learning self care and alternative health, is flying in from Oregon to share his knowledge.

Post said Wolf Tree Collective strives to make its classes affordable for everyone so it can attract people from all financial standings.

“We offer (classes) that, on a national scale, would be three to four times more expensive (than ours are),” she said. “We can offer (those classes) to all demographics.”

Katherine Murphy, a freshman studying math statistics and psychology, enjoys yoga and thinks she would enjoy visiting Wolf Tree Collective. Along with the yoga classes, she likes the idea of encouraging face-to-face communication.

18 / MARCH 16, 2017

“

Our mission is to provide resources and a home away from home to all types of people.”

- Laura Post executive director and founder of Wolf Tree Collective

“(People) don’t interact face-to-face as much. I have friends I’ve never met faceto-face,” she said. “It’s crazy how disconnected we are from people.”

Murphy visits a church in Athens where they have free meals for people living in poverty. She said she enjoys going to talk with community members. Wolf Tree Collective presents this opportunity as well, and she said she would be interested in going to socialize.

Wolf Tree Collective welcomes in people of all ages and demographics, and the people that attend classes are all very different. Post said it has a “really good mix.” “(When Wolf Tree Collective first started), I was afraid we would only attract a certain demographic,” Post said. “But we have a diverse group, from great-grandparents to out-of-state students.”

Ann Jacob, a senior studying journalism, said she isn’t interested in the yoga classes or workshops, but likes the idea of interacting with people in the Athens area. She said she’s been interested in meeting new people in Athens since she started at OU, but she’s never had the opportunity. Depending on who comes to the social events, she said that could be an opportunity for her.

Wolf Tree Collective prides itself on offering something for everyone and creating a place where everyone can find their niche. Recently, they have begun doing art shows as well as their regularly scheduled activities. They also host clothing drives, free support groups and workshops on anything from self care to DIY aromatherapy.

“We have so many (options),” Post said.

“It’s hard to decide where to go.”

@EMILYY_DOLL ED836715@OHIO.EDU

Popularity of eSports clubs growing MEGHAN MORRIS FOR THE POST

J

acob Williamson said eSports clubs can help gamers break the stereotype surrounding gaming.

“There’s still the stigma that video games are things that antisocial people do all the time,” Williamson, a senior studying astrophysics and applied mathematics, is the president of the Original Upholders of the Gaming Arts, said.

Colleges across the country are legitimizing competitive video gaming as a sport. Those specific games are called eSports because they are multiplayer video games, which are usually played for a crowd in competitions. The National Collegiate eSports Association formed to unify eSport groups at college campuses.

Although Ohio University is not a member of the association, some students think becoming a member could give students a new outlet for socializ-

ing, among other benefits.

Games that are played competitively in the association include Counter Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and Rocket League.

About 20 universities are a part of the association, with Miami University as one of the largest members of the NAC eSports with almost 19,000 students enrolled on its main campus.

Jonathan Sander, a senior studying interactive media at Miami University and president of its eSports club, said the club grew out of another on campus gaming group that focused on League of Legends.

The eSports club has been around for three and a half years, Sander said.

They have had a varsity team for almost a year, but the club welcomes students of all skill levels. He said Miami’s eSports club focuses on “community” and he just wants to bring together “passionate people.”

Michael Antram, a freshman studying integrated media, said it’s different to

2017 BAKER PEACE CONFERENCE

COMMUNISM: REFLECTIONS ON A VIOLENT CENTURY

play with strangers rather than friends because he hasn’t had the time to learn their habits and weaknesses.

“After you play someone for a while, you get to learn how they play and what they do,” Antram said. “So, you can abuse their normal weaknesses. But with playing with someone you’ve never played against, you have to try and adapt and watch what they’re doing while they’re playing.”

Antram participates in local competitions such as the Youngstown Trials and the Pinnacle series to play Super Smash Bros.

Miami’s eSports club attended the largest Midwest collegiate eSports invitational in the Midwest hosted by All Mid two years ago, Sander said.

Sander said they have an official arena in King Library. Their tournaments across campus have brought in students from nearby schools, other states and even Canada.

Antram said opponents can tell when players are not confident in their abilities, so they should try not to get frustrated while playing.

It’s easier to become mad when competing against friends, Williamson said.

At the end of the day, they don’t remain angry with each other.

People who play video games need to improve their reaction time, Antram

said. Some pro gamers have the ability to make 10 actions per second, according to NBC News.

Williamson said competitive video games require “a surprising amount of strategy.”

Members of Miami University’s eSports varsity league also undergo physical training to promote the image of a “healthy body” leading to a “healthy life.”

Some private and public colleges are beginning to provide eSports scholarships based on merit. Williamson said he believes that is justified because some schools award athletes money based on their playing ability.

Miami’s eSports club leaders are “in talks with the university” to provide scholarships to qualifying members of their varsity team.

Karl Henkel, an adjunct professor of game development, said having an eSports association that gives away scholarships may help attract more people to the school.

Williamson said he thinks the eSports association and other gaming groups like it can be a “launching point” for future opportunities as he knows old OUGA members that now work in the gaming industry.

@MARVELLLOUSMEG MM512815@OHIO.EDU

Thursday, March 23rd

Baker Center Ballroom, 7:30 PM Keynote Address: Dr. Arkady Ostrovsky Russia and Eastern Europe Editor at The Economist and author of the 2016 Orwell Prize winning book, “The Invention of Russia: The Journey from Gorbachev’s Freedom to Putin’s War”

Friday, March 24th Nelson Commons

Discussion Panels: Prophets Vindicated? • 10:00 am The Heart of Communism: A Viable Alternative to Capitalism? • 1:00 pm Reflections After the Fall • 3:00 pm Sponsored by the Baker Peace Studies Program and the Contemporary History Institute Events are free and open to the public www.ohio.edu/cas/conhist/news-events/baker-peace.cfm

Richard Hardimon, a freshman studying astrophysics, Jackson Morris, a junior studying mathematics, and Genji Grant, a freshman studying civil engineering, watch James Vangelos, a sophomore studying computer science, play ‘Guilty Gear’ at an Ohio University Gaming Association meeting on Feb. 24.

(EMMA HOWELLS / PHOTO EDITOR) THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 19

A CENTURY OF

MUSIC The School of Music celebrates its 100th year with festivities happening across the country JESS UMBARGER / FOR THE POST

W

hile at school, Donna Brink Fox met her husband in a Spring Semester choir class. // The two got married in August of that year in Galbreath Chapel on College Green and at the reception, they celebrated by singing a song about love together. // Fox, an OU alumna,

received her master’s degree in music education in 1975. During her two years at OU, Fox was also a visiting instructor. // Like many alumni, Fox believes the School of Music has always — and continues to today — supported a culture of togetherness and progress.

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS What many students might not know when they ride the elevator in Glidden Hall to avoid Jeff Hill is that 2017 marks the School of Music’s 100th anniversary, and the celebrations for which will last the calendar year.

The beginning and the end of the yearlong celebration are rooted in New York City. The first major event was the Wind Symphony performance at Carnegie Hall, a prestigious concert hall in New York City. It took two years to book the event, Christopher Hayes, the director of the School of Music, said. The closing will be the Marching 110 performing in the 91st Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

“We were looking for a really special event to highlight our anniversary and have a life-changing experience for our students,” Hayes said.

The performance Feb. 27 was the first time the School of Music performed at Carnegie Hall, although the Marching 110 was the first marching band to ever perform in the venue.

Andrew Trachsel, the director of bands at OU, was almost at a loss for words at how to describe the experience while sitting in his office in Glidden. Surrounded by Beatles Lego figurines and posters encouraging musicians to be the best, he sat at a desk covered in stacks of music scores. “(The students) kept growing throughout the entire process (of preparing for the concert) and really came together at the performance,” Trachsel said. “It was thrilling.”

The students performed a piece from the Broadway Musical Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, which OU alumnus Dave Malloy wrote. Malloy arranged a piece from the show and had the female lead, Denée Benton, perform with the wind symphony.

Trachsel said the performance and Malloy’s offer was “better than anything (he) had imagined.”

Katie Heitkamp, a junior studying music education, was one of the 58 students who performed at Carnegie Hall, and also had a hard time describing such an experience.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Heitkamp said. “If you told me I’d be in Carnegie Hall five years ago, I wouldn’t believe you.”

Other events happening in the rest of the calendar year for the celebration include the United States Navy Band performing at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium and a weekend-long centennial celebration. The school also had the Canadian Brass, a brass music quintet, perform at Memorial Auditorium earlier in the year.

“What we are trying to do is make a big splash in a celebration of the past but also have an eye on the future, and hopefully, this is the beginning of a lot of great things,” Trachsel said.

He said the Carnegie Hall performance was a historical moment for the school but raised expectations for future students.

Hayes agreed the performance was a “fabulous” event but that “it probably won’t happen again for another 100 years.”

“We have set the bar here, so what’s next?” Trachsel said.

A LOYAL STUDENT BODY Kay Werth, president of the Society of Alumni and Friends, said during her time at OU from 1983-85, the professors were “marvelous motivators” to the students.

The consensus for more than 30 years has been that the faculty of the school are especially welcoming and supportive.

Heitkamp said the school was “tight-knit.”

Heitkamp said all of her friends are in the same classes, so they are always helping each other, as is the case with many students in the school.

“The students that I was with were always very committed,” Fox said. “It was a place where people wanted to come and study.”

Many of the students, including Heitkamp, chose the School of Music specifically for a professor. For her, she chose the OU School of Music because of trumpet professor John Schlabach. Schlabach has won the “Distinguished Teacher” award from the School of Music and has written multiple educational articles on music.

Emily Kuhn, a graduate student studying woodwind pedagogy and performance, said she chose the school because of the dynamic between the students and professors. “(The professors) are really supportive and guiding,” Kuhn said.

ALUMNI Despite having graduated years ago, many alumni remain heavily involved with the School of Music.

“Our alumni love to come back no matter where they are in life,” Trachsel said.

“How people give back is to share (their) talents with each other.”

One example is the Marching 110 alumni band that comes back and performs every year for the homecoming parade.

Along with coming back for Homecoming, many alumni attend events hosted by the school. Alumni also come back to help students start their professional lives after college by assisting in the job search process.

“Alumni were (at Carnegie Hall) in force,” Hayes said.

Many musicians give back in other

ways than donating money, which will hopefully encourage students to do the same after they graduate, Trachsel said.

The school has developed an online archive of pictures, video interviews with past professors and a partial list of professors over the 100 years of the school to celebrate its history.

The list of professors has significantly grown over the years, adding more professors for each section of instruments.

In 1917, there were only 11 professors in the School of Music. Now, that number has quadrupled to 44.

“Every time the faculty grows, it means that we can offer more to the students and the region,” Hayes said.

The School of Music is important and impactful to the region because it provides a “center of arts” and exposes people to kinds of music they might have never heard, Hayes said.

Hayes said the school has expanded impressively over the past century, adding students and professors. The university offered piano classes in 1883, but they were considered extracurricular, so they did not count for credit hours.

Now, students have the opportunity to major in many different instruments, including piano.

Despite its growth, the school has al-

ways stayed true to tradition.

“For me, (the school is) a great community of musicians who are passionate about making music together and teaching music, and I think that’s something that’s been consistent in the last 100 years,” Trachsel said.

@JESS_UMBARGER ​JU992415@OHIO.EDU

the weekender Women’s Center looks to ‘make a difference’ with annual festival OU WILL BE CELEBRATING ITS 9TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY FESTIVAL SUNDAY Brittany Spivey, a member of Athens Black Contemporary Dancers, performs at the International Women’s Day Festival on March 15, 2015 in Baker Ballroom. (LAUREN BACHO/ FILE)

MAE YEN YAP FOR THE POST

T

he phrase “Making a Difference” can have various meanings.

To M. Geneva Murray, the phrase is an encouragement for individuals to take action. “(It’s a) call to action for us to think about what it is that we can be doing to improve the lives of women,” Murray, the director of the Women’s Center, said. “(Whether it be) in our workplaces, in our personal lives, in the state, in the nation (or) in the world.”

OU’s Women’s Center will be celebrating its annual International Women’s Day Festival at Baker Center this weekend. Although International Women’s Day falls on March 8, the festival will be held Sunday in celebration of Women’s History Month.

22 / MARCH 16, 2017

In conjunction with the United Nations’ theme “Be Bold for Change,” the subtheme “Making a Difference” was chosen by the Women’s Center to recognize the work done by women leaders across the globe, Emily Dacquisto, the program coordinator of the Women’s Center, said.

“It brings a sense of community in Athens with people from campus as well as just other families and folks from the community,” Dacquisto said. “It brings everyone together in celebration of women, and I think that’s really special.”

Among the performances, presentations and vendors that are held every year, this year’s event will also feature a blood drive that will take place throughout the event on the fifth floor of Baker Center, Dacquisto said.

The Women’s Center has also partnered with the Hungry Cat food truck to prepare a special menu for event attendees directly outside the first floor of Baker, she said.

Helen Cumberbatch, a graduate student studying higher education and student affairs, said the event is also an opportunity to empower women and celebrate diversity.

“For too long we’ve seen women be each other’s enemies (and) criticize each other,” she said. “Why not support (and) celebrate each other, who we are as women, what makes us unique, what is different about us?” Cumberbatch, who will be one of the hosts for the event, said.

As one of the few students from Bolivia at OU, Gabriela Fuentes believes the event is a perfect opportunity to “show a little

IF YOU GO WHAT: International Women’s Day Festival WHEN: 2 p.m., Sunday WHERE: Baker Ballroom, Baker Center ADMISSION: Free bit of our culture.”

Fuentes, a graduate student studying communication development, will be performing a Bolivian dance called “cueca” with her mother. Beneath the “fun parts” of those kind of events, there’s an important message about fighting for equal rights that begins with the self, Fuentes said.

“‘Making a difference’ is … accepting your culture, your context (and) being in a place where you a have a lot of nationalities together,” she said. “(People) are different, and I think difference is the only things that humans have in common.”

Following last year’s theme of gender equity, Murray said this year’s theme also highlights the importance of taking action.

“There’s only so much that consciousness raising is going to get us. There also has to be practical steps,” she said. “For example, what are the policies that are put in place that’s going to improve women’s access to equal pay for equal work?”

Olivia Cobb, a junior studying English, will be performing spoken-word poetry that highlights her experience of being a wom-

an and “taking up space.” “(Poetry) is a really powerful way to share my identity and experience … with a lot of people in a way that they can connect with without demanding that they understand it perfectly,” Cobb said.

Cobb said she hopes her performance makes “people feel things, think things and want to do things.”

“It’s really important to (have) space for voices, and I think having an International Women’s Day leaves a lot of space for voices and makes it really urgent and important to hear those voices,” she said.

Murray said she hopes attendees will leave the event feeling connected to women around the world.

MY389715@OHIO.EDU @SUMMERINMAE

WHAT’S GOING ON? ALEX MCCANN FOR THE POST

DANA with Nightstalker, Red Lake and Bloody Show 9 p.m. at The Union Bar & Grill, 18 W. Union St. DANA, an edgy garage-punk rock band from Columbus, will perform at The Union to celebrate both St. Patrick’s Day and the release of its self-titled debut album. DANA will be joined by three bands — Nightstalker, Red Lake and Bloody Show. Admission: $6.

Friday

Saturday

Queer Hollywood showing of ‘Bessie’ 4 p.m. at Ohio University LGBT Center, 354 Baker Center. The Ohio University LGBT Center will host a viewing of ‘Bessie,’ an HBO made-for-television biographical film about Bessie Smith. She was a popular blues singer in the 1920s and 1930s and was an outspoken bisexual black woman. In the film, Smith is portrayed by Queen Latifah. Admission: free.

Athens Kiwanis Club Pancake Day 7:30 a.m. at Athens Community Center, 701 E. State St. The Athens Kiwanis Club will host a pancake breakfast Saturday morning. The proceeds of the breakfast will go to local children’s programming.

Admission: $6, $3 for children 10 and under.

Ohio Valley School of Celtic Dance and Culture St. Patrick’s Day Celebration 5:30 p.m. at Jackie O’s Public House & Brewpub, 24 W. Union St. Dancers from the Ohio Valley School of Celtic Dance and Culture will perform to live music at Jackie O’s on St. Patrick’s Day. Admission: free.

4th Annual “FanFiction” Show 8 p.m. at Donkey Coffee & Espresso, 17 1/2 W. Washington St. Local comedy group Blue Pencil Comedy will host the fourth edition of a show in which authors can read their original fan fiction. Fan fiction is works of fiction, made by fans, that usually contain characters from an original work of fiction created by an author. Admission: free. ’80s Dance Night with DJ Barticus 10 p.m. at Casa Nueva, 6 W. State St. Local nightlife mainstay Michael Bart, better known as DJ Barticus, will host another of his popular dance nights Friday.

Admission: $3 for ages 21+, $5 for ages 18-20.

Spring Seed Exchange 1 p.m. at Little Fish Brewing Company, 8675 Armitage Road. Community Food Initiatives will host a seed exchange Saturday afternoon at Little Fish Brewing Company. Local seed savers will be on hand to sell or exchange seeds. Admission: free.

Title IX Alumni Performance 4 p.m. at Bobcat Student Lounge, Baker Center. All-female a cappella group Title IX will perform alongside some of its alumnae in the Bobcat Student Lounge on the first floor of Baker Center. Admission: free.

Apple & The Moon 6 p.m. at Casa Nueva, 6 W. State St. Nelsonville-based Americana group Apple & The Moon will perform the early show at Casa Nueva.

Admission: free, food and drinks for sale.

Acoustic Jazz Night with John Horne 8 p.m. at Athens Uncorked, 14 Station St. Athens Uncorked regular John Horne will return to the wine bar once again Saturday night.

Horne, an acoustic jazz guitarist, is an adjunct professor of guitar and jazz studies at OU, a private guitar teacher and an Athens resident.

Admission: free.

Serdal Gunal, owner of Cafe Istanbul Dublin, serves Kahaer Ashiaer, left. Gunal catered Turkish Night on Feb. 10, 2015. (PATRICK CONNOLLY / FILE)

Cincinnati Hip Hop Showcase 10 p.m. at Casa Nueva, 6 W. State St. Brutha Ju and Dot Portia of Cincinnati-based hip-hop group FARWG, along with Doxcity and Plate O’ Shrimp, will perform at Casa Nueva’s late show Saturday.

Admission: $5 Smizmar acoustic show 8 p.m. at Donkey Coffee & Espresso, 17 1/2 W. Washington St. Athensbased alternative rock — or “al dente noodle rock,” according to its Facebook page — band Smizmar will perform an acoustic session at Donkey Coffee & Espresso.

Admission: $3-5.

Conscious Pilot with Desmond Jones and Blue Moth 9 p.m. at The Union Bar & Grill, 18 W. Union St. Rock ‘n’ roll jam band Conscious Pilot will return to The Union on Saturday night to play their first show in Athens this year. Also scheduled to perform are Desmond Jones, a five-man — none of whom are named Desmond Jones — fusion band hailing from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Blue Moth, an Athens-based psychedelic trio.

Admission: $3-5.

Community Food Initiatives Annual Gathering & Member Celebration 6 p.m. at Athens Community Center, 701 E. State St. Community Food Initiatives will host its annual celebration that will feature food, music from Back Porch Swing Band, an awards ceremony and a brief business meeting. The event is open to the public and is described on its Facebook page as the “best public potluck in Athens County.”

Admission: free.

Sunday Turkish Night 5 p.m. at Walter Rotunda. OU’s Turkish American Student Association will host Turkish Night, an event that will feature Turkish food, music, dances and cultural education.

Admission: $10.

Lost Flamingo Theatre Company Season Launch Party 7 p.m. at The Union Bar & Grill, 18 W. Union St. Join cast members of Lost Flamingo Theatre Company at The Union and get a preview of this company’s upcoming productions. Admission: $3 for ages 18-20, free for ages 21+.

THEPOSTATHENS.COM / 23

E.W. SCRIPPS SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM SCHOOL OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

present

03.28-29

2017 SCHUNEMAN SYMPOSIUM ON PHOTOJOURNALISM & NEW MEDIA

BAKER CENTER THEATRE

CHALLENGING LANDSCAPES TUESDAY 28 / BAKER THEATRE RICHARD OLSENIUS / Balancing Creativity in a Changing Digital Landscape / 9:00 KAITLIN YARNALL / Excellence in Visual Storytelling at National Geographic / 10:30 AM EVGENIA ARBUGAEVA / Arctic Stories / 01:30 PM PETE SOUZA / Behind the Scenes with President Obama / 03:00 PM

WEDNESDAY 29 / BAKER THEATRE WILBERT L. COOPER / No Limit Storytelling / 09:40 AM WESLEY LOWERY / They Can’t Kill Us All / 10:45 AM DANIELLE KILGO / Police Brutality, Social Unrest and Visual Journalism / 2:00 PM WILBERT L. COOPER, WESLEY LOWERY & DANIELLE KILGO / Panel Discussion / 3:05 PM ROBERT PADAVICK / Pushing Boundaries with VR Storytelling / 4:10 PM

scrippsjschool.org/symposium/2017/

24 / MARCH 16, 2017

2017

CHRISTINE OLSENIUS / Balancing Creativity in a Changing Digital Landscape / 9:00 AM