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LETTER FROM THE EDITORbEach year, Backdrop magazine hands itself over

to a new executive staff . Th is task, while obviously necessary, almost always strikes up some anticipation and anxiety. As the new editor, I can say that holding this issue of Backdrop in my hands will bring me more happiness than it has stress…well at least I hope.

Th is transition from old exec to new exec creates a unique opportunity for the magazine to be revitalized. We get rid of things that may have worked in the past and add in new departments that we think will work better in the future. Th is year instead of Hot

for Teacher, Backdrop will be introducing Hot for Bartender (pg. 8). I mean who doesn’t want a pretty face to take their beverage order at the bar? Additionally, we have revamped Exhibit A. Th e department will now feature short fi ction or non-fi ction creative writing submissions. Be sure to check out our debuting writers: Emily Pifer and Matt Dougherty (pg. 46).

But the biggest change for this issue is featuring Ohio University Southern as the cover story. It’s easy to get caught up in covering Athens only, but the equine therapy success in Ironton, OH cannot be ignored. Back in the Saddle (pg. 22) gives readers hope and instills a sense of pride to have Ohio University attached to such outstanding work.

Ironically, Athens and Ohio University have decided to do a little renovation of their own. First up: the Dirty South. Th e Dirt on Dirty South (pg. 26) explores the reasons and fi nancial investments behind the makeover. Th e Schoonover Center, which will house all fi ve Scripps College of Communication schools under one roof was supposed to open this Fall; however, in typical OU fashion the doors are still closed. Backdrop gives you a glimpse of what lies behind the construction (pg. 14). Finally, add a new bar to the list of venues on Court Street, Th e Overhang has opened and we couldn’t help but spotlight what could be the next Athens staple (pg. 12).

Here’s to hoping the renovations make the good—great!

Until next time,

FALL 2013 » VOLUME 7 ISSUE 1

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFMelissa Thompson

CO-MANAGING EDITORS Chris Longo & Sara Portwood

ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Nick HarleyASSOCIATE EDITORSZak Kolesar & Kaitlyn Richert

CONTRIBUTORSAndrew Downing, Becca Zook, Chris Longo, Chris Manning, Kaitlyn Richert, Morgan Decker, Nick Harley, Sara Portwood, Julianne Mobilian, Zak Kolesar, Kerry Crump, Jacob Betzner, Alexis Johns, Angela Ignasky, Zach Berry, Rachel Wagner, Jacob McCarty, Derek Smith, Mira Kuhar, Xavier Veccia

COPY EDITORJulianne Mobilian

COPY TEAMColette Whitney, Alyssa Pasicznyk

CREATIVE DIRECTOREmilee Kraus

ART DIRECTOROlivia Reaney

ADVERTISING DESIGNERMorgan Decker

MARKETING DESIGNERKarlee Proctor

DESIGN TEAMLindsey Brenkus, Cassandra Fait, Katelyn Boyden, Tory Prichard, Alexa Hayes, Jessie Shokler, Billy Anneken

PHOTO EDITORAmanda Puckett

ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITORBrice Nihiser

PHOTO CONTRIBUTORSydney Good

TABLE OF CONTENTSb

Back in the SaddleOhio University Southern has embraced equine therapy as a way to help those in need.

22

The Dirt on Dirty SouthAs a future investment, OU’s South Green is getting quite the housing makeover.

26

Follow us on Twitter @Backdropmag

SEE THE PHOTO STORY PAGE 38

ON THE COVER

36

Cover photo by Brice NihiserCover design by Emilee Kraus

Editor-in-Chiefbackdropmag@gmail.com

Melissa Th ompson

An in-depth look at the numbers behind the renovation plan

+

26

3422

FEATURES »

www.backdropmag.com 7www.backdropmag.com

TABLE OF CONTENTSb

PUBLISHERAlexis Johns

ADVERTISING DIRECTORKerry Crump

MARKETING DIRECTORAngela Ignasky ASSISTANT MARKETING DIRECTORBecca Zook

MARKETING TEAMAlyssa Keefe, Jake Zukerman, Jess Carnprobst, Hannah Wheeless

WEB EDITORJacob Betzner ASSOCIATE WEB EDITORZak Kolesar ASSISTANT WEB EDITORChris ManningONLINE PHOTO EDITORDaniel Rader

SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTORVirginia Ewen VIDEO ADVISORColin BrownVIDEO TEAMCarly Maurer

DISTRIBUTION/ALUMNI COORDINATORRose Troyer

Stop by one of our weekly meetings, Tuesdays at 8 p.m. in Scripps Hall 111.

Interested in working with us?

SPRING 2013 » VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3

Simply send an email to backdropadvertising@gmail.com to get started.

Want an advertisement in Backdrop?

H4B » NEW Hot for BartenderShake it up, don’t stir it with two of Athens’ hottest mixologists.

8THE DROP »

Raising the BarAthens welcomes another drinking establishment onto Court Street after many months of renovations.

12

Scripps 2.0Get a peek of what’s behind all of the construction on Union Street.

14

A Niche on the BricksSee how a trio of news publications operates in a small college town.

16

ENTERTAINMENT »

18 A Bobcat’s PromiseA promise is a promise to this alum and he believes you can do incredible things.

20 Dropping the GenreTwo hip-hop artists cross boundaries to create a sound all their own.

46 Exhibit ABackdrop fell in love with the newly renovated Exhibit A.

45 RR&R » Dressed but Unimpressed Rage in style with this laid-back Backdropper.

44 For Fun » Photo HuntThink you know Court Street? Take another look and try to fi nd the differences between these two pictures.

38 Photo Story » A Large TraditionGet a rare glimpse of some gentle giants and their proud trainers.

42 On The Web » Backdrop Got Me HereSee where one of our designers worked over the summer and how she was prepared for the task.

10 Sounds Like » The Shafer Street FugitiveWe hunted down this 6-piece progressive hardcore band for the latest edition of Sounds Like.

32 Seeing RedBackdrop Opinion: We sent one writer to Louisville and he came back with a new outlook on OU athletics.

SPORTS »

34 Marching Onto GreeceFrom Appalachia to the Mediterranean, D.J. Cooper has made a decision about his basketball future.

36 Jane Doe Is Not AloneVictims of sexual assault can rely on a safety network of support from the Athens community.

SEX & HEALTH »

30 Backdrop BobcatTry a new twist on an old Bagel Street Deli favorite.

RECIPE »

7www.backdropmag.comwww.backdropmag.comwww.backdropmag.com

Exhibit ABackdrop fell in love with the newly renovated Exhibit A.

RR&R »Dressed but Unimpressed Rage in style with this laid-back Backdropper.

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backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comHumans are the only primates that don’t have pigment in the palms of their hands.Every time you lick a stamp, you’re consuming 1/10 of a calorie. 98

HOT 4 BARTENDERb

Colin Brown: How long have you been a bartender?Tayler Kohl: I started here at the end of March on Easter weekend. It was exciting, because bartending is a sweet job.

CB: Who was the fi rst person to ever buy a drink from you and what was it?TK: Pat Moore—it was a little nerve-racking because it was my fi rst drink ever. He loved it—he said it was the best drink he had ever had! It was a whiskey and Coke.

CB: What’s your favorite drink to make?TK: My favorite shot to pour is Rumplemintz because it’s minty fresh and it gives you good breath!

CB: What’s your favorite drink?TK: Loaded Redd’s is my favorite drink. It’s a Redd’s draft and you can either load it with a shot of Fireball or a shot of Applejack, which is apple-fl avored whiskey.

CB: What’s the best pick-up line that you’ve heard while bartending? The worst?TK: People don’t really use pick-up lines, but sometimes people write their numbers on the receipt. Usually, I’m so tired by the end of the shift that I don’t even remember. As for the worst, aren’t all pick-up lines bad?

CB: Other than J-Bar, what’s your favorite bar? And what does that say about you?TK: I like Pawpurr’s a lot. It says that I’m a person who likes cheap drinks!

TAYLER KOHLMajor: Community Health Services

Know an attractive bartender? Email us at backdropmag@gmail.com with your hot bartender suggestions.

ROGER JONES Job: Assistant Director of ticket sales for the Atheltic Department

BY COLIN BROWN AND BECCA ZOOK I PHOTOS BY SYDNEY GOOD

HOT

BARTENDER4 J-BAR

PAWPURR’SBecca Zook: How long have you been a bartender?Roger Jones: I’ve worked at Pawpurr’s for two years, I’ve been a bartender for a little over one.

BZ: How many drinks do you know how to make by memory?RJ: I know how to make all the drinks. I actually like to make a bunch up. When I’m in happy hour and the crowd’s not too much, I make my own. A lot of people’s favorites are my Strawberry Cheesecake, Sex with Alligator and my Teddy Graham.

BZ: Sex with Alligator? What’s that? RJ: If I told you, then all the other people would know! I’ll tell you: it’s Midori, Peach Schnapps, sour mix, a little bit of Sprite and then top it off with Jäger. You’ve got to have a bite to it!

BZ: Do you ever fl irt with girls to get them to buy more drinks?RJ: We don’t call it fl irting; we call it bartending. My girlfriend would say that I’ve always fl irted with girls, but it is part of the job. Honestly it’s not even just girls, I fl irt with guys! I tell guys they look good, I tell them I like their shirt. You know, you say anything to make them feel comfortable, make them feel good and that makes them not only want to buy the drink or buy more drinks but also makes them want to tip you more. You can ask my coworkers, I actually fl irt with them more than I fl irt with the customers. You know, just to keep them motivated and working.

BZ: What’s the best pick-up line you’ve heard while working?RJ: The best pick-up line ever is actually used by our owner (Steven Van Fleet) and it’s basically “I’m the owner.” I mean it’s the best pick-up line! Can’t beat it.

BZ: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen someone do at the bar?RJ: I have walked in on girls in the bathroom having intercourse. And that has happened multiple times. On Mom’s Weekend, I have seen moms fi ght students. Moms! And the moms provoke it!

Meet two of Backdrop’s top shelf choices on a night out uptown.

PAWPURR’S

backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comStarfi sh don’t have brains.A cockroach will live nine days without its head, before it starves to death. 1110

THE SHAFER STREET FUGITIVEDespite Athens’ dominant bluegrass and folk scene, the town still has plenty of heavier sounding things to offer.

Take for instance the progressive hardcore collective The Schafer Street Fugitive, who fuse post-hardcore, pop-punk, ska, and several other sub-genres together to create one Athens’ most diverse sounding bands. Backdrop got the chance to sit down with fi ve out of the six members of the band on a West State Street porch in late August, with cicadas buzzing in the trees and overbearing humidity in the air, the guys commented on their eclectic sound and where the band is heading next.

Now to start things off, you wouldn’t happen to have any information about the actual Shafer Street Fugitive, would you?

David Butler: I think we need to plead the Fifth, actually.Cody Dixon: We are not hiding any information, per se. Th e origin of the name came about when we were practicing back in the winter of…Michael Socosky: 2011.Cody: Th ere was a fugitive loose in Athens and at the time we were practicing he was last seen on Shafer Street, where David and Adam (other vocalist, not present) lived at the time. We kept getting email alerts and text messages from the university saying, “Stay where you are. Th ere’s a fugitive on the loose, last seen on Shafer Street,” and we were nameless at the point, so we thought, why not the Shafer Street Fugitive? It’s cool, it’s local, and if you’re from Athens you might get it.

BY NICK HARLEY | PHOTOS BY NICHOLAS HORSLEY

On “DBC,” a song off your EP Adaptor, you guys use a full-horn section and transition through a few genres like pop-punk, hardcore, and ska. That’s not typical of most hardcore bands. You describe yourselves as progressive hardcore. Is this a product of you guys all being interested in different styles of music?

Nick Shega: I think this goes for everyone in the band, but we’re all into a lot of diff erent music. If you put my iPod on shuffl e it will go from Bach to Megadeth to Streetlight Manifesto. I don’t think that we’re really too concerned with like, “oh, we got to stick to this progressive hardcore thing.” We just want to make music. If our diverse infl uences can come together and make something greater than the sum of their parts, then cool. We just bring everything we have

to the table and see what works and go with it from there. Cody: We’ve all been in a bunch of diff erent bands. I’ve been in a reggae band, I’ve been in a ska band, diff erent punk bands.Michael: Diff erent hardcore bands.Cody: We fuse it all together, our diff erent infl uences and experiences.

Now, I know a lot of you are involved with different groups on campus, do you mind sharing some of those?

David: Me and Adam, we’re both in SMO (Singing Men of Ohio).Nick: I literally just ran from Marching 110 practice to get here, and I’m on the executive board for Students For Liberty as well.Cody: A little bit last year and my freshman year, I helped out Brick City Records with some promotional stuff and ACRN too.

On your song “3 a.m.,” you guys have spoken-word verses and lush piano featured throughout. Do you think that there’s room for a softer side in hardcore music?

Michael: Absolutely. Last year it was just an idea that I had, but a lot of our songs, like “DBC,” are really easy to play on acoustic guitar too. So you can take a hardcore song and make it soft and pretty.

You guys feature a lot of clean vocals with some great harmonies to go

SOUNDS LIKEb

SOUNDS LIKE: For Those Who Have Heart -era A Day To Remember, Alesana, RX Bandits

MICHAEL SOCOSKY

DRUMS / PIANO / SYNTH

WHO PLAYS WHAT?

BASS

ADAM CESARZ

VOCALS

CODY DIXON

GUITAR

DAVID BUTLER

VOCALS

NICK SHEGA

GUITAR

along with the unclean vocals. How do you make a decision on which one to go with when you’re writing?

David: We pretty much just write to serve the song, and really, be it unclean or clean, whatever brings the lyrics across the best. When me and Adam both write the vocals, I think we, at least I do, but as we’re writing, I say, “Th is part’s going to be screaming, this parts going to be singing,” just based on the lyrics we’re writing, just based on the emotion the lyrics are meant to show.

You guys use a pretty wide array of instruments. Is there any instrument that you haven’t used that you’re dying to get on a track?

Cody: Well, it was defi nitely an accomplishment doing the full-horn section. I’m really glad we got all the horns and everything. We’ve talked about maraca at some point. I don’t know, what do you think Mike?Michael: I think it would be cool to get a drum machine in on one of our tracks, to have that electronic drum feel. Mitch Rossiter: Mike does some mean ukulele work too, so that could be interesting. Nick: Mike makes electronic music too, and it’s really, really good. Like, really good.Cody: And what’s cool about having synths on hand is that you can get so many diff erent kind of

MITCH ROSSITER

sounds, and you can pick and choose and play around with it as much as we want and just bring out so many sounds rom just one instrument, so that’s pretty cool.

On your Facebook page, it says you guys have new music in the works. Care to share some of the details?

Michael: It’s a lot heavier.Cody: We are actually in the process of writing our full-length album.We haven’t all learned it yet, but it’s pretty much all written. We plan on recording it this winter and getting it out late spring of next year.

backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comA duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why.Polar bears are left-handed. 1312

past which is a stage for local musicians to perform in the evenings, when the bar-feel sets in.

While the Gator Guys held the lead on the logistics of the renovations of the building as a whole, the Moss’ did their research and took extra steps to ensure that the design and décor of their bar and restaurant would be a good fi t for the Athens area and maximize custom-er comfort. Down to the cupboards, every piece has a signifi cant meaning.

“Our bar and our woodwork was done by a local cabinet maker, Tom Bennett, so I consider those actual works of art. I don’t think you fi nd things like this everyday,” Barb says.

Th e Over Hang logo, painted above the back stage, was designed by Barb’s sister. It sits atop the brick dust-colored walls keeping customers feeling happy and welcomed.

“I also did a lot of research on the psy-chology of color in restaurants, and this color is very intentional. Th is color is a cinnamon red…it’s warm and inviting, and stimulates your appetite,” Barb says.

Th e Over Hang also keeps its ties close to Athens by having local artists’ exhibits on display in its front alcove, courtesy of Starbrick Gallery, located in Nelsonville.

“On the walls, we’re promoting our local art community and our local his-

tory…that’s a partnership with Starbrick and it will provide rotating art shows for artists that collaborate with Starbrick.” Barb says. “Jim Shirey is our fi rst show, he will be here for

the fi rst couple of months, and we are booked in through next spring with art shows.”

Guitars, painted by Passion Works members, adorn the walls above the booths. Passion Works, more com-monly known for their painted fl owers, recently began painting guitars as well, and the Moss’ jumped on board. Th is is a very personal part of the restaurant for Barb, who has worked alongside some of these painters previously.

“I worked for the Athens County Board of Developmental Disabilities for a number of years and some of the people that painted these guitars were some of my students...it was a nice way of including them in our res-taurant.” Barb says. “We were lucky enough to see those in their develop-ment and thought they were an excel-lent fi t here.“

Th e impeccable details and personal aspects of the bar make it the Moss’, but there are still many factors that can only be sorted out with time and experience to ensure that the Over Hang is still residing on Court Street for many years to come.

“We want it to grow. We are very open for how we need to change and adapt to make our restaurant work, and we have to base that on how things go,” Barb says.

Th e panorama of Athens’ bars isn’t a picture that changes frequently. Once an owner snags a piece of the coveted Court Street real estate, thirsty students and locals wan-dering by are almost enough to sustain the business alone. But starting a bar from the foundation up is a diff erent and daunting feat, one that husband and wife Eric and Barb Moss have undertaken with Th e Over Hang.

Th e Over Hang, now residing in the once-vacant Blue Gator building, aims to please a wide variety of customers outside of the bar scene by serving classic comfort food ranging from the Bodacious BLT, a favorite of owner Barb Moss, to its own version of Chicken n’ Waffl es. Hearty breakfasts are off ered on the weekends, along with their signature Over-Hang-hang-over cure “Th e Remedy,” their twist on a Bloody Mary. Th e early draw: the signature Over Hang burgers.

“We’re hearing huge compliments on our burgers,” Barb says. “Our burgers are freshly crafted for us, and we ball it ourselves and mash it down just like an old-fashioned kind of hamburger.”

Th e burgers may keep customers coming back, but what’s bringing them in is the extensive renovations that have been taking place since the Moss’ signed onto the project 19 months ago.

“Th e Gator Guys ap-proached us because we own Grinder’s and we’re local and asked us if we would be interested. We said yes, and we worked out the lease 18 months ago.” Eric Moss explains.

Th e Gator Guys, led by Bryan Wharton, Bart Kasler, and Joe Krause, had previously bought the vacant building with the intention of revamping the bar and adding luxury apartments above it. While the Moss’ were brought on to handle the Over Hang portion of the project, the collaboration between the two groups helped to jump-start the renovations and create a building that fi ts both parties’ taste.

”Th e upstairs was even more of a renovation than the res-taurant. It was just the brick, the studs, and the roof overhead was off ,” Barb says. “It’s been a huge investment by Gator Guys, and they did it right.”

Th e fl oor plan of the previous bar was completely thrown out – the only salvageable area being the bathrooms. Custom-made lumbar booths were put in along the left wall, right

It’s been a huge investment by Gator Guys, and they did it right.” Barb MossOver Hang Co-Owner

SIGNATURE ITEMS

BY KERRY CRUMP | PHOTOS BY BRICE NIHISER

raising theThe bars on Court Street rarely change; they are institutions. The Over Hang is OU’snewest watering hole, sporting lush décor and some noteworthy signature items.

• Chicken n’ Waffl es

• Over Hang Burger

• Live Music

• Local Artwork

• The Original Brainstopper

• The Remedy (Bloody Mary)

THE DROPb

backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comThe longest recorded fl ight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.An ostrich’s eye is bigger than it’s brain. 1514

THE DROPb

SCRIPPS 2.0

This fall, the Schoonover Center of Communication—which will compile all fi ve Scripps College of Communication schools under one roof—is closing the construction curtain on its plans. So what can we expect when the doors fi nally open for students late in 2014? Tom Daniels, Professor Emeritus and former dean who represents the college on the university’s planning board for the center, talks to Backdrop about what’s to come in Scripps College’s future home.

STORY & GRAPHICS BY KAITLYN RICHERT | PHOTO BY AMANDA PUCKETT

PHASE 1SUMMER 2012Construction begins.

FALL 2013Construction ends.

CLASSROOMS• 250-seat lecture hall

• 150-seat collaborativelearning space

PERCENTof total conference rooms are additions

research labwill be added

Visual Communication

studios are additions

instructional labs are new

There will also be one new instructional lab in Scripps Hall.

FIVE NOTEWORTHY ASPECTS

1 COFFEE STATIONNear the initial reception point on the fi rst fl oor, java will be brewing. “There will not be the kind of facility that you see in the Arc, but there will be a scaled-down version,” Daniels says.

2 PHOTO GALLERYA space near a lounge area on the fi rst fl oor has been reserved to highlight the achievements of students in the School of Visual Communication.

3 HARRIS STUDENT SERVICE CENTERFor students in the Scripps College, this will be the primary point to contactoffi ce administrators, including aninternship coordinator.

SPECIALTY LISTENING LABORATORYThis high-end facility for the School of Media Arts and Studies will involve technical nuances of sound, accordingto Daniels.

4 150-SEAT COLLABORATIVE LEARNING SPACEThis classroom will capture the reason the fi ve colleges united under one roof: teamwork. “The new dean, particularly, was interested in moving more in this direction, pedagogically,” Daniels says. “This will give usthe space.”

5

PHASE 2Begins when phase 1 ends in latefall 2013.PART I will relocate offi ces for the Dean of the College, the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and the School of Media Arts and Studies.

PART II will relocate the rest of the schools and fi nish the SchoonoverCenter. The last phase is scheduled to end by Fall 2014.

THE GAME PLANThere’s a new building in town.

Photo credit: Sextant Technology Partners

2 54 one 4/11 3“Some [facilities] in the building will be larger than they were before, but it’s not like we’re adding a lot of space. Most of it is replacement of facilities that we’ll be [moving] out of somewhere else.”Tom Daniels, Professor Emeritus and former dean

ADDITIONS

backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comTen percent of the Russian government’s income comes from the sale of vodka.Snails can sleep for 3 years without eating. 1716

On the bottom floor of the headquarters for Ohio’s largest newspaper—The Plain Dealer—rests an islanded

parking space that serves as a reminder of the paper’s earliest distribution method. The White Motors delivery truck started passing out history in 1913, but recently a new wave in the newspaper industry has shifted and modernized the presentation medium. Technology is proving that only the strong print publications will survive, but Athens continues to thrive with three papers funneling news into a city at the head of a county that posts one of the highest annual poverty rates.

State of the newspaper businessWhen news broke that Amazon.com founder Jeffrey

Bezos had purchased The Washington Post, it was just another turn reinforcing the decision by The Plain Dealer president—Terry Egger—to emphasize digital publication

because that is where the consumer’s and ad dollars are going. For Athens, accentuating an online presence is a must for

papers not making home deliveries and circulating in print daily. The Athens News, The Athens Messenger and The Post all find a way to survive in the same ad revenue territory by adhering to a specific small-town niche. Each publication dabbles in covering events tailored toward a certain age demographic, but primarily students are going to flock to The Post to read what their peers have to say about street fest guidelines or campus crime.

Terry Smith, the editor for The Athens News, is confident that his staff does the best job at being the paper in a campus-constructed city that reaches all ages and types, even with monetary obstacles to hurdle.

“Like other small newspapers, we have the same staff handling both print and web and social media that we used to use just for print,” Smith says.

A niche ON THE BRICKSIn a community that values the importance of news, one paper isn’t enough. Three local newspapers might seem excessive but each serves a particular purpose.

BY ANDREW DOWNING AND ZAK KOLESAR | PHOTOS BY DANIEL RADER

Functionality of a three-paper townThe challenges that these papers face, however, do

not stem from each unique audience but more from the populations of the staffs. Most notably, The Post faces more pressing problems daily by being a publication run solely by students.

“[We] are students taking full class-loads at the same time, so that’s always one of our biggest (issues),” senior and managing editor for The Post Nicolien Buholzer says of her newsroom.

“People are in and out throughout the day, and especially if breaking news hits, it can be hard to find someone if everyone is in class.”

Dedication is one thing, but for Post members having to juggle running a five-day-a-week publication while keeping up his or her academics is a lot of pressure for someone trying to please the student body with cutting-edge presentation of the news. The staff has even more weight on their shoulders because The Post does not receive funds from the school, which forces them to compete for ad dollars against full-time Messenger and News staffers.

“With [this] being your full-time job, you’re always trying to do things better and make sure you have good things for the public,” former Post scribe and current Messenger sports editor Kevin Wiseman says.

CompetitionIn a small college town, with the majority of the population

being between 18 and 24 years old, there’s no denying that competition looms over the city. Grabbing the attention from college students between their classes, social lives and iPhones can be very difficult. The regular public and staff members of Ohio University are also in the fish tank that these publications are trying to bait on a daily basis.

Smith of The Athens News actually likes to work around the other two papers to strategize their content.

“[The other newspapers] have their meetings and reporting operations just like we do,” Smith explains.

“If they beat us to a story, and it’s a pretty good one, we will try to catch up on it.”

The small town provides each publication with the

opportunity to jump on stories at the same time as well. This makes competition healthy, with each group of writers slaving over keyboards to make sure that their angle on the story is crisper than the opposition.

On a statewide basis, it’s not uncommon for daily newspapers in different cities to share information to help each other. However, such sharing would be unheard of in a battling town like Athens. When working in the same market, it could be detrimental to success if one publication were to help out another.

Timing is also another competitive component, especially when dealing with breaking news.

“This is embarrassing, but I have [the other publications’] tweets sent to my phone so I know right away if we get beat on a story,” Buholzer confesses.

“I’ll say, ‘Oh my gosh, they already are tweeting it out,’ and we haven’t even finished writing our story.”

ReadershipNot to be confused with luck, there is actually a method to

three separate news outlets coexisting in a small town.“They’re filling a different niche, and as long as you’re filling a

niche, there’s an audience,” Egger explains.To balance out the readership, each publication seems to

focus on one area more than another. The Athens News and The Athens Messenger cover the community and county news more closely, such as providing updates on the elementary, middle and high schools.

“We have always tried to appeal to the widest cross section of people, which ranges from students to faculty to blue-collar people in the community,” Smith says, as he sees The Athens News as a duel-threat competitor.

“It kind of gives us a leg up that we are read by the campus community and non-campus community. I think the other two papers can’t say that as much as we can.”

Along with print news, the three publications also reach readers online. This is a much easier way for on-the-go college students to get information they need. When school is in session, the online website for The Post receives about 2,500 daily views. The Athens News brings in around 5,000 viewers per day for their website. This is an important statistic for a

publication that focuses on the community members who are more than likely less tech-savvy than the readership that The Post reels in.

Just how the White Motors delivery truck serves as a reminder of the old ways that news was delivered, the three news outlets in Athens serve as a model of how a small town can flourish successfully with multiple news outlets. With buyouts and cuts happening all around the nation, it’s truly a unique situation in the Appalachia town set amongst the Hocking River.

“We’ve got 20,000 students and several thousand faculty members who are supporting us,” says Smith when talking about why something so unique can work.

“With having three papers and about a dozen different student web operations with different focuses; it makes it tough that’s for sure. I don’t know of any other market that has this much [coverage].”

THE DROPb

backdrop | Fall 2013 Stewardesses’ is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.18

Another fall semester at Ohio University has rolled around. Athens is bustling with thousands of new students. Take a listen in on their conversations.

Some may be about a party, others about skipping class. Regardless, students come here for a similar purpose. Th ey are seeking success, typically measured by money or snatch-ing that dream job. But watch out everyone. Life rarely goes as planned. One Bobcat alumnus, Alex Sheen, demonstrates fi rsthand

how a twist of events can change all expectations. When he chose OU, his long-term goal was to start his own busi-ness. Yet today, he is the sole founder of a non-profi t social movement, Because I Said I Would. Th e movement is rap-idly expanding worldwide to emphasize the importance of keeping a promise. Its impact ranges from daily goals to long-term life changes.

The BeginningAs an undergraduate student, Sheen would have never pre-

dicted where he is now. Following graduation, he landed a job at Hyland Software as a market intelligence specialist. It was not his dream job, but at the least, it off ered the fi -nancial foundation so many graduates stress over.

Sheen’s stability was shaken in September 2012. Faced with the devastating news of his father’s passing, Sheen began refl ecting on his father’s best quality, reliability. If his father said something would be done, it would be. Th is refl ection sparked the social movement, Because I Said I Would. Th e movement commemorates his father’s most remark-

able quality by promoting the importance of keeping a promise. Sheen innovatively created a simple way to do so by creating blank “promise cards.” Th e cards act as a form of a contract with one person making a promise to another. He sends free promise cards in packs of 10 to anyone who requests them.

Organizational GrowthSince its start in September 2012, Sheen has sent cards

to all 50 states and over 50 countries. Sheen uses various social media sites to share his story and the stories of oth-ers. While motivating others to keep promises, he leads by example. His fi rst big promise involved raising money for the Can-

dlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada. Th e money sent children on their fi rst trip to Disneyland.

A BOBCAT’S PROMISEBY ALEXIS JOHNS | PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ALEX SHEEN

One alum will never forget the promise he made to his father. Now he has created a movement to teach others the importance of keeping their word.

Th is past summer, he walked for 10 days across Ohio in honor of the women held captive and sexually abused in Cleveland for 10 years. Th roughout the 240-mile walk, Sheen made an eff ort to raise awareness for victims of sexual violence. He was primarily alone for the journey. “It was an interesting experience being alone for so long.

I’m an extreme extrovert and I feed off others’ energy.” At the fi nal stretch, supporters lined the street of the house where the women were held. However, one greeting was more profound than the rest. Th e mother of one of the women held captive met him with a hug and a kiss outside of the house that caused her daughter so much suff ering. Soon after, Sheen’s focus shifted to a whole new goal.

On September 3, he released a video of 22-year-old Matthew Cordle. Th e video served as his confession to killing a man in a drunk driving accident. With a promise card in hand, he states he will take full responsibility for his actions. “I’m handing the prosecution everything they need to put

me away for a very long time,” says Cordle about the video. He desperately wanted to share his message. He begs lis-teners not to drink and drive with a reminder that there is never an excuse.It is this message that Sheen is supporting. His number

one goal of the video is for people to stop drinking and driv-ing. Although, he admits Cordle is ironically associated with Because I Said I Would.Cordle made his promise at rock bottom, but this video’s

goal is to encourage easily preventative actions. Sheen wants people to make these promises before they hit their own rock bottom.While Sheen has created so many remarkable, inspiring

stories, he also makes sure to act on smaller, more attainable promises to promote the core values of the movement. For example, he made 52 promises to complete each week of the year. Th ey include a variety of things he has continually put off , such as learning to bake an apple pie and teaching his grandma how to Skype.Despite all of these big eff ort promises, Sheen unwaver-

ingly believes the biggest impact of the movement goes be-yond these spectacles. “Th ose are just forms of entertainment. Hundreds of

thousands of hits on Reddit is whatever. It’s cool but not serious,” he says.Instead Sheen has been profoundly aff ected by stories of

reverse suicidal decisions made because of the promise cards. If possible, Sheen will talk to these people on the phone.

“

“It’s a hard conversation to have. Th ese people are not talking about intentions; they are talking about actual plans.” In Sheen’s opinion, this is the movement’s greatest impact.

Organization SupportSheen strongly believes his biggest support comes from

people he does not know, specifi cally those who share the movement on social media, make donations, and most im-portantly, keep promises.On March 1st, Sheen resigned from his position at Hy-

land Software to dedicate himself to the movement. Th is fi nancial leap left him without income, but Sheen knew he would regret never trying. To date, the organization strictly operates on donations,

his personal savings and several promotional item sales. When asked how people can best support him, Sheen struggles with answering. Th e businessman in him wants to suggest buying a T-shirt or donating, yet he says, “Th e bottom line is no longer a dollar. Make a promise to your-self or humanity.”Because the organization lacks fi nancial stability to have

employees, Sheen’s support comes strictly from volunteer work. His chief volunteer, Amanda Messer, is by Sheen’s side for mostly everything.Messer hopes the movement will help strengthen family

structure, so that more children can grow up in a better home. Th is comes from her personal struggle of having an alcoholic father. Recently, she made a promise to never speak to him again. Messer is happy to share her story, saying, “the more we

share our struggles, the more we can bring back humility to humanity.” Alex Sheen is attempting to create a fundamental diff er-

ence in society’s mentality. He never had intentions of doing so when he stepped onto Ohio University’s campus. However, his work goes to show suc-cess is not necessarily measured by the dol-lar or a prestigious job. Goals can change rapidly in the face of life. Sheen’s current goal to success is to spread his mes-sage. After all, he says, “Th e importance of a promise is universal.”

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple. 19

The bottom line is no longer a dollar. Make a promise to yourself or humanity.”Alex SheenOU alum

THE DROPb

backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comOnly one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.The Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters.

ENTERTAINMENTb

BY ZAK KOLESARPHOTOS PROVIDED BY U-DROP

U-Drop – an Ohio alternative hip-hop duo with foundations in the Appalachia is gearing up to blend genres with their next project.

DROPPING THE GENRE

Whether a producer is retooling a song for the radio or ushering in a new era of fresh sounds, passion is a variable that can exist sonically with the right fi ngers

behind the board. Modern hip-hop has roots spanning a variety of musical infl uences, linked by a device that artists use called, “the sample.” From taking elements of classical soul music to experimenting with the electronic-techno wave, rap’s driving force (also known as the beat) is what ini-tally entices a listener.

Enter U-Drop, a rap duo with musical beginnings that trace back to Hocking Col-lege and stretch all the way to the Windy City. Over the past two years, Terence “Teuro” Robertson and Omari “O-Mitch” Mitchell experiment-ed with their sound by festival hopping at well-known events such as Bonnaroo in Tennessee and Electric Forest in Michi-gan. Seeing their favorite bands in an exhilarating environ-ment heavily infl uenced their sonics and samples on their up-coming project titled Vincent Th e Little Dark Bird.

Borrowing diff erent elements from a variety of artists’ styles is something that hip-hop was founded on. So for U-Drop,

the melodic synth of Little Dragon, the strings of Andrew Bird, the jazz techniques of Dark Dark Dark and the eloquent smoothness of St. Vincent make for a unique mixture for lay-

ering a rap record.“I would say it’s more of an

introspective CD where a lot of the tracks sonically will give you a more classic hip-hop vibe with a lot of diff erent infl uences in there from the bands,” Mitchell pronounces.

“Th e production just has a lot of changeups to it.”

Even though the current trend of drowning out con-scious lyrics with a blaring beat has reached its peak dur-ing the mixtape age, U-Drop stands for enticing listeners to take into account all phases of a song. Nodding to a track is half the battle, but music is also a great method for the two MCs to spread a message

vocally that would otherwise be a normal conversation. “Th ere is this song we have called ‘Celebrate’ where we talk

about partying and experiences from when we went to a lot of music festivals last summer and this summer included,” Rob-ertson says of his favorite song on the project.

“We can talk about some of those experiences we’ve had

from seeing people take hardcore illegal drugs and being sur-rounded by them.”

Th is discussion, backed by beats, is signifi cant at the mo-ment, as the party drug “molly” is gaining traction again in the festival circuit. Th rough the art of storytelling, Robertson and Mitchell are challenging their listeners to pay attention to new culture – both good and bad. When two polarizing MCs occupy the arena with mics as one, this specifi c conversation can be played out onstage.

“You’re trying to improve your verse to make it better than each other, and it ends up being the best it can be, so it improves the confidence in that manner as well,” Mitchell proclaims.

Confi dence is also heightened after each successive visit to the stage, something for which Robertson and Mitchell have the city of Athens to thank. But before Robertson made it to OU, Mitchell and him both spent two years at Hocking College where they were a part of an eight-piece jam band named Wojettt.

“Th ey collected these people from all of these musical back-grounds,” 3 Elliott Studio owner and Hocking professor Josh Antonuccio compares the jam band to U-Drop’s up-coming release.

“It’s interesting because you can kind of see how each how each of them has went off and pursued their own individual direction in music.”

After Robertson’s victory at Ohio University’s Battle of the MCs in 2012, U-Drop was given a chance to open the in-augural HallOUween concert. Th e group will have a chance to show area fans how far they have come with a few unan-noucned events in Columbus.

“Being a hip-hop artist in Athens can be kind of scary, and very intimidating, because it’s not the natural music for the area,” Mitchell says while laughing.

“It gave us an understanding of what songs people did or did not like and it gave us a platform.”

“Blinking” – the outro to VTLDB – has the potential to be one of those fan-favorite records that captivates a live au-dience with an entrancing beat. Th e track, which originates from Little Dragon’s “Blinking Pigs”, deviates from anything else on the project due to a dirty, up-tempo beat that serves as U-Drop’s hard-hitting pledge.

“Th e best way to describe it is really well-crafted and strate-gic hip-hop in the writing and the lyrics,” Antonuccio assesses the group’s work.

“I think they just come from the same place musically, and they like a lot of diff erent genres of music.”

Robertson and Josh “Jae” Posten – the only two produc-ers on the CD – were able to fi ll Mitchell’s iTunes library with “over three days” of beats when working together. Th eir common knowledge and understanding of classical and jazz elements made piecing together the sounds of VTLDB an ex-perience they both wanted to be a part of, which made con-structing raps a much more cohesive process.

It doesn’t stop with slaving in the studio, however, as travel-ing from Southern Ohio to the Midwest requires new promo-tion techniques to target a new audience. Recently moving to the north side of Chicago, Robertson and Mitchell’s plan for the next year is to capitalize off of the city’s culture and create

fresh concepts from the diff erent infl uences they encounter. Th e key to creating healthy chemistry as a unit in music is

being able to drop the “I’s” and let inspiration come in the form of a partner’s talents. Robertson detracts most questions regarding his previous accolades as a solo freestyle emcee to Mitchell and also switches the discussion to how the rising of his platform actually worked in favor of U-Drop.

“Th ey’ve known each other since high school, at least, and I think they just come from the same place musically,” Anto-nuccio says of why U-Drop functions as one force.

Not only do Mitchell and Robertson function on the same sound length, but they are also both socially percep-tive of events not covered in the media ad nauseam. On the St. Vincent-sampled “St. Vinny”, topics of importance such as the misunderstandings between the cultural barrier of the minorities and the privileged and the fi nancial gap between the one percent and the 99 percent are discussed.

“Th roughout it, we’re not poking too much fun at the me-dia per se, but there are things that we feel are a little miscon-strued,” Robertson confesses.

Th ese romantic sounds and messages on policies will surely reverberate well amongst the attentive collegiate youth when Vincent Th e Little Dark Bird is showcased to the public. For those wanting a history lesson in the form of intellectual rap with straight lyrics, look no further than the battle-tested duo of U-Drop.

“We just try a lot of diff erent things to say, ‘Listen now.’” Mitchell boasts.

20 21

Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here48 48backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.com

FEATUREb

Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes herebackdrop » Fall 201148 backdropmag.com 48

BACKSADDLE

At Ohio University Southern branch, the Equine Assisted Therapy Activities program has allowed

those with crippling disabilities a unique opportunity: a chance at rehabilitation.

BY JAKE MCCARTY | PHOTOS BY BRICE NIHISER

backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comA rat can last longer without water than a camel.Cat’s urine glows under a black light. 2524

FEATUREb

F rom birth, the Hale fam-ily had been told that its youngest, Jakob, would never be able to walk. Having spent his entire life accompanied by vari-

ous pieces of equipment, crutches and supports, he spent countless hours per-forming for physical therapists. Hours that, while well-intentioned, amounted to little progress. It was not until the Hales discovered the Ohio University Horse Park that nothing short of a miracle was performed.

Kelly Hall is the Coordinator of Equine Assisted Th erapy Activities for the Ohio Horse Park located between Ports-mouth and Ironton, Ohio. She is the kind of person that, when asked about her background in equine ther-apy, would much rather talk about the horses them-selves. She’ll quickly brush past her overwhelming catalogue of experience, which includes nearly 20 years of professional riding instruction for patients and budding professionals, to discuss the mechanics of how a horse’s gait perfectly mimics that of a human’s. For the last 14 years, she has overseen the Th erapeutic Rid-ing Instructional Program at the Ohio University Southern branch.

Th e facility is managed, maintained and overseen by Hall and her team of volunteers and students. It is currently sitting on approximately 200 acres of land with two classrooms, barns for housing 13 horses, and therapy sessions held in three diff erent riding arenas. Th eir calendar is fully booked, ap-pointments held by those whose lives have become more diffi cult due to de-

vices outside of their control. In the morning, they could work with chil-dren such as Jakob, whose muscles and limbs are immobilized due to the crip-pling eff ects of cerebral palsy. His ap-pointment could be followed by those that fall on the spectrum for autism, teenagers struggling with behavioral disorders, the elderly suff ering from the aff ects of a stroke or veterans bat-tling post traumatic stress disorder. Each client will experience a special-ized therapy regimen.

Th e therapy is not the only thing unique to each person, says Hall. Each horse was chosen to work with a spe-

cifi c problem they may encounter in their fi eld.

“Children who need to strengthen their leg muscles have very diff erent needs than, say, an older man just after a stroke,” explains Hall. Someone with tight muscles will need a horse with a longer step while the warmth of the horse relieves tight muscles and pre-vents spasms. Alternatively, a child with autism might need a horse with a shorter step to increase sensory responses.

Th ese factors are only a few of the 90 characteristics upon which each horse is evaluated before being introduced to the program.

“Everything from how a horse reacts

when approached by a stranger to how their ears are turned when walking into the stables are factored into our evalu-ation,” says Hall. She believes that this is what makes her program so success-ful. In her eyes, the instructor is merely there to set the standard. It is up to the horse to meet it.

Hall and her team are not the only ones judging the standards by which they hold their programs and educate the new generation of therapeutic rid-ing instructors. PATH, the Professional Association of Th erapeutic Horseman-ship, is currently setting the industry standard. According to the PATH Intl.

website, instructors “fi nd strength and indepen-dence through the power of the horse each year.” Th e Ohio Horse Park is one of only three in the United States to do so through a college or uni-versity.

According to Bill Wil-lan, the Executive Dean for Regional Higher Education working out

of the Athens campus, this current stage of the Ohio Horse Park was not instituted until relatively recently. He worked very closely with Hall in com-ing up with any ideas to reshape the program to direct students onto path-ways that would lead to jobs in the horse industry.

“Upon my arrival at the Southern campus, Kelly and I sat and talked about the program, it was obvious that we needed to reshape it so that it would draw students and there would be a focus program that would lead into better job placement [for students] and Kelly did an amazing job guiding that process,” recalls Willan. He attributes

the growth of the horse park to Hall, its director. “Kelly was very active in seek-ing out grants and partnerships with local service providers and as the re-sults started coming in, word of mouth started spreading, more and more or-ganizations wanted to partner with us,” explains Willan.

Eventually, as more staff members were added to the facility, the program was mentioned in several national and international horse magazines. Th e program started to have students come in from other parts of the country. Notoriety, scope and fame grew with the horse park as it continued produc-ing results.

Jakob Hale was one of the most no-table examples of these results. Born with cerebral palsy, it had been pro-jected by all those involved he would never gain the ability to walk. It was at a young age that he began the thera-peutic riding program.

According to Willan, “Once the ther-apeutic riding instructions began and were in progress, he started making progress. A few years ago it was report-ed that he had taken up to 250 steps.”

Th e progress for Jakob didn’t stop there. Recently, Jakob had been sent to the principal’s offi ce. When asked why, Willan says with a smile, “Running in the halls.”

Jakob isn’t the only success story to come from the riding program. Th ere is also a man who, following his ser-vice in the United States Military, suf-fered a stroke that left him incapable of speech. After beginning his series of lessons with Hall and her team, so much progress was made during a les-son that he broke out into song while on the saddle. What exactly was he singing? “Home on the Range.”

Activities held at the horse park are not solely limited to therapy sessions. According to Willan, a number of diff erent groups have come through the space for diff erent pursuits. Th ese have ranged from individuals who seek out the facility for retreats and horse shows to a group of nuns who learned to breathe with the horsesas a relaxation exercise.

Despite these impressive stories, the Ohio Horse Park still lacks the proper

funding to achieve its future plans. With a fully booked schedule and people still on the waiting list to be-gin treatment, the program lacks the necessary facilities to see all those who approach Hall with hopes of joining its list of clientele. Th e next step for the park would be adding a riding arena. Th is would allow for more people in need of therapy to come in for lessons. In order to do this a substantial amount of money is required. Construction must be started, materials supplied and new

staff hired, all with donations not yet received.

Kelly Hall and the team at the Ohio Horse Park are working to repair the damage from disease and confl ict. Th e kind of work going on in the ther-apeutic riding program is not simply changing the lives of those on the horse. It is changing the surround-ing community, providing a venue for new and exciting events and more importantly, it is changing the lives of family and friends, who can see their loved ones have a second chance.

“Once the therapeutic riding instructions began and were in progress, he started making progress. A few years ago it was reported that he had taken up to 250 steps.”

Dean Bill Willan, Executive Director

THE STATS ON PATH*According to the PATH Intl. website

certifi ed instructors & equine specialists

Nearly

4,500 850member centers around the globe

AND WITHPATH Intl. members7,500More than

HELPINGchildren and adults with physical, mental and emotional challenges

More than

54,000

48 backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.com40% of McDonald’s profi ts come from the sales of Happy Meals.Coca Cola was originally green. 27

FEATUREb

48 backdrop | Fall 2013

F enced in and hidden relatively well from the thousands of students who pass by the con-struction zone on the site of the former Wolfe Street Apartments, the biggest and most expen-sive residential housing project in the history of

Ohio University starts to take shape. Over the next 10 years, the university plans to construct new buildings, add to the total number of beds available on campus, update buildings and create a new area for students to socialize, relax and live out the college experience. Cranes and other heavy equipment peek over the temporary fencing to keep curious or, ahem, lush students from entering the site. University-sponsored signs line the area to help it appear as less of a construction zone and more of a giant surprise.

Th e next phase of the project involves demolishing buildings in the area known to students as the “Dirty South” and building new modernized dormitory build-ings, a staple of student life at the university since the late 1960s.

Residence halls behind the “Front Four” buildings on South Green, Pickering, Brown, Mackinnon and Craw-ford Halls, serve almost solely as a place to sleep. Th e university constructed the buildings after student popula-tion rose signifi cantly during the 1969 Draft Lottery and before and after the Vietnam War, which lasted between 1955 and 1975. Th ousands of Vietnam veterans chose to attend OU after receiving a G.I. Bill. Administrators built the residence halls to last only a few decades in the Hock-ing River fl oodplain. Th e location of the fl oodplain forced

THE DIRT ONdirty south

BY JACOB BETZNER | PHOTOS BY AMANDA PUCKETT | INFOGRAPHIC BY OLIVIA REANEY

They don’t call it the Dirty South for nothing, but that’s all about to change. Ohio University has extensive, and expensive, plans to give OU’s most

distinctive green an extreme makeover.

the buildings to be raised onto stilts and a se-ries of catwalks constructed to allow students to go in and out of the buildings, especially in the event of a fl ood.

Vice President of Student Aff airs Ryan Lom-bardi says in recent years, the cost of mainte-nance and upkeep in the buildings in Dirty South exceeded the cost of building new dor-mitories in the long run. About three years ago, the OU Board of Trustees started developing a plan to demolish outdated buildings and con-structing new buildings. Th e trustees proposed construction plans for new dorms in Dirty South, planning to tear down the old buildings and build modern, suite-style dormitory build-ings, budgeting the project at $4.5 million, ac-cording to fi nancial statements from the OU fi nancial department. Th e buildings still house students today, but require thousands of dol-lars in maintenance to remain open.

“While the building is still certainly safe, and we can continue to operate them, they’re not effi cient in any way,” Trentacoste says.

Th e proposed plan develops over the next 10 years and started with the destruction of the Wolfe Street Apart-ments across South Green Drive from the Charles J. Ping Recreational Center. Th e university rented the near half-century-old apartments to graduate students, married couples and singles with children, faculty and staff . McVey Demolition of Cincinnati demolished the apartments and Evans Landscaping also of Cincinnati rebuilt a parking lot on the former site for a combined $531,200.

Lombardi com-pares building the new dormitories to purchasing a house. Th e uni-versity took out 30-year loans to pay for the proj-ects and developed a fi nancial plan to pay the loans and in-terest back on time. Lombardi says the university plans to increase on-campus housing rates at 3.5 percent per year, and start at rates comparable to a suite style like Adams or Bromley Halls, which currently cost students $6,628 per year.

Bryan Dziak arrived at OU in August 2010, ready to move in to a double in O’Bleness Hall on South Green. Th e freshman double majoring in business and marketing in-formation systems remembered touring the campus only a few months earlier, visiting a sizeable, renovated room in a building on East Green. Dziak looked around the tiny, worn dorm room built almost 45 years earlier.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be super fl ashy,” Dziak says. “Th at’s kind of what I had in mind. I wasn’t expecting some state-of-the-art room or anything like that.”

Trentacoste says the university plans to build state-of-the-art buildings with amenities similar to those of Adams Hall plus additional conveniences. Dziak says not constantly worrying about housing charging students for a scratch in the wall at the end of the year or some wear-and-tear on the provided dresser in the Dirty South Dorms lessened the burden on busy college students.

“(Th e new dorms) are still going to get destroyed, so I don’t think that’s worth a tuition increase when they can build ones that are suffi cient for a price that’s not going to raise tuition,” Dziak says.

However, fellow former Dirty South resident Jaime Cosi-mati, a senior study-ing sociology and criminology who lived in Hoover Hall as a freshman moved into a remodeled dorm in Bromley Hall as a sophomore and saw the cost of housing rise.

“When I lived in Bromley, I know I paid a little bit more or extra than others, and I didn’t mind doing that,” Cosimati says.

Th e university plans to complete a 900-bed dormitory building where the temporary parking lot currently sits in the next two years. Th e next phases include building two large dormitory buildings with around 700 rooms behind the current Front Four on South Green and another new dormitory building behind Adams Hall, currently the new-est dormitory building on campus at only a decade old. Be-hind the new buildings covering part of the former Dirty South, the university plans to build intramural sports and varsity sports practice fi elds and expand the popular South Beach, in a segment of the project Trentacoste refers to as a “Green Sweep.”

“What I’m most excited to see come to fruition is this real green space, vibrant with student activity where community

... and you know, people are there for different majors, different walks, but nonetheless, everybody, we all seemed to hit it off really well.”Bryan DziakOhio University Student

backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comIntelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.Every person has a unique tongue print. 2928

FEATUREbbeauty of the nature that surrounds us,” Trentacoste says.Th e new and improved South Beach trades parking lots

and little-used roads for a large grassy area between the dormitories and Morton Hall to give students a place to so-cialize, engage in physical activity and simply relax outside.

Th e Columbus branch of URS Corporation agreed to build the new residence halls at a cost of $3,633,472.80 and EMH&T also of Columbus agreed to build additional infrastructure for $108,576, for a total of $4,273,248.80 or $226,751.20 under budget.

Th e building on the site of the former Wolfe Street Apart-ments includes suite-style rooms similar to Adams Hall, with slight modifi cations, especially to the bathroom areas. Lombardi says the new bathrooms feature a private toilet and semi-private shower in addition to two sinks in the bathroom instead of in the actual room. Th e new design scheme comes from student feedback and encourages ad-ditional student input as construction begins on the new buildings in the next three years.

Dziak and Cosimati both say the mod style encouraged students to interact and forge friendships.

“You kind of have your own, little personal family, and you became close with the people you lived with,” Cosimati says.

Cosimati says she toured a dorm on East Green while touring as a high school student. Th ough much diff erent than the “mod” style of the dorm rooms in the Dirty South, she researched the assigned room and knew what to expect.

“I was actually pretty excited about it just because I knew it was going to be a lot easier to become close to the people I lived with,” Cosimati says.

Dziak says living in the close quarters of the “mod” style dorms helped establish strong friendships.

“Everybody back there just seemed to have similar per-sonalities, and you know, people are there for diff erent

majors, diff erent walks, but nonetheless, everybody, we all seemed to hit it off really well.”

University offi cials hope the new buildings and nicer rooms entice a greater number of students to choose to at-tend OU. Lombardi says he and other university representa-tives toured campuses throughout the region and observed new dormitories recently built at other universities. Nearly two-thirds of all campus housing will be on South Green at the end of the project.

Dziak says while updated housing helps bring in students, the appeal alone of OU keeps students choosing to study in Athens every year.

“If it looks nicer, people are going to be more attracted to it. Th at’s just how people are,” Dziak says.

In addition to residence halls, the plan calls for a Central Learning Commons. Th e commons features classrooms, meeting space for student organizations and fl exible offi ce space. Trentacoste says the fl exible offi ce space means tu-tors, counselors or resident coordinators all use the same offi ce during diff erent hours to add accessibility and con-venience for students. Additionally, the new residence halls include more common areas for studying and socializing, including a proposed two-story lounge area for studying. Years of planning and research went into the new build-ings before the first phase started last spring semester.

“Instead of building the building, and ‘Oh, well now where do we fit the students in?’ We thought, ‘How would we cluster together students in the first place?’” Trentacoste says. “So, the communities were built first, and then we filled building structures around them.”

Trentacoste, Lombardi and all the other university of-ficials closely involved with the project hope the build-ings become a place of reference for future Bobcats for generations. Students hope the South Green, especially

the Dirty South keeps the special something that brings students to-gether, forges lifelong friendships and becomes a memorable part of a student’s early years on campus.

“I think South Green, though, kind of applies to a large demographic of students that go to OU, whether they’re the partiers or the more laid-back, who want to hang around, who don’t spend all their time studying because they can still get by,” Dziak says. “South Green is more for, like, everybody else. Kids from all jacks-of-trade. Honestly, that was one of the best parts of being on South Green. Everybody kind of knew what they were getting into, and that was why they were all living there.”

10YEAR CONSTRUCTION PLAN

4.5M BUDGET

YEAR LOAN30 PING CENTER

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Destruction of the Wolfe Street Apt.

New 900 bed dorm

DEMOLITION

REBUILD

A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE OF SOUTH GREEN

PHASETWO

8YEAR CONSTRUCTION PLAN

Destruction of dirty south dorms

3 new dorms with ≈ 700 rooms each

DEMOLITION

New sports fi elds & expansion of south beach

REBUILD

3DORMSNEW 1 BEHIND ADAMS

2 BEHIND FRONT 4

EXPAND

10 YRS +$2,400

NOW $6,614

20 YRS +$6,101

30 YRS +$11,322

HOUSING INCREASES (3.5 % ANNUALLY)

31

What are the most popular bagel sandwiches at BSD?

Kaitlyn: The most ordered sandwiches are the Tom’s Turkey (just your typical turkey sandwich) and the Morning After (bacon, egg and cheese).

What sets BSD apart from other bagel shops?

Kaitlyn: The biggest thing that sets us all apart from other bagel shops, and just other restaurants in gener-al, is that everyone who works here is like family. We’re all best friends with each other, our bosses take care of us like we’re their children and that’s what makes this the best job in Athens.

What is your title and what do you do at Bagel Street Deli?

Kaitlyn: All of us at BSD have the same title, and we just call ourselves “bagelers.” It sounds a little

odd, but bagel is both a noun and a verb here. When we’re making sandwiches, we’re “bageling.” We all have equal titles because we are all responsible for

knowing how to do every job in the shop: from making sandwiches, to running register, to making cream

cheeses and so on.

When did you fi nd that you had a talent for bagel sandwich creation?

Kaitlyn: It takes about a year of working here to get really good at making bagel sandwiches. Believe it or not, there are a lot of little details

that make a huge difference when it comes to sandwich quality, which is extremely important to us!

What’s your favorite bagel sandwich at BSD?

Kaitlyn: Some of the staff favorites are The Southfork Ranch (turkey, bacon, swiss,

lettuce and ranch), The Yo Mama (turkey, provolone, tomato, onion, our spinach cream

cheese, salt and pepper), The Nature Nurture (cheddar, provolone, onion, sprouts, cucumbers, lettuce, tomato and Italian dressing) and The MacGyger (bacon, egg, avocado, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo).

What bagel do most students choose to eat their BSD sandwich on?

Kaitlyn: Unfortunately, the most ordered bagel would have to be plain, but we always like to encourage the customers to branch out because we offer so many great bagels. If anyone ever needs a recommendation, the bagelers will always know which bagel goes best with each sandwich.

Who came up with the BSD pickle-eating contest? Why not a bagel-eating contest?

Kaitlyn: Picklefest was created in 1999 by the previ-ous owners of Bagel Street as something they thought would be fun, and it just stuck. We’ve been doing it ever since.

Do you see BSD expanding to other college campuses or is this going to always be a uniquely Athens restaurant?

Kaitlyn: Bagel Street is so uniquely Athens that I can’t ever see it anywhere other than here. We have bagels called the OU Bagel, The Bobcat and The Athens. We get a lot of our ingredients locally, and without our staff and our regulars, it just wouldn’t be the same. In a perfect world, everyone everywhere would be able to eat a sandwich from Bagel Street Deli, but if you want to get the total experience you’ve just got to come to 27 S. Court St. and see for yourself.

BY ANGELA IGNASKYPHOTOS BY AMANDA PUCKETT

We asked the bagelers at BSD to create a sandwich just for Backdrop that you can make at home. The Backdrop Bobcat starts with their Bobcat sandwich, which is roast beef and cheddar. The horseradish gives the bagel masterpiece a special kick!

HOW TO MAKE THE BACKDROP BOBCAT

Bagel of choice2 onion slices

1 tablespoon horseradish

2 tomato slices

1 slice cheddar cheese

Top with the other half. Heat bagel until cheese is melted, if desired.

Pile ingredients on, starting with the roast beef and cheddar.

4 ounces roast beef, sliced

2 green pepper slices

If preferred, toast bagel. Spread horseradish on one side of the bagel.1

3

2

4

On Bagel Street Deli’s menu, there’s a bagel for every type of person, no

matter the preference. “Bageler” Kaitlyn Howard helped Backdrop create the perfect combination: Backdrop Bobcat bagel.

RECIPEb

The youngest Pope was 11 years old.30 backdrop | Fall 2013

BOBCATBACKDROPBACKDROPBACKDROPthe

Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time. www.backdropmag.com

backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comOU senior Seth Austin coined the Twitter hashtag “#SUAC.” Sherlock Holmes never said “Elementary, my dear Watson.” 3332

SPORTSb

SEEING RED

SPORTSb

SEEINGRED

I ’ll be the fi rst to admit that I went to Louisville to see if the Bobcats could advance a narrative–one

where a mid-major athletic program rises from the woodland hills of Southeastern Ohio and into the na-tional spotlight.

It had been building ever since an undersized point guard from Chicago came to Athens and helped run the mighty Georgetown Hoyas out of the building during the fi rst round of the 2010 NCAA tournament. Somewhere between Ohio’s second March run in 2012 and the football team mounting a late comeback against Penn State last opening day, Ohio U morphed into Upset U, where Court Street was al-most regularly turned into a frenzy of alcohol-fueled bliss.

I arrived four hours before game time, looking for a good omen for Ohio other than the small pockets of green that stood amongst the vast ocean of red gracing the Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium parking lots. Hope came in the form of an open door in the back of a complex that hugs the south end zone of the stadium. Inside the building is a red rug that leads to the Johnny Unitas

with yet another program-changing win. It was a chance for Tyler Tettle-ton to make his case for Unitas’ trophy by hitting wide receivers in the same end zone where the statue watches over the fi eld. On a Sunday, with no other college games scheduled to take place, Ohio had the national spotlight, Tyler had the chance to put himself in elite company and I had the perfect anec-dote to write my story.

On that day it would have taken an act of God to unhinge Tettleton’s ad-versary, Louisville’s star quarterback Teddy Bridgewater — a top NFL pros-pect who was also named to the Unitas watch list. I could only presume that Bridgewater rubbed Johnny U’s golden arm for good luck on the way out of the locker room.

Quickly, Tettleton was exposed by a defense returning nine starters. Bridge-water, or Teddy Football as he should have been christened on that faithful Sunday, could not miss a receiver if he tried. His knockout blow, a 40-yard strike to wide receiver Kai De La Cruz, put the game out of reach before the halftime whistle. After an equally pain-ful second half, the Cards sent the ‘Cats

Football Museum, just down the hall from the Cardinals’ locker room, where the Cardinals ultimately enter the sta-dium. If you follow the rug, it leads you out to a patio overlooking the south end zone where a massive statue of Uni-tas–a Louisville standout and National Football League Hall of Famer–stands tall, cocking back a stone football as if he was ready to fi re the damn thing halfway to Mars.

Th e monument to a football legend took on extra meaning because Tyler Tettleton, already the most decorated quarterback in Bobcats history, was named to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award watch list, an honor rec-ognizing the nation’s outstanding se-nior quarterbacks.

Eventually an usher shooed me away from the museum and I was relegated back to the press box. As kickoff ap-proached I opened the door to the pho-to deck to get a feel for 55,332 fans — the second largest crowd in Louisville history. Th ey packed into a stadium nicknamed “Th e Oven,” raising the decibel levels beyond any volume I’ve heard at a college football game.

Ohio had the chance to start 2013

clawing back to Athens, tails between their legs.

Th e scoreboard laughed at Ohio with the 49-7 score reading like a punch line. Fans began to push toward the ex-its and all I had to show for the game was a few sentences on a mostly blank Word document. Th e fi rst line read, “Lightning isn’t supposed to strike four times in three years.”

While Ohio and Louisville may share the same stage for an afternoon, by no means is the playing fi eld even. Dur-ing Ohio’s unprecedented run knock-ing off major college programs, the Bobcats needed a little luck and a lot of heart to put them in the position to be mentioned in the same sentence as perennial championship contenders. As much as universities sweep it under the rug, everything in college athletics comes down to money.

Th e scene outside Papa John’s Cardi-nal Stadium will tell you all you need to know about the diff erences between a mid-major program and the so-called power-conference program. On game day in Louisville, the Cardinals logo is everywhere: stickers on trucks, license plates, team colored grills, stamped on a few babies and so on. It’s a profession-al college town, meaning the city is void of a pro sports team, leaving the University of Louisville to bridge the entertainment gap. Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium? Th e university sold the naming rights to Papa John’s for $5 million as funded by lifelong Louisville fan John Schnatter, better known from the commercials as Papa John.

With money comes power. Lou-

isville makes a lot of money–nearly $88 million in 2012 according to USA Today. Th ey also spent a lot of money–a little more than $84 million–and the payoff was a record year, dubbed around the city as “Th e Year of the Car-dinal,” where Louisville won the Sug-ar Bowl and Men’s basketball cham-pionship, made the College Baseball World Series and Women’s basketball Final Four.

You don’t have that overall success unless you’re spending the dough. Ohio spent more than $24 million in 2012 and took in more than $28 mil-lion. Th e diff erence is Ohio subsides more than 70 percent of its revenue, meaning the university puts aside stu-dents fees, direct and indirect insti-tutional support and state money to ensure that athletic department isn’t seeing red on the bottom line of its an-nual revenue report.

Louisville paid Ohio $500,000 to show up at “Th e Oven” and get cooked. Getting a shot at the ninth ranked team in the country and being hand-

somely paid to do it is

a win-win for the program. But Ohio’s recent success has put its power con-ference opponents on notice and puts an unfair expectation on the ‘Cats. In Athens, the anticipation for these big games has come a long way from when the ‘Cats were dismantled at Ohio State as expected in 2010. Now Bobcat fans assume a triumph is imminent.

Th at’s a dangerous way to cheer on a mid-major team. Lightning comes and goes but for a school that was short on big wins before the 2000s, the last three seasons have been a natural phe-nomenon. On the uneven playing fi eld that is college sports, all the ‘Cats can do is continue to put themselves in a position to step on the fi eld with the big boys.

As Louisville showed us, expectations should return to where they should be and that’s OK. Bobcat fans should still embrace being David, the underdog, when the time comes. Th ose moments of shock–victory in the face of near certain defeat–can bring the school to-

gether. Th at just doesn’t happen up Route 33 in Columbus or

Route 32 in Cincinnati or across state lines in West Virginia or Louisville where they know what it feels like to be Goliath.

With more weathered ex-pectations, there will still be plenty of reasons for Ohio fans to Stand Up and Cheer, or #SUAC, in the future. And when those improbable moments do

come, Court Street will be there ready to erupt.

Backdrop Opinion: We sent Chris Longo to Louisville with the hopes

of covering another Ohio football triumph. He returned with a

new perspective on why it’s dangerous to expect too

much from Ohio athletics.a mid-major program and the so-called power-conference program. On game day in Louisville, the Cardinals logo is everywhere: stickers on trucks, license plates, team colored grills, stamped on a few babies and so on. It’s a profession-al college town, meaning the city is void of a pro sports team, leaving the University of Louisville to bridge the entertainment gap. Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium? Th e university sold the naming rights to Papa John’s for $5 million as funded by lifelong Louisville fan John Schnatter, better known from the commercials as Papa John.

With money comes power. Lou-

Getting a shot at the ninth ranked team in the country and being hand-

somely paid to do it is

certain defeat–can bring the school to-gether. Th at just doesn’t happen

up Route 33 in Columbus or Route 32 in Cincinnati or across state lines in West Virginia or Louisville where they know what it feels like to be Goliath.

With more weathered ex-pectations, there will still be plenty of reasons for Ohio fans to Stand Up and Cheer, or #SUAC, in the future. And when those improbable moments do

come, Court Street will be there ready to erupt.

BY CHRIS LONGO | PHOTOS BY NATE SMALLWOOD

backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comThe dot over the letter ‘i’ is called a tittle.The cruise liner Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of fuel that it burns. 3534

SPORTSb

MARCHING ON TOGREECE

MARCHING

GREECE

“Any player playing college basketball, I assume, you know, would love to make it to the next level, to make it to the NBA. I would love to play in the NBA.” former Ohio Bobcats point guard D.J. Cooper to Backdrop magazine in 2012.

BY CHRIS MANNING | PHOTOS BY ALEX GOODLETT

I f you looked at D.J. Cooper’s stats from the Orlando and Las Vegas summer leagues, you wouldn’t think he was the same player that is the all-time leader in assists and

three-pointers made at Ohio University. In four games across two leagues, Cooper averaged 1.5 points per contest. Th at’s a far cry from the 14.1 he averaged for the Bobcats last year. He also did not appear in the last three games in Las Vegas for the Golden State Warriors and only one out of fi ve games for the Philadelphia 76ers. But Cooper, who declined interview requests for this story, is putting his NBA dreams on hold to hone his skills overseas with PAOK BC, located in Th es-saloniki, Greece.

PAOK has a strong basketball tradition, playing in the Greek Basket League (which includes Olympiacos and Pan-athinaikos – two of the best and most storied franchises in all of Europe). PAOK is also a frequent participant in the well-respected Eurocup, which consists of teams across Europe and is just a step below the Euroleague, Europe’s equivalent to the NBA. Located in the second largest city in Greece, past players for PAOK include NBA veterans Peja Stoja-kovic and Scott Skiles, both of whom had long careers stateside. Skiles, in fact, was a head coach in the NBA as recent as last season.

While Cooper worked out for several teams across the entire NBA Draft process, only one team–the New York Knicks–actually had dialogue with him about a potential contract. But according to Cooper’s agent, Mike Naiditch, the negotiations never even got to the point where an actual contract was off ered.

“Th e approach I think [the Knicks] took was we’d like to sign D.J. to the New York Knicks, but with the assumption, that if he got cut, he played for their D-League team” Naid-itch says. “My response to that was we’ll do that, but you’ll have to off er enough guaranteed money to make it worth it.”

Th at’s what led Cooper to choose to start his professional career in Europe instead of trying his hand in the NBA’s De-velopmental League, where salaries generally fall into a range of $13,000-$25,500 per season. But according to Naiditch, the choice was not only about money, but also about Coo-per’s desire to go overseas–something he preferred to playing the D-League.

Th e other dynamic at play here is the length and worth of Cooper’s deal. Th e deal is for one year and will pay Cooper $100,000, thus making this season a lucrative audition. If he goes to Greece and puts up big numbers, then he could be in line for a big pay increase with his next contract.

“D.J. had chances to play elsewhere. He had jobs for money in other parts of Europe, nice parts of Europe.” Naiditch says. “He sacrifi ced some money for opportunity. He hopes that his experience there will make him a better basketball player, more marketable to the NBA and to Euroleague teams.”

PAOK had courted Cooper well before he made his deci-sion and the Greek club’s persistent interest gave him a sense of comfort that he did not feel with other European clubs.

But no matter where or who he plays for, executives and analysts agree that there are areas of Cooper’s game he needs to improve on if he wants to make the most out of his career. Travis Schlenk, Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel for the Warriors, has evaluated Cooper since he on the national stage when he led the Bobcats to the Sweet Sixteen in 2012.

“Looking at my notes, he didn’t play great in the fi rst game, but I made notes to look back at him later in the year. I liked his ability in the pick and rolls, the crafty ability in the pick and roll,” he says.

Schlenk believes Cooper will have to get better in a few areas, namely as a shooter and in the weight room to make it in the NBA. Th e latter espe-cially is important, as small guards like Cooper aren’t exactly an NBA execu-tive’s favorite type of player.

“I don’t really like small guards,” Schlenk says. “But if you’re gonna be a small guard, you either have to be really quick or really be able to shoot the ball. Not being super quick and not being able to really shoot the ball is a combination for disaster.”

Jay Bilas, an ESPN analyst who once called Cooper the best passer in the country, shares a similar sentiment to Schlenk. While he’s a fan of Cooper’s game and believes that he could stick on a team state side in the right situa-tion, he too says that it’s going to be an uphill battle for the former Bobcat star and cites a burgeoning NBA star as an example of how tough it can be to fi nd work at the highest level.

“Danny Green was one of the heroes

from the NBA Finals this year in the playoff s and he was cut three times,” Bilas says. “He’s gone overseas and played in the D-League. It’s not always going to be easy, and at times you have to persevere. And honestly, there is a little bit of luck involved in fi nding the right situation. So, if he sticks with it, I know he can do it.”

However, Schlenk does admit that Warriors weren’t the best situation for Cooper to try and make an NBA roster.

“We had some guys on our roster, namely Ken Bazemore who were under contract with us, that were gonna play a lot of minutes at point guard.” Schlenk says. “So, unfortunately for D.J., there weren’t a ton of minutes for him to play, but in the minutes he got, I thought he played well. But he’s a point guard, he’s a true point guard and that’s kind of rare these days. He has the ability to run a team and make plays out of the pick and roll.”

But with the summer league behind him, the focus is now on Greece and PAOK. Should Cooper’s basketball journey commence on a positive note, it will put him one step closer to completing his odyssey by returning stateside to play in the NBA. Before Cooper can make good on the dream he proclaimed in 2012, he will attempt to recapture the role he often played in Convocation Center–displaying a knack for fi nding the open man, the poise to drain impossible shots and confi dence to lead by example.

“Th e expectation is that he’ll lead the team,” Naiditch says. “D.J., the club and I all believe that he’ll play heavy, heavy minutes and make an impact but he has to do that on court. We can’t just talk about it.”

backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comKetchup was sold in the 1830s as medicineMost lipstick contains fi sh scales. 3736

SEX & HEALTHb

The city of Athens and Ohio University have created a long-lasting support system for victims of rape and sexual assault.

Located on College Green, the McKee House is a safe center for victims and contains the offi ce of the Survivor Advocacy Program on campus.

BY SARA PORTWOOD | PHOTOS BY BRICE NIHISER

““We want people to embrace being able to have awareness and have services for themselves.” Kat WargoProgram Coordinator of Outreach

In September of 2011, students casually checked their emails to see the various textbook off ers and club meet-ing reminders fl ooding their inboxes. Among the teach-

ers’ greetings and homework assignments, one message stood out, fl agged by an unfamiliar red explanation mark. It was titled “Campus Crime Alert.” Th e Ohio University Police Department (OUPD) sent out a warning and report detail-ing the rape of a female student occurring the night before. Two years later, the victim has now received some closure after the traumatic event. National Guardsman Levi Can-terbury was sentenced to seven years in prison for the rape of that student. A community eff ort was made to help the victim. DNA testing by OUPD and medical support from O’Bleness Memorial Hospital was successful in catching the off ender.

A sexual assault victim is not alone after such a traumatic experience. Ohio University and the city of Athens off er sev-eral forms of aid and resources to students who have been targets of any degree of sexual assault. When survivors utilize all of the medical and legal options they have, their pursuit for justice will be considerably more successful.

It is crucial for victims to understand the importance of undergoing the process of a rape kit. A rape kit is a sexual assault evidence collection procedure designed to gather as much DNA and physical evidence as possible from a victim of sexual assault. Th is experience has been criticized as inva-

sive and taxing, but the survivor is able to use indisputable evidence against his or her attacker in court. Organizations on campus have grown to accommodate the heightened awareness of sexual assault.

“Th e way I look at it, there are three legs of a stool that sup-port survivors of sexual assault,” says Chief of Police of the OUPD, Andrew Powers. He explains the fl uid communica-tion between the OUPD, O’Bleness Memorial Hospital and the Ohio University Survivor Advocacy Program.

“No matter which particular agency a survivor makes ini-tial contact with, we will all insure that the other agencies are consulted or involved,” says Powers.

After an incident, survivors can choose any leg of this sup-port system for assistance. Powers advises a victim to choose the option that best suits his or her immediate situation. If a victim is in danger, he or she is strongly encouraged to call the police. OUPD can respond to a victim quickly and trans-port him or her to the O’Bleness Memorial Hospital or the Hudson Health Center for medical attention. However, if there is not an immediate danger, which is often the case in occurrences of acquaintance rape, a victim can go directly to a medical center or a safe house on campus and receive care. When a survivor of sexual assault is undergoing care, he or she can improve his or her chances of fi nding justice when a rape kit is collected.

Th e collection of DNA is very important for pressing charges.

“We will still pursue a case, and as in the Canterbury case, we can be successful in doing that, but if a person is trying to protect all of the possible outcomes and make sure that they will have the most options available to them down the road, it’s best to have a rape kit done,” says Powers.

One of the challenges with using rape kits is the invasive process of evidence collection. Rape kits can be “extremely personal and undignifi ed in many ways,” says Powers. “It is necessary to collect evidence, but the downside of [rape kits] is that it often leaves victims retraumatized.”

Even if a survivor does not want police involved after an as-sault and does not want to make a report, he or she can claim to be an “anonymous survivor.” Th e police refer to these cases as “Jane Doe” or “John Doe” incidences. Th ey still collect the rape kit from the hospital and are obligated to store it in their evidence room for future prosecution. In Ohio, the law for statute of limitations is 20 years. A survivor can call for a kit to be tested up to 20 years after the incident took place and press charges. While these situations are rare, one investiga-tion is happening right now.

“We have a kit brought out from 16 years ago and the vic-tim wanted prosecution,” states Powers. “Th e more time that elapses, the more challenging it is to pursue those prosecu-tions, but nonetheless, that is certainly an option that a sur-vivor has.”

A rape kit in this instance has been helpful to a victim 16 years after an attack. While the victim might not have felt ready to persecute then, he or she can now because he or she went through the motions of collecting a kit. Th e actions a survivor takes immediately after an assault can aff ect them years later.

While police provide the legal leg of the support platform for victims, and O’Bleness Hospital and Hudson Health Center provide medical care, who can support the survivor emotionally after such a traumatic experi-ence? Ohio University’s Survivor Advocacy Program proudly fulfi lls this role.

“We try to provide that personal support,” explains the Program Coordinator of the Advocacy Program, Brenda Strickland. Ad-vocates can transport victims to the hospital or police station if they initially contact their safe center on College Green. Members are trained to help victims be as knowledgeable as possible about their situations.

“Th ese are their options, their choices. We provide them with information. If they want to fi le legal charges with-in the legal court system, we can explain that to them,” Strickland says.

In August, the Ohio Attorney General required training and education programs for law enforcement members and O’Bleness Hospital and Survivor Advocacy programs to be updated and more knowledgeable about protocols for sexual assault. Kat Wargo is the program coordinator of the recently established Outreach program, and she has a special focus on these educational programs.

“We’re going to be going out doing trainings for law en-forcement, trainings for the community. We want people to embrace being able to have awareness and have services for themselves,” says Wargo. Th e greatest strength for a survivor is knowledge. By knowing the options and resources avail-able to him or her, a survivor can overcome any situation with help from a connected community.

Sexual assault victims have a triad of support from the Ath-ens area. Each institution fulfi lls a critical role in the physical and mental well being of a survivor. Th e continued support from the community allows these services to grow and ad-vance. Rape kits can help survivors years in the future once they feel ready to press charges. With the endless support from every branch of the Athens community, the last thing they want a survivor to feel is alone.

JANE DOE NOT ALONEis

Beyond West Green, the O’Bleness Memorial Hospital can provide support and medical attention to a survivor.

Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here48 48backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.com

largeTRADITION

A

Bill and Cindy Morris work as a team to show their elephants, Cora and Shannon, at the

Elkhart County Fair in Elkhart, Indiana. Bill’s family has had elephants for generations,

and he is one of the few remaining traveling elephant handlers in the country.

PHOTOS BY JULIA MOSS

PHOTO ESSAYb

Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here Fun fact goes here48 backdrop | Fall 2013 41

Cindy kisses Cora as she rides in her mouth as part of their routine. The act demonstrates

how the two trust each other.

BOTTOM: LEFT TO RIGHTWater falls off Shannon as she’s sprayed with

a hose. The elephants could easily escape on their own, but they stay because they live

comfortable lives.

TOP LEFT

Morris smiles as Cora wraps her trunk around his hand to indicate she wants more hay. “I mean, they’re so intelligent they just blow you away,” Morris says.

Bill and Cindy choose a child from the crowd to be a part of the act. During off-season they

don’t need to practice with the elephants. Cindy says, “They don’t forget, so long as

you don’t change anything.”

Cora eats one and a half loaves of bread in one bite to impress the audience. Cora, weighing in at 9,000 pounds, eats constantly.

TOP RIGHT

BELOW

LEFT

Cora, a 52-year-old Asian elephant, and Shannon, a 31-year-old African elephant, stand next to each

other under their awning.

PREVIOUS PAGECora stands on a pedestal while Morris begins the

performance. Bill’s father died when he was 15 and the show “was just something that had to be

continued,” Cindy says.

PHOTO ESSAYb

backdrop | Fall 2013 Koala bears almost exclusively eat only eucalyptus leaves and nothing else.Ostriches can run faster than horses, and the male ostriches can roar like lions. 4342

ON THE WEBb

If you had asked me a year ago what I would be doing right now, my answer would not have been my reality.

I remember feeling hopeless and defeated. “I am not going to be able to graduate early like I had

planned. When I do, no one will want to hire me,” I thought to myself. All of those thoughts raced out of my head when I read that email that fl ew into my Gmail account’s inbox on April 11.

“Hi Morgan, I would like to extend an invitation to you to join us as an intern on our digital team this summer!” and it went on giving more information about my new opportunity.

I fi nally did it! After all those rejection letters, emails and phone calls, I fi nally got my chance.

I was the digital media intern at Cox Media Group Ohio in Dayton, Ohio. It is one of many branches of Cox Media Group. Th ey have branches in 17 locations including Dayton, Atlanta, Palm Beach, Seattle and Pittsburgh.

Th e Dayton offi ce controls 11 specifi c brands on a daily basis. Th ose brands range from daily newspapers, radio stations and broadcast television channels. Th e ones that are most well-known are K99.1-FM (a country radio station), Dayton Daily News (a daily Dayton newspaper) and WHIO-TV, Channel 7 (a news broadcast).

As the digital department’s only summer intern, I was in charge of making graphics for stories that would run on the web and would also be featured in one of the brand’s daily papers.

I used Adobe Illustrator and InDesign the most for these graphics. I also made graphics or teasers for the daily newscasts, such as Today at 5, with a picture. Teasers are

quick, usually small bits of information that are used by an editor or designer to get the audience interested in reading the story or to watch the newscast. Th ey are used everywhere and are an eff ective way to get people interested in the content of your product.

I was also introduced to Adobe Social. Th e program allows the user to simultaneously update multiple social media accounts very quickly and effi ciently. I would make separate graphics promoting shows or stories from our sites for social media. Th is included breaking news alerts, severe weather alerts, local events and sports.

Th e one graphic that had the most tracked activity was an Ohio State football countdown. Th e numbers on the graphic have increased even after leaving my internship. It was uploaded to more than one of the brand’s Facebook pages, and when I checked on only one of the pages, there were 1,055 likes and 1,762 shares. It was a great personal accomplishment that my work went across that many computer screens and eyes.

Backdrop got me here because of the real design-industry feel. I wouldn’t have learned half the skills or techniques without having Backdrop in my life! Because of the magazine, I have grown and explored myself as a designer. Backdrop allows new students to gain hands-on experience before taking a class. Being a team member allowed me to get a feel for the design programs before entering the work force. Not only do I have published work now, but I can also have the fi nished product in my hands. When I went in for my interview, all of this made a positive impression. In short, I feel confi dent saying that Backdrop helped me get here.

BackdropOver the summer, our writers blogged about their internship experiences and how Backdrop helped prepare them for success. Senior Morgan Decker spent the dog days of summer as a Digital Media Intern at Cox Media Group in Dayton, Ohio, building her design skills.

BY MORGAN DECKER

JACOB BETZNER, Web EditorNewsradio 1020 KDKA | Internship, Pittsburgh

ROSE TROYER, Distribution Director/Alumni Coordinator LiveInteractive LLC | Internship, Athens

CHRIS LONGO, Managing EditorMetro New York | Internship, New York City

EMILEE KRAUS, Creative DirectorInfographics.com | Internship, New York City

MELISSA THOMPSON, Editor-in-ChiefVictoria’s Secret | Internship, Columbus

REBECCA ZOOK, Assistant Marketing DirectorUnited States Army’s Cadet Command | Internship, Fort Knox

ANGELA IGNASKY, Marketing DirectorAmerican Eagle Outfi tters | Internship, Pittsburgh

VIRGINIA EWEN, Social Media CoordinatorThe Center for College Affordability and ProductivityInternship, Athens

KAITLYN RICHERT, Associate EditorHearst Magazines | Internship, New York City

To read about the other Backdroppers’ experiences check outbackdropgotmehere.wordpress.com

Got Me Here

43

backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comGiraffes have no vocal cords and their tongues are blue-black in color.Oysters can change gender depending on which is best for mating. 4544

PHOTO HUNTb

PHOTO HUNT Think you know Court Street? Take another look and try to find the differences between these two pictures.

WRITE THE DIFFERENCES NEXT TO THE SQUARES

The first person to submit the correct answers to backdropmag@gmail.com will win a prize!

123456

Earlier this year, I made the mis-take of assuming that other girls, like me, pounded their snooze

buttons the way a muscular bald midget armed with a glorious handlebar mus-tache and a mallet would in a bell-ring-ing competition as soon as their alarms went off. I made the mistake of assuming

that other girls, like me, stayed in bed until the wee last possible second, hoping that a whale-sized grub would fall from the sky and onto some class buildings so school would be canceled. I made the mistake of assuming

that other girls, like me, sadly accepted defeat, finally rolled out of bed, and wore old leggings and a baggy tie-dyed T-shirt that could probably fit one Fat Bastard-sized man or five Honey Boo-Boo sized children. I made the mistake of assuming that

other girls, like me, would be dressed like shit.I was wrong. So, so wrong. When I walked into my first class,

my head did a slow-motion panoramic turn around the room as I witnessed the carnage around me. Everything went silent. I heard only the sluggish beat of my heart, as my brain tried to protect me from the trauma it was about to sustain:Girls. BadumpWith their hair done. Badump Wearing dresses. Badump Wearing heels. BadumpWearing makeup.

BY JULIANNE MOBILIAN | ILLUSTRATION BY KARLEE PROCTOR

Dressed But UNIMPRESSED

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP After I resuscitated myself and re-

covered from the shock that was girls who actually got ready for a 9 a.m. class, I was flabbergasted. I rubbed my eyes and let them wan-

der around the room as I took in the monstrosities committed by my fel-low sisters. They were perfectly polished, like

they just walked off the set of “Pretty Little Liars,” while I sat in the corner looking like an extra from “The Walk-ing Dead.” To make matters worse, a lot of them

didn’t even have backpacks; they had those obnoxiously trendy Vera Brad-ley purses/diaper bag things that look like they were stitched out of my great-aunt’s quilts. I had given myself a slow-clap and

standing ovation when I looked in the

mirror that morning because I was at least wearing something clean and my backpack was fully zipped. Also, I don’t mean to target just girls

in this rant. Guys are guilty of this too. I’ve seen guys walking around at 7:50 a.m. wearing khakis and button-down shirts with their hair looking nice and spiffy. But come on everyone. It’s too

damn early. Just roll out of bed look-ing like a slob with the rest of us. Now I realize at this point you

may be thinking, “Woah, this girl probably walks around campus look-ing like a cracked-out dirty hobo, why should I take anything she says into consideration?” And maybe that’s true. But let me tell you something.

It’s nice. It’s frickin’ nice, OK? So just try it,

all you well-dressed-for-class offend-ers out there.

I will never understand people who do it. I have so many questions for you. Don’t you like sleeping in? Who are you trying to impress? Who

cares what you look like? Do you like Pringles? Don’t you know this is the only time you can look like total crap in public without your peers judging you? It just takes so long to get ready. It’s

such a process, and for what? Just relax and go to class, because

here’s the thing: Nobody cares what you look like. Thinking about wearing an old T-

shirt you’ve had forever? Do it! Not re-ally feeling like doing your hair today? Don’t! Feeling gross today? Boom, sweatpants! Again: NOBODY. CARES. WHAT.

YOU. LOOK. LIKE. It’s not worth it. Once you realize you

look fine the way you are, you’ll save time and effort. So, I hope I’ve persuaded some of

you out there today in joining me fight the good fight against heels and khaki pants.

When some students treat the walk to class like a walk down the runway, onlookers have mixed opinions.

backdrop | Fall 2013 www.backdropmag.comPinocchio is Italian for “pine head.”The slowest fish is the seahorse, which moves along at about 0.01 mph. 4746

EXHIBIT Ab

Matt Dougherty is a senior at Ohio University studying English. He loves to play guitar and go hiking.

Emily Pifer is a senior at Ohio University studying Journalism, Business Administration, and Creative Writing. She’s also a distance runner for Ohio’s cross-country and track team.

MEET THE AUTHOR

MEET THE AUTHOR

WHAT’S MY FAVORITE MEMORY OF US?

FRESH PRESSED LIPS

In your parents basement we are lying on the old saggy couch, talking. We are soon to go to a 4th of July cookout with your family.

You ask me: “What’s your favorite memory of us?”“Boy, that’s tough,” I say, and you laugh, excited for

an answer. I start to think. December 17, 2009. I even remember the date. It was

late when we got out of the movie. You clung to me in the winter night as we walked towards the car, alone in an apocalyptic parking lot surrounded by miniature hills of snow. 1:15 A.M.—Tuesday. Everything frozen over. There was no school tomorrow because it was parent-teacher conference day.

It was the closest I’d been to breaking away. A driver’s license, permission to use the car, a girlfriend, and the sense that the world was worth something after all. It wasn’t just monotonous note-taking and basketball practice. Some-times you did get a theater all to yourself,

as if you had the money to rent it out so you could do any-thing you wanted in there—in case the movie got boring.

But our gazes never left the screen. We were swept away by the magical story of the man who aged backward and fell in love with the beautiful southern girl named Daisy.

She was a dancer, just like you. As we exited the deserted cinema, we became drugged by the wondrous memory of that film that would soon fade away from us.

The gas tank was full in my dad’s car. We could have driven off onto the lonely, frozen freeway and found what hid in the deep and lovely darkness.

But we didn’t. Instead I took you home right after the movie ended just like your parents told us to. We kissed on your front porch until I complained it was too cold, pretending to shiver.

It wasn’t on my way home that I realized I was in love with the moment and not with you. It was now, nine months later, in this basement with your parents’ footsteps patter-ing in the kitchen above us. It could have been Meredith or Wendy or a good number of girls who clung to me that night. You were just filling a role.

You haven’t blinked in a while now, lying on the couch next to me. I start to worry that by staring at me for so long you’ve read my mind. I know I need an answer now.

But the basement door creaks open and your dad calls us. It’s time to go to the party.

We get up and straighten our clothes and walk up the groaning old stairs and forget about the question until next time.

It is dark. The kind of dark that is only possible in base-ments, with boys and scratchy blankets. The television’s glow is steady, uninterrupted by the rhythm of our careful breath. His breath, then mine. In a way, I thought it would be like this. In another way, I had hoped that it would be different.

Don’t we all hope for magic? Isn’t it supposed to create a spark when he reaches for my hand? Aren’t I supposed to dread seeing my mom’s headlights pour in through the tiny window?

I keep telling myself to stop being afraid, to reach for his hand, run my trembling fingers through his soft brown waves, laugh at the movie. But I am afraid. I’m so unsure, and so clammy with that cold sweat I always feel at the end of a terrible nightmare. And I cannot reach for his hand that is at rest beneath the blanket, threatening to graze my folded legs. And if I run my fingers through his hair he will think I’m ready for his hand to slide closer to my legs. My legs are trembling too. And the movie isn’t funny, so I can’t possibly laugh. It’s taking all my concentration just to breathe, slowly and steadily and like a high school girl. (Because middle school girls probably don’t breathe the way they’re supposed to when watching a movie with a boy).

The cellphone my mom let me borrow comes alive with a startling buzz and a flash of light. Eyes wide, another vibrate sends the thin phone to the floor with a loud enough shatter to disrupt the two bodies moving together on the other sec-tion of the plaid couch. Now all eyes are wide and they are on me. I breathe a sigh of relief and force a nervous cough as I reach for the phone.

My mom, a sweet relief, is on her way to my high school boyfriend’s house that is tucked away in the woods. His house stands off a winding country road that seems so far from my home. I couldn’t wait to leave after dinner. But now, I cannot wait to get home to put on my favorite sweat-shirt and sink into my sheets, alone. I will be in control of my hands again. I won’t have to think to breathe.

We all get up and giggle when there is a knock on the door. I don’t dare look him in the eyes as I shrug on my jacket and smooth over my hair with a hand that is still trembling and still clammy with sweat.

This is the moment I was looking forward to the most. This is the moment I am absolutely dreading now, as I feel his blue eyes dance over my flushed face and the angular limbs that I am so patiently waiting to grow in to. It comes

out tired, and probably bored, when I briefly meet his eyes to say the version of goodbye that I’d rehearsed. I coyly purse my carefully glossed lips and lower my almond-shaped eyes that were handed down from my mother. I lift my right foot and take my first steps towards relief, and freedom, and comfort.

It’s all over, I think for a moment when one freckled, football-player arm reached for my wrist. Forgetting to think, and relying on new woman instinct: I turned my head back to him. I turned my head back to meet his lips. He and they were waiting assuredly there, ready to take in and hold a part of me.

…

Nothing, I thought. And nothing, I felt. My very first kiss had simply come and gone.

I smile at my mom, a warm and comfortable smile with wide almond-shaped eyes and fresh-pressed lips. I want to reach for her when I pull the door to a close and click the seatbelt across my middle school girl’s chest. I never do reach for her though, and I can only mumble quick replies to her questions. Were there snacks? Did I have fun? I wonder about things, mostly boys and kisses and high school girls, as my mom pulls her car in to the garage and I hear and smell home.

I yearn for my middle school girl’s room. I yearn to be sur-rounded by the swim team trophies and roll-on glitter and stack of Seventeen magazines. I press the heavy, white door closed and once I hear the click, I burst at the seams.

That first kiss came fast. They aren’t all that way, though. I would soon realize that for every first kiss there will be a last kiss and a last soften spoken goodnight through the telephone. Last kisses would come slower, with signs that keep getting closer, sirens that keep getting louder and flashing lights that grow so bright that they’re still there when I close my eyes. There will be more kisses that warrant nothing. There will be kisses that seem to mean everything, until they fade to nothing again. Like glitter that rolls on and magazines with the Olsen twins on the cover, there are kisses that will become outdated. Like the comforting smell of home, there are kisses that will be yearned for and taken in and imprinted for so long on my lips. Fresh pressed, morning pressed, late-night pressed, pressed in the rain, pressed in the back of car. I continue to press.

exhibit A

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