When you were a kid and someone triple-dog-dared you to do something you had to do it. There was some unspoken code that held you to it or, well, you sucked.
The newest online drinking game, NekNominate, thrives on this code. Players are dared to consume excessive amounts of alcohol with 24 hours, or they lose. Once the bottle, boot or toilet bowl (literally) is empty, the drinker passes the dare to another person, who then must drink whatever mix of booze he or she is told to drink. The dare is recorded and posted on YouTube or Facebook as proof for friends or future bosses.
There are more than 50,000 videos on YouTube and multiple Facebook pages devoted to NekNominate. In one video, a ten year old boy chugs a glass of vodka, Nando’s sauce, cream and mayonnaise. In another, a man adds a dead mouse to his brew before he chugs it. Expectedly, these drinkers become violently ill during or after the recording.
The game started in Australia, where to “neck” is to drink something all at once. Since it went viral on Facebook and YouTube and spread to the U.K. and parts of the U.S. in January, the game has killed five men, all younger than 35.
Earlier this month, 20-year-old Bradley Eames of the U.K. became the fifth known casualty. He downed two pints of gin and died four days later from alcohol poisoning complications.
I’m going to spare the sermon about surrendering to peer pressure. We’re adults on a college campus, and we’re responsible for our own choices. But before this goes viral in the U.S. and is copied by people closer to home, I’m going to give a disclaimer NekNominate doesn’t provide.
A lethal dose of alcohol is one that puts an individual’s blood alcohol content at .40 percent. BAC varies by weight, gender, genetics and how much food one has eaten; but generally speaking, 10 to 15 drinks in one hour is lethal.
The game’s initiators don’t consider this, but they should. Since Eames’s death, drinkers who dare friends to take on lethal challenges could face manslaughter charges.
If you’re nominated for the game, I’m won’t lie — there are probably plenty who will mock you for not wanting to slug back two pints of gin in under a minute. Perhaps that’s what the five dead players worried about before they died. But if they hadn’t cared about what other people thought, they’d probably all be alive. And the people they nominated would not be immortalized online as violently ill and obviously stupid.
Nobody our age drinks without knowing alcohol in excess can have be fatal. When drinking is a game of Russian Roulette, nobody wins, no matter how many “likes” you get.
This particular Opinion piece bothered me. This, before you think it, does not make me less of a feminist. Ms. Youse boldly declares that, “If you believe that sexual harassment isn’t serious, that it’s funny, that it’s flattering — you are dead wrong.” While no reasonable person would disagree with her charge, it is the underlying implication that all women perceive certain situations in the same way, as harassment, which is disagreeable.
The editor describes an unfortunate morning. She took thoughtful steps in her new boots on the ice that coated the throat of our campus, it’s walkways. A man whistled at her, and she fell, spilling her lipstick, vitamins, credit cards, phone, makeup bag, and iPad out of her “brown leather fringe bag.” Her white shirt wetted, two boys “catcalled” her from outside Smith Hall, and she was late to class.
My first issue lies with the blame shifted onto the whistler. Whether or not the whistler’s actions are harassment, I’ll discuss later. However, the editor clearly insinuates that the man’s whistling caused her to fall. She shifts him the blame for her injury, wet clothes, her scuffed “Zara Italian leather boot,” and the slick film over all the precious things that fell out of her purse. This assumption is unfair and unthoughtful, because it implies that it was either his intention, or control over an invisible cosmic force, that caused her to fall. I think it is fair to assume that it was a combination of her more-ornamental-than-purposeful shoes, the ice, being in a hurry, and a sudden distraction that caused her to fall. If anything, the man’s whistle is correlated with her fall; it is not a causation.
Secondly, if the man who whistled didn’t cause the editor to fall down, can he be further shamed for not halfing out his cigarette to help her up? The editor goes on that, “Instead of coming over to help me, he and his friend laughed and catcalled me.” Have you never fallen, and helped yourself up? Have you never seen someone fall, and didn’t help them up? It is my opinion and experience that women do not need men’s help to stand. It is interesting that the editor is holding the man who is a “sexist” for whistling, accountable for her safety, comfort, and closure. Did she really want his help? Interpretively, having read though not experienced, their follow-up quip: “Get yourself wet there, sweetie?” reads more condescending than sexually threatening. Embarrassing, to a certain self-esteem, yes. Threatening, no. This is not to say that the anecdotes provided were by proxy neither gruesome or incorrigible. Sexual violence is an evil fruiting gravity, and at a gross contrast to getting wet and losing a few minutes, to a class in which you run a, “usual ten minutes late.”
Finally, it’s interesting that at the heart of her frustration are all these things, spilled out on the ground. She curses the universe, not only for making dampening the contents of her purse, made them a bit salty, but that it even “threw in a couple of sexist assholes.” The structure of her sentence invalidates her attribution of blame. She carefully names, and by naming gifts importance to, all the things these men caused her to ruin.
As someone who grew up under-class poor and pays OWU tuition, it was easy to identify class-specific and discriminating language, the privilege to be a materialist. The editor has “109” pairs of shoes, operates under the “look-good-do-good principle,” stressing how intimately aware she is of her external identity, what other people see, and how she wants her adornments to actualize it in the minds of others.
Further, the piece is rich with nouns indicating privilege: “Zara,” a name-brand; “Italian leather,” notoriously expensive; “brown leather fringe bag,” its elaborate description indicating importance, or specialness; “all my credit cards,” obvious; and the “iPad,” $399.00-$929.00 new. There are also adjectives, descriptive phrases and nouns that derogate stereotypically poor or underclass behavior. The devastation the editor felt, beholding her scuffed boot, makes all those living the daily reality of scuffs seem inhuman, or savage.
She derides — not the catcall, or whistle, or men who executed however-you-load-it-behavior which she perceived as inappropriate — them for what their cars must look and smell like, if the kind of man that whistles at a woman is also always one who lives in the, “back of (a) beatup Honda that smells like meth.” The statement is a gesture that, like a catcall, could be taken as a charming joke, or worse, a cruel reminder of the structural power the rich have over the poor.
My critique of this piece is that it should have been more thoughtful, and empathetic to women with dissimilar experiences. Many women will admit that, sometimes, someone hollering across the street about how beautiful they are — though they may not respond, or express disinterest — feels good. When I have to choose between my only meal for the day and a tank of gas, and some guy at the pump tells me he’d like to give me a pump, I’m not going to blame him for my hunger. I’m not going to be made less by a man, because I refuse to. I take the honesty, the courage, and the juvenescence from his compliment because I have more important things to worry about; and, if someone’s that hungry for my reaction, I think I have power over them.
My criticism is not meant to validate the actions of men who will always be boys, but to qualify the experiences and reactions of women who are not middle to upper class whites, and whose issues are much more grave. As a woman, too, and one whose life has not been so safe, I am not so naive as to think I’ll always have power. I, like all women, have known vulnerability, lied helpless at the mercy of an angry creature. Like all women, whom are systemically and physically vulnerable to men, I sense when someone is not someone to ignore. That’s why I carry a blade.
The ever-popular water-cooler conversation topic of climate change may need to be updated.
According to, Laurel Anderson, associate professor of botany-microbiology at Ohio Wesleyan, there are multiple factors contributing to and generated from the alterations in the environment that have been overlooked.
The botany/microbiology professor presented her lecture on the global state of food and climate to a bright room packed with local Delawareans as the opening event for the annual Great Decisions Discussion Series Friday, Feb. 21.
Anderson’s talk covered topics from pollination and greenhouse gases to compost and what one can do to minimize negative impacts on the environment. She emphasized the idea that even though it can be easy to immediately localize environmental issues, these are global problems.
“There are many different types of changes that we’re seeing in our environment today,” she said. “We’re seeing changes in the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and changes in the water cycle.”
Anderson added, “These (changes) have some really strong effects on food, which I am going to equate with plants.
“I think a lot about how plants interact with their environment and how their physiological processes, like photosynthesis and water uptake help them cope with stresses in the environment. And really if you think about food carefully you’ll realize that even if you’re eating animal products, those animals ate something and those were plants.”
Throughout the 50-minute talk, Anderson related many prominent environmental changes to food production.
For example, Anderson said that between 1888 and 2012 the overall global temperature has risen 0.85 degrees Celsius. Higher temperatures globally have led to rising sea levels which can, and have already, affect production of healthy crops.
“Often when people think of sea level rise, they think of the movie ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ where this giant tidal wave engulfs New York City, and I’m actually thinking of something more insidious and harder to deal with. I’m thinking about salt water intrusion on crops.”
As Anderson revealed many direct effects of environmental changes on agriculture, she also introduced less-discussed points of how agriculture affects climate. For example, deforestation has increased in areas such as Brazil because of the increased demand for non-genetically modified soybeans.
Anderson also raised the point that one of the prominent greenhouse gases, methane, is produced in high quantities in the “guts of ruminant animals,” largely from cattle industries.
“The cattle industry is also associated with significant emissions of CO2 and deforestation,” she said.
To help decrease negative environmental changes, Anderson said the best things that one can do are not necessarily to drive less, but instead to “consider foods that have lower carbon and methane footprints (plants), support policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to replace old appliances with energy efficient models,” among others options.
And after all, as Anderson said, small actions are “the gateway drug” to making bigger changes globally.
Career Services’ primary goal is to provide students resources to access different internship and job opportunities, but students are not taking notice.
On Feb. 7, Ohio Wesleyan participated in the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges’ (OFIC) Career Fest.
Leslie Melton, Director of Career Services, said while 60 students signed up to attend the fair, only about 20 showed up, including nine unregistered students and alumni.
“One of the reasons we do that (sign up) is so that some of the smaller, independent colleges can come together and offer employers a large group of students,” she said.
Melton said OFIC college invites employers to the fair to meet students and continuously work to spread the word about the fair to possible new employers.
Melton said she was not sure why the attendance to the fair was so low, considering the dwindling attendance did not have anything to do with weather and there was transportation available for students.
“We’ve actually had more attendance in the years where there’s been a lot of snow,” she said.
Melton said she believes students get busy and forget about the fair.
Other universities have also had attendance problems, but this year’s low attendance was a new record.
The career fair is just one service Career Services offers, and Melton said there are other opportunities for students throughout the semester.
“I think it is important that students are productive during the summer, so that it helps their chances with future endeavors,” she said. “Additional experience is always helpful.”
Melton said she hopes students come to fairs that Career Services offer to network with different companies.
Senior Leah Hively and sophomore Ben Thieman both attended Career Fest.
“Along with learning about other companies, Career Fest gave those companies the opportunity to get to know me on a personal level,” he said.
Thieman also said he is in contact with some companies and is looking for an opportunity with them.
“Some really good companies were represented, but (there were) also some companies that I did not think would have good positions for students with a degree from a private college like OWU,” Hively said.
Hively said she was expecting a larger fair with more companies with different ranges, but she said she received good advice that will help her in continuing to look for jobs.
Jeremy Poincenot spoke at Ohio Wesleyan on Feb. 18. He was brought to OWU by the Inter Fraternity Council (IFC). Poincenot is the 2010 Blind Golf World Champion. Photo from Jeremy Poincenot’s website
Inspirational Speaker and 2010 Blind Golf World Champion, Jeremy Poincenot, encouraged students to live each day to fullest.
Poincenot, 23, presented at a trilogy event put on by Inter Fraternity Council (IFC), on Feb. 18 in Grey Chapel.
Poinecent lost his sight within two months by the age of 19 due to a rare genetic disorder called Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). At the time, Pincenot was a sophomore at San Diego State University.
Pincenot decided to take time off school after hearing the devastating news.
After months of being depressed and not wanting to go back to San Diego State, one of Poincent’s Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brothers, Josh, called Poincenot and told him he would take classes with him and help guide him through his new dark world.
Poincenot decided to take Josh up on his offer.
“What Josh did for me was monumental,” said Poincenot, who graduated in May 2013.
After returning to school, Poincenot was determined to help others who were suffering for the disease.
He began C.U.R.E., a bicycle ride fundraiser and over the past five years the annual bike trip has raised over $125,000 for the cause.
“I determine my happiness,” he said. “Don’t let others determine your happiness.”
Since his diagnosis, Poincenot has been featured on MTV’s “True Life” documentary series, traveled to places such as China and Japan to raise awareness of LHON and won the Blind Golf World Championships in 2010 with his father as his caddy.
Coming to OWU
Poincenot’s appearance at OWU was made possible after he reached out to his fellow Sigma Phi Epsilon President, junior Sam Abbott, about coming to campus.
Abbott was then inspired to present the idea of making Poincenot a speaker for an IFC trilogy event.
“After seeing how amazing his story was and how charismatic he was when speaking, I immediately thought that he would be a tremendous person to bring in for a possible trilogy event for our Greek community,” Abbott said.
“I told him that I would present the idea to IFC as a possible trilogy event.”
Residential Life Coordinator Levi Harrel said that IFC was eager to have a fraternity man share an important message with other Greek life members.
“Being a fraternity man is more than being part of a campus organization, it is a commitment to growing with understanding others, and Jeremy’s message was just that,” Harrel said.
“The time, effort, and dedication in making this event successful speaks highly to the character of the fraternity men who were vital in bringing this event to campus and demonstrates their roles as campus leaders and highlights their commitment to the fraternity and sorority community here at OWU.”
Harrel said he enjoyed Poincenot’s sense of humor and a Plato quote he continued to reference throughout his presentation, “Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Abbott said he enjoyed the question and answer session at the end of the presentation and the story of Jeremy playing the Blind Golf National Championships.
“He shared his story when he competed at the National Championships when he was paired with a short old man named John Casolo,” said Abbott.
“John shot a 324, and Jeremy shot a 97. It was eye opening when Jeremy said he was pissed after the round and John was happy and said that he had a great time playing with Jeremy.”
Andrew Tuchow ‘13 and business partner Andy O’Brien stand in front of the truck they plan to renovate for their budding food truck business, Kinetic.
Photos from Andrew Tuchow
Friends and family of the Kinetic team enjoyed samples of Kinetic’s menu items at a tasting event Saturday, Feb. 22.
Friends and family of the Kinetic team enjoyed samples of Kinetic’s menu items at a tasting event Saturday, Feb. 22.
Tuchow models a few beets, one of the many healthy ingredients Kinetic will incorporate into its menu.
A new food truck will be fueling the streets of Columbus this spring, thanks to a recent OWU grad and his partner.
Andrew Tuchow, ’13, and his business partner, Andy O’Brien, are opening their food truck starting April 1 of this year.
Tuchow graduated last May with a double major in neuroscience and psychology, while O’Brien graduated from the Ohio State University with a major in food business.
The two have been friends for a long time, and came up with their business plan over dinner last March.
This is when they realized they had a shared interest in making healthy eating more accessible.
At the time, O’Brien was working on a project for his school that was primarily for athletes. His idea was to use modern day nutrition to help athletes eating at his concept restaurant fuel their bodies better, and therefore get more out of their workouts.
Tuchow saw potential in expanding this idea outside the realm of just athletes. That started the initial planning towards the development of “Kinetic.”
Tuchow said he came up with the name for the food truck “after a solid amount of thought and effort.”
“We wanted the name of our place to capture everything that we wanted to put into it,” said Tuchow, “that it’s nutritious, modern, local, active and simple- we think the name can cover all that.”
Tuchow said the two decided to invest in a mobile food truck, because of the lower overhead costs to it as compared to a traditional restaurant.
“We also believe in the food truck movement and how connected you can feel to the trucks because they can be so personable,” said Tuchow.
Deciding to start a business together was “almost a no-brainer” said Tuchow. But the process has been long and arduous for the pair. Tuchow said he has much more respect for small business owners now that he has to deal with paperwork, legal filings, funding, and “thinking of every little component that goes into it.”
The Menu
Kinetic will have some pre-set bowls, like a buffalo chicken or stir fry bowl, and a selection of smoothies that are aimed to have specific health benefits, such as antioxidant-rich or protein dense.
Some of the sides will include things like grilled pita and hummus, fruit skewers and roasted almonds. The options for sweets include a banana cookie (gluten free and vegan) and a walnut chocolate chip cookie.
Price range for some of the items like the bowls will depend on the protein like $7 for chicken, $8 for steak or tofu. Smoothies will vary as well- $4 for a 16oz and $6 for 32oz. The sides will range from $3 to $5, while the sweets are set at $2 a piece.
The two are working together on the menu; however, O’Brien has the final say in what makes it and what does not.
Tuchow said all the creations are made with natural ingredients, and will be locally sourced as much as possible. They also hope to source from food purveyors who source local or those who take a stand for sustainable practices.
Getting the Word Out
Tuchow said they hope to set up in Columbus and its surrounding suburbs.
“What this really means is that we want to share our food with anyone and everyone,” Tuchow said. “We plan on catering graduation parties, business lunches, sports games, festivals and so on.”
The pair also wants to find locations by OSU’s campus and in the Short North. Tuchow said they also hope to provide food for those running 5ks and marathons, setting up shop during special events.
As their truck gets closer and closer to opening, Tuchow said the pair is using social media to their full advantage to get the word out.
“We are creating small incentives and rewards for following or interacting with us via social media,” he said. “One such incentive is if you grab one of our stickers and place it on campus (OSU, OWU or anywhere else), then take a picture of it and tweet it at us, you get 20 percent off you purchase at the truck.”
Kinetic had its first food tasting on Saturday, February 22, at Tuchow’s home in Hilliard, Ohio.
“It went really, really well,” said Tuchow, “It was nice and informal and we had great people join us.”
One of the microphone starts to fail as soon as they begin their performance. But that doesn’t stop them.
They are Pitch Black, OWU’s all-women a cappella group and this is one of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA)’s five Great Lakes Quarterfinals, at Centerville High School.
It is Saturday night, Feb. 22, and in almost an hour the results of the competition will be announced, with Pitch Black taking third place.
Technical Trouble
But right now sophomore Emily Slee has to use a microphone that keeps switching on and off.
“It happened in the middle of my solo, and I could tell the mic had cut out,” Slee says afterward. “…With show business, you just have to keep performing.”
In the audience, freshman Alyssa Clark is not happy to hear the microphone fail.
“When the mic cut out a little piece of my heart shriveled up and cried in a corner,” she says.
They only have twelve minutes to perform their three song set, and as far as ICCA is concerned, everything hinges on those twelve minutes.
They’ve been working toward this for the past four months, but they didn’t prepare for technical difficulties. No one thought this would happen.
They power through it, but when it comes to song two, things only get worse.
As soon as they start, spreading out across the stage, the MC tries to hand a new microphone to junior Emma Buening – but hers is fine.
It’s another junior, Brianna Robinson, who’s holding the microphone that doesn’t work – and she’s a lead singer for song two.
She also has no idea there’s anything wrong.
“Because the sound on the stage compared to the sound in the audience is so different, I only knew when I had the microphone in my hands that it was turning on and off,” Robinson says afterward.
Halfway through the first verse, it switches to full power. It looks like everything is fine; the audience cheers.
But as soon as they quiet down, it cuts out again, then comes back on.
Soon, one of the judges is at the base of the stage waving his arms. Robinson stops, is handed a new microphone and a chance for a fresh start.
Five minutes on stage, and they have to go into their starting arrangement and begin again.
But this is not a setback.
“Having them interrupt the performance lit a fire in each of us and only made us come back stronger and more fierce in the second round,” says Pitch Black president Anna Jones, a junior.
For Buening, the second shot is appreciated but not critical to their eventual success.
“I think we would have still rocked it, just not as loudly,” she says.
Junior Anna Jones (left) and sophomore Maeve Nash (right) solo on “Can’t Hold Us” while sophomore Emma Sparks (middle) helps out with the beat. Photo by Spenser Hickey
Inside Arrangement
All their songs are arranged by group members, a process that requires turning the instrumental background beats into vocal sounds.
And when they sing, they are anything but static.
They walk all over the stage, sway back and forth and use synchronized gestures to match the music.
While the choreography requires a lot of practice – it took ten hours, and involved the help of junior dancer Buzzy Biddinger – the music is still number one.
“The judges look for choreography that emphasizes certain aspects of the music but does not take away or distract from the song,” as Jones explains it.
“The most important thing is energy and I think we were able to use the choreography in addition to our individual personalities to put on an energy-filled performance.”
At the end of “Tonight I’ll Be Your Sweet Dream” they cluster together, all looking up at Emily Slee’s arm pointing to the ceiling.
Their “Wrecking Summertime” mashup closes with Robinson and Jones lowering their microphones, looking at each other in the center while the rest of the group stands to either side.
But “Can’t Hold Us” is where they all get moving.
The catchy rap tune by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, featuring Ray Dalton – all three independent stars from Seattle – is well-suited for choreography.
Stomping and clapping are a natural simulation of the beat, and the group uses them and other arm and leg movements to accompany the singing of sophomore Maeve Nash.
Buening and Robinson spit lyrics too, particularly on the chorus, but Nash is the one who leads it off and carries the most.
At the end, they all strike poses, with Jones, Buening and sophomore Maddie Stuntz pointing into the crowd.
Choreography isn’t the only addition they bring to their rendition – they’ve personalized the lyrics too.
“Return of Pitch Black,” is how Nash starts off, replacing the original “return of the Mack.”
They also add in a Beyonce reference and call out “Pitch Black ICCA,” but their most popular change – whether here or in shows on campus – is to say “that’s what you get when OWU raised you!”
Members of Pitch Black react to the announcement that the group placed third in their category at ICCA. Photo by Spenser Hickey
Breaking Through The Ceiling
For the women of Pitch Black, choosing the song itself is a statement as well.
“We really wanted to do something that wasn’t really considered a woman’s piece,” says freshman Kelly Summers the night before. “We wanted to add that girl power – we can rap too.”
Lead singer Nash expands on this.
“We wanted to do the song because we wanted to take a song to ICCA that’s like, women can rap and do cool songs too,” she says.
This sentiment makes its way into the introduction they tell the MC to read before they come on stage – that they are “breaking the glass ceiling, one song at a time.”
Buening, the other lead singer of ‘Can’t Hold Us’, says she was motivated to add that in by their song selection.
“(Can’t Hold Us) is an empowering (song) for us because we’re women,” she explains. “It was kind of our secret weapon, I think, because it showcased that we can pull off a challenge…Female groups are at risk of being confined to doing they are expected (to do), which is too limiting for the amazing talent in our group.”
Third-Place Triumph
The competition is enjoyable for everyone; as awards announcer Matt Shirer, ICCA’s Great Lakes producer, says – this is about being with people who love a capella.
First, they start with individual awards, and Best Vocal Percussionist is up first.
“For outstanding vocal percussionist…Maeve Nash of Pitch Black,” Shirer announces.
All of Pitch Black crowds around her after she’s given her certificate. Shirer goes through the other individual awards, and before you know it he’s on team awards.
“For third place, Pitch Black,” he announces again.
They go wild; jaws hit the floor and arms fly in the air.
“I was speechless!” says Brianna Robinson. “I didn’t expect it at all. Not because of any doubts I had about Pitch Black but because of the enormous talent that ICCA sees every year.”
They credit a key source of their success to support from their friends and family in the OWU community; students traveled over an hour and a half each way to see them compete.
Freshman Abby Soeder was one of them.
“I decided to go to the a capella competition because it sounded like the TV show Glee, and it was a lot like it,” she said.
The presence of so many students fueled Pitch Black’s fire, especially after the microphone debacle.
“It meant more to us than we can ever express to have support from our friends and family,” Jones says.
“Having them cheer us on from the audience truly motivated us to put on a good show and definitely added to the energy in the room.”
Robinson says she was overwhelmed by all the support.
“It is an amazing feeling to know that Pitch Black is not just a club that the 13 members just go to every week,” she said.
“It is something that we and the people who support us love dearly.”
Senior Jake Miller, the new representative on the Board of Trustees. He was elected by fellow seniors to represent them on the board. Photo from Jake Miller
After an arduous election process, current Ohio Wesleyan seniors chose Jake Miller to represent their class on the university’s Board of Trustees.
The month-long election process consisted of 10 percent of the graduating class signing a petition for the candidates. Next, campaigns were held and seniors voted online using myOWU.
Members of the Board of Trustees are responsible for overseeing and managing university operations.
Julia Hatfield, assistant director of alumni relations, said there three graduating class trustees serve at any given time, and they are considered full Board members. Therefore, she said, they have full voting privileges on the Board, attend full meetings and participate on committees.
“The (graduating class trustee) is meant to serve as a voice for students and younger alumni who would not otherwise have a representative for their interests on the Board,” Hatfield said.
During his three-year term, Miller hopes to assist the board in making decisions that will benefit students.
“Because I have been able to participate in a number of different organizations on campus, I have a good understanding of what Ohio Wesleyan does well and also what can be improved,” he said. “I hope to bring up discussions on ways to improve the day-to-day life at Ohio Wesleyan by improving things like residential life and food services.”
President Rock Jones said he believes Miller will be an excellent representation for students.
“Jake has been a strong leader as a student on campus, and he will take those same leadership skills to his service as a trustee,” Jones said.
“He will continue the long-standing tradition of graduating class trustees who participate fully and actively in all deliberations, decisions and activities of the Board of Trustees.”
A Labor Relations Board hearing commenced last Wednesday, in response to a group of Northwestern football players who signed a petition to seek union protection; the outcome of which could have historic implications for college athletics.
The petition is the first step in the union certification process. With this action, players are hoping to gain union access, essentially making them employees of the university.
Players told local press that they feel they have no say in their lives in relation to their sport.
According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch, “those players want the College Athletes Players Association to act on their behalf by collectively bargaining with the NCAA, the governing body of college sports.”
Union representation would afford athletes a say in matters that truly affect them as athletes, as a union’s main goal is to collectively bargain for benefits in fair terms with management.
The article explains the goal of these athletes is not to receive payment, but “for players representation in discussions on medial issues, due-process rights, scholarship increase and guarantees, and the creation of an education fund.”
Northwestern is a Division 1 school, and part of the Big Ten athletic conference. However, like Ohio Wesleyan, Northwestern is a private university, because of this they have pull a state school wouldn’t have.
The NCAA however, is claiming that these individuals are students and not employees, and there are other ways to address their concerns.
Athletic director Roger Ingles said, “The lawyers for the unions believe the athletic scholarships are payment for the players performances.”
“Under this logic, all academic scholarships winners would also be able to unionize as their scholarships could be deemed in payment of their academic performances,” he said.
Ingles said he believes this action could potentially disrupt the balance of academics and athletics on a college campus.
“While I am not in favor of this approach, I do think it should make everyone sit down and reflect where our priorities are when it comes to collegiate athletics, especially at the major Division I level,” he said.
“The purpose of this group is to give the athletes a place at the table in discussions about things directly affecting them.”
According to Ingles any decision will lead to negative implications on all college athletes.
Ingles said it is unrealistic for Division III schools to pay athletes since the programs are not self-sustaining in their own right.
“In fact, very few Division I or II programs make a profit,” he said. “Division III has no athletic scholarships and generates very little revenue. Our major impact will a result of filter down legislation should the NCAA lose this case.”
Weighing the
Positives and
Negatives
There are some positives that could come from union representation.
Junior lacrosse player Matthew Sommi said he thought their petition seemed impractical at first, but he sees the merit in their case.
“Northwestern academics are extremely demanding,” he said.
“By gaining union power Northwestern athletes could see benefits such as a class schedule that revolves around a select sport, special tutoring, increased scholarships to athletes, and special networking opportunities.”
Sommi said the negatives that arise could outweigh the benefits for certain athletes. A union is predicated on equal opportunities for its members, which could, in turn, negatively impact certain individuals.
“In the case of Northwestern athletics you could possibly see the amount of full scholarships awarded to athletes decrease to increase the amount of scholarship money geared towards all sports and team members,” he said.
Ingles agreed stating, “the NCAA believes this movement by the union to unionize student athletes undermines the purpose of college and that is to get an education. Student athletic involvement is voluntary and the NCAA represents all student-athletes and not just those who want to professionalize.”
According to president Rock Jones, OWU doesn’t have to worry about a decision on this action affecting OWU athletes.
“There really is no comparison between athletics at a Big 10 School and athletics at Ohio Wesleyan,” he said.
“Our commitment is to the integrated experience of a student athlete, where student athletes receive no scholarships related to their academic talent, and where we remain fiercely loyal to concept of amateurism as a defining characteristic of the college student athlete.”
Sommi shared Jones’ attitude that the ruling of this case would not have any affect on OWU, stating that OWU athletes have no reason to start a union, “on the sole fact that our sports don’t generate any revenue stream for the university.”
Jones said, “Our student athletes are well served by their academic advisers and their coaches, and I cannot imagine a reason why a place like Ohio Wesleyan would benefit from union representation for student athletes.”
University of Missouri Defensive Lineman Michael Sam announced he is openly gay on ESPN’s Outside the Lines on Feb. 9. Sam, the co-South Eastern Conference defensive player of the year became the first openly gay college football player in history.
According to ESPN’s analyst Mel Kiper Jr., Sam will still be drafted in the first four rounds of the NFL draft despite his announcement. Sam originally came out to teammates and coaches in Aug.
Junior Ben Danielson came out in high school, but as an incoming freshman on the soccer team, he had new obstacles to conquer. Danielson said making the announcement to teammates is trying.
“I’m lucky enough to say that I came into college out,” said Danielson. “I didn’t feel compelled to tell my team, nor did I make it my job to hide myself. I was just me. I had thought about coming out to them during certain meetings, but in the end I was too scared that I might make some of my teammates uncomfortable or somehow offend them.”
OWU President Rock Jones said collegiate athletic programs should accept all athletes regardless of sexual orientation.
“All of the members institutions of the NCAC have non-discrimination statements that include sexual orientation as a form of discrimination that will not be accepted or tolerated on their campuses” said Jones.
“This commitment extends to all aspects of the campus, including athletics programs. Our athletics programs welcome all students, regardless of their sexual orientation or identity, and we at Ohio Wesleyan will not accept or tolerate any form of discrimination or mistreatment directed toward openly gay athletes. This is consistent with the values of OWU, and these values are shared by all of the member institutions of the NCAC.”
In 2013, NBA Forward Jason Collins announced he was gay and became the first openly gay professional athlete.
As expected, Collins received a slew of encouragement with a fair share of backlash from the NBA community.
OWU Athletic Director Roger Ingles said gay athletes are breaking discrimination barriers that will improve sports as a whole.
“I think the challenge for all of us in collegiate athletics is to make our programs a welcoming and loving environment that supports, respects and accepts individual rights and differences in all team members,” said Ingles.
“Gay athletes are beginning to feel more comfortable in most team sports sharing their sexual orientation. I would like to think it is because as a society we are becoming more accepting of our differences in all areas like race, religion and sexual orientation. And that is a great thing.”
