For any student in their first year of college, there is always a learning curve: Finding a weekly routine, adjusting to classes, and meeting new people. It may seem daunting, but everyone gets there eventually. For those freshmen still learning the rules of the road, here are some tips to not stick out like a sore thumb (in a bad way).

Lanyards: Put them away! This isn’t high school, you don’t need to let people know you can drive and have a car. I’m quite sure that the majority of students have a place to live, so there is no need to be flashing your room key to everyone that walks by. Yes, I see you swinging your lanyard, that’s pretty cool…I guess? Are you going to yell at me for running on the pool deck?

Spirit Wear: Wait, you go to Ohio University? No way! I’m glad you have pride in your school, but when you go out in an OU t-shirt, hoodie, and hat, it’s a bit much. When you wear that much spirit wear, I expect you to be able to name at least three players on the football team. Yes, we do have a football team.

Know where you’re going: To be fair, Ohio University’s campus is probably quite large compared to your high schools. But by the time week three rolls around and you still have no idea where Morton Hall is, I have no sympathy for you. You’ve had at least five classes there so far; it’s the same place it always was.  Also, Court Street is a one-way street; no need to look both ways when crossing the street. Finally, Baker Center is your best friend… unless you like walking up hills.

Laundry: Like Nike, just do it. It’s not that hard. The longer you wait, the more you’ll have to carry, the less clothes you’ll have to wear, and there is more of a chance you’ll screw up the washing machine. Do you want to be that kid that gets a face full of suds when you open the washer door? If you are, you’re in good company. However, if you still aren’t sure what to do, there are directions on the machines.

Homesickness: We’ve all been there. Almost everyone here is at least two hours away from home. You miss your parents, your brothers and sisters, friends from home, your pets, your house, your car, and pretty much everything from last year. It sucks. There’s no other way to describe it. So get Skype, and keep in touch often, but don’t go home too often on the weekends. There is so much to do in Athens on the weekends, and you don’t want to miss anything. Plus, Christmas break will be that much better in a month.

Don’t take this the wrong way, freshman readers. But, the most important piece of information I can give you is don’t hold yourself back. Even though it is your first year of college, get involved early and often. Find something you like and find others who share your interests. Meet people, make friends, join a club and change the campus. Remember, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t have anything to offer the university and it only takes one person to influence another. It’s never too early to make an impact at Ohio.

Photos by, Ross Brinkerhoff

Janalee Stock has always enjoyed exercise, from growing up as a competitive gymnast to finding herself exercising unintentionally while chasing her three kids around the yard. Stock started running 30 years ago by making the two-mile trip from her house to her mailbox and back. She’s built up her mileage since then.

“I’ve ran everything from one mile to a 50K,” said Stock. “I’ve done lots of 5Ks, some 10ks, half marathons… I like variety; I think it’s really fun. I’ve been doing this for 30 years, so if there’s something that’s different, it will attract my attention.”

Stock is the Athens City Schools’ nurse and travels among five elementary schools, the middle school and the high school. Although it is difficult to find time to train, she still runs about 30 miles a week and normally runs after work.

Stock is now training for the Bobcat Trail Marathon on November 6. The 26.2-mile race takes place in Burr Oak State Park in Glouster, Ohio,

While she already has her base-mileage down, Stock continues to build her mileage on the weekends, when she runs about 15 miles. She was training for a triathlon over the summer, so some of her summer training crosses over. Cross training by doing things like biking or swimming can help in running and helps prevent injuries. She currently swims about three days a week and used to bike the same amount but says she will not bike as much while training for the marathon.

Stock says it is difficult to find a balance between pushing herself to do her best and overtraining. According to her, she can only find that balance by being uncomfortable once in a while and running something different, like intervals, a program involving running hard for a certain distance and then jogging or walking that same distance. She said paying attention to her body and figuring out when she is overtraining helps her stay injury-free.

She hasn’t always been that way, though. When she was 50, Stock had to get an ACL reconstruction because of arthritis under one of her kneecaps. The doctor told her to stop running, but she eventually discovered that she could run without too much difficulty. The surgeon who operated on her knee told her to run on soft ground and to stop if she felt any pain.

“You have to focus on the ground 99 percent of the time because it’s very easy to sprain your ankle… it behooves you to pay attention,” said Stock, who has sprained her ankle about six times. Since these injuries are so common, she often runs with a partner.

Stock has trained for the Bobcat Trail Marathon before. This will be the race’s third year and Stock’s third year participating. Her time last year was 5:09:02. (Unfortunately, last year’s race was only 24 and a half miles because of course vandalism, but the first year was considered a full marathon.)  She beat her previous time by 27 minutes and 26 seconds. Stock feels she could have beaten it by more, but she got lost on the course.

“That sucked,” she said.

Stock runs the trails in Athens every opportunity she gets, adding that the Athens area has beautiful trails. At Strouds Run, there is a giant oak tree that she calls “great great great great grandpa” because of how big and old it looks.

Despite living nearby, she had never run trails at Burr Oak before the marathon, and she said it was good to see that it has wonderful trails. When describing her experience during the race, Stock detailed the beauty of Burr Oak’s lake, part of which is covered entirely by lily pads, and the incredible steepness of the trails. The scenery and trails are beautiful, but most of the racers don’t know when they will run them again.

While the scenery and trails are beautiful, many racers identify the marathon with the over-sized, light-gray cobblestone lodge that houses many of them the weekend before the race and also holds an expo for shoes, clothing and other running gear.

However, Vince Recci and Brandon Huff, owners of One World Trail Running and  race directors for the Bobcat Trail Marathon, say the Lodge is going to close in January for an indefinite period of time because Xanterra, the company that runs it, is choosing to not renew its contract, which means that this will be the last year for the Bobcat Trail Marathon until the lodge reopens.

Stock got the e-mail and heard on the news that the lodge is scheduled to close. She said it is unfortunate because this is the third consecutive year the marathon is going to take place, and they have to pause for reasons they cannot control. Stock described the marathon as “a great little race” and said that it offered her an opportunity to meet a community of people who like to run very long distances.

While she is upset about the lodge’s imminent closing, Stock is ready to run this year. She will try to have fun, finish at a time close to what she ran last year, and avoid spraining her ankle. She also hopes the weather will cooperate.

“I love nature,” she says, “I’m happiest when I’m moving.”

Graphic by, Paula Welling

Photo by, Erin Raby

Growing up about 20 minutes south of Oklahoma City in the town of Norman, Oklahoma, Beau Blankenship finished his career at Norman North High School with 5,050 career rushing yards and 59 total touchdowns.  He earned 1,250 of those yards and scored 16 of those touchdowns in his senior year.  Both the Oklahoman and Tulsa World newspapers selected Blankenship to their All-State teams and he started in three state quarterfinal games.

Scouts considered Blankenship a three star recruit, among the top 70 running backs in the nation and the top 30 in his state.  Blankenship committed to Iowa State after high school.  After a year playing for the Cyclones, Blankenship decided to look at other programs, but his options were limited because he started looking for a new school after the football team’s fall camp.

He decided to transfer to Ohio University and try to walk-on after some recruitment by quarterback and former high school teammate Tyler Tettleton.  Tettleton told Blankenship about Head Coach Frank Solich and Assistant Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, and Running Back Coach Tim Albin’s offensive game plan; and Blankenship was sold.

“Tyler [Tettleton] really swayed me to want to play here, to play for Coach Solich and Coach Albin,” said Blankenship.  “Their temperament and coaching style was more fitting for me than where I was at.”

Blankenship was also excited for the chance to play with the same quarterback who handed him the ball hundreds of times at Norman North.  Blankenship and Tettleton quickly rediscovered their chemistry and Tettleton helped the transfer student feel at home in Athens.

“It’s awesome.  We’re really good friends, so it’s fun to play together again,” said Blankenship.  “Having a great friend back there with you is comforting.”

Blankenship had to redshirt his first season at Ohio University.  He waited patiently on the sidelines and watched senior Vince Davidson, junior Donte Harden, and freshman Ryan Boykin grind their way through opposing teams.  He wanted more than anything to strap on his shoulder pads and pound the ball up the middle or use his speed to beat defenders to the outside.  He worked hard every day on and off the field to prepare for the next season.  He used the time off to allow his body to heal and return healthier and stronger.  Nevertheless, standing on the sidelines without any way of helping your teammates on the field is never easy for any athlete.

“A year without football is never good,” said Blankenship.  “It was hard watching the guys out there playing and knowing you have to sit out a year.”

Blankenship stands at 5’9” and weighs in at around 184 pounds.  He isn’t afraid to take a hit from the heavier defensive linemen who stand between him and the goal line.  With a 4.47 40-yard-dash time, Blankenship also possesses good speed and is able to break free from defenders into the secondary at times.  He runs with speed and power instead of flare and fancy feet.  The ultimate goal is to make it into the end zone however possible.

“I just run as fast as I can,” said Blankenship.  “I try to run with quickness, power, and speed.”

To help his game, Blankenship likes to watch films of current NFL running backs and follow their tendencies.  He tries to watch running backs similar to his style and size.  His favorites include Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens, and Danny Woodhead of the New England Patriots.  All of these running backs are similar in size to Blankenship and try to balance power and speed.  Jones-Drew, Rice, and Woodhead possess the ability to slip through the defense and race for big yards or push the pile for a 3 or 4-yard gain.

The Bobcats started out the 2011 season by thumping the New Mexico State Aggies (44-24) and the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs (30-3).  The Bobcats won the “Battle of the Bell” against the Marshall Thundering Herd (44-7).  After a 3-0 start, Ohio dropped their first game of the season against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (26-38) .  The Bobcats beat MAC rival Kent State (17-10) the following week, and  suffered a heartbreaking loss to the University at Buffalo Bulls (38-37).  Ohio lost Homecoming weekend to the Ball State Cardinals (23-20), and beat the lowly Zips of Akron (37-20) the following week.  Of all the games, Blankenship liked how he played in and the result of the game against New Mexico State the most.

“They’re all fun to get into.  I got the most carries [at New Mexico State], but hopefully that changes for the rest of the season.”

Blankenship contributed quite nicely to the Bobcats’ success on the field.  In a situational role behind sophomore Ryan Boykin and senior Donte Harden, he started the season with a bang in the team’s first game against New Mexico State.  He ran for 50 yards on only 10 carries and capped it off with his first touchdown in an Ohio uniform.  The touchdown was definitely the highlight of Blankenship’s first career game for Ohio.

“I was excited because it was my first game back after sitting out a whole year.  It’s always fun to score and just do whatever you can to help the team.”

He bettered his average the following week against Gardner-Webb after finishing with 46 yards on eight carries.  After five games, Blankenship is averaging 4.9 yards per carry.  His workload decreased as the season progressed because of some issues with ball control, but he believes with more practice and better focus, the issues are fixable.

“The season started off good, then I had a little fumbling issue, but I just got to stay patient and keep going.”

Blankenship expects to contribute more as the season progresses.  He likes the makeup of the team and believes their ability doesn’t reflect their 5-3 record.  Some minor mistakes have ended up costing the Bobcats a few games, but Blankenship doesn’t believe the team is out of contention for a bowl match up at season’s end.

“We have the ability to finish out with all wins.  We just kind of had some unfortunate things happen that hurt us, but there’s no reason we can’t go to a Bowl game.”

While he wants to focus on the season at hand, Blankenship is also excited about the next few years for the team.   He knows the team is young and full of potential.  On a more personal level, Blankenship may see more action and have more chances to help his team succeed in the upcoming years.

“I’m really excited about the future.  I want to focus on now, but it’ll be fun.  Finish this year and I’ve got two more years with these guys.  It’s exciting and I think we have a chance to be really good.”

Sitting out a year was tough, but it looks to be paying off for Blankenship.  While Ryan Boykin will most likely retain his starting position next season, Blankenship provides the Bobcats with necessary depth at the position.  Blankenship hopes the momentum of this season translates to a position where he can contribute more regularly for the remainder of this season and the rest of his career at Ohio University.

Photos by Halie Cousineau

Story by Alex Hider, Section Editor

Cam Newton, Terrelle Pryor, Reggie Bush and OJ Mayo couldn’t do it without special treatment and a full scholarship. Millions of children across the nation aspire to play their favorite sport at the colligate level, but only a fraction get the opportunity. Even fewer finish their college career on the team, as it becomes too difficult to balance the titles of student and athlete. It’s obvious that at this level, it take more than just talent to succeed. Tyler Ardrey, two-year president of the Ohio University crew club, and Corbin Coe, two-year president of the lacrosse club, seem to have found the formula for success.

Not only do Ardrey and Coe face the same struggles as the aforementioned student athletes, they also pay for the privilege to compete on top of their tuition, often in front of near empty stands. It’s clear that club athletes are playing for the love of the game.

“Dedication is definitely a big part of the team,” says Coe. And with practices nearly every day of the week all year long, members of both the crew and lacrosse teams need as much as they can get in order to be successful student athletes. “It is a big commitment,” says Ardrey of crew. “How do you do it? Time management.”

Think how much free time a typical college student has. Most would tell you not enough. Between school, other clubs, and possibly a job, students need all the time they can get. It’s safe to say the majority of students would not be able to handle an additional 10-12 hours of workload a week due to practices. In addition, both teams do extensive travel to tournaments and regattas, with both teams traveling as far away as Georgia for some matches. The University excuses absences due to club sports, but the missed class time certainly takes its toll.

Both Ardrey and Coe both admit to a slip in grades due to the sports they play. While neither team nor the University institutes a minimum GPA in order to continue playing, both presidents say it hasn’t been an issue. Both teams’ GPAs hover around 3.0, and those struggling in class can simply turn to teammates. “Many of our guys are business majors, so there’s always help available,” says Coe.

Not only do both presidents struggle to balance school and practice, but they also must oversee all funds that come in out of their clubs, organize fund raising, and oversee apparel and branding. On top of all that, all club teams must complete 20 hours of community service in order to receive funding from OU.

However, the two agree that the dip in grades is more than made up for in life skills. “The benefits I get from dealing with students and people from other teams, my people skills have sky rocketed,” says Ardrey. They say college is all about meeting new people, and Corbin agrees. “I’ve met some of my best friends playing lacrosse,” he says. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Club teams at Ohio University also face numerous funding challenges. With all the debt facing the university, every department is fighting for any penny it can get. It’s no surprise that sports that bring in little to no money are the first to suffer. “The university gives us minimal contributions,” says Ardrey. “I mean, they paid for the football team to travel to New Orleans for the bowl game…I think varsity sports can take for granted the funding they receive.”

Unfortunately for club athletes, tight budgets mean high fees on top of high tuition. The funding provided by the university comes nowhere near covering equipment, uniform, travel and lodging costs. The rest of those costs rely on the athletes themselves. (LACROSSE) However, this pales in comparison of crew, one of the most expensive sports in which a person can participate (one boat can cost up to $80 thousand). “When you add everything up, it comes to about $500 a person,” says Ardrey.

Especially in a slow economy, paying for the privilege to play college athletics can pose a problem to some. “There have been guys who have quit due to money, but the team usually tries to help out as much as possible,” says Ardrey. Often, it comes down to taking a job in the summer. “I realize that this is where I want to be when I’m in school, so I take the time during the summer to make sure I can participate.” “It’s all about what you are willing to do. The team can’t make you do anything. It’s what you make of it.”

The numbers don’t lie when it comes to the struggles of club sport athletes. Of the 22 freshman athletes Tyler started his crew career with, he is only one that remains. What accounts for this startling drop off? It all comes back to time management. The majority of club sport athletes drop their sport sophomore or junior year, right when students are beginning to take difficult classes for their major. At this point in their careers, time restraints simply become too much to handle, and students begin to start thinking of their future. But for those who stick with it, it is the experience of a lifetime. “I’m extremely happy,” says Corbin. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Coe, transferred to OU after a year of playing lacrosse under scholarship at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati. He says that while receiving a free education to play lacrosse was nice, he was missing something from his college experience.

Written by Jacob Betzner

With their laid-back attitudes and down-to-earth personas, the casual Casa Cantina or Jackie-O’s patron might not think Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots recently flirted with some serious national attention through a contest sponsored by Billboard Magazine. While the band did not advance as far as they would have liked, they all agreed the experience was unforgettable. Combined with the newfound and pleasantly unanticipated attention brought on by the expected release of sophomore album sometime this summer, The Boots are smokin’ hot and ready to rock.& The Smokey Boots…

Only a few years ago, Martin (introduce Martin first) decided to strip away everything the music industry now promoted from his act. The flashing lights, fog machines, and flashy pyrotechnic shows started to command too much attention, and the music suffered. He wanted to return to how country and folk music humbly started a hundred or so years ago.

“I just wanted to play as minimal music as I could. It was like ‘Let’s just make folk music. Bare-bones folk music,’” explained Martin.

Martin started jamming with Casey Davis, a guitarist and friend, and the two tried to create a folky, soulful sound. Soon thereafter, the duo turned into a trio when Jess Kaufmann, a friend of Martin and Davis, singer-songwriter, and rhythm guitarist sat in on a jam session. At the time, Kaufmann was playing solo shows around Athens. But after only a short while, Martin and Davis, realized they realized they had something that might work.

“Before I met the guys, I played by myself for a couple years,” explained Kaufmann. “t started very minimal and then we built it up from there. Martin was kind of coming in from something totally different and I was just really starting up, but we kind of met in the middle with what we were going for.” Added Martin: “It was nothing too methodical, really just personalMartin,” noting the band formed primarily out of friendships and common interests both musically and personally.

The next step for the trio was writing an album’s worth of original songs and finding a name for the band so they could start promoting themselves. The story of exactly how Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots settled on their unique name involved a lot of brainstorming, quite a few duds, and some generally off-the-wall combinations. A cat that crashed at the band’s practice house inspired the first half of the band’s name. The band nicknamed the feline Duke Tuna because of the house pet’s cravings for a fresh can of tuna fish. “The Smokey Boots” just seemed to roll off the tongue. After a few weeks of deliberation, Duke Tuna & the Smokey Boots were born. Eventually, the band agreed to replace “Tuna” with “Junior” hoping it would sound a little less silly but still catchy and easily recognizable.

The freshly christened trio wasted little time finalizing their songs and recording and releasing their first studio album Bag of Bones in late 2009. They started playing shows at local bars and cafés, getting their name out and turning first-times listeners into new fans almost every weekend. The band also asked their friend Aaron Lemely to play drums for the band. Lemeley had recently rediscovered his passion for music and was extremely excited for the chance to play with the up-and-coming group.

“I went abroad my junior year and hadn’t played a drum set since I went to college. I started playing the drum set again at the place I stayed in Denmark, and when I came back, I was like, ‘I have to start a band in Athens.’ And fortunately Kyle, Casey, and Jess(Kaufmann) had already started recording,” recollected Aaron.

Shortly after Aaron came on board, Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots added the drummer’s friend, Matt Horne, on the fiddle. With their current line-up in place, Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots began to command more and more attention throughout Athens and the surrounding area. They even earned a little national attention.

“Billboard Magazine sent us an e-mail, and it said something like ‘You’ve been selected!’ We get that stuff all the time and most of it is crap, so I didn’t think it was legitimate,ut there’s a girl we know that used to live in Athens who works at Billboard now. She contacted Aaron (Lemley) and said ‘This is legitimate, you guys should do this,’” said Kaufmann. Luckily, one of Lemley’s friends worked at Billboard at the time and told them to go for it.

The contest was basically a nationwide battle of the bands, and the winner performed at the Billboard Music Awards Show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots pulled everything together in less than a weekend, but it was by no means easy. Lemley sent the contract to his older sister, a law student at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, to try and figure out what exactly they were getting into. The band stopped at a Kinko’s on the way to Thomas, West Virginia to print out flyers and informational slips. Lemley’s sister approved the contract and the band signed the document in his parent’s hotel room in Thomas. They even had to forge Davis’s signature, because the lead guitarist had left Athens a little later than the rest of the band.

The band even managed to get a hold of their producer, Eddie Ashworth, an Audio Production professor at Ohio University despite being inin Austin, Texas. tending the South by Southwest concert. Luckily, Professor Ashworth had the hard drive containing the band’s songs with him,400 miles away. He was able to remix the band’s song “Penny” and send it to them. The bandwho managed to pull all of this together on the road and play a gig in a little less than 48 hours.

The contest put Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots against two other bands from the Midwest region, all competing advance to the next round of the contest and hit the road to face-off against the five other regional winners. The winner from each region was flown to Los Angeles the day after the announcement, where they received an already paid-for rental car from Chevrolet and conduct a mini-tour across the United States, playing shows every night. The five bands’ tour ended in Las Vegas where they battled for the ultimate prize: playing live at the Billboard Music Awards Show and on a live broadcast by ABC.

“Each band that won their region got to fly to L.A. and get a photo shoot, so we sort of skewed that into how we viewed it, like ‘Yeah, they’re going to give us haircuts!’ e were like, ‘We want to go to L.A. tomorrow, no, We want to get flown to L.A. tomorrow to get a haircut!’ Davis remembered with a few laughs. “Matt(Horne) was letting his hair grow out just in case Billboard Magazine would cut his hair for him,” added Kaufmann with a smile.

If nothing else, the band was happy to book some more gigs and add to their fan base. They even received an email from one of their Midwest competitors after the contest ended for both bands. He congratulated the band, wished them well, and added he was “a new fan.” Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots happily welcomed the new listeners and was thankful for their help and support during and after the Billboard contest.

“We have people in other towns that are pulling for us and that are trying to get us into places where they can hear us. It eople saying, ‘Oh, they were picked for that Billboard thing,’ helps us out and makes people take us pretty seriously,” said Kaufmann. Martin added, “The fact that we can give people words about our band that are tied to Billboard Magazine…that’s some credibility.”

With the contest and memories both good and bad now behind them, the next step for Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots is the release sophomore album. Right now it remains untitled, but the band is referring to it as a “Self-Titled” release. This album differs greatly from Bag of Bones, the band’s first album:. in several ways. Lemley and Horne are making their studio album debut, and all agree Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots’ second release. after also agreed after playing 200-plus shows since the release of their first album, the band has evolved tremendously.

“Those 200-plus shows are what the listener is going to hear. Everything that is our band is coming out in this album,” explained Marin. And we’re just trying to see what happens with it “We’re just going to see how many people like it and how many people don’t like it, and then from there we’ll do what we have to do.”.

The album’s r the album, expected to be released in June release falls in nicely with the band’s recent billing for the mid-September Bristol Rhythm and Roots Festival. . Despite the bill being almost completely full, Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots snuck on through the recommendation of a friend.

Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots fondly remembers where it all started, though. They agreed a lot of their success was from the backing of Tim Peacock, the executive director of Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville, Ohio, who first gave the band a chance to play at the Nelsonville Music Festival two years ago. This year, Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots played on the main stage and opened for country music legend George Jones.

The help of Tim Haller could not go unnoticed as well. Haller lets them use his house as a place to practice and attends and records almost every concert. He then uploads the live concerts to Archive.com where anyone with an IP address can listen to the bootlegged shows. The band noted many people have become fans of Duke Junior & The Smokey Boots just because they heard them on this website.

For now, the band is focused on their sophomore release and playing a number of gigs this summer. Martin ended with a final thought, saying, “Ask anyone who does this, whether they’re just starting out or famous, they just kind of want to just keep riding the wave for as long as they can. Right now, and the past two years, we’ve been lucky enough that people want to come see us play. So as long as people want to come see us, we’ll be doing it in some fashion, but if people don’t come anymore, that’s when I’m going to hang ‘em up.”

check out Duke Junior and the Smokey Boots on their website, facebook, or twitter!

Maeve Beyer laughs with Federal Hocking High School student during a YoungLife hangout. Photo by Kate Harris

Story by, Erin McCarthy

Photos By, Kate Harris

It’s 7:59 on a Wednesday night in Athens, Ohio.  To many students of Ohio University’s surrounding high schools, this time means only one thing: YoungLife Club. Middle and high school students eagerly crowd outside of a club-room.  Among the crowd are faces of high schoolers, who deal with the struggles of growing up. They face the pressures of high school, questions of sex, drugs and alcohol; they face poverty, moral dilemmas, a search for purpose; they’re feeling alone, confused, unclean, unloved. But here they are outside of YoungLife; ready to just be a kid again, excited to forget about their stresses for an hour. The clock hits 8:00. The music starts. The doors swing open, and any of a kid’s worries are suddenly trivial, left at the door with their sweaty shoes.

Federal Hocking High School students engage in a paint fight at YoungLife club. Photo by Kate Harris

Young Life is an international organization, a non-denominational Christian ministry to youth.  YoungLife is a connection of families and teachers within the community, the students of the high and middle schools, and passionate college students that brings together multiple generations. The organization started in Athens County in 1996, and it has been growing ever since.

Athens County Young Life currently has ministries in six high schools and one middle school program (called WyldLife). Each school is made of “teams” of OU students who work together to plan weekly events of club, campaigners, and simply hang out and befriend the students of their respective schools.

Andrew Chiki has been involved in YoungLife for nearly eight years. He currently leads Wyld Life at Athens Middle School. Chiki describes YoungLife as, “different than a traditional youth group in that it consists of meeting students where they are.”

The emphasis on relational ministry is the foundation of the Young Life organization; teaching kids about Jesus Christ through friendships.

Chiki explains, “YoungLife is a way to be a different voice to a group that is increasingly being alienated and left behind. It is saying that everyone has options and what they do with those options are up to them. It also gives students responsible older role models that are not their parents or teachers to relate with and grow. Finally, it promotes the message of Christ and the idea that above all things, loving others and loving God are an essential part of life growth.”

Club and Campaigners are two YoungLife staples; weekly events where kids can bring their friends and are encouraged to go out of their comfort zones, go crazy, and be themselves. They learn more about Jesus in each of these events; club being a mix of music, skits, games, and a “club talk,” and campaigners being a weekly bible study.

Sophomore and Logan High School YoungLife leader Megan Exline describes club as “controlled chaos” and a place where kids are, “most encouraged to bring their friends.” Exline got started in YoungLife when she was a Freshman at Trimble High School in Glouster. She’s been involved in Athens Young Life since she heard about it, and immediately wanted to pursue a leadership position when she came to college at OU.

Area Director Nick Gliatis reveals area T-shirts at Athens YL Leader weekend in Goshen, Virginia. Photo by, Kate Harris

“In high school I met my leader, and she was probably one of my closest friends. She was so nice and just poured into me. Even though she was a college student, she loved me so much, because Jesus loved me so much, and that’s really extraordinary,” Exline said.

Apart from spending time with kids in the community, all of the leaders in Athens County Young Life are very close. While other YoungLife areas sometimes have up to 400 leaders, Athens county has only 46, allowing the group of leaders to all know each other and be close friends.

“We have an opportunity to really experience life together in a tight knit supportive community,” Andrew Chiki said.

“We eat dinner together every night. You get really close with your team and it is so cool to be a part of that fellowship,” Exline said, “It is like a family.”

Making YoungLife No. 1

Leading YoungLife calls for considerable time commitment. A leader spends up to twenty hours a week visiting the schools, hanging out with their kids, and running club and campaigners, all on top of being a full time college student.

Brian Kassouf is a junior who leads at Nelsonville-York High School. He explains the necessity of being very intentional about planning your school schedule around YoungLife and making that your top priority.

“I purposely schedule my classes so I can go out to Nelsonville around two and just go hang out with kids,” said Kassouf, “It’s really easy to put YoungLife as a number one priority and just plan everything else around that. My favorite part is getting to hang out with high schoolers on a regular basis. I’m a volunteer track coach and I really enjoy that I get to hang out with kids everyday after school. I love these kids at Nelsonville a lot.”

Because of its heavy reliance on college students for leader positions, Young Life areas typically exist in the suburbs surrounding the city a college is in. Athens’ geographical and socioeconomic location subsequently makes the Athens County YoungLife area a unique one.

“It is much more rural around here than most YoungLife areas,” said Kassouf, “There are a lot of different mixes of people in each school, the people who live out in the country and then the people who live in town. There are very different interests, which can be difficult.”

In Athens, some school districts stretch over thirty miles; giving kids rides to from club can require a forty minute drive one way.

“Athens County YoungLife faces its own challenges with providing services to students and leaders that other areas do not because of the economic climate of Southeast Ohio,” Andrew Chiki explained, “Overall, the students and leaders served often get a richer experience and a more life changing one than other areas though. Like anything else, one of the hardest things is being able to provide quality service and assistance to everyone with very limited resources.”

Love for The Game

What YoungLife offers is described by YoungLife.org as, “the power of presence,” the belief that, “kids’ lives are dramatically impacted when caring adults come alongside them.”

YoungLife leaders are willing to listen and believe in their teens, and because their leader believes in them, kids begin to see that their lives are very meaningful.

“YoungLife and WyldLife are very much about building lifelong community and relationships with students and leaders. The point is to provide opportunities for students that are seeking a different way of thinking and living than what the norm of society tells them,” Chiki said.

There are over 34,393 YoungLife leaders in the United States and around the world, and they all have two things in common: a love for Jesus and a love for the kids.

About a quarter of the students of Ohio University begin their first year without declared majors. The majority of these students enter University College, a place where they can explore their many options and discover themselves in order to discover a career. But who lies behind this operation of guiding students toward future goals? Who is the man behind the Dean’s desk of University College?

His story is very similar to that of many college students. From a small town along the river in Pennsylvania, David Descutner, Dean of University College began his college years unsure of his major. He began at Slippery Rock University on a tennis scholarship. At that time, choosing a major before entering college was required—no matter if you were ready or not.

“I decided to declare an English major upon entering school because it seemed like the lesser of the evils,” Dr. Descutner recalls.

Descutner knew that English was not the right fit for him, but he wasn’t sure what his other options were.

“It was a queer thing—my advisor was a little dude who would tell me stories about himself. Very kind, personable, man but I didn’t exactly get the help that I needed from him.”

As he continued his studies, Dr. Descutner added a second major in French. When a new communications professor came to Slippery Rock, he sought out Descutner. He told Descutner that he would be a good debater, largely attributed to his lust for competition as seen in his tennis playing days.  David Descutner ended up graduating with a triple major in English, French and Speech (Communications). Dr. Descutner then went on to graduate school and completed his PhD.

“With every decision I made in my undergraduate and graduate degree, I had an advisor there helping me by saying maybe do this, or this, giving me facts to think about, without ever making the decision for me,” said the Dean.

Dr. David Descutner came to Ohio University as a professor in communications and had never considered a position in administration until asked to work with the Honors Tutorial College as a chair. With his job in the college, Dr. Descutner discovered that administration was not too different from his first love of teaching. “I learned that being an administrator is the same as being a teacher. You work to help people succeed,” remarked Dr. Descutner.

After his work with the Honors Tutorial College, Dr. Descutner was asked to take over as Dean of University College, which is the position he occupies today, along with Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies. In this position, Descutner not only works as an administrator but also works hands-on with students in learning communities and with advising undecided students.

While many students are hesitant to enter school without a major for fear of getting “lost” or “looked down upon,” Descutner ensures students that it is an academically rewarding decision. “There is no evidence that undecided students are academically inferior to students who come in with a major. They have the same student profile and retention rate, and, up until the 1960s, every student came into college undecided and in University College.”

Many students who have experienced the programs in University College and worked with Dr. Descutner (who insists on his students calling him David) agree.

“I’ve really gotten to know myself over this past year of college. I’m starting to figure out what I want in life and what I could do for the rest of it,” said freshman Megan Moore, a student of University College and advisee of Dean Descutner through the University College Scholars Learning Community. “David has helped me out a ton this year…winter quarter was awful for me, but David provided as much advice and support as anyone could. And I’m still here, so obviously he helped! David is truly amazing, and I am glad he led our Scholars Learning Community. He is a great influence to anyone.”

Learning Communities are groups offered to first year students in which all students in the same community take a common set of classes, along with a University College class. This provides a base for searching for a major and offers an opportunity to bond with other first year students who have similar interests.

Although still undecided, freshman Eric Burga has benefitted from his work with University College and David Descutner. “David helped me decide what major was right for me and introduced me to several helpful programs and tools to help me decide. Without participating in the learning community, I don’t see myself being this far along with my major decision as I am today,” said Burga.

From a professional standpoint, Dean Descutner emphasizes the importance of relationships in terms of success. “Nothing can take the place or importance of a family relationship, but professional relationships and the professional support systems that you build and establish prove to be extremely important and rewarding,” said Dr. Descutner.

Amy Tollafeld is a Graduate Assistant in the Allen Student help center, which is also guided by University College. She has worked with David Descutner through teaching the UC 190 learning community class.

“I was very excited to teach the University College Scholars UC 190 course with Dean Descutner because I know he truly cares about students, and I had only heard positive things about him from University College staff. I think it’s so great that a College Dean took an hour every week to be present and fully participate in class; he even came to out-of-class activities! Additionally, he and I met with every single student for quarterly, pre-registration advising. Since University College is so focused on advising as many students housed there are undecided, it’s important for that philosophy to start at the top, and it really does with Dean Descutner. He will still pop into the Help Center when I’m working and check to see if I’ve heard from any advisees lately and what is going on with them,” said Tollafeld.

Leadership is among the most important aspects of an organization and what keeps it running. It is clear that the Dean of University College oversees and supports a program that thrives and helps guide students through their tough educational choices

Athens need not worry about losing the Dean of University College anytime soon. He has turned down offers for jobs from numerous schools across the country and has no intention of leaving the town that both him and his wife Leigh call home. You can, however, expect to see him back in the classroom.

“I plan on going back to teaching in the last three or four years before I retire,” said Descutner. “I believe that it is the single most meaningful thing that one can do—teach others.”

Photos By, Katheryn Roan

Ask anyone in Athens and they will assure you that it is a community of givers.  From Passionworks to Ohio University’s student-run associations, the city of Athens takes excellent care and pride in improving the lives of its citizens.  But what many people and students living in the Athens community do not know is that the less fortunate animals are also taken care of.

Last Chance Corral, which was founded in 1986, is an abused horse’s sanctuary located about five miles outside of Ohio University’s campus.  The people working at Last Chance Corral focus their energy on rescuing both foals and full-grown horses.  Many of the adult horses they rescue are from the area and come to them mainly because their owners cannot afford them.  But they do get the occasional call to rescue an abused horse.

My visit to Last Chance was in the midst of foal season.  Last Chance spends all year, but especially the spring, rescuing nurse mare foals and sending them to homes where they will be raised and eventually ridden by people who want them.  Nurse mare foals are foals that are not bred for any reason other than their mother’s milk or condition of pregnancy.  The foals are either passed over for another more valuable foal in need of the mare’s milk or are bred so that their mother’s urine can be used as an ingredient in Premarin, a female hormone replacement.

I was fortunate enough to get a tour of the facilities by Lenny, a recently hired hand at the barn.  She immediately led me to the foal barn, where I was delightfully introduced to about ten foals.  Most of the foals were quarter horse crosses, so I was interested in where they had come from.

“There are about three nurse mare farms that Victoria [the woman in charge of the operation] gets foals from; all are located in Kentucky,” answered Lenny.  She then continued to explain that, due to the large Thoroughbred racing industry in Kentucky, there is a larger demand for nurse mares.

After asking how many foals Victoria can afford to save in one rescue, Lenny answered, “Victoria saves as many as she can, but the ones she cannot save are killed.”  This answer, although blunt, was a shocking truth as I watched the foals, some less than a week old, romp about their enclosure.

As my visit progressed, I was able to witness a couple who had come to adopt one of the foals.  They informed me that this would be the second foal that adopted from Last Chance Corral and that they could not be happier with the first foal they took home four years ago.

They told me, “We do not understand how anyone could kill one of these foals, so we adopt them, train them, and either keep them for ourselves or sell them to good homes.”  By the way that they were bonding with the foal they had chosen, I had a feeling that they would be keeping this one.

Last Chance Corral is in a fortunate position to care for the foals.  “We give the sick foals round-the-clock care and have about a two percent mortality rate,” said Lenny.  At the time of my visit, they had three foals that were located in a separate corral because they were sick.  “That little girl there is still pretty sick,” explained Lenny as she pointed out a small foal that wore a blanket, “She still needs constant care.”  Due to some of the foals’ condition, I asked Lenny if there was a certain amount of time that the foals were allowed to remain on the farm.  “We keep them for as long as they need to be here for their health or until they are adopted. We do not kill them,” answered Lenny.

My visit to Last Chance Corral was a privilege.  I was instantly under the spell of all of the foals that I got to meet.  And by meet, I really do mean meet, because they were so curious that they would walk right up to my photographer and I and stick their noses in our hands.

Last Chance Corral does take donations and needs all they help they can get. “We do take volunteers when we can get them,” said Lenny, “There is never not enough work to do.” With the foal season in full swing, volunteers will get the opportunity to work with the young horses by showing up at the barn and asking if there is anything they can do.  Last Chance Corral is another excellent example of the spirit of the Athens community.

For more information on Last Chance Corral visit their website at www.lastchancecorral.org.

Budget is a hot topic around here. It seems OU is always looking for a way to save money and trim costs. So when buyouts were put on the table, OU executives were faced with a decision, should they offer it?

Human Resources administered the buyouts. As Chief Human Resource Officer, Linda Losinger was involved in this process and had insight into how the buyouts came into existence. “A buyout is an option that employers look at to reduce the employer’s costs and do so in a way that harms as few people as possible,” Losinger said.

Losinger said that the buyouts would allow the university to look at resculpting staffing and it would save costs. “One benefit is that it allows the university to reduce positions without harming anyone,” she said. “It helps us get costs and staffing levels into alignment with our budget while keeping in mind our vision and mission at OU.”

However, like all decisions, the buyouts also had some negative aspects. If there were only benefits and no disadvantages, then it would have been an easy choice. “It’s a wide open process, so anyone who is eligible can take it. We may have faculty and staff avail themselves to the buyout and some faculty and staff will be difficult to replace. It’s hard to know who will and who won’t partake in this,” Losinger said. “With flexibility there is guesswork.”

Losinger said that upper administration and also the budget planning council level worked on this decision. “A shared governance model was used. It was considered by the entire university,” she said. “Clearly, the University believed the benefits outweighed any risk. We wouldn’t have done this if we didn’t firmly believe that the benefits outweighed the risk.”

While OU had a decision to make, so did those offered the buyouts. Retirement is an interesting concept because people look forward to it from the moment they start working, yet retiring early is extremely hard to do. When Ohio University decided to buyout workers, hundreds of people had a decision to make: should they take it?

Ben Brooks took the buyout and retired this past month. His last day was April 29, 2011. He was a Maintenance Repair Worker for Dining Hall Facilities Maintenance while he worked at OU. Brooks was already planning on retiring, but he just hadn’t gotten around to it.

“I guess it was just time. They’re In the process of changing the retirement system and they’re facing a budget deficit at OU. They’re facing a major deficit of over 9 million dollars,” Brooks said when asked why he took the buyout.

Whether deciding to offer the buyout or deciding to take it, one thing is for certain: These people had a decision to make and did what seemed best to them.