We’re slimming down the size of our newspaper by a bit less than an inch. The downsized dimensions, we hope, will be more manageable for readers and be more environmentally friendly.
The Athens NEWS and The Athens Messenger now share the same owner.
We reported in Tuesday’s Post that Ohio University has been setting aside increasingly larger portions of its nearly $500 million endowment for internal uses since 2011.
Ohio University is now offering students the chance to report sexual assaults anonymously. This gives the roughly 50 percent of OU’s victims of sexual assault who do not want their cases investigated an outlet for assistance and resources, according a report in Monday’s Post.
Ohio University announced plans last week to build a new student-athlete academic center in the north end zone of Peden Stadium. The facility, which will cost an estimated $5.5 million, will be made possible by a $2.25 million donation from alumni Perry and Sandy Sook and will bear their namesake. The fundraising campaign that will cover the estimated remaining cost ($2.75 million) reminds us of a recent university fundraising efforts of larger means but similar significance. The Walter Fieldhouse, which sits next door to the site of the academic building, was made possible by a large lead donation, a subsequent fundraising campaign, and, later on, student fees.As long as this fundraising campaign doesn’t follow that same route, we support the idea of a new academic facility. We oppose the construction of the facility if it goes the way of the fieldhouse — which is available to all students, to be fair. This academic building would be used by only the approximate 450 student-athletes, so all students should not be tasked with supporting it. We already heartily support our student-athletes — with our fees and otherwise — so we think an additional cost to students would be unnecessary.Of course, there has been no indication that student fees will be used for the academic center. But that was initially the case with the fieldhouse as well — to the best of our knowledge. To reiterate our point: We’re in favor of improved facilities for our student-athletes as long as the necessary finances come from donors, not students. If that were not the case, we can think of better uses for our tuition dollars.Editorials represent the majority of The Post’s executive editors.
We reported on the top 50 faculty salaries at Ohio University in Wednesday’s Post, and what we found was unsettling.
Readers have submitted, by my count, 46 letters to the editor since the beginning of the academic year.
We reported in Wednesday’s Post that Ohio University’s Urban Scholars Program — which at its conception planned to recruit 100 high-achieving students annually from Ohio’s low income, urban areas — only consists of four total students this year.
As The Post reported yesterday, the newly-popularized Yik Yak mobile application offers Ohio University students — and many others across the nation — the chance to anonymously post whatever they please in an easy-to-use, hyperlocal app.With more than 3,400 users on campus, the idea clearly resonates with OU students.While we take no issue with the idea of students being able to post their thoughts without having to think twice about job prospects or lurking parents, the seemingly harmless app can have a dark side.Being able to post whatever you desire without having to attach your name is a lot of power, and it has led to criminal charges and cyberbullying complaints elsewhere, our reporting uncovered.A quick scroll through the app Tuesday evening led us to derogatory posts about students, in some cases using their full names. Other posts are highly sexualized, racist or just downright mean.Such posts might be written in jest — or with good intentions — but there are some that cross the line. There’s nothing wrong with good, clean fun, but it’s not cool to use anonymity to bully and degrade others.Simply put: There is no need to be attacking our fellow Bobcats. If you feel the need to tear another student or faculty member down, settle the score face-to-face, or at the very least do it on a forum with your name attached.Don’t ruin a good outlet by flooding it with hate. We’re better than that.Yak away, Bobcats. Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
We would like to congratulate our peers in Ohio University’s Society of Professional Journalists chapter, who took home National Campus Chapter of the Year earlier this month at the SPJ’s Excellence in Journalism conference in Nashville, Tennessee.Although we did not cover the news with a story — we often shy away from covering news about our E.W. Scripps School of Journalism colleagues — the honor is a testament to the talent trained at OU. It’s also a big deal for the journalism school because national recognition such as this helps recruit talented high school students interested in breaking into the journalism field.“Ohio University’s chapter was chosen because of its efforts to well-conceive and organize nearly 24 events paired with multiple other media-oriented campus groups, effectively use its social media outlets, creatively utilize Skype for ‘virtual visits’ and efficiently serve its student body with professional-grade programming,” according to a news release on SPJ’s website.One such event involved Gregory Moore, the editor of The Denver Post, who was able to visit our newsroom last year and speak with those pursuing reporting jobs. We would not have been able to make the connection without the help of SPJ.Full disclosure: some of our co-workers and colleagues are SPJ members. Lindsay Friedman, our Digital Editor, is the organization’s special events coordinator and former president.SPJ has set a high standard that all student organizations should strive for. We commend its leaders for their efforts. Editorials represent the majority of The Post’s executive editors.
This past week has been a hectic one, both at The Post and around campus. Much of that to-do, in both cases, has stemmed from Student Senate President Megan Marzec’s controversial “blood bucket” challenge.
Time — and funding — is running out for an important university resource for sexual assault survivors.
We have received numerous letters regarding the Megan Marzec’s “blood bucket” controversy, and we are continuing to run as many as we can on our opinion page, with the rest appearing online.
We have received 16 letters to the editor concerning Ohio University Student Senate President Megan Marzec’s controversial “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” since press time Thursday. A number of them have since been published on our website, and we will continue to publish them throughout the week, printing as many as we can on our opinion page.
We stand up for Christian fundamentalists' right to express their opinions in a peaceful manner. The same goes for students who are looking to do the same.
Here at The Post, a whiteboard with notes, reminders and the occasional inside joke adorns the wall space inside our newsroom door.Before our last round of staffers leave for the night, they scribble the time of their departure on the whiteboard’s color-stained surface.Last I checked, a figure on the late side of 4:30 a.m. was scrawled for all to see.It’s been that kind of week.The good news is that we’re another seven days into the semester, are nearly settled into our routine and have picked up some steam heading into week three.I’ve been particularly pleased with the amount of interaction we’ve had with our readers since I arrived on campus two weeks ago; I’ve heard from a number of you about what you’ve enjoyed from The Post and what you think we could do better.Two topics were mentioned multiple times: Our front-page design and Twitterfeed.My conversations about the former topic were generally positive. Alumni and students alike wrote me to say they have been pleased with the way our front page looks. I’m glad to hear it, but it’s hardly my place to take the praise.Our design staff, led by Jake Newton and David Sebo, has spearheaded an initiative to better showcase our stories and photos in print. Judging by comments from our readers, it seems like we’re on the right track.Parallel to our print efforts, we’ve also looked to improve our appearance on the Web. This process, however, hasn’t been without its hiccups.As you likely know, we made the transition to a new website in late July. We’ve been consistently tinkering with new settings and features, with more additions to come in the near future. One that seems to have been a swing and a miss, however, is the website’s auto-tweet function.We tried it for several days last week. The result? Reader feedback like this: “Just scroll down the @ThePost feed. It's super repetitive and spammy. Don't do that.”Needless to say, we’ve cut that out. We’ve also refined our online workflow to make sure that we have fresh content on our website throughout the day instead of just during the morning hours.While we continue to improve our operation, both in print and on the Web, I encourage you to drop me a line to let me know what you think. My colleagues and I value your opinion.As always, thanks for reading.Jim Ryan is a senior studying journalism and political science and editor-in-chief of The Post. Love this week’s front pages? Annoyed by our Twitter tactics? Contact him at jr992810@ohio.edu or on Twitter at @Jimryan015.
Editorial: As president of Student Senate, Megan Marzec must learn to separate her personal views from those representing the student body as a whole.
We reported in Monday’s issue of The Post that nine Athens food establishments received critical violations during health inspections this year. We realize that is not an astronomical total, but it is a surprise to us how nonchalantly the Athens City/County Health Department viewed them.
As we reported last week, Athens officials have suggested a change to the party laws in town. We believe the proposed update to Athens’ nuisance party ordinance is one that will prove fair for students.
Because you’ll be hearing from me every Friday for the remainder of the academic year, I figure it’s as good a time as any to introduce myself and explain what you can expect from this column.
Solutions by The State News