OU Theater Department: A Musical? Maybe so.

                           

                                                 By: Kedrin Herron

The Ohio University School of Theater is located in Kantner Hall on North Green. For many years the theater department has continuously impressed audiences with the productions they put on each quarter. Students and staff endure extensive preparatory endeavors to ensure the final product is a success. Some of these actions include designing the set, fittings for costumes, and long rehearsals. However, many wonder about the nonexistence of musicals in the theater department. After meeting with students and faculty in the School of Theater and the School of Music, it has been revealed that a perceived perception created by each individual department is responsible for play-production only. It has also been recently revealed that after years of wanting to see a musical, the Athens community's wish has been granted. Next school year, the musical Assassins will be produced by the Theater Department. (Kedrin Herron)

The Worth of Waste

          

Badger Johnson, an avid gardener, Athens local and community organizer with Community Food Initiatives, instilling a love of smelly compost in young gardeners to come.

Composting is truly not always a  pleasant sight, these massive buckets outside of Shively dining hall will soon be taken to the OU Composting site

 

          People and places of business found in Athens, Ohio raise few objections to the practice of composting, but does this ideological support actually further real environmental efforts? The local food community that thrives in Athens supports the eco-friendly attitude behind composting. Gardening enthusiasts, novices and horticultural veterans alike, can appreciate the use of recycling not only as waste reduction, but conversion into a valuable means of garden maintenance. The University is also taking serious strides in its sustainable efforts, with the instalation of a massive composting plant that collects food waste from dining halls around campus. The Compost Exchange Group is a local business offering composting services that take the work and waste into their own hands to promote the practice. Ray Leard from the Group recently paid a visit to various locations prone to waste production in the Court Street food industry to personally extend his services, which include a labeled compost bucket lent to restaurants and picked up weekly, free of charge. Despite the simplicity of the arrangement and the positive impact environmentally, and for all members involved, he was met with skepticism. What causes the concern for these businesses in regards to composting?

 I first went to the skeptically pro-compost businesses, which have thus far refused to take the bucket. Sarah Cecil, the general manager of Big Mamma’s Burritos discussed the difficulties preventing the adoption of composting in local business practices. One concern was whether sustainability is worth the effort, and the difficulty of keeping a business running smoothly with a bucket in the room. One serious and obvious issue was the waste itself and potential odor being released with all those steamy nutrients. To avoid ‘critters’ and scents the authorities of Mamma’s have officially positioned themselves ‘on the fence’ over the whole issue, from which they can look down and see the odorous work being done.

Casa Nueva was one of the few serious practicioners of composting, on Court Street and Sarah Ficke revealed where material is collected by buckets and composted at around 30 gallons daily. The successful implementation of the practice extends to Sarah's home where she composts as well and gardens. Many employees are avid gardeners and composted material is shared among them in addition to being distributed to local farmers and community gardeners. She describes the process as an incredibly easy alternative to merely throwing away trash and one that allows Casa Cantina to benefit the community as well as make their trash runs less heavy. 

Sarah fills an average of three buckets during each cold prep shift with 5 gallons of compostable material, which is sometimes used by the employees themselves in home gardens.

By Lexi Deet

Smoking at Ohio University  

Alice Ragland and Tom Pernecker

 

The Ohio University Smoking Policy, which was approved in 2006, states that “Ohio University prohibits smoking in all Ohio University buildings; on appurtenant rooftops and terraces; in public buildings directly or indirectly under the control of Ohio University; and within 10 feet of University buildings, including windows and ventilation intake openings.”

The policy is fairly new, but most current OU students have followed it since they first arrived. 

During several interviews, student smokers and nonsmokers were asked if they agreed or disagreed with the smoking policy.  Many of the student smokers said that it did not particularly bother them. 

A time that the tight policy is problematic for student smokers is when it rains outside.  But besides that, most smokers do not have a problem stepping 10 feet away from a building to smoke. 

Whether the policy is truly followed or not is another question.  Most students still smoke directly next to buildings.  It is against the rules to smoke on the catwalks and the stairs on South Green, but most smokers ignore this policy.

Normally when this rule is broken, students are not punished.  Resident Assistants and other members of the Residential Housing department are the people who are supposed to enforce this policy, but most students get away with smoking wherever they want.

International students face a different challenge.  Students from many other nations may have been allowed to smoke indoors in their home countries, which is a big transition to the stricter U.S. policies regarding smoking.

Even so, the international students that were interviewed generally do not have huge objections about the smoking policy at O.U.  One student mentioned that since he cannot smoke in his dorm room like he can in his home country of China, he smokes less now than he did before. 

Most students agree that despite certain instances of inconvenience for smokers, the smoking policy is overall fair for both smokers and nonsmokers.