Budgeting Athletes
Blair Scanlon
On March 13, Court Street in Athens filled with hundreds of students chanting the popular, “OU, oh yeah!” cheer. The basketball team had just defeated Georgetown in one of the biggest upsets of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Days later on the 29th it was the athletic budget that took the spotlight.
The troubled economy is affecting everyone, including public universities like Ohio University. Department’s campus wide are facing budget and pay cuts.
A special Budget Council was created in order to clarify the current situation and subsequent process. There have been numerous emails sent by the council to both students and faculty attempting to explain the situation and how and why these cuts are being administered.
Perhaps the most controversial of the topics on the budget list is the athletics section. A separate, more in depth document was created to answer the myriad of questions. The common trend in questions and comments-athletics has received special treatment and abused their privileges, make them pay.
In a March 2010 article appearing in The Post, the athletic budget deficit is cited at $7 million. The Post’s further analysis showed that since 2005 the athletic department was overspending by $1.2 million each year.
They also said that other departments are being expected to “foot the bill” for these mistakes. The resentment ensues.
The University is now attempting to alleviate the concerns and address the questions.
According to the ‘Budget Recommendations’ from March 29, “Ohio University is an academic institution that since 1892 a tradition of providing institutional support for student athletic competition.”
Athletics are described as a core and integral activity.
Dr. Rebecca Thacker, an associate professor in the Human Resource Management department in the College of Business, agrees with much of what the recommendations are stating.
“Playing a sport is also a learning experience,” she said. “You learn sportsmanship, how to fulfill your obligations to the team you work with, how to take adversity and not let it destroy you, how to manage time and the demands of two different but equally important components of your life -in this case, academics and athletics, but in the real world, it becomes job and family-, and some students learn how to become leaders.”
She admits that her opinion is not the popular way of thinking.
“I know that I am definitely in the minority in thinking this way,” she said.
With the recent budget cuts a lot of concerns have emerged that the athletic departments have not received the same blow.
The athletic department begs to differ.
In an e-mail statement, Jason Corriher, the Assistant Athletic Director of Media Relations, said that his office has been reduced to three staff members from six due to the budget cuts.
Ohio University has also had to cut many athletic programs over the years due to poor attendance and lack of successful funding methods. The most recent cut was the Cross Country Team.
Dr. Thacker says that there is a direct correlation between spending and successful teams. She believes we have to put the time and money in if we want to see any return- continuing to cut back simply is not the answer.
“There is no question in my mind about that,” she said. “The better the athletic facilities, like an indoor football practice field, or a dedicated basketball arena for practice, etc., the more likely you are to recruit the best athletes and the best coaches- the better the athletes and the coaches, the greater the likelihood of success.”
As a proud booster of West Virginia University athletics, she has watched their program blossom over the years. As the teams improved so did enrollment in the University. When enrollment improved people started paying attention and recognizing them as a viable player in the college arena.
“No longer do the sportscasters call us "The University of West Virginia," or call us the "miners," instead of the "Mountaineers," she said. “You have to have a flag to rally around, and unless you're Harvard or Yale, it's not likely to be an academic flag- but it can be the sports flag, and that certainly spawned a great outpouring of affection and money for the university.”
As far as she is concerned, athletics play an important role in this University. She believes that we are on the proper budget course at this point and hopes that we only continue.
“I would hope that President McDavis and Athletics Director Schaus would stay the course as far as the athletic budget is concerned,” she said. “If anything, I'd like to see us improve our facilities for football as a way to attract recruits.”
Other members of the faculty are a little more wary of the state of the athletic budget.
WOUB, the local PBS station has seen its fair share of budget cuts.
The station provides public television to the surrounding counties as well as an opportunity for students to get real world experience in the fields of radio and television broadcasting. With the recent cuts classes have become larger and the faculty and staff have shrunk.
Sue Damron, administrative coordinator for WOUB, says that they have seen some major changes with the budget.
“We lost 6 people last year and we had two people retire this year and everyone has taken a 5% pay cut,” she said. “Without the two people retiring the staff would have had to take a larger pay cut-so we have had our share of budget cuts.”
This has reinforced a concern that all departments should be affected by the cuts, not just one more so than another.
Damron says she appreciates the importance of athletics but that they cannot escape the hardships.
“We have had pretty tough decisions so they should too,” she said. “Last year they didn’t face much in the way of cuts and we lost eight people.”
She does not, however, want to diminish the importance that athletics play in the university atmosphere.
“I would not want to see them go away, sports are always valuable and you are not here just to learn academics-sports are a means to bring interest to the University,” she said.
It is evident during this tough time with budget cuts, that every department is concerned with how their programs will fair when the money is distributed. Those in the athletic department and their supporters, like Dr. Thacker, maintain that they are a vital part to keeping enrollment and interest in Ohio University on the rise.
“Most faculty probably don't attend games, they don't get to know the athletes, and they may have stereotypical and negative impressions of athletes,” Dr. Thacker said. “I think playing a sport is great preparation for life after college. To say that we should devalue that experience is to send a message to our student athletes that they are devalued.”
Monday, June 7, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
After talking to Diane Grinkemeyer, she asked that I share this Susan G. Komen PSA on my blog. Breast cancer effects about 1 in 8 women and the cure is still out there. The Susan G. Komen Foundation has worked tirelessly to raise money to fund research for the cure. Don't watch this PSA for me, but watch it for Diane and the millions of other women who are fighting or who have fought breast cancer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6wmo_Qqhd0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6wmo_Qqhd0
Monday, May 24, 2010
A formidable opponent: Diane Grinkemeyer
Blair Scanlon
Diane Grinkemeyer grew up loving the thrill of competition. Little did she know that the love she had for playing games would help her in the competition for her life.
In 1957 Diane VonDenBenken was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to Carl and Maria VonDenBenken, both immigrants from Germany. The family, including her two brothers Ron and Tom, lived in Blue Ash, Ohio where VonDenBenken began to develop her passion for athletics.
“I just naturally loved sports,” she said.
By the time she was in high school her skills were developed and she was a stand out among her peers. At Mount Notre Dame, a Division I Catholic High School in Cincinnati, VonDenBenken played varsity basketball, volleyball, softball and soccer all four years. While she was a successful athlete, she looked at the sports as more fun than anything.
“Playing is a means of meeting people and a social event,” she said. “If you do well it’s a bonus.”
Perhaps her bonus was becoming a member of the Mount Notre Dame Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005. Or maybe it is her distinction as a LaRosa’s Athlete Hall of Famer- a great honor for local Cincinnati athletes. Either way, she was definitely seeing a return of her efforts.
In 1974, VonDenBenken met her now husband, Robert Grinkemeyer and her athletic ability even played a role in this.
Grinkemeyer was dating a close friend of VonDenBenken’s and she had no intention of becoming involved with him. That is until she saved him from drowning. However, she will tell you that she did not really save his life, but just merely helped him out of the water. Nonetheless she caught his attention.
They were married four years later on September 2, 1978 and VonDenBenken traded one German name for another. Together they had two children, daughters Lisa and Krista. The four eventually moved to Delhi, a suburb of Cincinnati, and settled into family life.
Her daughter Krista developed a love for athletics early on as well. She played many sports throughout her middle school years and continued on to play basketball and softball at Seton High School. She too, was celebrated for her skills in softball receiving Honorable Mention in the 2007 Cincinnati Enquirer Division 1 Softball poll.
But she maintains that her mother never pressured her to play sports-rather she just encouraged both her and her sister to explore and find something that they enjoyed.
“She never forced any kind of advice on us but she was always there if we had a question or needed to talk to her about something,” she said. “She would always tell us something positive and just genuinely wanted us to be better athletes.”
Grinkemeyer’s passion for all things sports followed her into her adult and family life.
She joined a local bowling league and just as she had excelled in high school, she excelled in bowling. The list of all of her accomplishments throughout the years is extensive. Among her awards are- Hamilton Association Hall of Fame Bowler and second in the state of Ohio in Doubles. She has held an average of 200 for the last 10 years and has a high score of 290- a nearly perfect game.
It would seem such a distinguished athlete would be invincible. But Grinkemeyer soon found out that no one, no matter their skill level, is invincible.
In 2000, she received a devastating diagnosis. She had breast cancer and would have to undergo extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
The news was a major blow but Grinkemeyer knew there was only one course of action for the formidable opponent- positivity.
“I have a strong will and I just forced myself to be positive,” she said.
While everyday was a struggle, everyday was also a victory for Grinkemeyer.
Her daughter Krista remembers that her mom did not tell her about the cancer right away.
“It was very evident that she didn’t want us to think or worry about anything that she was going through-she never wanted us to worry about her,” she said.
Grinkemeyer was determined not to let cancer interfere with her life. And just like any other game she played she would play until the last whistle blew.
“It’s an instilled thing you know, just get through everyday,” she said.
And she did- Grinkemeyer- 1 Cancer- 0.
But this was no ordinary win. Sure the stakes were much higher-life or death- but this win also warranted a priceless award.
“I’m a firm believer that good can come from something bad,” she said.
So what was the good that came from cancer, a disease that kills hundreds of thousands of people every year? It is Grinkemeyer’s ability to inspire others who were suffering like she had. It is the positivity that has only grown in her life. And it is her ability to see the good in more things now than ever before.
“I don’t worry about petty things and I live everyday like there is no tomorrow,” she said. “What is important is what is in front of me-my family and my friends.”
Today Grinkemeyer has a new pastime. You can find her on the golf course with her husband.
“I need something to do and now I have golf,” she said. “He (Robert) enjoys it so now it is something we can do together.”
Her daughter Krista maintains that her mother is a strong positive woman and that is how she was able to beat breast cancer.
“She is just a fighter, I guess you could say, and she is definitely a competitive woman and I think it was the battle of her and cancer,” she said.
But if you ask Grinkemeyer about her positive outlook and competitive nature she has a much simpler explanation.
“It’s just me,” she said.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Bulldogs fall to underdog Cavaliers
The season ended Thursday for the Bulldogs who lost 6-1 to the underdog Chillicothe Cavaliers in the first round of the OHSSA Softball Playoffs.
This was a tough loss for the favored Athens team after an emotional game. The Bulldogs were a number one seed playing the number 8 seed Cavs. Coach Sheila Ross commented on the pressure the girls may have felt.
“When you’re coming into a game where you’re supposed to win and things start off slow you do feel more pressure and when someone is expected to win, you got a little weight on your shoulders,” she said.
The start of the game seemed to be a match of pitchers with both Jayne Seymour for Athens and Rylee Boullion for Chillicothe pitching three and out.
But the bats proved stronger for Chillicothe which scored two runs in the second inning from Kali Kight and Page Rinehart, both sophomores.
The Chillicothe team is in fact a very young team with only one senior, first baseman Holly LeMay. LeMay made a game changing play at first. With the tying runs for Athens on first and second, two outs and Seymour up to bat, she made an acrobatic behind the back, upside down, twisted catch to get the third out.
At this point something changed for the Bulldogs.
“I thought we would be able to score two right then,” Ross said. “That would have changed the ball game right there and at that point our experience would have been a little different.”
On the flip side, Greg Philips, coach of the Cavaliers, was rather thrilled with the catch.
“That’s the game right there,” he said, noting that if the game had been tied up at that point, the outcome could have been different.
He was not so surprised, however, by the play from the lone senior.
“She is our one senior and I expect that from her,” he said.
LeMay was pretty pleased herself with the play.
“It felt really good,” she said.
She also expects that things will be a little different when the team returns to school tomorrow.
“We had a lot of people not have faith in us and they believed that we weren’t going to win and it's just going to be crazy,” she laughed.
But the Cavs have not always had such great success and people truly have been less than impressed by the team.
Philips has only coached the team for two years but has worked very hard to point the team in the right direction but he had quite the challenge ahead of him.
Out of the last one hundred games the Cavs had only won three. Their record going into this playoff game was only 9-17. It is a team with nine freshmen and sophomores on a roster of 11; the odds seem to be against them. But as Philips plainly put it: “They believe.”
They are not a team with unrealistic expectations, though.
“We didn’t have expectations except that we were going to play hard and get this program headed in the right direction,” Philips said.
Now people might be paying attention to the underdog Cavs and that’s just what Philips is hoping for.
“We’ve sent a good message and we will see how far we can ride this train,” he said.
The season ended Thursday for the Bulldogs who lost 6-1 to the underdog Chillicothe Cavaliers in the first round of the OHSSA Softball Playoffs.
This was a tough loss for the favored Athens team after an emotional game. The Bulldogs were a number one seed playing the number 8 seed Cavs. Coach Sheila Ross commented on the pressure the girls may have felt.
“When you’re coming into a game where you’re supposed to win and things start off slow you do feel more pressure and when someone is expected to win, you got a little weight on your shoulders,” she said.
The start of the game seemed to be a match of pitchers with both Jayne Seymour for Athens and Rylee Boullion for Chillicothe pitching three and out.
But the bats proved stronger for Chillicothe which scored two runs in the second inning from Kali Kight and Page Rinehart, both sophomores.
The Chillicothe team is in fact a very young team with only one senior, first baseman Holly LeMay. LeMay made a game changing play at first. With the tying runs for Athens on first and second, two outs and Seymour up to bat, she made an acrobatic behind the back, upside down, twisted catch to get the third out.
At this point something changed for the Bulldogs.
“I thought we would be able to score two right then,” Ross said. “That would have changed the ball game right there and at that point our experience would have been a little different.”
On the flip side, Greg Philips, coach of the Cavaliers, was rather thrilled with the catch.
“That’s the game right there,” he said, noting that if the game had been tied up at that point, the outcome could have been different.
He was not so surprised, however, by the play from the lone senior.
“She is our one senior and I expect that from her,” he said.
LeMay was pretty pleased herself with the play.
“It felt really good,” she said.
She also expects that things will be a little different when the team returns to school tomorrow.
“We had a lot of people not have faith in us and they believed that we weren’t going to win and it's just going to be crazy,” she laughed.
But the Cavs have not always had such great success and people truly have been less than impressed by the team.
Philips has only coached the team for two years but has worked very hard to point the team in the right direction but he had quite the challenge ahead of him.
Out of the last one hundred games the Cavs had only won three. Their record going into this playoff game was only 9-17. It is a team with nine freshmen and sophomores on a roster of 11; the odds seem to be against them. But as Philips plainly put it: “They believe.”
They are not a team with unrealistic expectations, though.
“We didn’t have expectations except that we were going to play hard and get this program headed in the right direction,” Philips said.
Now people might be paying attention to the underdog Cavs and that’s just what Philips is hoping for.
“We’ve sent a good message and we will see how far we can ride this train,” he said.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Iris is number 33 in the front row
Athlete Profile-
Iris Butcher: The anatomy of an athlete
Blair Scanlon
She is a member of the National Honor Society, she was on the honor roll all four years of high school, and received Federal Hocking High School’s highest distinguished honor, The Principals Award, as a sophomore. And these were just her academic honors.
Iris Butcher began playing basketball when she was in the second grade. Her father coached her brother Ian’s Bitty League and she attended all the practices. She watched, and absorbed.
There was no team for second grade girls so Iris joined the fifth and sixth grade girl’s team. After just one year, this just was not competitive enough and so she joined the boys. With the boys she felt comfortable and welcome and she felt like she was playing at the level she needed to be. Sometimes others were not as comfortable.
“When I started playing with them, it was no big deal to me but it was the other teams that had a problem with it,” she said.
There was the problem of "cooties". Boys would refuse to guard her for fear they would contract the “disease.” Butcher was also taller than most of the boys and a few concerned parents would argue that she had an unfair advantage. Her mother even made it a point to carry Iris’ birth certificate around with her. Puberty would eventually catch up with the boys and Iris would have to make the transition to playing with the girls again. This was not an easy move, either. In her words it was “horrible.”
The years of playing with the boys taught her not only how to play with them, but also how to relate to them. Unfortunately, she did not make a lot of girl friends in the process. The style of play was slower, too.
Butcher wanted to return to the boys team but her parents insisted that she stick this out.
“You need to make them better is what they said to me, and they were right,” she said.
Eventually the adjustment was made and Butcher transitioned brilliantly.
It would be naïve to think that all of her talent was just something that she developed one day. Iris credits much of her success as a basketball player to her family supportive family.
As a young girl, she could be found dribbling up and down the streets of Amesville, Ohio just trying to get in as much practice as possible. This is when she developed most of her skills, when it was just she and her dad going over the basics. It would be a few more years until he would be her official coach but his influence in the earlier years was invaluable.
You often hear the stories about father daughter, coach player relationships that don’t work out but the one between Iris and her father did. “We would but heads and stuff but we never had a problem and we always worked really well together,” she said.
The car rides home from the game were usually silent. Not because there was tension or frustration but because that was the time both coach and player could collect their thoughts about the game. Then when they were home there was eat, again, and talk about the game. But the dialogue was not between coach and player- this was a conversation between father and daughter.
“When I got home it wasn’t my coach talking to me it was my dad talking to me,” she said.
Her mother has also taught her some valuable lessons off the court that have transitioned into her success on the court.
Butcher suffered some major set backs before her senior season. At the end of July while in Washington D.C. for a tournament, she injured her knee. On the ride home she was convinced it was just a bad sprain.
“None of us thought it was that bad,”her mother Rosemary said.
The news from her doctor was not in accordance- she had a torn ACL and meniscus. Her entire senior year was wiped out in a matter of seconds.
But her strong personality and the strength of her family helped Iris work through the injury.
“I told her everything happens for a reason, you may not know the reason now or even 30 years from now, but you are never given more than you can handle” her mother said, “she is also just very strong young lady.”
Just as she was completing the rehab for her knee, she broke her foot in a fluke accident walking across the gym floor. It took over 150 hours of rehabilitation with the two injuries before Butcher was cleared to train again. But it definitely paid off in big ways.
Butcher made the 2010 McDonald All-American Team, and the Top 25 in the Ohio Class of 2010 for basketball. ESPN ranked her in the top 100 in the nation for shooting guards and Kent State awarded her a full scholarship.
After years of recruitment beginning the seventh grade Iris had narrowed down her choices. She whittled the pool down to three schools two of which were in the Ivy League; Princeton and U Penn. Those schools did not offer Iris exactly what she wanted and in her words she “would have been settling”.
Her background of growing up watching the Ohio University Bobcats compete in the MAC led to a loyalty to the conference. But OU was too close to home. Kent, on the other hand had everything she was looking for.
So Kent State University is the next stop for Iris Butcher.
“There is a family atmosphere that they pride themselves on having and I felt as a player and student I would fit in really well at Kent,” she said.
Butcher’s family in Federal Hocking will miss her, though.
“I’m going to be a basket case,” her mother said.
She has no fears for her daughter in the transition but she does worry that she and her husband will have a tough time adjusting to their first experience as empty nesters.
It will be a transition for all and there a few worries that Iris has but she plans to succeed. “I think I will probably be one of those kids who calls her mom everyday asking, ‘what are you guys eating?’ and I worry about being homesick but I think by the fall I will be ready to go,” she said.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Successful senior night for Bulldogs
Balloons and posters covered the dugout but there was no distracting the Athens High Bulldogs. They had a goal and were determined to achieve it. And they did as they walked away with the TVC-Ohio Championship.
Beating the Meigs Marauders handily 8-1, the Bulldogs improved to 16-7 overall and 10-1 in the league. This was not only an important win because of the Championship, it was also senior night.
And the seniors were there to win.
Raven Cline, who has been an impressive asset all year, struggled in her first three at bats but had two catches in center field. She also hit a sailing double to left field resulting in a run off of the sacrifice from fellow senior and catcher Richelle Hecker.
Hecker also had a great final regular season game with some strong at bats and a scoring single.
Pitcher Jayne Seymour was playing for a shutout. While Meigs did score a sole run, her performance was still memorable.
Seymour sat out much of last season with an injury incurred while throwing the ball overhand, something her arm was not used to. She spent the offseason rehabilitating and it paid off.
“It’s been feeling good lately and so I came in knowing that I would be able to throw hard as long as I could,” she said.
While she seemed a little dissatisfied with her hitting, she had a double and contributed to Athens’ eight runs.
The seniors dominated the lineup but they were not the only ones who were playing with a purpose.
Sophomore Abby Pimento had a successful game at shortstop with a catch that rivaled Brianna Scurry’s saves on the soccer field. Perhaps it is Pimento’s goalie background that gave her the impetus to reach for that ball but nonetheless it was spectacular- and she would agree.
“That felt amazing and it’s always good when your ready and jumping; you feel so free,” she said.
Coach Sheila Ross was equally impressed with her team’s performance. After the game she enjoyed a brief shower courtesy of flying water balloons but she did not seem to mind.
“Yes, they are enjoying this and they should,” she said.
She was right, they should celebrate. The Bulldogs were coming off of a two-game losing streak and momentum seemed to be down. It was evident though, from the first inning when they scored four runs in six at bats, that this game would be different.
“Having a two game losing streak coming into tonight, we definitely wanted to get off to a good start,” Ross said.
Meigs, on the other hand struggled from the very beginning. They failed to score a run until the sixth inning and pitcher Hally English struggled to contain the Bulldog’s bats.
Coach Steven Wood said that the Marauders struggled all season with making the kind of solid contact that Athens was achieving.
“We fought hard and tried to make it a game but their offense was really tough,” he said.
But the Marauders were not sore losers. The entire team stayed after the game to participate in some of the senior night festivities.
Athens even presented the Meigs’ seniors with small tokens of congratulations on their final season.
Ross stood outside the dugout and announced each senior and her parents along with a humorous list of favorite memories that included some things she just could not say. The stands were filled with proud friends and family and the smiles and laughter were infectious.
It would have been a perfect ending, but this is not the end. The Bulldogs will participate in the tournament and if they can keep this spirit and momentum they will be a force that demands attention.
Balloons and posters covered the dugout but there was no distracting the Athens High Bulldogs. They had a goal and were determined to achieve it. And they did as they walked away with the TVC-Ohio Championship.
Beating the Meigs Marauders handily 8-1, the Bulldogs improved to 16-7 overall and 10-1 in the league. This was not only an important win because of the Championship, it was also senior night.
And the seniors were there to win.
Raven Cline, who has been an impressive asset all year, struggled in her first three at bats but had two catches in center field. She also hit a sailing double to left field resulting in a run off of the sacrifice from fellow senior and catcher Richelle Hecker.
Hecker also had a great final regular season game with some strong at bats and a scoring single.
Pitcher Jayne Seymour was playing for a shutout. While Meigs did score a sole run, her performance was still memorable.
Seymour sat out much of last season with an injury incurred while throwing the ball overhand, something her arm was not used to. She spent the offseason rehabilitating and it paid off.
“It’s been feeling good lately and so I came in knowing that I would be able to throw hard as long as I could,” she said.
While she seemed a little dissatisfied with her hitting, she had a double and contributed to Athens’ eight runs.
The seniors dominated the lineup but they were not the only ones who were playing with a purpose.
Sophomore Abby Pimento had a successful game at shortstop with a catch that rivaled Brianna Scurry’s saves on the soccer field. Perhaps it is Pimento’s goalie background that gave her the impetus to reach for that ball but nonetheless it was spectacular- and she would agree.
“That felt amazing and it’s always good when your ready and jumping; you feel so free,” she said.
Coach Sheila Ross was equally impressed with her team’s performance. After the game she enjoyed a brief shower courtesy of flying water balloons but she did not seem to mind.
“Yes, they are enjoying this and they should,” she said.
She was right, they should celebrate. The Bulldogs were coming off of a two-game losing streak and momentum seemed to be down. It was evident though, from the first inning when they scored four runs in six at bats, that this game would be different.
“Having a two game losing streak coming into tonight, we definitely wanted to get off to a good start,” Ross said.
Meigs, on the other hand struggled from the very beginning. They failed to score a run until the sixth inning and pitcher Hally English struggled to contain the Bulldog’s bats.
Coach Steven Wood said that the Marauders struggled all season with making the kind of solid contact that Athens was achieving.
“We fought hard and tried to make it a game but their offense was really tough,” he said.
But the Marauders were not sore losers. The entire team stayed after the game to participate in some of the senior night festivities.
Athens even presented the Meigs’ seniors with small tokens of congratulations on their final season.
Ross stood outside the dugout and announced each senior and her parents along with a humorous list of favorite memories that included some things she just could not say. The stands were filled with proud friends and family and the smiles and laughter were infectious.
It would have been a perfect ending, but this is not the end. The Bulldogs will participate in the tournament and if they can keep this spirit and momentum they will be a force that demands attention.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
First report
To be honest I was petrified to cover this game. Not because I thought anyone would be mean or rude- but because I know very, very little about fast pitch softball. I tried to do a little research before I set out but it seemed like all of it flew out the window when I pulled up to the field. I found the score keeper for the Bulldogs and tried to plead my case with him. He promptly explained to me that he often misses plays and really cannot be bothered to much but he would try to help me out as much as possible. Seeing the fear in my eyes he looked over my shoulder and pointed me in the direction of another gentleman. He told me that was the reported for the messenger and that perhaps I should introduce myself. So I did of course- and it was probably the best play of the game. He was so helpful and pleasant. Not only did he help me keep up with the score (he also made sure to teach me that they are not referred to as points but rather runs- thank god) but he also gave me a lot of background information on the team that I was able to incorporate into my story. I know that there are a lot of things that I missed and the story does suffer from a lack of certain information but I learned so much about the team and how to watch the game that I really think my next time out I will be less intimidated and ready to get as much of the game as possible.
Bulldogs secure first, prepare for Spartans
Sunny skies were the backdrop for Athens’ 6-5 win against Belpre Monday night at the Athens Softball Complex. While the weather seemed perfect the game was anything but.
Belpre jumped off to an early lead of 3-0 in the third inning and with the momentum, it seemed like the Bulldogs would not be able recover. But with enthusiasm and cheers pouring out of the dug out, pitcher Jayne Seymour hit a single and scored thanks to Belpre errors and a line drive by Whitney Dickens.
Seymour has struggled this season throwing the ball overhand due to pain in her arm and did have a bad throw to first, but her pitching along with the power hitting helped the team clench the victory.
But it was not an easy victory, and it was not a usual game of fast pitch.
For starters the umpire allowed a run to score fourth off of what can be considered a pitcher error. Belpre pitcher Natalie Perry was evidently continuously pitching before the ump was ready. With the Bulldog’s Sarah Daugherty on third, he stopped play and allowed her to score and batter Tiffany James to take first. Even the other score keepers and reporters could not make this call out.
This was not the only miscommunication between the ump and the pitchers. On two occasions Seymour intended to call time and seemed to be ignored, resulting in a little frustration from the Bulldog dugout.
Unusual circumstances aside, this was a victory for Athens and one that means first place in the Tri Valley Conference.
Coach Shelia Ross attributes the come from behind win to the girl’s camaraderie.
“We have tended to start slow in the past few games but we have faith in our bats and faith in our team.”
The win can also be attributed to Abby Pomento who had two hits including the game wining run. At the end of regulation the score was tied 5-5. Seymour and the defense held Belpre allowing for Pomento’s at bat for the winning hit.
Pomento has been strong for the Bulldogs offense with four hits in the game against Wellston, last Thursday April 15, including a home run. She combines these for six hits in the past two games.
Usual standout Raven Cline struggled going only one for four. Belpre tried to capitalize on this but the Bulldog’s were relentless. They had given Belpre its only loss in the league and with this victory would clinch first place.
But they cannot rest on this win.
Thursday the Bulldogs face the Alexander Spartans who they soundly defeated 11-0 in their last meeting on April 6. Such a high scoring win would seem to give the Bulldogs a leg up but Ross says it is more of a challenge now.
“You have a few things you can do with different teams but we have got to play well and we have to start from the first inning because coming from behind cannot be an option,” she says.
The Spartans have a successful pitcher and the Bulldogs will attempt to slow her down early and keep the momentum they need.
Sunny skies were the backdrop for Athens’ 6-5 win against Belpre Monday night at the Athens Softball Complex. While the weather seemed perfect the game was anything but.
Belpre jumped off to an early lead of 3-0 in the third inning and with the momentum, it seemed like the Bulldogs would not be able recover. But with enthusiasm and cheers pouring out of the dug out, pitcher Jayne Seymour hit a single and scored thanks to Belpre errors and a line drive by Whitney Dickens.
Seymour has struggled this season throwing the ball overhand due to pain in her arm and did have a bad throw to first, but her pitching along with the power hitting helped the team clench the victory.
But it was not an easy victory, and it was not a usual game of fast pitch.
For starters the umpire allowed a run to score fourth off of what can be considered a pitcher error. Belpre pitcher Natalie Perry was evidently continuously pitching before the ump was ready. With the Bulldog’s Sarah Daugherty on third, he stopped play and allowed her to score and batter Tiffany James to take first. Even the other score keepers and reporters could not make this call out.
This was not the only miscommunication between the ump and the pitchers. On two occasions Seymour intended to call time and seemed to be ignored, resulting in a little frustration from the Bulldog dugout.
Unusual circumstances aside, this was a victory for Athens and one that means first place in the Tri Valley Conference.
Coach Shelia Ross attributes the come from behind win to the girl’s camaraderie.
“We have tended to start slow in the past few games but we have faith in our bats and faith in our team.”
The win can also be attributed to Abby Pomento who had two hits including the game wining run. At the end of regulation the score was tied 5-5. Seymour and the defense held Belpre allowing for Pomento’s at bat for the winning hit.
Pomento has been strong for the Bulldogs offense with four hits in the game against Wellston, last Thursday April 15, including a home run. She combines these for six hits in the past two games.
Usual standout Raven Cline struggled going only one for four. Belpre tried to capitalize on this but the Bulldog’s were relentless. They had given Belpre its only loss in the league and with this victory would clinch first place.
But they cannot rest on this win.
Thursday the Bulldogs face the Alexander Spartans who they soundly defeated 11-0 in their last meeting on April 6. Such a high scoring win would seem to give the Bulldogs a leg up but Ross says it is more of a challenge now.
“You have a few things you can do with different teams but we have got to play well and we have to start from the first inning because coming from behind cannot be an option,” she says.
The Spartans have a successful pitcher and the Bulldogs will attempt to slow her down early and keep the momentum they need.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
In the ‘West Virginia beats top-seeded Kentucky, 73-66’ article reporter Paul Zeise seems to spend to much time trying to cram every little bit of info into his article. Every sentence that I read had my head spinning and trying to understand how it all was relevant. Numbers are everywhere and the stats lose all of their meaning when they are tucked into the convoluted sentences.
The ‘Kingco 3A Tournament: M.I. heads to districts’, article fell short in more than one way. For starters the coverage of the boy’s game was less than impressive. Only one person’s interview is featured in the article and that person makes what some could call an offensive statement about soccer. Yes, it may just be nit picky but why feature a quote that could be in any way taken out of context. But even though the boy’s coverage was unimpressive, it was more substantial than the pitiful coverage the girl’s team received. It is blatantly lopsided so much so that I wonder if he should have bothered to put in on the page at all. Of course I want the coverage but I also think this is a slap in the face. The boys get about three times as much all on the same page.
Tom Bergeron’s article on Tiger Woods was very successful in painting a picture of the event he covered. Golf, at least in my opinion, can be a little dull but Bergeron was able to keep my attention and interest. Not only did he cover the story with the facts, he also was able to intertwine the story of Tiger’s injury. It flowed seamlessly and was well written.
I really enjoyed Dave Kindred’s piece on re-thinking sports writing and I definitely agree with him. Too often the coverage of sports events are dry and strictly factually with little else. His depiction of a family at a baseball game was right on. I am a lover of baseball games, not necessarily for the game but for the atmosphere and social aspects. Just because I am sitting in the stands does not guarantee that I got the whole story. Sports writers have the awesome job of giving us that story. I really enjoy a story that manages to find the interesting twist or the background story. We as humans are intrinsically interested in knowing the inside lives of celebrities, and athletes are celebrities now-a-days. The two articles that failed to catch my interest fell into a lot of the typical traps that Kindred described. I found it very interesting that he attempts to interview ten people before he completes the article. In at least one of the above articles there was only one interview done and the story was flat and boring as a result.
In my attempts to be a fledgling sports reporter I want to be able to find the interesting story that the people don’t know, the story that they will be interested to know. Not every game story will have an interesting twist or factoid. But every story has the potential to be interesting and better than the next and that is what I will be trying to do. I think relationships are important in this industry, not only between reporter and subject or reporter and audience. I think reporters are the connection between the people and the story; it is their job to make it interesting and desirable.
The ‘Kingco 3A Tournament: M.I. heads to districts’, article fell short in more than one way. For starters the coverage of the boy’s game was less than impressive. Only one person’s interview is featured in the article and that person makes what some could call an offensive statement about soccer. Yes, it may just be nit picky but why feature a quote that could be in any way taken out of context. But even though the boy’s coverage was unimpressive, it was more substantial than the pitiful coverage the girl’s team received. It is blatantly lopsided so much so that I wonder if he should have bothered to put in on the page at all. Of course I want the coverage but I also think this is a slap in the face. The boys get about three times as much all on the same page.
Tom Bergeron’s article on Tiger Woods was very successful in painting a picture of the event he covered. Golf, at least in my opinion, can be a little dull but Bergeron was able to keep my attention and interest. Not only did he cover the story with the facts, he also was able to intertwine the story of Tiger’s injury. It flowed seamlessly and was well written.
I really enjoyed Dave Kindred’s piece on re-thinking sports writing and I definitely agree with him. Too often the coverage of sports events are dry and strictly factually with little else. His depiction of a family at a baseball game was right on. I am a lover of baseball games, not necessarily for the game but for the atmosphere and social aspects. Just because I am sitting in the stands does not guarantee that I got the whole story. Sports writers have the awesome job of giving us that story. I really enjoy a story that manages to find the interesting twist or the background story. We as humans are intrinsically interested in knowing the inside lives of celebrities, and athletes are celebrities now-a-days. The two articles that failed to catch my interest fell into a lot of the typical traps that Kindred described. I found it very interesting that he attempts to interview ten people before he completes the article. In at least one of the above articles there was only one interview done and the story was flat and boring as a result.
In my attempts to be a fledgling sports reporter I want to be able to find the interesting story that the people don’t know, the story that they will be interested to know. Not every game story will have an interesting twist or factoid. But every story has the potential to be interesting and better than the next and that is what I will be trying to do. I think relationships are important in this industry, not only between reporter and subject or reporter and audience. I think reporters are the connection between the people and the story; it is their job to make it interesting and desirable.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
OUTLINE:
Intro:
Incorporate political opinions from Dr. Kirch and Rep. Driehaus to compare with religious perspective from students and to introduce continuation of topic
Utilize background information for religions to lead into conversations with students and to formulate questions for them:
Catholic stance on gambling:
Gambling, or gaming, is the staking of money or other thing of value on the issue of a game of chance. It thus belongs to the class of aleatory contracts which the gain or loss of the parties depends on an uncertain event. It is not gambling, in the strict sense, if a bet is laid on the issue of a game of skill like billiards or football. The issue must depend on chance, as in dice, or partly on chance, partly on skill, as in whist.
Theologians commonly require four conditions so that gaming may not be illicit.
• What is staked must belong to the gambler and must be at his free disposal. It is wrong, therefore, for the lawyer to stake the money of his client, or for anyone to gamble with what is necessary for the maintenance of his wife and children.
• The gambler must act freely, without unjust compulsion.
• There must be no fraud in the transaction, although the usual ruses of the game may be allowed. It is unlawful, accordingly, to mark the cards, but it is permissible to conceal carefully from an opponent the number of trump cards one holds.
• Finally, there must be some sort of equality between the parties to make the contract equitable; it would be unfair for a combination of two expert whist players to take the money of a couple of mere novices at the game.
Jewish stance on gambling:
Playing at games, especially games of chance, for money. Among the ancient Israelites no mention is made of games of chance, and no provision was made against them until the period of the Mishnah. With the introduction of foreign customs and amusements in the latter period of the Second Temple, playing with dice ("ḳubya," κνβεία), the popular game of antiquity, was adopted by the Jews. The Rabbis were bitterly opposed to these imported fashions, and looked upon them with intense aversion (see Midr. Teh. to Ps. xxvi. 10, which speaks of "those that play at dice, who calculate with their left hand, and press with their right, and rob and wrong one another"). The Mishnah disqualified the gambler from testifying before a court of justice (Sanh. 24b). Since robbery was defined in Jewish law as the act of violently appropriating something belonging to another against his will (B. Ḳ. 79b), the Rabbis could not make gambling a capital crime. They did, however, forbid gambling of any kind, and considered it a form of robbery; but since it was not actual robbery, money lost in games of chance could not be collected through the courts of justice (Giṭ. 61b; Maimonides, "Yad," Gezelah, vi. 7-11, 16; Shulḥan 'Aruk, Ḥoshen Mishpaṭ, 370).
Webster’s definition:
1 a : to play a game for money or property b : to bet on an uncertain outcome
2 : to stake something on a contingency : take a chance
United Methodist Church’s stance on gambling:
The Social Principles state that, "Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, and destructive of good government. As an act of faith and concern, Christians should abstain from gambling and should strive to minister to those victimized by the practice. Where gambling has become addictive, the church will encourage such individuals to receive therapeutic assistance so that the individual's energies may be redirected into positive and constructive ends. The church should promote standards and personal lifestyles that would make unnecessary and undesirable the resort to commercial gambling—including public lotteries—as a recreation, as an escape, or as a means of producing public revenue or funds for support of charities or government" ( 163G).
When asked which commandment is first of all, Jesus answered, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:29-30). Gambling feeds on human greed and invites persons to place their trust in possessions rather than in God. It represents a form of idolatry that contradicts the first commandment. Jesus continued: "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Mark 12:31). In relating with compassion to our sisters and brothers, we are called to resist those practices and systems that exploit them and leave them impoverished and demeaned. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6:9-10a: "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil."
Gambling, as a means of acquiring material gain by chance and at the neighbor's expense, is a menace to personal character and social morality. Gambling fosters greed and stimulates the fatalistic faith in chance. Organized and commercial gambling is a threat to business, breeds crime and poverty, and is destructive to the interests of good government. It encourages the belief that work is unimportant, that money can solve all our problems, and that greed is the norm for achievement. It serves as a "regressive tax" on those with lower income. In summary, gambling is bad economics; gambling is bad public policy; and gambling does not improve the quality of life.
We oppose the growing legalization and state promotion of gambling.
Incorporate quotations from students to showcase a youthful perspective on religion and gambling:
Catholic- Krista/ Abby?- Abby’s quotes were pretty much used in the first article- Krista has a fresh perspective
Methodist- Molly/Janette (Ohio State)? - most likely not Janette because she does not represent this Uninversity
Jewish- Anna from Hillel- knowledgeable and has connection to the larger community here
Close similarly to other article by stating that the future is unknown- because this seems to be the common thread- so many opinions and no sound factual agreement
Intro:
Incorporate political opinions from Dr. Kirch and Rep. Driehaus to compare with religious perspective from students and to introduce continuation of topic
Utilize background information for religions to lead into conversations with students and to formulate questions for them:
Catholic stance on gambling:
Gambling, or gaming, is the staking of money or other thing of value on the issue of a game of chance. It thus belongs to the class of aleatory contracts which the gain or loss of the parties depends on an uncertain event. It is not gambling, in the strict sense, if a bet is laid on the issue of a game of skill like billiards or football. The issue must depend on chance, as in dice, or partly on chance, partly on skill, as in whist.
Theologians commonly require four conditions so that gaming may not be illicit.
• What is staked must belong to the gambler and must be at his free disposal. It is wrong, therefore, for the lawyer to stake the money of his client, or for anyone to gamble with what is necessary for the maintenance of his wife and children.
• The gambler must act freely, without unjust compulsion.
• There must be no fraud in the transaction, although the usual ruses of the game may be allowed. It is unlawful, accordingly, to mark the cards, but it is permissible to conceal carefully from an opponent the number of trump cards one holds.
• Finally, there must be some sort of equality between the parties to make the contract equitable; it would be unfair for a combination of two expert whist players to take the money of a couple of mere novices at the game.
Jewish stance on gambling:
Playing at games, especially games of chance, for money. Among the ancient Israelites no mention is made of games of chance, and no provision was made against them until the period of the Mishnah. With the introduction of foreign customs and amusements in the latter period of the Second Temple, playing with dice ("ḳubya," κνβεία), the popular game of antiquity, was adopted by the Jews. The Rabbis were bitterly opposed to these imported fashions, and looked upon them with intense aversion (see Midr. Teh. to Ps. xxvi. 10, which speaks of "those that play at dice, who calculate with their left hand, and press with their right, and rob and wrong one another"). The Mishnah disqualified the gambler from testifying before a court of justice (Sanh. 24b). Since robbery was defined in Jewish law as the act of violently appropriating something belonging to another against his will (B. Ḳ. 79b), the Rabbis could not make gambling a capital crime. They did, however, forbid gambling of any kind, and considered it a form of robbery; but since it was not actual robbery, money lost in games of chance could not be collected through the courts of justice (Giṭ. 61b; Maimonides, "Yad," Gezelah, vi. 7-11, 16; Shulḥan 'Aruk, Ḥoshen Mishpaṭ, 370).
Webster’s definition:
1 a : to play a game for money or property b : to bet on an uncertain outcome
2 : to stake something on a contingency : take a chance
United Methodist Church’s stance on gambling:
The Social Principles state that, "Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, and destructive of good government. As an act of faith and concern, Christians should abstain from gambling and should strive to minister to those victimized by the practice. Where gambling has become addictive, the church will encourage such individuals to receive therapeutic assistance so that the individual's energies may be redirected into positive and constructive ends. The church should promote standards and personal lifestyles that would make unnecessary and undesirable the resort to commercial gambling—including public lotteries—as a recreation, as an escape, or as a means of producing public revenue or funds for support of charities or government" ( 163G).
When asked which commandment is first of all, Jesus answered, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength" (Mark 12:29-30). Gambling feeds on human greed and invites persons to place their trust in possessions rather than in God. It represents a form of idolatry that contradicts the first commandment. Jesus continued: "The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself'" (Mark 12:31). In relating with compassion to our sisters and brothers, we are called to resist those practices and systems that exploit them and leave them impoverished and demeaned. The apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6:9-10a: "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil."
Gambling, as a means of acquiring material gain by chance and at the neighbor's expense, is a menace to personal character and social morality. Gambling fosters greed and stimulates the fatalistic faith in chance. Organized and commercial gambling is a threat to business, breeds crime and poverty, and is destructive to the interests of good government. It encourages the belief that work is unimportant, that money can solve all our problems, and that greed is the norm for achievement. It serves as a "regressive tax" on those with lower income. In summary, gambling is bad economics; gambling is bad public policy; and gambling does not improve the quality of life.
We oppose the growing legalization and state promotion of gambling.
Incorporate quotations from students to showcase a youthful perspective on religion and gambling:
Catholic- Krista/ Abby?- Abby’s quotes were pretty much used in the first article- Krista has a fresh perspective
Methodist- Molly/Janette (Ohio State)? - most likely not Janette because she does not represent this Uninversity
Jewish- Anna from Hillel- knowledgeable and has connection to the larger community here
Close similarly to other article by stating that the future is unknown- because this seems to be the common thread- so many opinions and no sound factual agreement
I took a slightly different approach with this article than I first anticipated but I think i had greater success because of it- at least I hope I did. At first I wanted to get authoritative information from the "higher ups" within each of the religious denominations. After that led almost no where and after talking to Anna at the Hillel, I realized a fresh new way to look at this article would be to talk to students who have a different perspective. I searched for good representatives of the religions I covered and sat down and talked to them. Not only was I able to ask them my questions but I also got some great real life stories from them. I hope that this article is more interesting because of my decision, but if not, well then I guess that was my lesson of the quarter!
Gambling, a leap of faith?
Blair Scanlon
Casinos are coming to Ohio that is a fact. But aside from the facts there are many opinions. The casinos will be new, but we already have some old gambling traditions, and opinions about those traditions, in some unexpected places.
Questions still remain and opinions are still varying. Critics are adamant about the negatives; “It (casino) will absolutely negatively effect people’s personal finances,” says Ohio University’s esteemed professor of Accounting Dr. David Kirch. Proponents insist this is a great decision; like Representative Denise Driehaus who has worked on this legislation in the past. She sees the casinos as a means of economic development.
But politics set aside there is another group whose opinion could be very interesting to dissect. That is the opinion of the religious believers.
On Ohio University’s campus there is a sampling of many different religions, each one with a different set of guidelines for what gambling is and how it should be addressed. There is also a different set of actual practices, a few which will be explored here.
It’s the beginning of June, and the muggy feeling is setting in throughout the state of Ohio and even more so in the riverside city of Cincinnati. But the beginning of June also marks the beginning of the festival season. This is the season when every Catholic Church sets aside one weekend to throw a church festival equip with corn on the cob, nauseating rides and the ever popular beer garden.
There is something else though, the overwhelming presence of gambling. Every other booth reveals an opportunity for participants to win anything from $10,000 to a gold fish that will last just long enough to flush when you get home.
I grew up in a Catholic household and we attended our parish festival every summer.
There was one summer in specific that I will remember for ever. I won $150 on the bars and bells pull and peel game. This five dollar rectangular piece of cardboard with four strips, begging to be peeled , revealed to me the most money I had ever laid my 10 year old eyes on. I believe I went to Toy’s R Us the very next day and proceeded to spend almost every penny (thanks Mom and Dad for instilling such financial savvy in me). But it was the most exhilarating feeling I had ever had. I was gambling and I loved it.
Today looking back on it I realize just how much gambling goes on at these church sponsored events; a lot. Huge white tents lure the people in with the promise of a rousing game of poker, spinning wheels and grown men shouting a promise of a great return if you simply place your quarter on the right number.
It may sound trite but what would Jesus think of this? After all he is arguably the most important figure in the Catholic Church (I say arguably because there are quite a few “important” figures in the Church).
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, any good Catholic’s go to guide for sins, gambling is “the staking of money or other thing of value on the issue of a game of chance.”
This definition is on track with the traditional definition but the Catholic Church does have a few stipulations: What the gambler stakes must be his and no one else’s, the gambler must act with free will and without compulsion, no cheating, and finally there must be some sort of equality between the gambling parties. These stipulations seem all but impossible to avoid in the game of chance that is gambling.
Gambling according to Gamblers Anonymous can become a very compulsive behavior often resulting in addiction. How responsible then, are these parishes if they shove the temptation in to the faces of the believers. I set out to find Catholic representation at Ohio University’s campus.
What are the real practices? What are the thoughts of the members of the Church?
Krista Meyer is a junior at Ohio University who actively participated in her Parish festival in the suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio.
“I’ve been working the festival with my parents since I was able to count money,” she said. “The Dominic festival was the highlight of my summer.”
She never really considered gambling at festivals to be anything more than harmless.
“Is gambling even the right term?” she laughs. “ It just seems like the normal thing to do at these (festivals), I mean you see young kids in fourth and fifth grade spinning the wheel for prizes and you see adults sitting around playing poker and it’s just normal.”
For the Catholic Church it seems that if the gambling seems harmless, well then it is.
At the other end of the respective religious spectrum are those of the Jewish faith and according to the Jewish Encyclopedia, gambling is simply, “playing at games, especially games of chance for money.”
However, the early Jewish Rabbis did not find gambling to be as harmless as this definition would suggest. The Jewish Encyclopedia states that “the Rabbis were bitterly opposed to these imported fashions, and looked upon them with intense aversion.”
While they could not forbid gambling all together because it did not break any real law it was entirely frowned upon in the earliest Jewish communities.
Anna Schottenstein, an Ohio University student and member of the Hillel executive board, says that things have changed since the ancient Rabbis spoke on the subject.
“Most people of the Jewish faith in the world today are not of the ultra orthodox sect, so many of them are well adapted into modern culture and have the same varying opinions on the idea of gambling as any other person of any faith,” she says.
“If you are looking for a definite stance from the Jewish community it would most likely come from a Rabbi and it would be a stricter religious outlook but most reformed conservative Jews, in my opinion, are okay with gambling.”
There is even a festival very similar to those in the found at the Catholic churches, that takes place during the holiday of Purim and as Anna explains there are forms of gambling involved.
“On Purim there are, in both America and Israel, carnivals and festivals where there are traditional types of food, costumes and lots of games,” she says.
She continues to explain that while these games are intended for children, similar games exist in the adult world and such games are considered gambling.
Many people, even those barely familiar with Judaism, have at least heard of dreidel (even if it was from Adam Sandler). Dreidel is basically an ancient form of gambling that has been passed down through the generations. Today, as Anna states, almost every Jewish child learns how to play dreidel to win chocolate coins. The chocolate coins were adapted as a way to integrate both the orthodox and more modern Jewish people into the game.
Anna comes from a family with a rich heritage in the Jewish faith and she has practiced both the strict orthodox and as of late the more modern Jewish religion. Her father is the President of the largest synagogue in Columbus and her extended family has invested millions of dollars into the Ohio State University’s Jewish programs among other things. You may have heard of the Schottenstein Center?
She does not find any major disconnect with the modern day practices of gambling and Jewish beliefs and values.
“I personally know a lot of Jewish people from my synagogue who go to Las Vegas and Windsor,” she says.
“It’s just not a big deal.”
However for the strict Orthodox Jewish believers, the answer may be slightly different. It may resemble that of a member of the Methodist faith.
The Social Principles by which Methodists practice their religion states that, “Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic, and spiritual life, and destructive of good government. As an act of faith and concern, Christians should abstain from gambling and should strive to minister to those victimized by the practice.”
Methodist ideology suggests opposition to growing legalization and state promotion of gambling.
Molly Essel is a student at Ohio University and a practicing Methodist. While she has not found a parish in Athens to call her own, she actively participates in her hometown, West Chester, Ohio.
Molly had a very simple succinct way of looking at gambling form the Methodist view point, “In our religion we don’t choose to partake in activities that could have outcomes that will negatively affect our personal selves,” she said.
She explains that while growing up she had friends that were catholic and the festivals that they attended each summer intrigued her. Her church certainly did not have anything like that.
“We would have activities and gatherings but nothing like the Catholic festivals,” she said. “Our gatherings were, I guess you could say more faith based,”
So for the believers of the Methodist practices, casinos in Ohio could potentially be problematic.
It appears that religion does have the ability to shape someone’s opinion about gambling. On one hand it can be used in profitable ways to help a cause, i.e. church festivals bringing in revenue. Generations have learned to adapt to modern society and are becoming more accepting of the gambling world. And still some are wary of the unnecessary challenge it poses for our will power.
Perhaps in late 2012 we will see just what the casinos have in store for Ohio, believers and all.
SOURCES
Dr. David Kirch
kirch@ohio.edu
(740) 593-9321
Denise Driehaus
www.denisedriehaus.com
513-703-8400 (cell phone)
Anna Schottenstein
614-563-2838
Krista Meyer
513-227-3201
Molly Essel
513-478-3736
Catholic Encyclopedia
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06375b.htm
Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=G&artid=58
Methodist archives
http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=833
Monday, March 1, 2010
Paige Alost: Executive Director of Athens County Convention and Visitors Bureau
-(no email listed) 740-592-1819
-She could provide me with a great description of what tourism looks like in Athens- how it is successful and what could help to boost the economy.
Fr. Patrick E. Gaughan: Pastor St. Paul’s Church Athens Ohio
-stpaul@frognet.net
-Fr. Pat will be a great source for information regarding the catholic church- especially the catholic community in Athens- feels about Casinos and the morality concerning them.
Suzi Hawk: President Ohio University College Republicans
-sh302506@ohio.edu
-Suzi can give me an idea of the Republican perspective (at least on campus) on the new casino legislation
Liz Clark: President Ohio University College Democrats
-dems@ohio.edu
-Liz could give me the Democratic perspective on the legislation. And by having both sides ( rep.and dem.) I will be able to gain a better vantage point on the political assertions of the legislation.
Julie White: Political science professor
-whitej@ohio.edu
-After getting the perspective of the student political organizations, having the a more professional source with a perhaps more expert opinion will be valuable.
-(no email listed) 740-592-1819
-She could provide me with a great description of what tourism looks like in Athens- how it is successful and what could help to boost the economy.
Fr. Patrick E. Gaughan: Pastor St. Paul’s Church Athens Ohio
-stpaul@frognet.net
-Fr. Pat will be a great source for information regarding the catholic church- especially the catholic community in Athens- feels about Casinos and the morality concerning them.
Suzi Hawk: President Ohio University College Republicans
-sh302506@ohio.edu
-Suzi can give me an idea of the Republican perspective (at least on campus) on the new casino legislation
Liz Clark: President Ohio University College Democrats
-dems@ohio.edu
-Liz could give me the Democratic perspective on the legislation. And by having both sides ( rep.and dem.) I will be able to gain a better vantage point on the political assertions of the legislation.
Julie White: Political science professor
-whitej@ohio.edu
-After getting the perspective of the student political organizations, having the a more professional source with a perhaps more expert opinion will be valuable.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Method to my madness
I have not written and in depth article since probably senior year of high school. So, when I sat down with my notes and transcription from the phone interview I was at a loss at where to go. I had so many ideas in my head when I was doing the interview and I did get a lot of great info from my main source but that was part of the problem; I had so much I didn't know which direction to take. And unfortunately I think that shows in my article. But I did it and my method was quite scattered. I sat down with all my sheets of paper and just wrote what I wanted first- I literally just scribbled it all down by hand. Then I actually read it. Of course it was not perfect and so then I transferred it to a word document and went to work editing it for grammatical errors. All the while I was listening to the string quartet's performance of Incubus songs (I find that when I write I cannot listen to music with words because I am to distracted and often find my work littered with words from the songs- so that's a no go- but I also cannot sit in silence because I find that there is no such thing as silence and every little noise turns my head). So violins humming and keyboard clicking I wrote for about an hour, changing and adding, deleting and undoing. Finally I thought I had something that would suffice. The last part of my process was to read the article out loud to make sure that the flow was at least manageable.
I'm not convinced this is my best work and i struggled a lot but I really enjoyed dissecting my process because I do see some flaws that I need to and want to adjust for future projects.
I'm not convinced this is my best work and i struggled a lot but I really enjoyed dissecting my process because I do see some flaws that I need to and want to adjust for future projects.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
first stab!
Casinos journey to Ohio
On November 3, 2009 Ohio citizens turned out to vote for a myriad of issues including one that carried with it a tumultuous history.
Ohio Issue 3, also known as the Four Casinos Initiative, stood to change the Ohio Constitution in major way, a way that had been denied many times before. Issue 3 would allow for Casino’s to be built in the major cities of Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo.
This legislation would potentially change the Ohio economy in arguably positive and negative ways. The voice of the people was heard, and the answer was yes. Voters were in favor of the new legislation and approved it with the necessary majority vote. There was and continues to be backlash surrounding this sensitive issue but many still aren’t one hundred percent of how all of it came to be. On the sidewalks of Ohio University a few students were uncertain about all the details surrounding this topic. Rachel Meyer is a sophomore studying Hearing Speech and Language Sciences. She found herself to be uniformed on the subject, “I knew there was a big push for casinos in Ohio and that the issue passed but I guess I really never understood the significance of it all.” Martina Bell a junior studying retail merchandising was also unfamiliar with the history of the issue. “I guess I knew that Casinos were being built, I just never really questioned the why or how of it”. But evidently some people cared. So how did Ohio come to this point, and why now were the casinos important in the minds of the majority of voters?
Issue 3 applied all of the scrutiny necessary to ensure that this time it would obtain a “yes” vote from the majority. Among the criteria that was necessary for this amendment was that only Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo would be authorized to build casinos in specifically designated areas that were to be determined. This was very different from the language of previous issue initiatives. With all of the legal and formal jargon set aside the voters and lawmakers stood to make the process finalized. And this was a familiar battle that had been fought continuously over the years.
Casinos were introduced to the ballot before, each time coming up short. Most recently in 2008, Ohio Issue 6, or the Ohio Casino Measure, failed by a stronger majority than Issue 3 would eventually pass with. What changed? State Representative, Denise Driehaus, saw the action first hand during her many trips back and forth from Cincinnati to Columbus where she represents the 31st District in the House of Representatives. She explained in a phone interview that flaws in the actual issues lent to the failures but that a tanking economy helped put the ace in the hole on Issue 3. “We’ve had this issue on the ballot a number of times over a number of years and voters have always defeated it” she said. “They pretty soundly said they didn’t like the proposals that have come before for different reasons”. One of these reasons she proposed was personal opposition to gambling just by way of principal. This can become a big issue especially in very conservative religious areas that exist throughout the state.
And yet the issue passed. As State Representative Driehaus suggests the economy plays a big role. “I think people see gambling as a way to improve economic development in the areas where the casinos are going to be located” she said. “And so I think many of us that were supportive this time and really have not been supportive in the past did it for economic reasons.” She mentioned that people are associating the Casinos not only with job creation due to construction, but permanent and continuous job creation in the immediate surrounding area. For example the Cincinnati casino, she explained, would not have a hotel included. This can provide a great opportunity for hotels and restaurants to set up shop, creating the potential for more jobs. The economic situation that has worsened over the years has instilled fear in a lot of people, a fear that evidently can be calmed by change by opportunity. There can obviously be many reasons for why the legislation passed when it did and understanding the rationales of each voter would be nothing less than impossible to find. But there is a connection between the downward spiral of the economy and the timing of Issue 3 that even the experts like Driehaus can not deny.
At this point any opportunities that may be created are just speculative but they are the hope of the majority of voters who said yes to Issue 3. The casinos have made their way to Ohio via the economic downturn. The future is now just a gamble.
On November 3, 2009 Ohio citizens turned out to vote for a myriad of issues including one that carried with it a tumultuous history.
Ohio Issue 3, also known as the Four Casinos Initiative, stood to change the Ohio Constitution in major way, a way that had been denied many times before. Issue 3 would allow for Casino’s to be built in the major cities of Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo.
This legislation would potentially change the Ohio economy in arguably positive and negative ways. The voice of the people was heard, and the answer was yes. Voters were in favor of the new legislation and approved it with the necessary majority vote. There was and continues to be backlash surrounding this sensitive issue but many still aren’t one hundred percent of how all of it came to be. On the sidewalks of Ohio University a few students were uncertain about all the details surrounding this topic. Rachel Meyer is a sophomore studying Hearing Speech and Language Sciences. She found herself to be uniformed on the subject, “I knew there was a big push for casinos in Ohio and that the issue passed but I guess I really never understood the significance of it all.” Martina Bell a junior studying retail merchandising was also unfamiliar with the history of the issue. “I guess I knew that Casinos were being built, I just never really questioned the why or how of it”. But evidently some people cared. So how did Ohio come to this point, and why now were the casinos important in the minds of the majority of voters?
Issue 3 applied all of the scrutiny necessary to ensure that this time it would obtain a “yes” vote from the majority. Among the criteria that was necessary for this amendment was that only Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo would be authorized to build casinos in specifically designated areas that were to be determined. This was very different from the language of previous issue initiatives. With all of the legal and formal jargon set aside the voters and lawmakers stood to make the process finalized. And this was a familiar battle that had been fought continuously over the years.
Casinos were introduced to the ballot before, each time coming up short. Most recently in 2008, Ohio Issue 6, or the Ohio Casino Measure, failed by a stronger majority than Issue 3 would eventually pass with. What changed? State Representative, Denise Driehaus, saw the action first hand during her many trips back and forth from Cincinnati to Columbus where she represents the 31st District in the House of Representatives. She explained in a phone interview that flaws in the actual issues lent to the failures but that a tanking economy helped put the ace in the hole on Issue 3. “We’ve had this issue on the ballot a number of times over a number of years and voters have always defeated it” she said. “They pretty soundly said they didn’t like the proposals that have come before for different reasons”. One of these reasons she proposed was personal opposition to gambling just by way of principal. This can become a big issue especially in very conservative religious areas that exist throughout the state.
And yet the issue passed. As State Representative Driehaus suggests the economy plays a big role. “I think people see gambling as a way to improve economic development in the areas where the casinos are going to be located” she said. “And so I think many of us that were supportive this time and really have not been supportive in the past did it for economic reasons.” She mentioned that people are associating the Casinos not only with job creation due to construction, but permanent and continuous job creation in the immediate surrounding area. For example the Cincinnati casino, she explained, would not have a hotel included. This can provide a great opportunity for hotels and restaurants to set up shop, creating the potential for more jobs. The economic situation that has worsened over the years has instilled fear in a lot of people, a fear that evidently can be calmed by change by opportunity. There can obviously be many reasons for why the legislation passed when it did and understanding the rationales of each voter would be nothing less than impossible to find. But there is a connection between the downward spiral of the economy and the timing of Issue 3 that even the experts like Driehaus can not deny.
At this point any opportunities that may be created are just speculative but they are the hope of the majority of voters who said yes to Issue 3. The casinos have made their way to Ohio via the economic downturn. The future is now just a gamble.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Here goes nothing!
So I am about to embark on my first major reporting project and I'm slightly terrified. I do not by an means consider myself a reporter and I have a ways to go before I would feel comfortable with that title. Nonetheless I am going to attack this project head on and it helps that I have a topic that is of interest to me. The casino issue was quite a big deal in my home town of Cincinnati. Most likely because there is a casino being built downtown. When I returned to Athens I was surprised to see that no one was really talking about it. So this is what I want to investigate. How big of a deal are these Casinos? Are they really going to be that beneficial, especially for the little guys like Athens Ohio?
So I have compiled a list of sources that I will potentially contact. These sources have the ability to be very valuable in my reporting this issue.
So I have compiled a list of sources that I will potentially contact. These sources have the ability to be very valuable in my reporting this issue.
Suzi Hawk:
-sh302506@ohio.edu
-Suzi can give me an idea of the Republican perspective (at least on campus) on the new casino legislation
Liz Clark:
-dems@ohio.edu
-Liz could give me the Democratic perspective on the legislation. And by having both sides ( rep.and dem.) I will be able to gain a better vantage point on the political assertions of the legislation.
Shamila A. Jayasuriya: Professor of Economics
-jayasuri@ohio.edu
-With her specializations in emerging markets and financial economics, Professor Jayasuriya could provide information regarding the changes the casinos could potentially have on the
Fr. Patrick E. Gaughan: Pastor St. Paul’s Church Athens Ohio
-stpaul@frognet.net
-Fr. Pat will be a great source for information regarding the catholic church- especially the catholic community in
Julie White: Political science professor
-whitej@ohio.edu
-After getting the perspective of the student political organizations, having the a more professional source with a perhaps more expert opinion will be valuable.
Denise Driehaus: State Representative
-district31@ohr.state.oh.us
- As the State Representative she could provide me with first hand explanation of the new casino legislation and the process to getting where we are today
Maria Almarez: Human Resources Hollywood Casino Aurora Indiana
-maria.almaraz@pngaming.com
-This source would be especially helpful in gaining insight into how the
Eni Jim: Owner of Jim and Jacks on the River in
-ejim@cinci.rr.com
-As a business owner in
Michael Miraglia: General Manager of the Ohio University Inn
-gm@ouinn.com
-Even though there seem to be no plans to put a casino in
Paige Alost: Executive Director of
-(no email listed)
-She could provide me with a great description of what tourism looks like in
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