1. Twice a year, Sean Mc-
Graw restructures his sleep
schedule so that it aligns with
the stars — or in his case, the
galaxies.
McGraw, a fifth-year
graduate student studying
astrophysics, has, along with
his peers at Ohio University,
been able to do first-hand re-
search for his dissertation by
collecting data at the MDM
Observatory in Kitt Peak, Ar-
izona — the only observatory
the university partly owns.
“We’re a little unusual,”
said Joseph Shields, OU’s
vice president for Research
and Creative Activity and an
THUR SDAY, OCTOBER 30, 201 4
THE POST MODERN
ATHENS
HOSPITALITYAthens hotels struggle to accomodate
scores of visitors on event weekends and fail
to fill rooms other nights on PAGE 3
ABC PLAYERS
THEATER
TRICK-OR-TREATING
FESTIVITIES
SOCCER
PREVIEW
GREEN AND WHITE
Q&A
SCOTT WHARTON
CONGRESS
STUDENT SENATE
RECAP
Community theater
group kicks off a year
with Western-horror-
comedy mash up
WEB
City provides many
ways for children to
enjoy Halloween
PAGE 5
Bobcats will face the
Golden Flashes to
close their season
PAGE 6
Two men’s basketball
players predict next
season and talk about
old games
PAGE 6
Politician and OU grad
visits Baker to raise
awareness of voting
in midterm elections
WEB
Senate passes
resolution to cap the
amount of campaign
money for candidates
WEB
DELICIOUS DESIGNS
Lower costs
allow more
students to
study the
stars, space
A
fter 10 pounds of gingerbread batches, 12
pounds of fondant and 115 hours of her Thanks-
giving break, Nancy Mingus completed her
prize-winning gingerbread replica of the Mount
Zion Baptist Church, 32 W. Carpenter St.
“I visited (the church) so many times to make sketch-
es that someone thought I was planning to renovate the
place,” Mingus, 68, said.
Mingus won the grand prize in the first-ever Uptown for
the Holidays Gingerbread Competition in December 2013.
This year, Mingus plans to go even bigger with her creation
when it all begins again on Nov. 1.
Jan Hodson had the idea for the competition after
watching a special about the National Gingerbread House
Competition at the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North
Carolina. She said she was fascinated by people’s creativity
with such a particular medium.
Last year, Hodson, former assistant dean of the Honors
Tutorial College, funded all of the prize money, totaling
$1,000. This year, she is only contributing the money for
the first place winners in each category of children, teens,
adults, groups and professionals. The first place prize mon-
ey doubled this year to $200 each.
The Athens Uptown Business Association and the Athens
County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau each donated $500
for the two grand prize spots for Athens landmark replicas.
This year’s entries will be judged on Dec. 1. This year,
the gingerbread houses will remain in the Athens County
Historical Society and Museum — where they are judged —
from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6. Then, the entries will be on display in
Uptown storefronts from Dec. 7 to Jan. 3.
Those storefronts include Little Professor Book Store,
the Athens County Commissioners Office and Mountain
Laurel Gifts.
“The thing Athens does really well is handmade, cre-
ative, one-of-a-kind pieces. The gingerbread competition
is just an extension of that idea,” said Paige Alost, execu-
tive director of the Visitor’s Bureau, which helps market the
competition.
Mingus’ creation is still standing as it did one year ago in
her house. The competition requires its contestants to use
royal icing, a combination of meringue powder, sugar and
water and to spray the gingerbread house with a lacquer so
it can be preserved.
She said royal icing dries like cement and added she
knew a woman who once patched a hole in her wall with it.
Mingus, a member of Ohio University’s Residential Cus-
MERYL GOTTLIEB
STAFF WRITER
The Uptown for the Holidays Gingerbread Competition returns for its second year, and
one past winner tells how she created her gingerbread marvels
SEE GINGERBREAD, PAGE 4 SEE PRETRIAL, PAGE 4
SEE BURGLARIES, PAGE 4
Burgulary reports have increased significantly in 2014
JOSHUA LIM
STAFF WRITER
Athens residents might
want to check their locks
twice; the Athens Police De-
partment has seen its number
of burglary reports nearly
double compared to years
past, and there are still more
than two months to go until
the end of 2014.
From Jan. 1 to Oct. 20,
APD received 22 burglary
reports — almost double the
13 reports the department re-
ceived in 2013, according to
documents obtained by The
Post.
The number of burglaries
reported from North Con-
gress and West Washington
streets account for about 41
percent of the total number of
burglaries APD saw this year.
Out of the 22 burglaries
in 2014, two were aggravated
burglaries. There were no ag-
gravated burglaries listed in
the 2013 and 2012 burglary
reports.
“The first six months of
this year, we had double the
number of complaints we had
at the same time last year,”
said APD Chief Tom Pyle. “It
certainly troubled me.”
Rhonda Gibson, who lives
on the west side of the city,
said several of her neighbors
have had their homes bur-
glarized and items stolen.
Having served on an Ath-
OLIVIA HITCHCOCK
ASST. CAMPUS EDITOR
SEE OBSERVATORY, PAGE 4
AMANDA DAMELIO | FOR THE POST
Mount Zion Baptist Church (pictured left) was the inspiration for an award winning gingerbread house (pictured right.) BELOW: Nancy Mingus displays her
winning gingerbread house model church, which she made for the Uptown for the Holidays Gingerbread Contest in 2013.
The students arrested
during a Student Senate
meeting will have their day
in trial, but it might not be
for quite some time.
The four students who
were arrested at the Sept.
10 Ohio University Student
Senate meeting — Jonah
Yulish, Maxwell Peltz, Re-
becca Sebo and Gabriel Sir-
kin — appeared in Athens
County Municipal Court on
Wednesday for their pretrial
hearing. Judge William Grim
presided over the case.
After being given a
month between court ap-
pearances and being offered
a deal of a $100 fine and a
minor misdemeanor charge
of disorderly conduct, all
of the defendants’ pleas re-
main “not guilty.”
An OU representative,
Jim Miller, was also present.
Yulish, Peltz, Sebo and
Sirkin were arrested by
OUPD after speaking out
against Megan Marzec’s
“blood bucket” challenge.
The students were charged
with disturbing a lawful
meeting, a fourth-degree
misdemeanor charge that
carries a maximum of 30
days in jail as well as a $250
fine.
Sebo is the sister of Post
assistant design editor Da-
vid Sebo.
“The reason we made
that offer was because …
there have been similar
cases at OU where people
have been arrested at Board
of Trustees and at Student
Senate meetings, and that’s
the state’s standard offer
on these types of cases,”
said City Prosecutor Tracy
Meek, adding that the offer
was open to each defendant,
not the group as a whole.
“That’s the state’s only
interest in this case, is a
conviction of a minor mis-
EMILY BOHATCH
FOR THE POST
Compared to
last year, the
number of Athens
burgulary reports
have nearly double
Misdemeanor
charges may
be the outcome
for the four OU
students arrested
in September
Athens Police Department
recovered several stolen
items, suspects some
residents might not be
aware of stolen property
on PAGE 4
Halloween Block Party
gunfire included in Crimes
of the Month along with
theft, burglary and assault
on PAGE 5
Students
arrested
atsenate
keepnot-
guiltypleas
VOLLEYBALL
AIRELLE BERGER | PHOTO EDITOR
Kelly Lamberti jumps high to spike the ball over the net in the Bobcats’ home
match against Western Michigan. The Bobcats remain undefeated in MAC play.
ANDY KOVAR
STAFF WRITER
SEE VOLLEYBALL, PAGE 4
Lamberti leads ’Cats in big matches
Ohio has been consistently led by one
player as it seeks to remain undefeated in
Mid-American Conference play.
Senior Kelly Lamberti has been a key
contribution throughout her career at
Ohio from her time as an all-conference
freshman to her time as an All-American
captain.
Now, more than ever, Lamberti’s team-
mates will be looking to her to step up
when it matters most. That mantra held
true this past weekend when Lamberti
recorded 36 kills against Western Michi-
gan and Northern Illinois — the top two
ranked teams in the Mid-American Con-
ference West Division entering the week-
end.
“Putting up stats against bad teams,
OK, yeah, we’ll take it,” said coach Deane
Webb. “It’s nice to get a couple of awards
and move onto the match. But to show
that against a good opponent that just
gives you an indication of what that kid is
ready to do as we get into the late part of
conference season and hopefully beyond.
That’s a kid that can rise to the occasion
in big moments.”
Lamberti moved into third place on
Ohio’s all-time kills list when she re-
corded 13 kills against Toledo on Oct. 18.
It’s not all about breaking records for the
Cary, Illinois native, though.
“I’ve never been one for getting awards
or anything,” Lamberti said. “I go out to
play because I love to play, and I want this
program to win. So, I don’t really pay at-
tention to that stuff, but to be able to be up
there with all of those girls is an honor.”
As Lamberti closes in on the second-
place kills honor, the Bobcats (17-4, 10-0
MAC) know that her main focus will be on
the next opponent at hand rather than the
Veteran leaders hope to
erase memories from last
year when they travel to
Kent State for a mid-week
match
OU partners with
universities to
share use and
cost of MDM
Observatory
“We can basically
do more
experimental-type
things, things that
we don’t know if
they are going to
actually work.”
DOUG CLOWE
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
OF PHYSICS AND
ASTRONOMY

2. ens County Grand Jury this past summer, Gibson said al-
most every case she heard was drug-related.
“I was aware the problem was bad, but I didn't realize
how bad.” Gibson said. “Possibly with the desperation for
money to support their drug habit has increased the bur-
glaries.”
Pyle agreed, saying that burglary crimes tend to be di-
rectly related to drug trade.
“Typically, people are burglarizing and thieving to sup-
port a drug habit,” Pyle said.
The Ohio University Police Department has seen 17
burglaries on campus from Jan. 1 to Oct. 27 of 2014. The
total loss estimated from those burglaries was $15,890, ac-
cording to documents obtained by The Post.
Of the 17 reported burglaries, seven were listed to have
taken place in Jefferson Hall on East Green.
The highest estimated loss from a single burglary was
reportedly $3,050.
In 2013, OUPD received 18 burglary reports with a re-
ported total loss of $9,671.
OU Police Chief Andrew Powers said he does not be-
lieve he has seen a significant rise in burglaries this year.
Powers added that, in most cases, the people burglarizing
a residence enter through unlocked doors.
“Anyone who believes his or her home has been burglar-
ized should immediately call the police,” he said. “Don’t
touch or move anything and avoid walking around in the
residence until the police have arrived to provide direc-
tion.”
Lt. Tim Ryan, OUPD’s head of criminal investigations,
said, based on his personal opinion, people who engage in
the act of burglary on campus usually do it to get things
they otherwise could not afford — mainly technological
items — or to fund their drug addictions.
“Most burglaries are opportunistic,” Ryan said. “We
don’t get a lot of broken doors or broken windows. It’s typi-
cally crimes of opportunity.”
Pyle recommended that Athens residents follow rec-
ommendations from the police department to keep their
doors locked and to document any strange behavior they
might see on their cell phones.
“We call that the ‘21st century crime watch,’” he said.
THE POST WWW.THEPOSTATHENS.COM4 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2014
www.athenagrand.com Show Times 593-8822
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Non-major dance courses offered:
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LEAP INTO SPRING SEMESTER!
Athens County Public LibrariesNelsonville Athens Chauncey Coolville Glouster The Plains Wells (Albany)
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LIBRARY LEVYPaid for by Save Our Athens County Libraries
Warren Haydon, Treasurer. 97 Second St.
CORRECTION
An article in The Post on
Wednesday incorrectly
explained the online
Student Senate story.
Senate does not have
mid-term elections.
CLARIFICATION
An article on the front page of
The Post on Wednesday was
misleading when explaining
how commitments, which
amount to more than $255
million are being processed.
That money has been
received by the university.
todial Services staff, has been
baking out of her home for 40
years. She said she was fortu-
nate for being “old and expe-
rienced” because it helped her
face some of the challenges
she came across while build-
ing the church. For instance,
one roof piece runs almost
the entire width of the 18-inch
board she constructed the
house on, and its weight ended
up requiring unseen supports
to be built inside the church.
Mingus used fondant to
create the roof’s shingle de-
tail, the stone exterior of the
church and the nativity scene
she placed in the front of the
building. Mingus sat and hand
molded the figures all while
listening to old Henry Fonda
and Gene Autry cowboy mov-
ies on repeat. Fondant is an
icing that is typically stiffer
and easier to sculpt.
She even hung a bell molded
from sugar in the bell tower.
The main stained-glass
window with the flower de-
tail took two hours, she said.
To create it, Mingus melted
crushed hard candy. To make
the wreaths, she used her leaf
tip on her icing tool to cover
Life Savers candy.
“I’m very big on detail,” she
said. “I like for things to look as
real and natural as possible.”
Overall, Mingus spent
about $75, including the $25
entry fee.
After she won, Mingus’ gin-
gerbread house was displayed
in Attractions Hair and Tan-
ning Salon, 19 N. Court St.
“I was a happy camper. I get
my hair done at Attractions,”
Mingus said. “I had this giddy
feeling of ‘That’s my ginger-
bread house in the window.’ It
was quite an honor.”
After having such a good
experience, Mingus said she
plans to continue entering the
competition.
“I think gingerbread houses
bring out the kid in all of us,”
she said. “(The houses) just
add to the overall Christmas
atmosphere on Court Street.”
@BUZZLIGHTMERYL
MG986611@OHIO.EDU
@EMILYBOHATCH
EB346012@OHIO.EDU
@KOVARANDREW
AK840511@OHIO.EDU
@JOSHUALIM93
JL951613@OHIO.EDU
Mingus prepares for
gingerbread contest
Stolenitems
found on
East Side
Marzeccalledtotestifyincourt
GINGERBREAD
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
PRETRIAL
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
OBSERVATORY
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
UPTOWN FOR
THE HOLIDAYS
GINGERBREAD
COMPETITION
- The entry deadline is
Nov. 1. A fee of $25 is
required
- Gingerbread houses
must be delivered to the
Athens County Historical
Society and Museum on
Dec. 1
- Contestants can enter
any building they want.
Some of last year’s entries
included a replica of a
Hobbit-hole from “The
Lord of the Rings” and of
Whoville from Dr. Seuss’
“How the Grinch Stole
Christmas”
- The creations will be on
display in the museum
from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6
- The houses will be moved
to their Uptown locations
and will be displayed from
Dec. 7 to Jan. 3
- Shops include Court
Street Coffee, College
Book Store, Keith
Chapman Jeweler,
Hocking Valley Bank, So
Livi’s and more
BURGLARIES
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
VOLLEYBALL
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Theft usually
opportunistic,
can be related
to drug trade
astrophysics professor.
Shields said few public
universities in the state have
this type of access to tele-
scopes.
OU shares the observa-
tory with The Ohio State Uni-
versity, Columbia University,
the University of Michigan
and Dartmouth College.
The partnership, final-
ized in 2005, developed after
the Physics and Astronomy
Department submitted a pro-
posal to OU for observatory
access. OU paid a $375,000
buy-in to own one-twelfth of
the observatory, which hous-
es two telescopes, and now
pays tens of thousand dollars
a year in operating costs.
This year, OU is paying
about $38,000 for access to
both telescopes 23 nights of
the year, said Doug Clowe,
associate professor of phys-
ics and astronomy.
“In terms of value for mon-
ey, this observatory is very
good,” Clowe said.
The next class of tele-
scopes, which have broader
capabilities, cost about
$500,000 a year for the same
number of nights, Clowe said.
The lower price allows
the university to take all un-
dergraduate and graduate
astrophysics majors to the
observatory at least once
during their tenure at OU, he
added.
“It’s not only provided me
with data, but it’s also taught
me the actual process of col-
lecting data, which is not
trivial I suppose,” McGraw
said.
McGraw’s dissertation,
which studies activity in the
center of galaxies, primarily
draws from research he has
gathered during the 30 to 40
nights he has spent using one
of the telescopes in Arizona
throughout the past three
years.
Faculty utilizes the tele-
scopes to conduct research
and enhance their teaching
techniques as well.
“We can basically do more
experimental-type things,
things that we don’t know
if they are going to actually
work,” Clowe said.
And he often lets students
tag along.
“They get to go and basi-
cally be the observatory as-
sistant,” Clowe said.
Researchers usually rise
at 1 p.m. and start prepar-
ing for the night, Clowe said.
Then they work with the tele-
scopes until the sun hits the
horizon.
“It’s essentially going to
the third shift without any
prior notice,” McGraw said.
“The first shift is usually
pretty rough. Usually I don’t
get used to it until night
three.”
The researchers usually
spend about a week gathering
data and learning to operate
the telescopes, McGraw said.
“For the students, I think it
has been a fantastic resourc-
es of giving them access to a
high quality research facility
(and) giving them a hands-on
learning experience,” Shields
said.
@OHITCHCOCK
OH271711@OHIO.EDU
Faculty utilize
observatory
to enhance
their teaching
Ohio looks for win at Kent
to stay undefeated in MAC
demeanor of disorderly con-
duct,” Meek said.
All four defendants
agreed to the revised charg-
es but are still going to a
bench trial.
Grim said that he “antici-
pates a two-day trial,” con-
sidering the charges apply
to four defendants.
The trial will take place
Feb. 17 at 8:30 a.m.
There was some dispute
over documents that Larry
Zuckerman, Peltz’s lawyer,
had subpoenaed before pre-
trial.
Miller maintained that
some of the documents re-
quested by Zuckerman were
protected by the Family
Educational Rights and Pri-
vacy Act and could not be
disclosed, though Zucker-
man argued that because he
was “not asking about finan-
cial aid information or the
students’ grades” that docu-
ments requested should be
available.
“Any document main-
tained by the university that
directly references a stu-
dent’s name is protected by
FERPA,” Miller said.
Zuckerman had subpoe-
naed Marzec for her corre-
spondence between herself,
OU officials, herself and
OUPD, which she sent prior
to the pretrial. Marzec also
was in the audience dur-
ing the hearing. Along with
Marzec’s statements, Zuck-
erman wanted correspon-
dence from OUPD and OU
officials.
FERPA aims to protect
students’ educational re-
cords, but police records are
generally understood to be
open to state open records
laws. It was not immediately
clear if the correspondences
Zuckerman is seeking are
FERPA-protected.
“The constitution trumps
FERPA,” Zuckerman said,
adding that he thought uni-
versity officials should have
done more to keep the meet-
ing in order.
Grim agreed to allow
Zuckerman and other at-
torneys to subpoena com-
munications about Student
Senate from OUPD and uni-
versity officials between
Sept. 2 to 11.
@EOCKERMAN
EO300813@OHIO.EDU
The Athens Police Depart-
ment has recovered several
stolen items through a recent
arrest, according to a news
release.
APD believes the items
were stolen from vehicles,
sheds, garages and storage
buildings on the near east
side of Athens between the
afternoon of Oct. 26 to the
morning of Oct. 27.
The report described the
near east side as “Morris to
Elmwood area.”
The department detailed
that they are currently hold-
ing more items than they
have reports for stolen prop-
erty and suspects that resi-
dents might not be aware that
their property was stolen.
APD is asking east-side
residents to check their ve-
hicles and property and to
contact APD Officer Nick
Magruder at 740-592-3315 if
they find their items missing.
Magruder declined to
comment on the items.
record.
That comes in the form of Kent State
(12-11, 4-6 MAC) on Thursday.
Ohio was upset by Kent State during
its last trip to the Golden Flashes’ Me-
morial Athletic and Convocation Cen-
ter. Kent State contained Ohio’s pres-
ence from the outside that night, and
Lamberti was held to 12 kills.
The Bobcats were unable to hold
down junior outside hitter Kelly
Hutchison, who finished with 22 kills
and only seven errors.
When Ohio’s bus pulls up to the cen-
ter this time, there will be a little added
motivation to play one of its MAC East
rivals.
“I think all the returners from last
year realize that coming back from
Kent was not a great feeling, and we
still kind of hold that with us today,”
said sophomore defensive specialist
Brooke Coleman. “Going back to their
place, we remember what happened,
and we know what we felt. So, I think
that encourages us to play in their gym
and leaving there with a win.”
Since that loss, Ohio has defeated
Kent State three times — including
once in the MAC Tournament. The
team has gotten over the initial feeling
of losing to the Golden Flashes, but a
victory will go a long way in erasing
one of the few smudges on the Bobcats’
2013 campaign.
Ohio can stretch its winning streak
to 12 straight matches with a win
against Kent State.
“I can honestly say that this team is
very focused on improving,” said junior
setter Abby Gilleland. “We come to the
gym, and we don’t t--reat ourselves like
we are a 10-0 team. We treat each game
like it’s the start of MAC Conference and
we have to go out and perform.”
WHO: Ohio (17-4, 10-0 MAC) vs.
Kent State (12-11, 4-6 MAC)
WHEN: 7 p.m., Thursday
WHERE: M.A.C. Center in Kent,
Ohio
IF YOU GO
Ohio will head to Kent State in
hopes of remaining undefeated
in MAC play. The Golden Flashes
upset the Bobcats the last time
they traveled to Kent
RA’VAUGHN JARRETT | FOR THE POST
From left to right: Rebecca Sebo, Jonah Yulish, Gabriel Sirkin and Maxwell Peltz sit in court.
The four students are faced with fourth-degree misdemeanor charges for disturbing a
lawful meeting. They kept their “not-guilty” pleas Wednesday.
EMMA OCKERMAN
ASST. LOCAL EDITOR