Ohio University LGBT Center Public Relations Campaign Plan

Ohio University LGBT Center Public Relations Campaign Plan

My Public Relations team at Ohio University were able to conduct research, develop a plan and provide suggestions to further the awareness of the LGBT Center in the Athens community.

Our Research included:

1. An in depth Situational and SWOT analysis
2. New Goals and Objectives for the Center
3. Critical Analysis of other Universities: Texas A&M, Purdue, Miami of Ohio, and the University of Dayton
4. Formative Research Report
5. Communication Plan with Goals, Objectives, Messages, and Channels
6. Time Line
7. Budget
8. An Executive Summary of Research and course of Action

Through our research we have discovered that community members will respond best to events hosted by the LGBT Center. By finalizing our research, we have created a communications plan, which aims to better promote the LGBT Center to the Athens community outside of the university.

Grab Life by the Pawpaws

Grab Life By the PawPaws

 

 

Pawpaws, a relative of other such wackily named plants as the sweetsop, soursop, cherimoya and ylang-ylang (pronounced EE-lang), arrive to adulthood in the Appalachian area, which apparently is enough of a reason to have a festival dedicated to them.

The 11th Annual Pawpaw Festival on September 19, located on beautiful Lake Snowden in Albany, Ohio, was a typical Appalachian romp complete with music, gyros, medieval weaponry and, of course, the atypical pawpaw, otherwise known as the poor man’s banana. Growers of the pawpaw aggregate every year to celebrate this unique delectable.

The pawpaw is a fruit that grows only in the temperate woodlands of the eastern United States. They often grow to 3-6 inches in length and weigh roughly 5-16 ounces. They have a creamy yellow center as well as multiple large seeds. The closest taste that can be compared to a pawpaw is the Indian mango.

Pawpaws are also extremely rare. They are not grown commercially because of their short shelf lives. Lance Beard, a bearded gentleman, informed many people about the process of growing this year’s pawpaws. He explained that this season included both a dry spell and a wet spell resulting in many of the pawpaws hardening and cracking on the outer shell of the fruits.

Some people have found ways to preserve them by crafting pawpaws into other longer-lasting foods. Integration Acres Pawpaw Products specializes in making a multitude of other pawpaw goods such as pawpaw crackers and pawpaw jelly. Employee Meghan Amelia Featheringham explained that, in order to make the jelly, they have to extract the pulp and let it ferment for a couple of weeks.

Other ingenious and popular ways of preserving pawpaws include making pawpaw beer and soda. Eric Hedin, owner of the Do-It-Yourself Shop in Athens, specializes in the making of pawpaw soda. He makes three flavors: Pawpaw Sugar, Pawpaw Splenda and Pawpaw Honey. He described the process as churning water with carbon dioxide then adding pawpaws with liquefied honey. Hedin eagerly gave his product out for free during this year’s Pawpaw Festival.

The 2009 festival had many other activities and events, such as fencing, “The Best Pawpaw,” a pawpaw cook off and the ever-popular pawpaw eating contest. The pawpaw eating contest drew a huge crowd. It consisted of 9 contestants from ages 10 to 40 and from Atlanta, Georgia to Cincinnati, Ohio. The objective of the contest was to scrape clean 20 pawpaw seeds as fast as possible while keeping hands held behind the back. The winner was Jim Laske, a native of Akron, Ohio.

Pawpaws have recently been named as Ohio’s native state fruit.

Veteran pawpaw eaters are eager to dish out some advice: “Don’t eat the seeds or the skin, or your toilet will be your best friend for a long time.”

 

4 Loko Craziness

(Pseudonyms have been used for subjects to avoid legal implication)

 

Underage drinking is one of the many concerns across campuses worldwide, and it is no different here at Ohio University. The Princeton Review currently ranked OU as the number two party school in America. As an undergraduate student I can clearly see that it lives up to the hype. However, some (relatively) new form of alcoholic beverage seems to be at the height of popularity among students at Ohio University, the infamous 4loko.

4loko is an alcoholic energy drink that contains 4 main ingredients: caffeine, taurine, guarana, and of course alcohol. They were created by 3 Ohio State University alumni and are headed by Pushion Projects. They come in 6 colorful flavors and just one can contains 12 per cent alcohol. Students around the university purchase and drink them because they are cheap and essentially, “A blackout in a can.”

Undergraduate student, Colonel Sanders says why he drinks 4lokos, “ I mean it’s only about $3 for one can of Loko which equals about 6 beers. You only need to buy a couple to have a good night. Sure it tastes like fart spray but on the other hand so does Natural Light.”

4lokos and other alcoholic energy drinks are a huge concern for Ohio University students and other college students alike. Their colorful cans and “tasty” flavors such as Blue Raspberry and Cranberry Lemonade are specifically marketed to college students. However not all college students are influenced by their attraction. Senior student, Marcellus Wallace said,” I like to steer clear of 4lokos because they make me ridiculously wired. When I drink one I have violent tendencies and usually end up breaking things around my apartment. I’ve seen way too many of my friends get sick from those things.”

There are also many physical dangers to your body once you combine caffeine and alcohol. Health experts say that the caffeine actually delays the effect of alcohol, which allows people to consume excessive amounts of alcohol. This energy drink is affecting college students all across the United States. There have been many reports on students becoming injured or hospitalized after consumption of the drink.

Alcoholic venues in Ohio University, such as the Busy Day Market, Big Cat Drive-thru, or the Union Street Market are known popular places to purchase the energy drink. You can buy either by cans at a time or you can buy them in bulk. Undergrad student, Frank (Loko) Leko claims to drink a 4loko at least once a day. “I usually buy them in bulk and sell them to people to make some extra cash. But I like 4lokos, they get me messed up quick and that’s the whole point.”

4loko is not alone in the alcoholic energy drink world, brands such as Jooze, Sparks, and Tilt are also popular in Ohio University. According to urbandictionary.com the term “Hyper Viper” was created on Palmer Street here in Athens. A Hyper Viper consists of drinking a 40 oz bottle of Cobra beer, and right before you’re finished you pour an energy drink (either 4loko, Jooze, Sparks, or Tilt) into your bottle. This is the definition of dangerous drinking habits, and allows for more injuries to happen at Ohio University.

Fortunately the Federal Trade Commission has been making steps to ban this alcoholic energy drink. They declared that beverages such as Four energy drinks that combine caffeine with alcohol are a “public health concern” and will not be allowed to stay on the market in their current form. Phusion Projects declared that they will remove guarana, taurine, and caffeine from the 4loko (Making future products only left with 1loko).

The FTC is making advances in the right direction but still ignores the fact that college students, especially at Ohio University, will still find alternative energy drinks to use. Ohio University is being overrun by alcoholic consumption and is finding new and more dangerous alternatives in fulfilling its urge.