SUBMIT YOUR SENIOR PHOTOS FOR THE POST’S GRADUATION EDITION! APRIL 21, 2026
VOLUME 116, ISSUE 31
THEPOSTATHENS.COM
60 minutes in Baker Center with UAOU Peace talks, Strait
US Headlines
of Hormuz opens FINN SMITH NEWS STAFF WRITER 13 Mon _________________
Viktor Orbán loses Hungarian election Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán lost the Hungarian election over the weekend. The loss has major implications for the U.S., as Orbán has long been an ally of President Donald Trump as well as many other conservatives in the U.S., according to The Associated Press. Trump has been in support of Orbán’s reelection campaign, even sending Vice President JD Vance to Budapest to advocate for the candidate. Orbán’s loss demonstrated how the ongoing Iranian war is impacting Trump’s ability to influence elections overseas. Orbán’s defeat is highly influential, as the former Prime Minister was the closest European leader to Russian President Vladimir Putin and even blocked aid to Ukraine. The election loss was celebrated by Democrats and Republicans alike, who were critical of U.S. support for the Hungarian leader.
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US enacts blockade at Strait of Hormuz Trump has announced a blockade of Iranian ports that began April 13. The blockade could bring further disruptions to oil prices and raise concerns regarding international law, the AP reported. The blockade was threatened after the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran failed, and no deal has been reached. It is expected to draw major resources from the U.S. Navy and bring about concerns regarding military force. According to a defense official, the U.S. has 16 warships in the Middle East currently, but has offered few details beyond that. A second defense official said there are currently no warships in the Persian Gulf, which borders Iran.
JACKSON MCCOY, SOPHIA ROOKSBERRY, ALEXANDRA HOPKINS | FOR THE POST
United Academics of Ohio University is the labor union representing OU faculty members. Formerly OU American Association of University Professors, UAOU started organizing in 2019 and officially voted to unionize in March 2025, with 71% of faculty voting in favor of unionization. The Post’s executive editors – Jackson McCoy, editor-in-chief, Sophia Rooksberry, managing editor, and Alexandra Hopkins, community standards editor – sat down with members of UAOU for an hour-long conversation Friday. Present UAOU members included Matthew deTar, associate professor of communication students and organizing coordinator for UAOU; Miriam Shadis, associate professor of history and members of the union’s organizing, communications and nomination committees; Rachel Terman, associate professor of sociology and member of the union’s bargaining team; Joe McLaughlin, associate professor of English and member of the union’s bargaining team; and Julie White, professor of political science and member of the organizing committee. Sophia Rooksberry: What was the moment that you all knew that you wanted to organize with UAOU? Rachel Terman: It was during the pandemic. It was a very stressful, intense time for everyone. And faculty did a lot of work to get all of our classes online and make sure that we can finish out the semester. That semester, there had been talk about budget cuts, and there was a lot of concern, especially among instructional
cont., pg. A3
Joe McLaughlin: When things started, really in the fall of 2019 some people, including (White), started to kind of coax me to get involved. I had just finished a three year term as chair of Faculty Senate, and I was just ready to step back and not do anything for a while. But this seemed important. There were certain things about that process that were unsatisfactory, and it seemed like organizing a union was maybe a better way forward. And then, like (Terman) just described, they fired 50-plus faculty in the spring of 2020 including very valuable and beloved colleagues in English at that point, there was just no looking back. Miriam Shadis: For me, it seems that it’s always been there. Why aren’t we unionized? Faculty at other universities are colleagues, and other places have very different experiences of how they contribute to the status that they have at the university in terms of their contract, but also in terms of academic freedom. I just think that to me, it seemed like a natural, obvious thing that there should be a union; if you have a university, that the faculty should be organized. I’m a medievalist, and that’s how it was in the middle ages. cont., pg. A2
Ohioans lead petition to prevent growth of data centers FINN SMITH | NEWS STAFF WRITER A coalition of Ohioans is collecting signatures to establish a constitutional amendment prohibiting the development of a data center exceeding 25 megawatts of electricity per month. The Ohio Attorney General’s Office certified the petition title and summary for the amendment, known as “Prohibition of Construction of a Data Center,” on March 26. The grassroots movement is led by residents of Brown County, Adams County and Clermont County, Andrew Gula, an organizer of the petition, said. Jessica Baker, one of the organizers of the petition and a resident of Clermont County, discussed the impacts that data centers had that sparked the idea for the petition.
“We started realizing that it’s not going to benefit the community,” Baker said. “The tax abatements, the tax exemptions, the TIFS, the water consumption, the power consumption. We’re screaming at every legislator that we can talk to our concerns, and we feel like nobody’s listening, so we decided that we would just take it into our own hands.” Republican Rep. Kevin Ritter of District 94, comprising Athens County, Meigs County and Washington County, addressed some of those concerns, urging readers to look at the specific data center being proposed and to stay informed on the issue. He said all data centers work differently and it is important to be aware and knowledgeable.
cont., pg. A5
‘The next county commissioner is going to be a woman’ KAITLIN HOGG | NEWS STAFF WRITER Primary election absentee and overseas voting has begun in Ohio, with inperson voting scheduled for May 5. Among the races on the ballot is the election for president of the Athens County Board of Commissioners. Current president Lenny Eliason is stepping down after serving in the role since August 1998. His term ends Dec. 31, leaving an open seat on the board.
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Trump pushes to extend foreign surveillance program Trump is pushing Congress to pass the reauthorization of a program that allows U.S. spy agencies to monitor and surveil foreigners’ calls, texts and emails. He is arguing the program has saved Americans’ lives, while those who oppose worry about the concerns of such vast monitoring, according to the AP. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which expires Monday, allows the CIA, FBI and other agencies to analyze and collect communications overseas without warrants. Americans’ data.
faculty and untenured faculty, about being laid off. And I was also eight months pregnant with my second kid, and we made it to the end of the semester, and everyone was like, “OK,” and the administration said, “We’re gooing to put a pause on these budget cuts. Let’s just all work together to get through it.” And we did. And then it was right after the semester ended, they were like, oh, budget cuts are back on the table. They laid off several people from my department, instructional faculty and our administrative assistants, and also we knew that the decision from the Dean was that any untenured or instructional faculty were on the chopping block. I was like, “Oh my gosh. My whole life is hanging in the balance here.” I was not laid off, but several valuable colleagues were. I knew I had been hearing about the unionization effort, and I was like, this is insane. Like, I can’t work, we can’t work like this. So that’s when I decided to join.
Two candidates are seeking the position: Democrat Autumn Brown and Republican Sarah Smith. Both are running unopposed in their primaries and are expected to face each other in the general election.
cont., pg. A4
Proposed income tax increase to appear on primary ballot KAITLIN HOGG | NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thomas said if the trend continues, it could create long-term financial challenges.
Athens voters will see a proposed 0.20% municipal income tax increase on the primary election ballot. Athens City Treasurer Josh Thomas said the new proposal comes after a state audit found city expenses are rising faster than revenues.
“We lowered the rate a little bit,” Thomas said. “We listened to the voters as well. A lot of things people told us were, ‘Can you cut expenses and do things like that?’ So actually, the city did. We passed a budget this year that was lower, a flatter budget than we’d ever seen, so we did a lot of cutting expenses, but we still felt like we needed to talk about revenue as well.”
For residents earning about $30,000 annually, the increase would amount to approximately $60 more per year in income taxes. The proposal follows a similar measure in the 2025 primary election, when a 0.30% increase was placed on the ballot and rejected by voters.
If approved, revenue from the increase would go into the city’s general fund, which primarily supports essential services such as police and fire departments. Thomas said about 75% of the general fund is allocated to payroll, and the additional revenue would not fund new initiatives.
cont., pg. A5