Amid a month of pink ribbons, feel-good stories and advertisements with smiling cancer patients, it’s easy to forget the millions of lives that are claimed by cancer each year. And among death’s sickening array of characters, cancer is one of the cruelest. Doug Alsdorf, professor at The Ohio State University, knows this reality all too well after losing his wife, Laura Behrendt-Alsdorf, to metastatic breast cancer in 2011. It’s hard to talk about death. Most people avoid talking about death in the public sphere because death can’t be dressed up — not even in pink ribbons. But Alsdorf will never forget or avoid discussing the bravery with which Laura —…
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Pelotonia funds in action
It’s no secret that research is what’s going to help save more lives from cancer. Since 2008, Pelotonia, Columbus’ annual cycling event and fundraiser for cancer research, has contributed more than $122 million to The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC–James). One hundred percent of the proceeds are used to advance research through a variety of initiatives, including Pelotonia Idea Grants and the Pelotonia Fellowship Program, both of which fund selected cancer studies. Two separate ongoing studies funded by Pelotonia at the OSUCCC – James are looking into the link between breastfeeding and breast cancer and figuring out how to alleviate…
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At four months pregnant, breast cancer was not on her radar
Breast cancer is diagnosed in roughly one pregnant woman in 3,000, according to the American Cancer Society. In 2009, Pauline Russ was one of them. Russ was 34 years old and four months pregnant when an ultrasound and biopsy confirmed that she had stage 2, triple-positive breast cancer. Before her diagnosis, Russ informed her doctor of a pain in her right breast at a routine pregnancy checkup. “Once my first trimester was over, she sent me to have an ultrasound just in case, although we both thought, ‘oh I’m sure it’s milk ducts getting ready,’” she said. After the ultrasound, Russ was told nothing other than she needed to get…
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Harp carving out path in carpentry and on DIY Network
About six years ago, Clint Harp was watching YouTube videos to learn how to operate a wood lathe. Now, Harp is widely known across the U.S. and beyond for his woodworking and furniture artistry on HGTV’s “Fixer Upper.” Harp always knew he wanted to work with his hands, and after four unfulfilling years of working in the medical sales industry, he decided it was time to follow his dream. He quit his six-figure-salary career and began down the path that would lead him to found his own carpentry business with his wife, Kelly Harp. The two moved to Waco, Texas, in 2011 and founded Harp Design Co., which has grown…
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Salvage Dawgs give new meaning to the upcycling trend
Robert Kulp and Mike Whiteside co-founded Black Dog Salvage, an architectural salvage company based in Roanoke, Va., 16 years ago. In 2012, their amazing work went public with the DIY Network series “Salvage Dawgs,” which has aired for six seasons and counting. The show chronicles the unique situations that Kulp and Whiteside encounter during their daily work, which include bidding on houses and buildings that are condemned to demolition, so that they can extract any architectural elements or historical properties they consider to be of value from the premises. The reclaimed pieces are then reused or repurposed before being sold to assorted clients. From old prisons to former hospitals to…
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The Lantern
Find below a few of the 27 articles I’ve authored for The Ohio State University’s daily student newspaper, The Lantern. Brussels terror attacks have global, OSU impact – *front-page story March 29, 2016 Although the deadly attacks in Brussels on March 22 occurred 4,055 miles away from Ohio State, the community still feels the effects. The airport and subway bombings in Brussels injured 270 individuals and claimed the lives of 35. They appear to have been carried out by the same Islamic State network that implemented last year’s terrorist attacks in Paris, which killed 130 people. One OSU student was in Brussels when tragedy struck: Kate Hartmann, a doctorate student in…
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Longest execution in Ohio history leads state to re-examine capital punishment policies
Dennis McGuire’s 26-minute struggle to die after receiving a new form of lethal injection on Jan. 16 has left Ohio officials speculating if and how the state should reform its death sentencing practices. Douglas Berman, professor of criminal law and sentencing at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, said many people are looking at the execution protocol, and that there are already bills being advanced to consider legal changes. Berman said there is a possibility that the dosage levels of the drugs used on McGuire were not high enough. “If there’s any means to suspect he did suffer significant pain, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ohio tried a…