Students across various majors at The Ohio State University recently gathered at the Fisher College of Business to discuss how study abroad opportunities have helped them hone skills that will benefit their studies and chosen career paths.

Fisher’s Office of Global Business and its Office of Advancement hosted the inaugural Global Experience Luncheon. The event was held at the Blackwell Inn on the Columbus campus.

The luncheon brought together alumni who have donated to study abroad programs with students who have participated in them, said Dominic DiCamillo, senior director of the Office of Global Business.

“We were excited to partner with Advancement for the first time to facilitate this type of personal connection. The families that have created these endowments, oftentimes, they hoped it would have some sort of positive impact,” he said. “This is the first time for them to hear firsthand from the students who recently participated.”

Xin Lin, a third-year finance student, shared her experiences studying abroad in Hamburg, Germany, and Chiang Mai, Thailand. While in Germany in summer 2024, Lin completed the Fisher Freshman Global Lab with Professor Michael Knemeyer and studied at the Kühne Logistics University.

During Lin’s semester in Germany, her cohort toured the facilities of several international companies, including the Mercedes-Benz auto manufacturer, Seven Senders logistics enterprise, and Jack Wolfskin outdoor apparel.

“This was my first time being in Europe,” she said. “It was a really eye-opening experience and taught me to be curious about exploring other cultures, which is why I made the decision to study abroad in Chiang Mai, Thailand.”

This past summer in Chiang Mai, Lin completed the competitive Fisher Global Consulting: Nonprofit program, which is funded by an endowment established by Chris Connor, a 1978 Ohio State alumnus, and his wife, Sara. The participating students, called Connor Scholars, gain firsthand insights into the cultures and business practices of countries in developing regions worldwide.

“We were there for two weeks working on the sustainability and the marketing for the local elephant foundation, as well as to support the villagers,” she said. “And my team and I, we worked on the sustainability curriculum for the local school.”

Lin said participating in study abroad programs sharpened her decision-making and problem-solving skills.

“Leveraging these experiences has strengthened my understanding of international business and macroeconomics,” she said. “Most importantly, it is the growth mindset and the endless learning that these experiences have taught me, and I’m really excited to be carrying these values into my future career and my academic journey.”

Jacob Brodson, a fourth-year marketing major, said participating in the Fisher Global Marketing Lab in Taiwan this past summer was “a transformational, life-changing trip.”

“If you can go to someplace that’s so fundamentally different from what we experience here on a day-to-day basis, you should absolutely take the opportunity to,” he said. “And Taiwan is that opportunity.”

Brodson said studying marketing and visiting 10 companies in Taiwan gave him a broader perspective on business practices in different countries.

“We went to TSMC, which is the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. That’s the 10th largest company in the world that you probably have never heard of, but they make all the phone and computer chips that are in your cellphones,” he said. “It was an unbelievable experience to see that.”

Brodson and his classmates also toured a Kenda Tire facility.

“They actually do a lot of marketing at Ohio State sporting events because their U.S. headquarters is out in Reynoldsburg,” Brodson said. “We got to see their entire manufacturing plant in Taiwan.”

Brodson said he was pleasantly surprised to discover a Buckeye community overseas. He met more than 25 Ohio State alumni throughout Taiwan.

“We are halfway across the world and yet the most beautiful thing is that there are still reminders of home. We’re halfway across the country and there are still Buckeyes there,” he said. “That is one of the coolest things – seeing the Ohio State alumni and the fact that this Buckeye tradition transcends countries.”

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) has the approval of over $48 million in loans and grants for statewide projects.

Together with the Board of Water and Natural Resources, a total of $36,958,000 in state loans, including $425,000 in principal forgiveness, was authorized for drinking water and wastewater improvements.

More funding was distributed to the following programs:

BDM Rural Water:

• Received an additional $233,450 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to construct a new water treatment plant, install a new water reservoir, install a pipe to expand the water system, and replace water meters

Clay Rural Water:

• Received $334,250 in ARPA grant funds to construct two ground storage reservoirs near the Greenfield reservoir and the Wakonda Water Treatment plant

Mid-Dakota Rural Water System:

• Received $917,357.85 in ARPA grant to update the existing water system

Mitchell:

• Received $3,930,000 in Clean Water State Revolving Funds to upgrade the clay sanitary and storm sewer

Rapid City:

• Received a $14,512,000 Drinking Water State Revolving loan to make improvements to an existing well and also construct two new wells

Shared Resources:

• Received $1,500,000 in ARPA grant funds for a treatment plant, well field, distribution pipeline, and two storage tanks

Sioux Falls:

• Received $7,648,000 to complete a third connection to the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System
• Received $17,746,000 to construct a new Southeast Basin sanitary force main

South Lincoln Rural Water System:

• Received $328,250 in ARPA funds to install an elevated water tank, new pump station, and new water treatment plant

South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources:

• Received $1 million in ARPA funds for its statewide Riparian Buffer Initiative

Toronto:

• Received $770,000 Drinking Water Revolving Loan to accommodate the Department of Transportation installing new storm sewers and highway surfacing

These programs are funded through a combination of federal appropriations, loan repayments, and bonds.

The board approved the funding during a January 8 meeting in Pierre.

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MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin teen who killed a prison guard during a fistfight pleaded guilty to homicide Friday but contends he doesn’t deserve prison time because he was mentally ill and not responsible for his actions.

Javarius Hurd, 17, entered a plea of guilty/not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to one count of second-degree reckless homicide in connection with Corey Proulx’s death, online court records show. He also pleaded guilty to one count of battery by a prisoner. Prosecutors dropped a second battery count in exchange for the pleas.

The next step for Hurd will be a February trial in which jurors will determine whether he should be sentenced to prison or committed to a mental institution. Jurors will be asked to determine whether Hurd was indeed suffering from a mental disease at the time of the fight and, if so, whether the mental disease impaired his ability to act within the law.

“Javarius entered into a plea agreement that partially resolves the case involving the sad and tragic death of (Proulx),” Hurd’s attorney, Aaton Nelson, said in an email to The Associated Press. “Javarius, who has had a life filled with trauma and suffering, realizes that nothing will compensate the victims for their loss and suffering. We hope that this agreement will help all those suffering with their healing.”

According to court documents, Hurd was incarcerated at the Lincoln Hills-Copper Lakes School, the state’s youth prison in far northern Wisconsin, in June 2024.

He grew upset with a female counselor whom he felt was abusing her powers, threw soap at her and punched her. Hurd ran into the courtyard and Proulx followed to stop him. Hurd punched Proulx several times and Proulx fell, hit his head on the pavement and later died. Hurd was 16 at the time but was charged in adult court.

Another inmate at the youth prison, Rian Nyblom, pleaded guilty to two counts of being a party to battery in connection with the incident and was sentenced to five years in prison this past August.

According to prosecutors, Nyblom knew that Hurd was upset with the female counselor and wanted to splash her with conditioner and punch her. About 15 minutes before the fighting began, he got extra soap and conditioner from guards and secretly gave it to Hurd. Nyblom told investigators that he didn’t see Hurd attack the female counselor but watched as Hurd punched Proulx.

Lincoln Hills-Cooper Lake is Wisconsin’s only youth prison. The facility has been plagued by allegations of staff-on-inmate abuse, including excessive use of pepper spray, restraints and strip searches.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit in 2017 demanding changes at the prison. Then-Gov. Scott Walker’s administration settled the following year by agreeing to a consent decree that prohibited the use of mechanical restraints like handcuffs and the use of pepper spray.

Proulx’s death sparked calls from Republican lawmakers and from Lincoln Hills-Copper Lakes staff for more leeway in punishing incarcerated children, but Democratic Gov. Tony Evers rejected those calls, insisting conditions at the prison have been slowly improving. A court-appointed monitor assigned to oversee the prison’s progress reported this past October that the facility was fully compliant with the consent decree’s provisions for the first time.

Legislators have been trying to find a way to close the facility for years and replace with it with smaller regional prisons. Those prisons remain under construction, however, and Lincoln Hills-Copper Lake continues to operate.