Wednesday October 31, 2012 year: 132 No. 125
the student voice of
The Ohio State University
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thelantern Some OSU workers lost in parking switch
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anna duee Lantern reporter duee.1@osu.edu With the campus parking transition under way, more than a dozen Ohio State employees have found themselves out of work. QIC Global Infrastructure, an Australian-based investment company, took over all OSU parking operations Sept. 21, in a 50-year, $483 million deal approved last June. While OSU has received the money form QIC, it is waiting for approval from the university Board of Trustees before moving forward with investment plans. About 70 OSU Transportation and Parking employees were told their positions would no longer exist at OSU as a result of the parking lease. These employees had the option to re-apply for their old job, pursue another position at OSU or leave the university.
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Lindsay Komlanc spokeswoman for OSU Administration and Planning “Of those who stayed with the university, they were placed in positions that matched their skills and abilities as closely as possible,� said Lindsay Komlanc, spokeswoman for OSU Administration and Planning, in an email. Of the 70 employees impacted, five were directly
4A Sandy overshadows low temps in C-Bus
The OSU basketball team won its exhibition game against Walsh Tuesday.
Kristen Mitchell Campus editor mitchell.935@osu.edu
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Wolverine to rock C-Bus
Solo artist and Michigan fan Craig Owens is scheduled to perform 6 p.m. Saturday at The Basement.
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OSU recruits Ohio’s brightest
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There were about 16 employees who, for various reasons, did not choose to stay with the university or be hired by CampusParc. Those employees chose to pursue other interests, either by retiring or taking a standard severance option.
hired by CampusParc, the arm of QIC Global Infrastructure and LAZ Parking that runs parking operations, including Sarah Blouch, who was named the director of CampusParc. In a Monday email, Komlanc said about 50 of those 70 employees remained with OSU. About 20 of those 50 employees went to work with OSU Transportation and Traffic Management, where they work with the Campus Area Bus Service or in customer service and other administrative roles. Transportation and Traffic Management oversees “transit-related services� such as the Campus Area Bus Service, paratransit services and university charter buses. Other employees, Komlanc said, are working with OSU Facilities Operations and Development or elsewhere within the university. In an interview with The Lantern, Blouch said
showers partly cloudy partly cloudy partly cloudy www.weather.com
After unseasonably warm weather last week, many Ohio State students were upset to find a thin layer of snow on the ground Tuesday morning. While temperatures have been dropping since late last week, Monday night saw continued rain that turned into snow in the early Tuesday hours when the temperature dropped to the low 30s. High wind continued Tuesday evening with wind remaining steady between 25 and 30 mph in Columbus. Some students said they weren’t happy with the sudden change in weather. “It sucks,� said Tyler Mack, a first-year in neuroscience. “It’s like 30 degrees right now in October. It’s not very ideal, especially with Halloween coming up. It’s not really the best weather.� Others said the wind was worse than the drop in temperatures. “It’s super cold. The wind especially, that’s the worst part. It wouldn’t be that bad if it was just cold,� said Ian Zoller, a first-year in allied medical professions. “The mixture of wind and cold is what’s making it hard to get to class.� However, some students said it was important to remember that people on the East Coast are dealing with a lot worse. “It’s miserable, but it’s nothing like what New Jersey and New York and everybody over there is going through,� said Kelli Mohr, a second-year in biomedical engineering. Mohr said it’s important to “look at the big picture and what everybody else is going through.� Superstorm Sandy was stripped of its hurricane status at about 8 p.m. Monday when it made landfall in the New Jersey area. Flooding, high winds and power outages have been prominent along the East Coast as Superstorm Sandy travels inland. Around the time the superstorm made landfall
Monday evening Lane Avenue Residence Hall lost power along with more than 6,600 AEP customers in Franklin County, including several in the University District area. However by 11:15 p.m. Monday that number had dropped to about 1,200. Tuesday afternoon, about 320 customers were still without power in Franklin County, but that number had dropped to zero by 9 p.m. Dave Isaacs, a Student Life spokesman, said he wasn’t aware of any other building on campus that had been affected because of the storm Monday evening. The New York City transit system was shut down Sunday evening as a preventative measure to the storm’s arrival, and several tunnels under the East River were reported as flooded. Several states across the Eastern Seaboard declared a state of emergency as the storm approached, and at least 39 total U.S. deaths have been reported in connection to the storm. Hurricane Sandy passed through the Caribbean on its way to the Atlantic coastline killing about 70 people in its path before reaching the U.S. Scott Swope, a 23-year-old from Reading, Pa., said during the high winds a 100-year-old tree crashed through the second story of his neighbor’s house. “Everyone in the area slept in their basements to avoid the tree fall,� Swope said. While Swope said falling trees were the biggest threat in his area, his family living on the coast of New Jersey has been dealing with worse. “They’ve been on the receiving end of a lot of the devastation,� he said. When the storm is over, Swope said he plans on going to the New Jersey shoreline and helping out with disaster relief. President Barack Obama gave remarks on Hurricane Sandy at about 12:45 p.m. Monday after being briefed by federal emergency response teams, and advised people in the affected areas on the East Coast to follow instructions from their state officials. “Please listen to what your state and local
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Courtesy of MCT
Pumpkins are covered with snow in Ashe County, N.C., on Tuesday. OSU’s campus saw effects of Superstorm Sandy as the first snow of the year covered the ground Tuesday morning. officials are saying,� he said. “When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate. Do not delay. Don’t pause. Don’t question the instructions that are being given, because this is a serious storm and it could potentially have fatal consequences if people haven’t acted quickly.� Obama canceled several campaign stops, including some in Ohio this week as a result of the storm. Rain is expected to continue in Columbus Wednesday with a 60 percent chance of rain, 18 mph winds and an expected high of 43 degrees. Ally Marotti and Pam Harasyn contributed to this article.
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As election nears, some students undecided emily tara Oller reporter tara.3@osu.edu Election Day is less than one week away, and despite all the political coverage on TV, social media and presidential candidate visits on and around campus, some Ohio State students still do not know who they’re voting for. “We figure most people know who they’re voting for for president, but we see a lot of people not knowing about local elections,� said Hillary Doyle, director for media relations at OSU Votes. OSU Votes “is a non-partisan committee headed by Pay It Forward at The Ohio Union dedicated to registering, educating and motivating students to vote,� according to its website, vote.osu.edu. Meredith Leal, a third-year in international studies, said voting “is a right we have that many countries do not give their citizens, and we should take advantage of it.� Emily Tennant, a fourth-year in English, also said she feels voting is an important right to exercise.
Andrew holleran / Photo editor
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney (left) in Powell, Ohio, Aug. 25. President Barack Obama (right) on OSU’s Oval Oct. 9. to vote next week, they are still undecided for whom they should vote. “I don’t really like either candidate,� Leal said, who added she feels like she needs to find the “lesser evil� of the two.
“I could not complain about our country’s policy or actions if I did not at least try to make my voice heard through my vote,� Tennant said. Although Leal and Tennant plan
But the tug to vote for either President Barack Obama or Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney isn’t what is troubling Luke McLaughlin, a fourth-year in history. “I’m not necessarily undecided between Obama and Romney, I’m undecided between Obama and Gary Johnson,� McLaughlin said. Gary Johnson is a candidate from the Libertarian Party. According to his website, “5 percent of the vote ends the two-party abuse and allows Libertarian candidates equal ballot access and government funding.� The vote to end the “two-party abuse� in America is part of the reason McLaughlin is divided between the two candidates, but he says he’s unsure where his vote would be best served. “I know voting for someone who isn’t Republican or Democrat is kind of a waste of my vote,� McLaughlin said. Leal said she’s trying to focus on which candidate will make better changes in the long term.
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