Monday November 8, 2010 year: 130 No. 148 the student voice of
The Ohio State University
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thelantern USG guide improved, but still questioned
sports
Students rank off-campus housing options
MALLORY TRELEAVEN Lantern reporter treleaven.4@osu.edu
8A
Get to the point, Tressel
Sports editor Zack Meisel asks OSU football coach Jim Tressel to be more concise when speaking to the media.
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Nearly eight times as many students replied to the Undergraduate Student Government’s annual survey about landlords and off-campus housing this year than last, but some landlords still question the guide’s validity. “This is a huge improvement. Last year we only received 149 responses,” said Bryan Ashton, USG director of Student Life. The group will send out its 2010 Off-Campus Renters Guide to all students today via e-mail, based on 1,154 responses from students who live off-campus. “This project is a good way to keep landlords and realtors honest and to make sure that they are serving the students’ best interest,” said USG President Micah Kamrass. The guide compares students’ satisfaction with off-campus realtors that received 15 or more responses to the survey, which was sent to 5,000 off-campus students. “The key is that we get enough responses about a certain landlord,” said Matt Couch, associate director of Student Life. “For the majority of the results, I think it gives an honest representation.” The renters guide is broken up into three categories: maintenance, property and rent. The maintenance section looks at the landlords’ responses to concerns and emergencies. The average off-campus rent per person is between $350 and $450 a month, according to the survey. The landlord with the most expensive rent was University Manors, followed by Buckeye Real Estate, according to the survey. Kohr Royer Griffith reportedly had the cheapest rent, with some respondents paying between $151 and $200 a month. “I think the No. 1 concern for most students is rent,” Kamrass said. Josh Pladers, a third-year in finance, disagreed. “Price is not an issue,” Pladers said. “I’m more interested in how nice the place is.”
USG’s 2010 Renters Guide is compiled from 1,154 survey respondents’ answers.
Most available parking 1. Holiday House 2. George Kanellopoulos 3. Cooper Real Estate
Best maintenance (exterior) 1. Holiday House 2. Inn-Town Homes and Apartments 3. George Kanellopoulos
Best move-in condition 1. Inn-Town Homes and Apartments 2. Oxford Rentals Co. 3. Cooper Real Estate
Would rent from them again 1. Pella 2. George Kanellopoulos 3. Holiday House Source: Undergraduate Student Government
EMILY COLLARD / Lantern designer
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OSU rallies, wins Fisher Biz Quiz for first time ALEXA ODOM Lantern reporter odom.33@osu.edu
The Lantern vs. Men’s Soccer Reporter Evan Closky goes up against the men’s soccer team in this year’s first installment of The Lantern vs.
arts & life
Trustees approve plastic surgery department at OSU CHRIS BURKETT Lantern reporter burkett.41@osu.edu
Three teams made it to the final round of Fisher College’s Biz Quiz this weekend in a Big Ten conference showdown, but Ohio State’s team took the edge at the current-events competition to beat perennial powerhouse Michigan State. It was the first time OSU had won the competition, which was launched at OSU and hosted this year at Nationwide Arena. Going into the final round Sunday, OSU’s three-person team was tied for second with Michigan, behind Michigan State. But after the final 45 questions, OSU surged ahead of the competition. “To be able to beat MSU was a big thing for us because they were the big competitors this weekend,” said Brenna Brown, a fourth-year in marketing. Dan Kane, Adam Windnagel and Brown competed in Biz Quiz, all for the first time, and although they said they felt prepared, they were shocked by the win. “I didn’t think we’d win. Not because we didn’t prepare well but because we had never done this before,” said Kane, a fourth-year in finance. “We heard such good things about other universities and of other competitors, that they were the best of the best from their schools.” The OSU students’ goal was simply to make it to the semifinals, Brown said.
Ohio State has had plastic surgeons for more than 60 years, but now plastic surgery will have a department of its own. The OSU Board of Trustees approved the new department at its quarterly meeting Oct. 28. “I know what you’re thinking — ‘Dr. 90210,’” said Dr. Michael Miller, chief of plastic surgery at OSU. Unlike the Beverly Hills-based show about cosmetic surgery, however, Miller said OSU’s department will focus on reconstructive rather than cosmetic surgery. “We have cosmetic surgery, but we don’t emphasize that as our main focus,” Miller said. “There are tons of plastic surgeries that are often overlooked but actually bring the most value to health care.” The trustees also recognized OSU plastic surgeons Drs. James Boehmler, Pankaj Tiwari and Miller, who together received awards in January for reconstructive surgeries. One surgery involved
constructing a new esophagus for a young boy. The other was a pelvic reconstruction. The new department will start operations in 2011, but officials have not yet set a specific date. OSU has Dr. Michael Miller performed plastic surgery since hiring its first plastic surgeon in 1947, but the board’s department approval will further establish OSU’s name in the medical field, some say. “Only the best plastic surgery units are departments,” said Dr. E. Christopher Ellison, chairman in the Department of Surgery. “It’ll be recognized and noted nationally and will put us out in front of a lot of universities.” Miller said department status is important for budgeting in the university and indicates a higher status. He said the
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Jewish Film Festival
The sixth annual Columbus Jewish Film Festival kicked off Sunday. It will run until Wednesday and Nov. 14 to 16.
LAUREN HALLOW Senior Lantern reporter hallow.1@osu.edu
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Nearly 200 alumni were in town this weekend to celebrate the 75th birthday of Ohio State’s oldest student service organization, Ohio Staters Inc. Current and former Staters celebrated the group’s achievements throughout the years, which include reviving Block “O,” giving OSU the Browning Amphitheater and providing mental health awareness through “Best Day of Your Life,” at a banquet Saturday night at the Ohio Union. University President E. Gordon Gee spoke at the banquet to thank the Staters for their service, saying the university is “blessed” to have such a committed organization. “The thing I like most about Ohio Staters is the fact that as much as we celebrate what we have done, you celebrate what we can do,” Gee said. “You inspire and bring high expectations of what is to come.” The reunion, which the group started planning in 2007, was part of a weekend-long celebration, including a ceremony Saturday when the organization presented the dedication of two rooms in the Union — the Ohio Staters Inc. Traditions Room and the Ohio Staters Inc. Founders Room — as a gift to the university, in honor of its anniversary. The weekend’s highlight, though, was the banquet. Staters and their guests dined on dishes such as Chilean sea bass and Tandoori chicken while they discussed the group’s effect on their lives. “The students are very, very impressive,” said Kama Brockmann, former Ohio Staters Inc. president from 1984, who helped organize the banquet. “They’ve really maintained and expanded all the great traditions of the organization.” The ceremony recognized the group’s first female president, Maureen Malone Dargusch, who was elected in 1973. The organization was founded in 1933 by nine men as a group for men. The group also recognized the oldest living member, Brud Cleaveland, who graduated from OSU in 1940. Many alumni members said Ohio Staters prepared them for job interviews, presentations and collaboration with other professionals. “I’m a lawyer lobbyist for Microsoft now, and what I do every day, the foundations and the skills, I learned in Staters,” said Stephanie Peters, a member from 1984 to 1986. The Ohio Staters, whose motto is “Thinkers, Believers, and Doers in and about” OSU, help organize service projects, though they have changed their role over time.
Fun facts about Ohio Staters Inc. • Nonprofit organization • Only local inc. group on campus • Brought free concerts to campus such as Simon and Garfunkel before OUAB formed • Responsible for “Light Up the Lake” at Mirror Lake before the holidays • Brought traditions including Brutus, university crest, Block “O” and the distinguished lecture series • Notable alumni include former Columbus mayor Greg Lashutka, Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and the creator of the Shoney’s/Big Boy restaurant chain, Alex Schoenbaum. Source: Ohio Staters Inc.
EMILY COLLARD / Lantern designer
“Early on, we kind of operated as a travel agency for a while, organizing spring break trips to Hawaii and the Bahamas and stuff like that, trips to the Rose Bowl … making them affordable for students,” said Hans Voss, the current Staters president and fourth-year in political science. The group stopped doing that in the ‘60s or ‘70s when the Union began offering those services, he said. Before the university launched the Ohio Union Activities Board, Voss said it was the Staters who brought free concerts and entertainers to campus, including Simon and Garfunkel and Louis Armstrong. The organization was also responsible for starting the University Museum in University Hall and planting Buckeye Grove. Past members said their next goal is to create a scholarship fund for those in the group.
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