thelantern
Friday March 28, 2014
the student voice of The Ohio State University
year: 134 No. 45
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Buckeye Village parking cost dropped from original estimate Parking @ buckeye Village
michele Theodore Copy chief theodore.13@osu.edu Some Buckeye Village residents worried about paying a price more than a month’s rent for a parking pass can breathe a sigh of relief. About a month after Buckeye Village residents were told parking would no longer be free, the price of a parking pass at the complex has been lowered by nearly $500 after residents protested the changes. Rent, however, could be raised in 2015-16. Residents received an email Thursday from Interim President Joseph Alutto stating parking passes for Buckeye Village are to cost $150 for the 2014-15 academic year. Parking fees of either $402 or $620 yearly were originally set to be required for the 2014-15 academic year, a change residents were informed of in an email Feb. 17 that stated “parking no longer will be included as part of the Buckeye Village housing contract.” Buckeye Village is located across the Olentangy River on Defiance Drive near Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium and features family housing apartments through the university, intended for OSU students with spouses or children. Many residents at Buckeye Village protested the parking increases, saying the new parking passes included lots away from the complex that were too remote. “What they were asking before was just really ridiculous,” said Leslie Vasquez, chair of Buckeye Village residents’ council and fourth-year in public affairs. “If most people drove to campus and wanted those parking privileges of the Lane Avenue garages and C parking, then it makes more sense, but for the most part, people just want to be able to park near their homes and take the bus over. “That was just the main issue right there … that we were being charged for privileges we didn’t want.” In Spring Semester 2013, a similar announcement was made and residents were initially told they would have to pay more than $600 for a pass. After some residents signed a petition protesting the changes, however, the university announced parking would remain free for the 2013-14 academic year. Alutto’s email Thursday stated “a new parking
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Buckeye Village PASS PARKING 15 2 2014 - 0
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Residents (are) concerned that people with A, B and C passes are still going to be able to park here,” Vasquez said. “That’s just been a concern in the past because of our children, just having people we don’t know parking here. Leslie Vasquez Chair of Buckeye Village residents’ council
source: reporting permit will be available for use only in the Buckeye Village residential parking lots and will not include parking access in any other university parking lot or garage.” There is set to be one Buckeye Village parking pass available for each unit. The new parking permits are for Buckeye Village residents exclusively, but A, B and CPN pass holders will be permitted to park in the complex’s lot, except during “the approximately 40 major events that occur at the university,” according to the email. Residents had expressed concerns about an overflow from parking for events, such as football games, when there are more cars on campus. Vasquez said some are concerned about people with other passes parking at Buckeye Village for other reasons as well. “Residents (are) concerned that people with A, B and C passes are still going to be able to park here,” Vasquez said. “That’s just been a concern in the past because of our children, just having people we don’t know parking here.” Vasquez said communication will likely continue,
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OSU graduates 7% of US Arabic majors AleX drUmmer Lantern reporter drummer.18@osu.edu
Parking fees of either $402 or $620 yearly were originally set to be required for the 2014-15 academic year.
Parking passes for buckeye Village are to cost $150 for the 2014-15 academic year.
Medical school turns 100
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kAYlA bYler / Managing editor of design
as she was also concerned for families that have more than one car and might need more than the one pass allotted for each unit. “I’ve already asked for some clarification and I’m sure that we’ll continue to talk with the university and get the clarification that we need,” she said. The changes were announced after a meeting between two Buckeye Village residents and the Council of Graduate Students president and university officials. Rent has been set at $655 per month for a two-bedroom apartment and $515 for a one-bedroom apartment for 2014-15, down $30 each from the 2013-14 rents. Alutto said, however, “the 2015-16 monthly rates will be raised by a maximum of $10 per month.” Vasquez said overall, she was happy with the changes. “It feels so good and I really want to get focused on schoolwork,” she said. “It’s taken a lot of time and energy, so I’m glad that we got where we are.”
“One day, I was in a grocery store owned by a Lebanese-Algerian couple, and I loved the lady’s accent.” Rebecca Byrne, a third-year in Arabic and linguistics, said she asked the woman what she spoke and when the woman told her Arabic, Byrne asked her to speak some more. “What I heard next was the prettiest thing I’d heard in my life. I thought it sounded powerful and smooth,” Byrne said. The interaction inspired Byrne, who already had an interest in language and culture after taking high school French classes, to want to learn more about Arabic and ultimately led to her to majoring in it at Ohio State — a university that graduates 7 percent of the United States’ Arabic majors. “Arabic is not an easy major and takes special determination to complete,” said Gergana Atanassova, a lecturer in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, in an email. Atanassova said she isn’t surprised OSU graduates 7 percent of the country’s Arabic majors “given the size of the university, the considerable Arab diaspora and Muslim population in Ohio and the high caliber of the students that OSU attracts.” Byrne also said she was not surprised because “most colleges don’t offer Arabic as a major itself.” There are currently 39 colleges that offer an Arabic major, according to the College Board website, which allows users to search for colleges that match one’s interests or needs. Other Big Ten schools that offer Arabic majors, according to the website, include Michigan, Minnesota and Michigan State. Approximately 223 million people speak Arabic in the world, according to Ethnologue: Languages of
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Behind-the-scenes OSU offense to have ‘different little taste’ in 2014 moves transform Schott for concerts, sports eric SeGer Sports editor seger.25@osu.edu
AleXiS hill / Lantern photographer
logan recker, a third-year in sociology, takes apart the basketball court at the Schottenstein center march 25 to transform the arena for monster Truck nationals, which are set to be held march 29.
Andrew Todd-SmiTh Lantern reporter todd-smith.1@osu.edu When it comes to prepping the Schottenstein Center for crowds, Ohio State’s most valuable player isn’t an athlete: It’s a team of maintenance personnel. As the home of OSU men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s basketball, the Schottenstein Center serves as a versatile athletic facility as well as a concert venue. But when the sounds of cheering and the band playing “Buckeye Battle Cry” are done echoing through the Schott’s rafters, a lesscelebrated team shows up to prepare the building for the next event. That team is Mike Hollon’s conversion crew. Hollon is the Schott’s full-time conversion coordinator and is in charge of the group that makes these vital transformations happen, sometimes late at night. Whether it’s the hockey-to-basketball conversion — which involves breaking down the curved corner portions of the boards that support the glass and form the ice rink’s boundary, laying down the insulated flooring layer and then assembling the hardwood court on top of that — or vice versa, Hollon said it’s mostly students doing the work on his crews. “Probably 90 percent of my staff are students,” Hollon said. “The ones who aren’t students have either graduated and worked for us as students whose jobs are in Columbus, and they do this part time for some extra money.”
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As the Ohio State football team continues its trudge through spring practice, position battles abound across the team. With the loss of players like Corey “Philly” Brown from the wide receiver corps and Carlos Hyde from the backfield, inserting a new brand of playmakers and expanding the roles of those already in coach Urban Meyer’s system is likely to prove vital in replacing the team-leading 771 receiving yards from Brown and 1,521 rushing yards Hyde tallied in a season that ended in backto-back losses. Meyer said Tuesday that the offense is going to have a “different little taste to it” than it did a year ago as a result. “It’s going to be a different … we’re going to have to lean on some perimeter ways of getting first downs and all that,” Meyer said. “Where, last year when you rushed for 300 yards a game, it’s because that offensive line. We have other weapons.” But the process of filling those voids left by Brown, Hyde and a powerful offensive line is going to depend on guys like senior wide receivers Devin Smith and Evan Spencer, as well as younger guys like sophomore running back Dontre Wilson, freshman wide receiver Johnnie Dixon and redshirt- freshman wide receiver Jalin Marshall. “We got a lot of guys, not just me and Evan with experience. We got guys like Dontre that are really stepping up, that’s talented,” Smith said Thursday after OSU wrapped up its seventh practice of spring. “Johnnie Dixon is another guy that came in that really turned some eyes. We got a lot of guys around us that can help us and so you know we are just hoping that these young guys dive in the playbook and get better each and every day.” Much like last year with Wilson, a lot of buzz has been generated with the additions of younger players like Dixon and Marshall — who is set to miss time with a knee injury but be back for summer workouts. But expect to see Wilson’s role expand, too, after now having a full year in Meyer’s offense. Wilson said at times last year he felt like a “decoy” within the offense. “I just didn’t feel like I was that involved. Basically most of the plays I was pretty much just faking and fly sweeping and the defense would bite and we would throw it downfield,” Wilson said. “So yeah, I felt like a decoy. But now, things have changed so
ShelbY lUm / Photo editor
Then-sophomore running back dontre wilson runs the ball in a game agains Purdue nov. 2. oSU won, 56-0. now I’m getting my chance and I’m making the best of it.” Wilson said he is the primary punt and kickoff returner on the team now with Brown gone, but he’s also planning on having more of a role in the offense. “I wasn’t as comfortable (last year) but now I feel comfortable and I feel like me again” Wilson said. “Getting a lot more opportunities to make plays.” While the offense is looking to replace players like Brown and Hyde in search of the same amount of production it had in last year’s 12-2 campaign, the defensive line is looking to buy into what new defensive line coach Larry Johnson’s selling. Doing so will help build off a solid season one year ago. “Not necessarily a feeling out period, it’s a trust period,” Johnson said Thursday. “To really develop a trust … and right now they’re reaching back. And that’s really great to see.” A player who Johnson said is making great strides so far in the spring is junior defensive end Noah Spence, who is suspended for the first two games of the 2014 campaign for reportedly testing positive for ecstasy. “Really pleased with his effort on the
field and off the field,” Johnson said of Spence. “He’s doing great in the classroom so I think Noah’s all about business. He wants to be a great player, and great players work hard and work through adversity and that’s what he’s doing. I think it’s been really good to see that.” Johnson said he plans to have eight or nine players in the rotation at defensive line, looking to keep players as fresh as possible with how the majority of college football teams have moved to a spread, high tempo offense. But to do that, you’ve got to be in shape and willing to go hard every play, senior defensive lineman Michael Bennett said. “He just wants us to go 100 percent to the ball every play,” Bennett said Thursday. “But with coach Johnson, he wants us running all the way until the ball is on the ground. He wants strip sacks, not just regular sacks, just little stuff like that. He’s really adamant about going until the whistle blows and then getting back on the line and not being tired.” The Buckeyes are set to take on Navy Aug. 30 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Kickoff is set for noon.
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