Tuesday April 12, 2011 year: 131 No. 50 the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern
Some feel new OSU policy is still ‘unfair’
sports
JESSE O’NEILL Lantern reporter oneill.134@osu.edu
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Wrestling with the lockout
Former Buckeye James Laurinaitis could turn to pro wrestling if there is no NFL season because of the lockout.
Student religious organizations at Ohio State soon will have to accept members regardless of their sexual orientation, religious beliefs, gender identity or anything that does not comply with the organizations’ values. However, organizations may choose their student leaders based on values within their groups. Those organizations with “sincerely held religious beliefs” are allowed to create criteria that allow them to choose their leaders according to their beliefs and values. Javaune Adams-Gaston, vice president for Student Life, issued a statement at noon Monday, declaring that organizations are required to follow this policy starting in the 2011–12 academic year. Undergraduate Student Government, the Council
“We’re very passionate about having students find out how to graduate on time.”
Construction on campus continues
“Every student pays a student activity fee each quarter and for the most part doesn’t know where it goes. A lot of it goes to USG and (students) deserve to know how it’s spent.”
Emily DeDonato vice presidential candidate
Kevin Flynn presidential candidate
“We want to continue reaching out and talking with representatives from the 1,000-plus student organizations on campus and making sure they’re making decisions with us.” Nick Messenger presidential candidate
MOLLY GRAY / Managing editor for design
arts & life
quarterly student activity fee. Of the $4 million these fees generate, 12.75 percent goes to student organizations, according to the Ohio Union’s website. “It is unfair to tell a gay student they should pay a $25 fee to an organization they are not allowed to be president of,” Kamrass said. Adams-Gaston provided a broader picture of the matter. “I want to remind our students that the activity fee covers a lot more than student organization fees. The vast majority goes to programming that all students have the opportunity to take part in,” she said. “All students are able to participate in all organizations, and 75 percent of the student activity fee does not go to the thousand organizations.” Before making her decision, Adams-Gaston spoke with many campus organizations, such as
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USG candidates talk platforms
campus
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of Graduate Students and the Inter-Professional Council have been advocating a full nondiscrimination policy for all registered student organizations. “It’s a step in the right direction,” USG President Micah Kamrass said, “but we are saddened that the administration is not enacting our full request.” Javaune The Council on Student Adams-Gaston Affairs voted 12-1 in favor of applying a full nondiscrimination policy for members and leaders of student organizations on campus on Jan. 18. “This is clearly going against the student opinion,” said Jonathan Nutt, president of the Council of Graduate Students. Every student at OSU is required to pay a $25
“We want to make sure we’re doing more with less, that we are focusing on being very practical.” Jacob Foskuhl presidential candidate
“We feel really strongly about Ohio State and the student organizations. We want to see it grow; we want to see it become better.”
“If you’re a student who doesn’t feel safe, it could deter you from coming to class.” Melissa Kellams vice presidential candidate
Andrea Blinkhorn vice presidential candidate
Nick & Emily
Kevin & Andrea Jake & Melissa
It’s almost time to decide who to vote for in Ohio State’s Undergraduate Student Government elections. On Sunday, the presidential and vice presidential candidates visited The Lantern newsroom to discuss their campaign platforms. Voting takes place Thursday and Friday.
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‘Stones’ to roll film at Cannes ‘Stones,’ a film by a Columbus filmmaker, was selected to screen at Cannes Film Festival in France.
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Students make their mark
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Kevin, Andrea work on USG transparency, campus safety AMANDA CAHOON Lantern reporter cahoon.6@osu.edu USG presidential candidate Kevin Flynn, a fourth-year in biochemistry and international studies, and vice presidential candidate Andrea Blinkhorn, a third-year in international studies and political science, chose the campaign slogan, “Your vision. Your voice. Your university.” The candidates said they chose this slogan because they feel USG representatives have a responsibility to represent the students. “We’re running for USG because we feel really strongly about Ohio State and the student organizations,” Blinkhorn said. “We want to see it grow; we want to see it become better.”
Inclusiveness If only able to accomplish one goal, Flynn and Blinkhorn would want to make sure they communicate with the student body. “We recognize that there is a problem with students not knowing what USG is, let alone what it stands for,” Flynn said. The website needs to be updated and emails could be sent out to inform students on USG activity. Regardless of whether students care or not about the organization they would be aware of it, Flynn said. “It’s important for a university of this size to have a strong website,” Blinkhorn said. “I think it’s important to reach out to students online because students spend so much time on it.”
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AMANDA CAHOON Lantern reporter cahoon.6@osu.edu USG presidential candidate Nick Messenger, a second-year in economics and political science, and vice presidential candidate Emily DeDonato, a second-year in biology, chose the campaign slogan “Together students can.” “When you bring students together, when you reach out to different organizations and communities across campus, when you ask people what they think and honestly listen, you can create a lot of solutions that make sense,” Messenger said. DeDonato said the campaign logo, which has the theme of the TV channel Nickelodeon, is a symbol that this generation of undergraduates can respond to.
Affordability If only able to accomplish one goal, Messenger and DeDonato would want to assist students with ÿnding ways to make undergraduate tuition more affordable. Messenger and DeDonato want to use a book-swap program that could save students money. It would have students buying and selling textbooks directly with each other and could save a student $80 per quarter. Messenger said this estimate was determined through putting Ohio State’s numbers of student population, average price of a book and an estimate that 4 percent of students would participate, into the results from other Big 10 universities, Wisconsin and Michigan State, who use similar book swap programs.
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Jake, Melissa focus on safety, semesters
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AMANDA CAHOON Lantern reporter cahoon.6@osu.edu
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Nick, Emily focus on switch to semesters, affordability
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USG presidential candidate Jacob Foskuhl, a third-year in public affairs and Russian, and vice presidential candidate Melissa Kellams, a secondyear in public affairs, chose the campaign slogan, “Make it happen.” A pinwheel logo accompanies their slogan, which Foskuhl said represents movement. “We want to make sure that we are focusing on
what we can do with what we have,” Foskuhl said. “We want to make sure we’re doing more with less, that we are focusing on being very practical.” Campus safety If able to accomplish one platform, Foskuhl and Kellams want to create a policy to ensure students feel safe on campus. “The biggest thing would be a sexual violence policy on campus,” Foskuhl said. “I think they’re all great initiatives. They’re all things we want to work on, but ultimately student safety is a priority.” Foskhul and Kellams said they want to work
with university administration to implement an effective and fair sexual violence policy and see that it is enforced. “If you’re a student who doesn’t feel safe, it could deter you from coming to class,” Kellams said. Semester switch Foskhul said a key aspect of helping students in the transition of a quarter-to-semester switch is coordination.
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