Thursday February 28, 2013 year: 133 No. 31
the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern ‘Dangerous’ Big Mike seen with OSU athlete
sports
ALLY MAROTTI Editor-in-chief marotti.5@osu.edu
6A
B1G ‘race never over’
The OSU basketball team travels to Northwestern to take on the Wildcats Thursday.
[ a+e ]
Tuesday night, a wanted man who calls himself Bigggggg Mike took a fan picture with Ohio State athlete and Olympian Amanda Furrer at Fourth Street Bar and Grill. Wednesday night, Ohio State Police were on his trail. University Police issued a public safety notice informing the campus community that Michael Moses Tarpeh was dangerous, wanted and could be in the area. But Furrer, a senior member of OSU’s rifle team, saw Tarpeh at Fourth Street Tuesday night, and the moment was captured on camera. “I don’t know him or have a connection with him, it was a fan picture because he found out I was in the Olympics and it happened to lead police in the right direction,” Furrer said in an email. “He was just excited about me being an Olympian.” Furrer said she was unsure of details on University Police’s investigation, and representatives from
University Police were not immediately available for comment Wednesday night. The public safety notice, which was sent out Wednesday at about 7:30 p.m., said Tarpeh is wanted by the Morgantown, W. Va., Police Department for aggravated assault and attempted sexual assault. The Massachusetts State Police also wants Tarpeh for an armed carjacking, robbery and assault and battery of a motorist in Lee, Mass. The University of Connecticut Police Department has warrants pending for Tarpeh’s arrest as well. Furrer said when she met Tarpeh, she thought he was just another guy out enjoying his night. When she found out he was wanted in three states, she was uncomfortable. “You never know who people are,” she said. “The nicest person is capable of anything.” Furrer did not say when and how she found out Tarpeh was wanted. A Twitter account that appears to be Tarpeh’s, @ BiggggggMike, tweeted at about 11 p.m. Wednesday, “Whats everyone in colobumus (sic) doing tonight? lol.” Shortly after, he tweeted, “F*** the police yallllllllll.”
Sally Xia and Anthony Szuhay contributed to this article.
OSU remembers Martin 1 year after death MELINDA CASSIDY Lantern reporter cassidy.126@osu.edu
1B
Spotlighting hidden talents
Lantern file photo
Students and community members gather on The Oval April 4 to rally against racial profiling and hate crime deaths.
The 5th annual Buckeye Showcase was held in the Ohio Union Performance Hall Tuesday at 7 p.m.
USG Election 2013
campus
Tressel to return for casino night
2A
weather high 39 low 29
Voting glitch complicates USG Senate race for SBS KRISTEN MITCHELL Campus editor mitchell.935@osu.edu
snow showers
F SA SU M
Students said they did not receive a text message alert from University Police and weren’t sure why. “I am glad that they emailed us about it, but I wish it’d have been more of a text message since it seems like it’s a lot more urgent news,” said Eric Blum, a third-year in biology. Other students agreed. “I would expect a text alert since I am not always on my email later at night. I am not too worried about it though, but I hope OSU takes further action,” said Chelsea Fraker, a fifth-year in electrical engineering. However, fourth-year in English, Kelsey Bick said she was just happy to be notified. “I was happy OSU sent the email alert out in such a timely manner and I’ll definitely be sure to stay in or walk with people if I go out tonight,” Bick said Wednesday evening. Twenty-three-year-old Tarpeh uses the alias Michael Moses Boadi. He weighs about 280 pounds and is about 6 feet tall, according to the notice. Tarpeh is not an OSU student.
32/26
cloudy
30/23
flurries
29/21
partly cloudy
36/28
partly cloudy www.weather.com
Ohio State’s Undergraduate Student Government elections opened Wednesday at noon, but not without at least one hiccup. Voting in the USG Social and Behavioral Sciences senatorial race created issues for some constituents, who reported they were not seeing SBS appearing as a choice for academic college to vote for their SBS representatives, said Tyler Byrum, chief justice of the USG Judicial Panel and a third-year in engineering physics. “This seemed to be a problem for people for about the first several hours of voting but, to my knowledge, it is not anymore,” said Byrum in an email at about 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Judicial Panel is responsible for ensuring the validity of USG elections. Byrum said he assumed the problem was fixed but that students can manually change the college selection option on the ballot, then can choose SBS and vote for the five Senate seat candidates in that category. Byrum said the glitch will not influence the presidential election, where candidates Taylor Stepp, a third-year in public affairs, and Josh Ahart, a
America’s past is riddled with racial struggles, and while the nation made strides toward equality with the Civil Rights Movement, some members of the Ohio State community said the country still has a long way to go. The death of 17-year-old AfricanAmerican Trayvon Martin occurred almost a year ago, and people quickly labeled the shooting as a hate crime and even a regression in civil rights. The unarmed teen was shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida. Judson Jeffries, an OSU professor of African-American and African Studies, attributed this label to stereotypes that surround black men which, he added, slow racial progress in the U.S. “Of course they take the country back,” Jeffries said in an email. “Oftentimes, black males are perceived by those
outside of the black race as deviant and dangerous. Zimmerman bought into the stereotype … and reacted criminally. Had the kid been white, would Zimmerman have found reason to employ the use of a gun?” Students who viewed the incident as a hate crime held rallies, including a gathering at Hale Hall, home of OSU’s Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center, participated in protests and staged sit-ins. Sable Wallace, a second-year in finance and president of OSU’s Black Student Association, said students’ calls for action were an effort to promote forward-thinking and educate the community about the issues of race and racial profiling. “The Hale Center was actually filled to capacity, and we talked about ways to make sure this hatred doesn’t continue,” said Wallace, who was a member of BSA last year also. “We were just trying to get people aware of what was going on.”
continued as Martin on 3A
UC student charged with kidnapping, rape of ex-girlfriend OSU student MARGARET MECKLENBORG Lantern reporter mecklenborg.2@osu.edu A University of Cincinnati student has been arrested and charged with the rape of an Ohio State student. The Columbus Division of Police responded to the alleged rape when it received a call from a woman’s home on the 1800 block of Trina Way, about 20 minutes from campus, on Jan. 25 at 9 p.m. The woman said Wenbin Shi traveled to Columbus three weekends in a row, entered her home, held her against her will and sexually assaulted her. The woman was previously dating Shi, but she broke off the relationship prior to the assaults, according to police reports. The police arrested Shi at the victim’s home and he was taken to the Franklin County jail on Jan. 25. Shi was initially charged with one count of kidnapping and one count of rape and was released on bond, according to police reports. The Franklin County Grand Jury returned a nine-count indictment against Shi — three counts of aggravated burglary, three counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape, all first-degree felonies, on Feb. 4, according to police reports. The Cincinnati Police Department arrested Shi at his Cincinnati residence on Feb. 6. Shi is awaiting an extradition hearing in Hamilton County Court before being returned to Franklin County for trial. The 21-year-old woman said in an
email that she is not ready to talk about the incident at this time. “I am willing to help others (learn from this) bad time and move on,” she said. “I am not ready to make it public right now.” Daniel Cummins, the University of Cincinnati’s assistant dean of students in the Office of University Judicial Affairs, said he could not comment on any specific cases but only on the Student Code of Conduct process in general. “The Student Code of Conduct administers sanction(s) to all students who are found responsible for violating the policies and procedures,” Cummins said. The ranges of sanctions are: university disciplinary reprimand, probation, suspension and dismissal. “All sanctions are administered in commensurate to the violation and often come with an educational sanction,” Cummins said. The goal of OSU’s Sexual Violence Education and Support program, part of the Student Wellness Center, is to provide help and support for students in the aftermath of sexual violence. “We make sure students are aware of medical care, we help them with the reporting and criminal processes such as filing police reports, helping them talk to detectives and even go to court with them as a support system,” said Brieanne Billman, a wellness coordinator for Sexual Violence Education and Support. “We also help the victims
continued as Rape on 2A
continued as USG on 3A
1A