April 14, 2011
City cautious in fiber-optic pursuit Conduit ready to go into ground, but negotiations proceed slowly By ANDREW MILLER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The conduit is going into the ground, but city officials say negotiations with Columbus-based fiber-optic network provider Bluemile have yet to make a connection. “Negotiations have slowed,” city attorney Jeanine Hummer said. “We’ve
had a very favorable relationship with saw an opportunity for Bluemile in this process, but until we partnership to solve can get to a place where everything makes some of our issues, sense, we can’t put a contract in place.” help the schools and The idea for the project originated create a new ecowith Upper Arlington City Schools. nomic development “(The city) has some bandwidth istool to potentially sues but the school has really been the Matt Shad bring high-value data driver,” said Matt Shad, deputy city manknowledge worker ager for economic development. “We jobs to our small offices.”
School officials, Shad said, realized that they were spending a lot of money on leased data lines to send data between their own buildings. Fiber-optic networks are almost limitless in their data-carrying capacity because of the way they work, using light to transmit data. “Our current contract with AT&T costs us $8,600 a month,” school district treasurer Andy Geistfeld said. “Because the
contract ends in June, the school had to act now to maintain data services as well as to meet timelines for federal reimbursements. We have just signed a new agreement for another two years of service with AT&T.” The school’s bandwidth demands continue to grow, and Geistfeld said the See CITY CAUTIOUS, page A2
City council
Amendment considered on alcohol rule at Barn By CHRIS BOURNEA ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Upper Arlington City Council discussed the first reading of legislation April 11 that would allow alcohol consumption at the soon-to-open Amelito Mirolo Barn in Sunny 95 Park. The legislation would allow patrons who reserve the barn for events to serve alcohol through caterers approved by the city. Alcohol would be served, rather than sold, and patrons would not be allowed to tip servers. The legislation would, however, give nonprofit organizations the option of acquiring a temporary permit to sell alcohol in order to raise money. As currently written, the legislation states that alcohol consumption at the park must stop at 11 p.m., but council members discussed adding an amendment that would require the serving of alcohol to stop at 10 p.m. so that drinks served up to See COUNCIL, page A2
Power of Pen
Middle schools to send four to state event
Photos by Chris Parker/ThisWeek
(Above) Graffiti artist Giovanni Santiago shows St. Agatha Catholic School student Will Brown how to use an airbrush at the school’s All-Art Day April 8. Santiago was participating in the event where he painted the school’s mascot on a hallway wall. (Below) Juggler Matt Jenkins watches as St. Agatha student Matthew Drought learns to juggle.
St. Agatha students enjoy a day’s immersion in the arts By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers
For two years, St. Agatha Catholic School has had a day devoted to art for its students. At last week’s “All-Art Day,” students got to see a variety of local guest artists perform throughout the day. Among those performers were historical storyteller/impressionist Anthony Gibbs, interactive juggler Matt Jergens, computer artist Ellen Kalinoski and graffiti artist Giovanni Santiago. Santiago, who has painted the murals inside Graffiti Burger restau-
By KATE HETRICK ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The UA middle school students who participate in Power of the Pen agree on one thing: It’s fun to have an outlet and audience for creative writing, which is not a subject that’s emphasized at the middle school level. “At school, we don’t do a lot of creative writing,” said Chloe Cho, an eighth-grader at Jones. Her teammate, Joey DePascale, agreed, and said the writing assignments at school tend to very restrictive. In contrast, Power of the Pen emphasizes originality through prompts such as, “Monsters don’t always hide under the bed. Tell how they might hide behind a smile,” “Hunger” or “Tell about a time you spent your money on a foolish purchase.” Writers in the competition have just 40 minutes to respond to each prompt. Sometimes students are asked to fill in a blank, such as “Out of _____.” “I did out of luck,” said Olivia Dieker, a Hastings See POWER OF THE PEN, page A7
rants, painted a hallway at St. Agatha. Other activities had parishioners teaching cake decorating, floral arranging and writing, while other performers included a mime and a guitarist. The students worked on a permanent installation of mosaic tile. St. Agatha principal Joan Mastell said the “All-Art Day” is meant to enhance and enrich the school’s art program. “The parents and teachers were talking about how to make a really strong impact with our Artists in the See ST. AGATHA, page A6
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