The News Record 10.2.14

Page 1

‘EQUALIZER’ DISAPPOINTS

JERRY! JERRY! JERRY! Former Cincinnati mayor and news anchor comes to campus

>>

Denzel Washington’s new action film equals bad cliché

>>

PG 2

PG 4

THE NEWS RECORD

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

NEWSRECORD.ORG

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2014

Student government members debate levy renewal After heated discussion, close vote, SG supports renewal of Cincinnati Public Schools levy CASSIE MERINO | CHIEF REPORTER

FILE ART

Beer believes it is important for SG to support the community.

After much debate, the University of Cincinnati’s Student Government voted to support the renewal of an existing levy for Cincinnati Public Schools, which has passed for five years and has generated $65.1 million annually for the district. The vote caused a great debate within student government and left members wondering how far they should get involved in city politics. “This is a very interesting conversation because there are pros and cons both ways,” said Cristina Beer, student body president. “I think it is important as a governing body to look at some opportunities within the community.” Tobi Akomolede, chair of the student governmental affairs committee, stressed the need to support the renewal levy, saying CPS affects UC in various ways. “Even though it may feel as though we are in a bubble, UC is very much engaged in the outside community of Cincinnati,” Akomolede said. “Bearcat Buddies is just one example.”

Along with Bearcat Buddies, a youth-tutoring program, CPS’s Hughes High School is a part of the UC community due to its location and the UC student tutors who volunteer there. Akomolede is hopeful this renewal levy will help improve UC students’ quality of life, including a decrease in crime. “It is well documented that education impacts surrounding areas in relation to crime, quality of life and the economic activity as well,” Akomolede said. Those in opposition to the bill said it was overreaching student government members’ political beliefs. and that they felt forced to support it. “I am not afraid of the backlash this would have because I don’t think there are that many people that would care, but I am worried about what it would do to our body,” said Matt Goldenberg, chair of the student body academic issues committee. “I don’t think this is an important issue that we need to take a stance ... I think that we should not be trying to push opinions in that manner upon members of this body.” After a close vote, the bill passed, declaring student body government to be in support of the levy. Beer and Akomolede are working to support CPS not just financially, but are also into hosting supply drives, Beer SEE SG PG 3

PROFESSOR RECEIVES GRANT FROM CDC FOR $900K

PREVENTING AN EPIDEMIC

UC football official fired after sexual assault arrest in KY THE NEWS RECORD

University of Cincinnati football official Antrione Archer was fired Tuesday after the university was informed that Archer was arrested earlier this year in Kenton County, Kentucky, according to a statement released from UC Athletic Director Mike Bohn. Hired in the summer of 2011, Archer served as the director of player welfare. According to Kenton County Detention Center records, Archer was arrested for third degree sexual abuse. He was booked on June 16 at 3:26 p.m. and released at 3:57 p.m. after posting a $2,500 cash bond. Classified as a Class B misdemeanor, third degree sexual abuse is defined by section 510.130 of Kentucky Legislature as subjecting another person to sexual contact without the person’s consent. Bohn said the university will cooperate with authorities regarding the incident. Within hours of learning of his arrest, Archer was placed on administrative leave Sept. 26, Bohn said in the statement. “UC Athletics is fully committed to upholding the highest level of professionalism and conduct for our staff, coaches and student-athletes,” Bohn said. Archer is scheduled to appear in court for a pretrial conference Oct. 6 and a jury trial Oct. 15 at the Kentucky Court of Justice. Dr. Judith Feinberg, a UC professor of medicine and researcher, is determined to reduce the harm of hepatitis C and HIV in Ohio.

UC researchers hope to stop spread of hepatitis C in southern Ohio ELYSSE WINGET | STAFF REPORTER

As drugs spread from city centers to the suburbs of southern Ohio, medical professionals are looking at innovative ways to help steep the flow of diseases passed through drug needles. University of Cincinnati professor of internal medicine, Dr. Judith Feinberg, received a three-year grant for $900,000 earlier this month from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This grant will be used to prevent hepatitis C from spreading throughout rural and suburban areas in southern Ohio — areas that have been plagued with drug

abuse and its negative side effects. The project is called StOPHeP — Southern Ohio Prevents Hepatitis Project. “The overall goal for the three years is harm reduction,” Feinberg said, “And to understand much more, such as how individuals are affected, what made them start injecting and giving them the resources to receive treatment.” Focusing on 18 to 30-year-olds who inject drugs and have contracted or are at the risk of contracting hepatitis C, the project’s goal is to treat enough people in an effort to reduce the spread of the disease, Feinberg said. Though hepatitis C is treatable and can be cured it still “destroys lives and causes illness as well as overdoses,” Feinberg said.

PROVIDED

The grant money will go toward hiring peer navigators and outreach workers that will connect with individuals who are using drugs, or who have used drugs in the past, who have a higher possibility of contracting hepatitis C or HIV. “It is an immense problem,” Feinberg said. “This is a compelling thing to do.” Feinberg, who works for UC Medical Center, has witnessed the effects of this epidemic, which prompted her to take action. Working at the hospital, she saw many patients being diagnosed with hepatitis C. “We did a big retrospective study to see patterns over the span of 10 years from 1999 to 2009,” Feinberg said. “We found that there was a two-fold increase SEE HEALTH PG 3

Female student sexually assaulted in student life center THE NEWS RECORD

On Tuesday, the University of Cincinnati released a safety advisory that a female student was allegedly sexually assaulted on the sixth floor of the Steger Student Life Center. The student said she had just met her assaulter who called himself Mark. She was walking with the suspect when he took her into a room in Steger and sexually assaulted her. The student described the suspect as a white male, age 23 to 25. She said he had SEE ASSAULT PG 3

3CDC funds, organizes $5.45M in projects to build apartments in OTR Over-the-Rhine sees large increase in new buildings, renovations as desire for housing grows TAYLOR RHOTEN | STAFF REPORTER

Abandoned. Vacant. Crime-ridden. These are words that were often used to describe the neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine in the past, according to Anastasia Mileham, the vice president of communications for 3CDC — the company leading the charge to revamp OTR. By the 21st century, OTR had a poverty rate of 58 percent, and an unemployment rate of 25 percent with a median annual household income of below $10,000, according to 3CDC’s website. After years of neglect, a group of influential citizens from various downtown corporations, city employees and other financial backers realized that something must be done about OTR’s problem. They decided to create the Cincinnati New Market Fund, a $50 million investment program designed to purchase the abandoned buildings in the OTR neighborhood. Soon after the program was created, the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation, or 3CDC, was given the responsibilities for the fund. 3CDC, a non-profit organization that now resides in OTR, is on a mission to, “Revitalize the OTR and downtown Cincinnati area,” Mileham said. Since the start of the initiatives, 3CDC has commissioned the renovation of 117 buildings that are now used as commercial or residential spaces. The OTR renovations have cost a total of $335 million, according to Mileham. To meet the increasing demand for housing as more people flood OTR’s neighborhood, 3CDC started

developing and renovating the neighborhood. Recently, it has been working on four commercial and residential spaces. The developments include Parksite, a more than $3.6 million project that will add eight condos along Race Street across from Washington Park. According to Mileham, OTR was one of the most dangerous and criminally active neighborhoods in the entire country. Before 3CDC purchased anything in the area, 90 percent of the buildings were vacant. After the purchase of $27 million worth of OTR properties, the crime rate dropped by 50 percent, Mileham said. “One of the goals of 3CDC is to make the entire area a safe, walk-able place,” she said. This attitude is the basis for Plan Cincinnati, a group that aligns with 3CDC. Plan Cincinnati, adopted by the Cincinnati City Council in November of 2012, is the official plan for the re-urbanization of the downtown and surrounding neighborhood commercial and residential spaces. It plans to create a Cincinnati in which all areas, especially OTR, are livable for a variety of different people. They work to make sure Cincinnati small businesses and corporations will be profitable and attractive to people from inside and outside of the city. The new OTR apartments will start at around $1,100 per month. The upcoming renovations include several multi-million-dollar projects, according to the 3CDC website. Mercer III townhomes are going on nearly three acres of property between Vine Street, Walnut Street, and 13th and 14th streets. The first two phases of building this property are already complete. The third phase will yield 12 residential units, including eight three-bedroom townhomes and four two-bedroom condominium flats. SEE 3CDC PG 3

The Mercer property is still under construction, though it is reaching its final stages.

THE NEWS RECORD IS THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI’S INDEPENDENT, STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER

3CDC

FREE • ADDITIONAL COPIES $1


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
The News Record 10.2.14 by The News Record - Issuu