The News Record 1.28.13

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the 132-year-old award-winning independent student-run newspaper of the university of cincinnati

Vol. CXXXIIi Issue LVVVVVVIII

Ohio DNA test time decreases

The News Record MONDAY | JANUARY 28 | 2013

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Faster DNA testing aids in closing Ohio’s criminal investigations dani kokochak senior Reporter newsrecordnews@gmail.com A recent decrease in turnaround time for DNA processing has played a vital role in closing crime investigations in Cincinnati and throughout Ohio. As a result, forensic scientists working at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation are processing DNA cases in record time — turnaround time has been reduced from approximately 125 days in 2010 to 25 days in 2012. When Attorney General Mike DeWine took office in 2010, he recognized the time for the lab to complete DNA testing was too long. “I felt this was very important,” DeWine said. “It was really a matter of, in some cases, life and death to get this done.” A focus on staffing, technology and efficiency was one part of the turnaround time reduction plan implemented by DeWine. Approximately 21 scientists were added to the BCI lab staff, DNA testing robots doubled and there is continuous quality improvement. Selected to spearhead the initiative as director of the crime lab, Ronald Dyes led the BCI for more than a year. Dyes died Wednesday in a diving accident off the coast of Florida. “He gets a lot of credit for the great work that’s been done over the last two years,” DeWine said. “He played a major, intricate part in getting [this] done.” A new BCI crime lab director will be determined at a later date. Reducing turnaround time in crime labs will solve crimes quicker, identify criminals and offenders earlier and make Ohio a safer place, Dewine said. The BCI crime lab solves 150 cold cases a month, and 90 percent of Ohio’s law enforcement agencies depend on the bureau for state crime lab services. Locally, the Hamilton County sheriff’s department sends DNA evidence to the Hamilton County coroner’s crime lab for analysis. DNA results from the coroner’s office continue to aid in successfully solve crimes. “A lot of old cold cases are being solved now with DNA, with technology that wasn’t available twenty years ago,” said Jim Knapp, spokesperson for the Hamilton County sheriff’s department. For more information about research at the University of CIncinnati and crime around campus, visit newsrecord.org.

INFOGRAPHIC BY LAUREN PURKEY | PHOTO EDITOR

POWER IN NUMBERS Graduation rates on the rise for UC main campus ryan hoffman news editor newsrecordnews@gmail.com As universities around Ohio work toward increasing graduation rates, the University of Cincinnati is emerging as a leader in efforts to usher underrepresented students to graduation. “UC is doing a very good job at trying to address completion especially for underrepresented populations … as an institution UC is trying to step forward and be a leader in the state,” said Brett Visger, deputy chancellor of institutional collaboration for the Ohio Board of Regents. UC has implemented a number of longterm strategies to aid students and increase the likelihood of graduation. Programs such as first-year seminars, learning communities, supplemental instruction, required orientation and placement testing, are successful in moving more students — especially underrepresented groups — toward graduation. “If we admit a student then they need to do their part, but we need to do our part as an institution,” said Caroline Miller, associate vice president of enrollment for UC. “It’s not enough to just get them in.” Programs such as the Turner Scholarship Program directly provide financial assistance and a sense of community to students from underrepresented groups. “It’s more than a scholarship, it’s a family,” said Shivam Kedia, a third-year neuroscience student and Turner Scholar. Kedia’s experiences in the program have helped him become a better student

and a stronger leader, he said. Efforts to improve graduation and retention rates began advancing during Nancy Zimpher’s tenure as president. Since then, UC has ramped up these efforts culminating in the UC2019 plan. The plan aims to increase the first-year retention rate to 90 percent and the overall six-year graduation rate to 75 percent. The goals not only apply to the student body as a whole but underrepresented groups as well. First-year retention rate for the 2011-12 academic year was 86 percent while the sixyear completion rate for all students was 62.3 percent. Asian or Pacific Islanders had the highest completion rate at 72.5 percent. Black non-Hispanic students graduated at a rate of 40.2 percent, roughly a five percent increase from the previous year, while Hispanic students had a 69 percent completion rate. White non-Hispanic students graduated at a rate of 64.1 percent. The numbers are a drastic improvement from previous years; a nine percent increase in the overall retention rate and a 27 percent increase in the six-year graduation rate compared to 2003-04 data. While some Ohio universities, like Ohio State University, have higher graduation rates for underrepresented students, the increase in rates at UC exceeds many others. “I think some of the scale and number of things UC is doing is very positive and aggressive,”Visger said. If improvements continue at the current pace UC will meet its admittedly stretched

goals in the UC2019 plan, Miller said. UC’s push to increase the amount and diversity of graduates is part of a nationwide trend that is being aggressively pursued in Ohio. “One of the thing that’s been recognized is just getting people into college is not enough,” Visger said. “There’s a responsibility to not be agnostic on getting people through, that there are proactive steps that universities can take to help students be more successful.” At the request of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, presidents from public universities constructed a series of recommendations for distributing state funding that would base 50 percent of funding in graduation rates. “For too long, Ohio has failed to implement a results-based system for higher education funding that rewards success,” Kasich said in a statement. “Instead of trying only to enroll as many students as possible, Ohio’s institutions of higher-learning will now be incentivized to focus on improving outcomes for each and every student who walks through their doors by helping them graduate.” While funding based on graduation rates is backed by Ohio universities’ presidents, some are concerned rewarding graduation rates might devalue a college education. “There’s some concern that kind of formula may actually result in grade inflation because the university might want to graduate or promote students regardless see RATES | 2

City evaluates ‘Green Cincinnati’ plan Officials weigh costs and benefits of continuing sustainability program benjamin Goldschmidt chief reporter newsrecordnews@gmail.com The beginning of 2013 marked the expiration of the Green Cincinnati Plan, and according to environmental activists and city employees, it worked, and Cincinnati should re-up. The Green Cincinnati Plan began in 2008 — originally requested by Mayor Mark Mallory — and consisted of more than 80 recommendations that targeted energy efficiency, waste reduction and green land use in a city-wide sustainability initiative. “So here we are five years after the adoption of the plan, so how did we do?” said Larry Falkin, director of the Office of Environmental Quality. “We actually did really well. We set the goal of reducing greenhouse gasses by eight percent by 2012, and we reduced them 8.2 percent. We’ve done these things in a way that saves more than it costs.” Green Umbrella, a regional nonprofit organization dedicated to environmental vitality, met with the Strategic Growth Committee to discuss the city’s future

efforts to “go green,” with the New Green Cincinnati Plan. Supporters from Green Umbrella and other organizations filled city hall’s chambers. In the past, Green Umbrella worked with approximately 175 private, environmentally conscious organizations to work cohesively toward sustainability in Cincinnati, and has picked up much of the responsibility of getting private entities on board with the Green Cincinnati Plan, Falkin said. “As we look through the New Green Cincinnati Plan, there are some things that fall naturally within city government’s field of responsibility,” Falkin said. “There are also lots and lots of partners out there in the community who are focused on many of the things we’re talking about in the plan, and would be happy to pick up some of the responsibility.” Falkin attributed much of the success to improvements in transportation and solar energy panels on certain government buildings, but said there is still work to be done. Much of the improvements could be done at an extremely low cost to the city. An inexpensive initiative Falkin would like to see implemented is to make multiple

occupancy transportation more accessible. With the addition of Megabus stops in Cincinnati, the metro system should connect to those stops so people would not have to use a car to get there, said Steve Johns, city sustainability coordinator. “Friends don’t let friends SOV,” Johns said, referring to single occupancy vehicles such as cars. “Wouldn’t it be great to be able to bike to the greyhound station, lock up your bike and take the longer distance trip? Wouldn’t it be great to link Amtrak to our metro system more seamlessly?” Not all of the New Green Cincinnati Plan is cheap. A more costly initiative it outlines is to add more solar panels to government buildings and to spread leftover power to other buildings by interconnecting the panel systems. Councilmember Cecil Thomas commended the progress the city has made, but said raising awareness of green initiatives has to be improved. “There are numerous recommendations in your report that we as citizens can do at really no cost to ourselves,” Thomas said. “That is really the most important aspect here in terms of educating the community on ways that we can be of help

in addressing the overall energy situation.” Ryan Lammi, co-director of transportation services for the University of Cincinnati Undergraduate Student Government, attended the meeting to express students’ interest in citywide sustainability initiatives, and mentioned improvements in green transportation would help current students get around easier. “More and more students are considering whether or not the city is sustainable, and Cincinnati’s push to be a more sustainable city is attracting more students to the area, and also it will keep these talented students in the area,” Lammi said. While members of the Strategic Growth Committee seemed welcoming of the new plan, Thomas said council needs to see a more concrete breakdown of specific costs, and suggested to revise the plan to include those specific costs and to do studies to see how much savings the city would see as a result. “I’ve always said we can pay now or pay later, and I’d rather pay now,” Thomas said. The final New Green Cincinnati Plan will go before city council late February.

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