TUESDAY
THURSDAY
SAVING ENERGY
P2
Activists and a utility company have teamed up to help trim customers’ energy bills.
SOUTHERN FIX
P4
A new restaurant aims to serve up traditional Southern fare in a modern setting.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
P8
The Buckeyes look for their first win against a Big Ten opponent.
MEN’S HOCKEY
P8
The Buckeyes take on an inexperienced Arizona State team at The Schott.
The student voice of the Ohio State University
Thursday, January 12, 2017
thelantern.com
@TheLantern
Year 137, Issue No. 2
The cost of recruiting in Research compares the Big Ten Conference ‘Shoe celebrations to earthquakes DEEPTI HOSSAIN Senior Lantern reporter hossain.32@osu.edu
GIUSTINO BOVENZI | FOR THE LANTERN
OSU recruits Trevon Grimes, center, and Tyjon Lindsey, left, visited Columbus for the OSU vs. Nebraska football game on Nov. 5. Lindsey has since decommitted. GIUSTINO BOVENZI For The Lantern bovenzi.3@osu.edu On Nov. 5, the Ohio State Buckeyes were getting ready to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers for an 8 p.m. showdown in Columbus. Not only were these two teams slugging it out to continue the quest for a national championship, but this game served as a massive recruiting battle for the Buckeyes. More than 20 four- and fivestar high-school recruits paid visits, both official and unofficial, to Ohio Stadium to decide whether to commit to the Buckeyes. After the Buckeyes destroyed the Cornhuskers 62-3, recruits met with Urban Meyer and took pictures with their potential jersey numbers to cap off OSU’s full-on press to sway some of the nation’s
top talent. Meyer often refers to recruiting as the “lifeblood of the program.” But how much money is spent to acquire that lifeblood? In a months-long project, The Lantern analyzed how much money was spent on recruiting by OSU and the rest of the Big Ten Conference. As the Big Ten team with the most wins and only football national championship in the past four years, the numbers show the Buckeyes spend, on average, on pace in comparison to the other schools in the Big Ten. Records show OSU spent just over $2 million on recruiting from 2012 to 2015. Though that might seem like a lot, other schools spent more. The Big Ten’s biggest spender, Nebraska, spent $3.46 million to
expand its recruiting reach. The lowest-spending team, the Wisconsin Badgers, spent just $1.02 million. When you break down OSU’s $2.009 million, it averages out to $502,439 per year from 2012 to 2015. Divide spending by wins, and OSU spent $40,423 per win, giving them the second-lowest cost per win (CPW) rate in the conference. “I don’t know what other people spend money on, but we’re really financially conscious just because 1) There’s no need to be frivolous with money, and 2) That’s something you want to do for your administration, for your athletic director,” OSU wide receivers coach Zach Smith said. “We don’t take first- class flights, RECRUITS CONTINUES ON 7
While Buckeye fans at the University of Phoenix Stadium might have been silent during Ohio State’s ill-fated performance in the Fiesta Bowl, the student section back at Ohio Stadium is generally a place of high energy on gameday, with fan excitement reaching seismic proportions. The jumping and cheering of fans has not only inspired the football team, but can teach students about geology. Researchers put sensors in Ohio Stadium in the fall of 2016 and measured how much fans “shake the ‘Shoe” during football games. “Very few people who go to Ohio State experience an earthquake,” said Derek Sawyer, project leader and assistant professor in the School of Earth Sciences. “But, many of them have experienced the shaking that goes on at Ohio Stadium.”
The project, dubbed “FanQuakes,” is a collaboration with OSU’s School of Earth Sciences, Miami University and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Sawyer and his team put seismometers, the same devices used to record earthquakes, on the north and south ends of the ‘Shoe to record the fans’ vibrations underneath the stands. Researchers collected data from five home games. “If someone has never felt an earthquake before, it’s really hard to wrap your head around as to how serious that is,” said Wendy Panero, associate professor of earth sciences. “But being able to think back, ‘I was actually at that football game, and I could feel the energy under my feet,’ our hope is that we can start to help students get a better intuitive sense of what that means.” Sawyer, Panero and assistant professor Ann Cook will use the data as a teaching tool for under‘FAN QUAKES’ CONTINUES ON 2
MASON SWIRES | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
J.T. Barret (16) shakes the hands of fans after the Buckeyes game against Rutgers on Oct.1. The Buckeyes won 58-0.
Secretary of Army discusses careers in government SUMMER CARTWRIGHT Senior Lantern reporter cartwright.117@osu.edu Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning came to Ohio State on Wednesday to discuss careers in government as well as give insight on the current transition of power in the federal government. Fanning, the 22nd secretary, took part in national security conversation with moderator Zachary Mears, the assistant vice president for national security programs and research at OSU. Mears said he organized the
event to communicate to students and faculty the values of public service, as well as how they can apply skillsets developed at OSU to careers in national security. “I think (Fanning offers) a very unique perspective to students as they think about career opportunities, and how their skillsets best apply how to go about pursuing those in a way that generates diverse, professional options for them,” Mears said. During the one-hour discussion, Fanning reflected on his “Midwestern roots,” and gave advice to students on how to find success
working in government. “I always tell people, do whatever you’re asked, to do it as well as you can and focus on those relationships because as I have more experience and more tenure — as I get older — I realize how true that is, because you keep encountering the same people,” Fanning said to the audience. He said when he was appointed to his first position in the Obama administration, there were four others being sworn in with him. Of those, he knew them all from previous jobs. Fanning also emphasized that
not having a long-term plan is OK. “This is the first job that makes everything that I’ve done up until now look like a career path.” Fanning said. “I always ask people I’m mentoring ‘What do you want to be in five years?’ and before they answer, I always say ‘It’s OK not to have an answer because I don’t think I’ve ever had an answer to that.’” Prior to his current posting, Fanning held posts in the Air Force and Navy, as well as the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.
His current responsibilities include managing the manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues and weapons systems of 1.4 million U.S. Army staffers, he said. However, of that group, only 20 members are appointed, which helps Fanning feel secure during the current transition of power, he said. “There is a tremendous continuity of service during our departure that even if there is a longer gap than normal, or a delay of getting our replacements in, uniSECRETARY CONTINUES ON 3