Wednesday January 11, 2012 year: 132 No. 6
the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern Protests wage on against sweatshops
sports
Brin Kerkhoff Lantern reporter kerkhoff.2@osu.edu
Not-so-hot ticket
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While the Big Ten sent 10 football teams to postseason bowl games, many struggled to sell their allotted tickets.
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A group of Ohio State students in United Students Against Sweatshops marched through the Oval Tuesday, continuing their opposition of Silver Star Merchandising, and in response to a recent ESPN exposé. Silver Star, a company associated with the Dallas Cowboys organization, is bidding for an exclusive merchandising deal with the university, and members of USAS said this is a deal the university should not be involved with. On Sunday, USAS was featured on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” story about overseas sweatshops, in particular Silver Star Merchandising. Issues of poverty wages, such as 29 cents an hour, long hours and physical abuse were highlighted in the story. “This tactic puts pressure on them and helps inform people about what’s going on. It keeps visibility up,” said Nick Pasquarello, a fourth-year in psychology and sociology and president of USAS. Another main focus of the ESPN story is the discussion of Bill Priakos, Dallas Cowboy’s merchandising operation leader. According to USAS, Priakos said he is trying to convince OSU to give Silver Star exclusive rights apparel.
thomas Bradley / Campus editor
Students from USAS march through campus chanting their views about Silver Star Merchandising. USAS said that OSU has been secretly communicating with Priakos since spring of 2010 in an attempt to secure the Cowboys’ bid. The USAS has emails posted on its website, obtained by the Freedom of Information Act,
between Rick VanBrimmer, director of trademarks and licensing for OSU, and Priakos. In one of the emails VanBrimmer responds to questions from Priakos about making a bid. “The only caveat is that I may be forced into looking at ‘bids,’ simply because we are a state agency. But don’t fear that process,” VanBrimmer wrote to Priakos. Silver Star Merchandising was unable to be reached for comment. Protesters held signs that read “Stop the scandals” and “Stop the lies,” along with pictures of factory workers. “I want our university to know that I don’t want sweatshop apparel to represent our school,” said Lainie Rini, a first-year in exploration. “Our school should be supporting fair labor.” This was not the first rally that USAS has held on this issue, as demonstrations happened multiple times during Autumn Quarter. “If we do an action today, it will build momentum and student recognition and hopefully get more of the student body behind us,” said Rob Battista, a first-year in engineering. During the demonstration, other students stopped to inquire about the cause. “The drums made me stop, I thought it was really
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Fundraising begins for victims’ families Chelsea Spears Lantern reporter spears.116@osu.edu
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Napoleon to fire up Fox
The new animated TV series based on the 2004 hit film “Napoleon Dynamite,” is scheduled to air Sunday on Fox.
campus
“I want to thank you guys for being great friends and for bringing so much laughter and happiness into my life,” said Elizabeth Leung, a second-year in accounting and vice president of the Hong Kong Student Association, as she spoke one last time to her late friends. “I will always remember our conversations, the lessons you guys taught me and the happy memories we had together.” These words formulate the goodbye Leung never had the chance to say to her close friends, Ka-Hei “Ricky” Fok and Ho Kai Jeffrey Au Yeung. The two international Ohio State students from Hong Kong died last week in a car accident in Clinton Township, N.J. Three other international OSU students were involved in the accident; all survived the crash.
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Courtesy of Tim Wynkoop, Express-Times
Two OSU students died following a car accident in Clinton Township, N.J., Jan. 2. Five students total were in the rental car as the students were on their way back to campus. The three other victims were transported to nearby hospitals.
OSU rivalry sparks green OSU remembers ‘valuable’ Buckeye battle
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weather high 45 low 40 showers
TH 43/25 F 28/21 SA 29/20 SU 38/31
pm showers/ wind snow showers scattered flurries sunny www.weather.com
Jenelle Cooper Lantern reporter cooper.1995@osu.edu
Bill Jones, an associate athletics director at Ohio State, died Tuesday at the Ohio State Medical Center after a heart attack. Jones, 48, was in his 14th year with the Department of Athletics. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, and attended OSU, earning his bachelor’s degree in finance in 1986. In 1991, he received a master’s of sports administration from Ohio University. Jones began working for the OSU Department of Athletics in 1998 as assistant director of premium seating. The next year Jones was moved to the director of premium seating. In 2006, Jones took over the ticket office management and was promoted to the assistant athletics director for ticketing the next year. In 2009, he was named the OSU associate athletics director for external affairs.
Bill Jones OSU athletic director Gene Smith said Jones was a dear friend, a wonderful coworker and a great ambassador for OSU. “His genuine enthusiasm, calm demeanor and lifelong love for the Buckeyes made him a valuable part of every project he touched,” Smith said in a press release. “Our family is in shock today. Our loss is a profound one. Our prayers and thoughts
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Nearly 6 years, 12 robberies later, ‘Church Lady Bandit’ convicted Justin Conley Asst. arts editor conley.325@osu.edu After a string of a dozen robberies over an almost-five-year period, Sylvete Gilbert, otherwise known as the “Church Lady Bandit” was found guilty of all 12 robberies in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday. Gilbert, 47, began her spree in January 2006, robbing 11 banks and one motel before police apprehended her Dec. 23. Gilbert robbed several banks throughout Central Ohio, including the U.S. Bank branch located in the Ohio Union, in which she passed a teller a note written on a piece of cardboard that demanded money and indicated she had a gun Oct. 20. Police arrested Gilbert, who picked up the “Church Lady Bandit” moniker for her nice clothing, following her robbery of a Fifth Third Bank on Nationwide Boulevard. Officials found her hiding in a nearby building after a dye pack exploded and prompted her to drop the stolen money and run. Though authorities would not release the amount of money Gilbert had taken throughout her spree, the average amount stolen in bank robberies is
typically less than $3,000, FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas told The Lantern in December 2010. Gilbert was indicted on 24 counts related to the robberies. “We rarely see female bank robbers,” said Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, according to a Jan. 6 report from The Columbus Dispatch. “If found guilty on all charges, Gilbert faces a maximum sentence exceeding 50 years.” Gilbert is scheduled for sentencing at 9 a.m. on Jan. 17.
Courtesy of the FBI
Sylvete Gilbert, the ‘Church Lady Bandit,’ was found guilty in 12 counts of robbery.
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