thelantern
Monday January 13, 2014
the student voice of The Ohio State University
year: 134 No. 5
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Turnovers hurt Buckeyes
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‘Girls’ tackles female nudity
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Snow days affect syllabi
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OSU loses back-to-back games, 1st time in 11 months eriC seger Sports editor seger.25@osu.edu Iowa was not going to be denied. The No. 20 Hawkeyes (14-3, 3-1) had an answer for everything No. 3 Ohio State (15-2, 2-2) threw at them Sunday, dispatching the Buckeyes, 84-74, at the Schottenstein Center. The loss is the second straight for OSU, which fell to No. 5-ranked Michigan State Tuesday in East Lansing, Mich. It is the first time the Buckeyes have lost back-to-back games since last February, when they fell to then-No. 3 Michigan before coming home and losing to then-No. 1 Indiana. “Obviously we didn’t make the plays that we needed to maintain the lead and win the basketball game,” OSU coach Thad Matta said after the loss Sunday. “It’s more of the same with what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. We didn’t have, offensively, the connection we needed for whatever reason. I don’t know what that was.” After trailing, 37-35, at halftime, the Buckeyes started out quickly in the second half as a 7-0 run early on allowed them to take the lead, 45-41, and forced Iowa to call a timeout. But a 2-3 zone deployed by Iowa gave the Buckeyes problems as they finished with 17 turnovers, struggling to get things going offensively. With the game tied at 62 with 6:44 left, OSU took the lead on two free throws by junior center Amir Williams, but an air ball and two turnovers by junior forward LaQuinton Ross allowed Iowa to take a 70-65 lead. Williams then completed a three-point play to cut the lead to two, but OSU wouldn’t get that close again. A tip-in by Iowa senior forward Melsahn Basabe
sheLBY Lum / Photo editor
osu coach Thad matta yells from the sidelines during a game against iowa, Jan. 12 at the schottenstein Center. osu lost its second straight game, 84-74. followed by a leaning bank shot by junior forward Aaron White extended the Hawkeyes’ lead to six. OSU senior guard Aaron Craft then missed the front end of a one-and-one and Iowa made enough free throws down the stretch to put the game away. The Hawkeyes finished with 44 points in the paint, 30 of which came in the first half. “I don’t think we were talking the way we normally do. We went through a stretch where we did and then they made their run and we kind of stopped,” Craft said after the loss. “There’s probably a few things that we need to get corrected.” Iowa had four players finish the game in double figures scoring, led by senior guard Roy Devyn
Questions of grade inflation with B+ median at OSU ohio state’s median grade is between an 87 and 89.9%
The OSU standard grade scheme is: 93 - 100 (A) 90 - 92.9 (A-) 87 - 89.9 (B+) 83 - 86.9 (B) 80 - 82.9 (B-) 77 - 79.9 (C+) 73 - 76.9 (C) 70 - 72.9 (C-) 67 - 69.9 (D+) 60 - 66.9 (D) Below 60 (E) Source: carmen.osu.edu
median grade
madison CurTis / Design editor
muYao shen Lantern reporter shen.414@osu.edu While a C has been long expected to be representative of average work, it turns out that Ohio State students aren’t facing that mark as often as a B+, leading to concerns about grade inflation from some students. The median grade given in undergraduate courses taught at OSU’s Columbus campus is a B+, said Linda Katunich, the senior associate director of OSU Enrollment Services Analysis and Reporting. A median can be defined as the middle number in a data set and is often different from an average. Some students said they believe grade inflation, meaning raising grades without specific academic reason, might be happening at OSU. Sara Katrenich, a second-year in history, said there seems to be blatant inflation. “If you look at 50,000 or 40,000 students and there are so many people getting (a) B+, I think that is an inflation of the grade scale,” Katrenich said. “I would say the reason is more than just OSU students are smarter than other schools’ (students).” Brad Myers, the university registrar, said it’s the large number of students at OSU that causes such a high median grade. More specifically, he said when comparing grades earned in the College of Engineering versus the College of Arts and Sciences, engineering grades are “definitely lower” while Arts and Sciences grades are typically higher. Myers said, though, he can’t draw a conclusion unless more specific data is released. OSU spokesman Gary Lewis said in a Friday email the university is hesitant to assume grade inflation is happening. “The Ohio State University has 44,000 undergraduate students on the Columbus campus and we take great pride in selecting and educating the best and brightest. The topic of ‘grade inflation’ is a complex question and we’re cautious about drawing simple conclusions from a very complex set of variables for a very large population such as ours,” Lewis said. Megan Sullivan, a fourth-year in ecology, said she wouldn’t have expected a B+ to be the median grade. “I was surprised it was B+ because I thought it would be a C or C+,” Sullivan said. Sullivan said the higher median grade might be caused by professors curving grades in large classes.
continued as Inflation on 3A monday January 13, 2014
Marble with 22. Ross also scored 22 points for the Buckeyes and Williams added 11. The Hawkeyes were able to do what they wanted, though, something Ross said should never happen. “Coach is telling us this all the time, never let a team take us out of the game and I think that’s what we did tonight,” Ross said. OSU’s next opportunity to get back to its winning ways is Thursday, as the team is set to travel to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers (13-4, 2-2). Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. “We’ve got to find our stride, we’ve got to understand who we are and how we play our best basketball,” Matta said.
sheLBY Lum / Photo editor
Junior forward sam Thompson (12) pushes toward the basket for a shot.
No butts: Ohio State budgeted $100K for tobacco ban signs KrisTen miTCheLL Editor-in-chief mitchell.935@osu.edu Ohio State has spent roughly half its $100,000 signage budget to make sure when visitors come to campus, they remember to put out their cigarettes. OSU’s tobacco ban went into effect Jan. 1, and $43,000 has already been spent for signs and banners promoting the policy, university spokesman Gary Lewis said in an email. The money used comes from “benefit funds,” not a single department, and is administered on behalf of OSU by the Office of Human Resources. Facilities Operations and Development is responsible for placing and maintaining the signs around campus. Lewis did not give further explanation on what constitutes university benefit funds. Signs have been placed outside several university buildings, including the Ohio Union, and banners have been hung in parking garages. One student said the $43,000 was money ill-spent. “I don’t think that’s the best use of that money. I think that makes sense to get the word out, but at the same time I don’t think it’s very effective,” said Trevor Kononenko, a first-year in pre-business. Kononenko said he walks by the Wexner Medical Center every day, which has been tobacco-free since 2006, and sees employees and others smoking near a large sign that advises visitors of the ban. Karl Fredal, a fourth-year in economics and German, said the problem lies with the policy itself, and the university shouldn’t be trying to regulate student health. “Naturally I’m sort of biased but I think it’s kind of a silly policy,” said Fredal, a regular smoker. “I hardly see how that will be beneficial to the student body as a whole.” With a campus job and a busy class schedule, Fredal said it isn’t realistic for him to leave campus to smoke. During his time on campus, he said he hasn’t been strictly following the ban, but has been retreating to more concealed locations when he needs to smoke.
riTiKa shah / Asst. photo editor
a no smoking sign outside the ohio union, Jan. 12. osu’s tobacco ban went into effect Jan. 1, and $100,000 has been budgeted for signage and banners promoting the policy. “I disagree with the ban, but I’m not going to walk across the Oval and smoke if it’s against university policy,” he said. Fredal said the money spent on signs was “pretty much a waste of money” and doesn’t see the method as being effective in deterring students, staff, faculty or visitors from smoking. The campus-wide ban was announced in 2013, and was
continued as Tobacco on 3A Check out tomorrow’s paper for coverage of the 2014 golden globe awards, hosted by Tina fey and amy Poehler.
Courtesy of MCT
Tina fey, left, and amy Poehler arrive for the 71st annual golden globe awards show at the Beverly hilton hotel sunday, Jan. 12.
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