Monday January 25, 2010 year: 130 No. 51 the student voice of
The Ohio State University
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1,200-pound necklace for charity
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thelantern Infection costs student’s legs After surviving rare, deadly skin disease, freshman sues the doctors who treated him MARIAM KHAN Lantern reporter khan.197@osu.edu An Ohio State University freshman who had both his legs amputated last spring after he became infected with a ° esh-eating bacteria has sued many of the doctors and nurses who treated him and the hospitals that employ them. More than 20 parties are named in the lawsuit, including doctors at Ohio Health Corp., Riverside Methodist Hospital, and a doctor employed by OSU Medical Center. Steven “Blake” Haxton and his family allege that his doctors and nurses failed to diagnose the
disease — necrotizing fasciitis — in a timely manner and he lost his legs because of their malpractice. Haxton, 19, was the senior captain of the rowing team at Upper Arlington High School when he got sick. Despite the illness and amputations, Haxton started classes at OSU in the fall. He has been coping rather well. “I wish I still had my legs, but shit happens,” Haxton said in an interview Satuday. “I’m a Buckeye. I can’t complain about anything because I am very lucky to be alive.” He is no longer the emaciated, sickly boy he was months ago. His upper body and arms have once
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I wish I still had my legs, but shit happens,” Haxton said. “I’m a Buckeye. I can’t complain about anything because I am very lucky to be alive. Steven “Blake” Haxton first-year economics student
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‘Jersey Shore’ success raises questions MATT STROSS Lantern reporter stross.1@osu.edu
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Mountaineers rally to victory
The Buckeyes fell apart in the second half, letting West Virginia overcome a 12-point deficit and win 71-65
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New take on gay marriage campus
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When Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino made an appearance at Lodge Bar on Jan. 20, the bar was ÿlled to capacity, with a line of people waiting outside to catch a glimpse of the “Jersey Shore” star. “People were ÿghting, elbowing and going crazy to get a picture of him,” said Kelly Patzwahl, a second-year in speech and hearing at Ohio State. “It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Some crazy girl jumped up and was making out with him.” The frenzy surrounding Sorrentino is a testament to the popularity of the show and the celebrity status the cast members have achieved. Since its premiere, the show has taken the country by storm, with about 4 million people tuning in for each episode. The cast members have appeared on the “The Late Show” and the “Jay Leno Show.” The show, which ended Thursday, followed eight housemates as they lived, worked at a T-shirt shop and partied in Seaside Heights, N.J. The cast members are all in their 20s and are of Italian-American heritage. They are often shown drinking, ÿghting and hooking up. Despite its popularity, the show has sparked controversy, drawing criticism for the stereotypical portrayal of Italian-Americans and the cast’s frequent use of the terms “guido” and “guidette.” Once an offensive term for working class Italian-Americans, the cast members say it is positive, describing a “guido” as someone who is tan, good-looking and self-conscious about their physical appearance. Carla Onorato, a lecturer in Italian at OSU, is a native Italian and former New Jersey resident. She said she does not identify with the characters on the show. She said modern Italian-American culture re° ects the behaviors and values that were common in Italy during the 1940s and 1950s when most Italians immigrated to the U.S. “To me the behavior portrayed in the show is kind of embarrassing and demeaning of my country,” Onorato said. “It reiterates stereotypes that are not present anymore in the majority of great ItalianAmericans who are very educated, hard-working and family oriented.” Tom Mollica, a second-year in accounting, is an
Photo courtesy of Allison Myers
Lisa Goubeaux and Allison Myers, third-year architecture students, met ‘The Situation,’ Mike Sorrentino, from MTV’s ‘Jersey Shore,’ on Jan. 20. at Lodge Bar. Italian-American from the Jersey shore. He said that while he knows people like the cast members, not all people in New Jersey have those behaviors. He said he sees the show as entertaining and unoffensive. Mollica said he has always heard the term “guido” used and does not ÿnd it offensive. He said “guido” is a positive term people use to describe themselves and their lifestyle. Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick, an associate professor in the School of Communication, said people want to see their own group represented in the media. She said people’s opinion of the show could be shaped by how integral their Italian-American heritage is to their identity. Knobloch-Westerwick said that this type of show
is an age-old recipe: A show uses humor at the expense of a certain group of people. “I understand why people have issues with these types of shows,” she said. “I can see how these shows could potentially create negative stereotypes about a group of people.” MTV has dealt with criticism from Italian-Americans and from sponsors threatening to pull ads from the network, but despite this criticism, “Jersey Shore” remains the network’s highest rated show.
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Students had family in Haiti during devastating earthquake TIARA NORMAN Lantern reporter norman.136@osu.edu While most people watched the devastation of the Haiti earthquake on television, some Ohio State students experienced the disaster through the eyes of their families. Jessica Desronvil, a fourth-year in psychology, is a Haiti native who was personally affected by the earthquake. Her family lives in Port-au-Prince and was in the city when the 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the region. Desronvil found out about the earthquake from Facebook. After
reading postings about the quake, she phoned her parents to ÿnd out what happened. “So I called my dad and he said ‘That’s impossible,’” Desronvil said. “He didn’t believe it because he had just got off the phone with my uncle [in Haiti] 10 minutes before it happened.” Several of Desronvil’s relatives were injured and some died in the disaster. “About 10 or more are dead,” Desronvil said. “We are currently still looking for other family members who were not home at that time but were at work.” Although it’s been two weeks
since the earthquake hit, Desronvil is still in disbelief. “I still don’t believe it,” she said. “I’m still looking for the others because something inside of me is telling me this is just a bad dream.” Christine Placide, a fourth-year African-American studies major, is also related to earthquake survivors. Her parents are natives of Haiti and were in the country when the earthquake hit. “I found out about it on Twitter,” Placide said. “So I immediately just called my parents to make sure they were OK.” Placide is chair of the events committee of Society of Sisters at
OSU. After the earthquake hit, her student organization began collecting clothing, health supplies and monetary donations on campus for the earthquake victims. “We’re just trying to collaborate with other student groups to help out,” she said. Collecting donations helps her cope with the disaster and she said she and her family are relying on faith to get through the trying time. “My parents aren’t really distraught,” Placide said. “They just pray and get their strength through faith in God.”
Tech-minded students improve software in Open Source Club
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JACK MOORE Lantern reporter moore.1732@osu.edu Members of the Open Source Club, a student group formed in 1999, are exploring the world of technology. Speciÿcally, they are interested in open source software. The Open Source Club focuses “on building a strong community of open source users and developers in order to bring the beneÿts of open development, open standards, and free software to the university community,” according to the club’s Web site. Alek Rollyson, a third-year in information systems and the club’s president, said there is a difference between free software and open source software. Free software is like “free beer, or free as in it doesn’t cost me anything,” he said.
Open source software is not just free; it is open for development. “You can essentially do what you want with it,” he said. “If there’s a feature you don’t like, you can change it, rewrite it and do what you want. Or distribute it to your friends.” This is possible because open source developers publish the source code, or the blueprint for their software, enabling public modiÿcation. Rollyson said the Open Source Club is one of the most active technology clubs on campus, and 25 to 30 people usually attend weekly meetings. “Anybody who has an interest in technology and software can get involved,” Rollyson said. In fact, Linus Torvalds, the chief architect and namesake of Linux, began developing it as a college student in Finland. Rollyson said Linux, an operating system, has become the poster child for
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