Thursday January 30, 2014 year: 134 No. 15
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thelantern the student voice of The Ohio State University
Eyes on the Fighting Illini
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Via Brazil at Wexner Center
Presidential Search
USG focuses on affordability
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It has been 196 days since the search began.
Michael Drake of Cal Irvine to be named OSU president KRISTEN MITCHELL AND LIZ YOUNG Editor-in-chief and Campus editor mitchell.935@osu.edu and young.1693@osu.edu University of California Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake is expected to be named the next president of Ohio State. Ria Carlson, associate vice chancellor of strategic communications at UC Irvine, declined to comment on whether Drake was a finalist for the OSU presidency Wednesday afternoon. Carlson had said Monday she hadn’t heard anything and didn’t think Drake would want to comment, but would look into it. OSU spokesman Gary Lewis said he did not know who the next president would be late Wednesday afternoon. Multiple sources have told The Lantern OSU is set to announce its next president this week. The OSU Board of Trustees was set to meet in a full public meeting Friday. That full Board meeting was moved to Thursday, and the public was notified at about 4 p.m. Wednesday. “The full Board of Trustees will now reconvene at 4 p.m. (Thursday), with a brief executive session to be followed by a public session at approximately 4:20 p.m.,” the notice read. According to Board minutes, personnel actions were set to be made at the Friday public meeting. Drake was appointed chancellor of UC Irvine in 2005. Before his appointment, he served as vice president for health affairs for the University of California system for five years. UC Irvine has more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, according to UC Irvine 2013 Facts and Figures. Drake is an alumnus of Stanford University and UC San Francisco. Drake would be the first black OSU president in the university’s 144-year history. Drake would also be the 15th OSU president. If announced this week, his appointment would come roughly seven months after former President E. Gordon Gee retired July 1. Gee announced his decision to retire from OSU days after
OSU falls to Penn State
controversial comments he made at a Dec. 5, 2012, OSU Athletic Council meeting came under public scrutiny. Remarks about Notre Dame and the Southeastern Conference in particular brought national attention. The former two-time OSU president is currently serving as president at West Virginia University, taking an unpaid leave as president emeritus at OSU. OSU Vice President and athletic director Gene Smith said Wednesday afternoon that while he didn’t know who the next president is because, he stays out of those conversations, he had faith it will be the best person for the job. “Whoever it is, I have the greatest confidence in our trustees in that they’ll find an outstanding leader for us,” Smith said in an interview with The Lantern Wednesday. “Having done this for a long time, I think I’ve worked for eight or nine different presidents in my tenure. So I’ll adjust. Somewhere, someplace like Ohio State, you’re going to get someone that can handle complex organizations and understand athletics to some degree. So I look forward to it.” Interim President Joseph Alutto announced Tuesday Smith received a four year contract extension until 2020, a roughly 12 percent pay raise and was named a vice president of the university.
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Senior guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. (32) drives to the basket during a game against Penn State Jan. 29 at the Schottenstein Center. OSU lost, 71-70
About Michael Drake • Appointed chancellor of UC, Irvine in July 2005 • Served for 5 years as vice president for health affairs for the University of California system • Spent more than 2 decades on the faculty of the UC San Francisco School of Medicine • Received his Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University and his M.D. from UC San Francisco
Courtesy of Ria Carlson
University of California Irvine Chancellor Michael Drake. Photo illustration by KAYLA BYLER / Managing editor of design
VP Gene Smith: In Columbus to stay ERIC SEGER Sports editor seger.25@osu.edu This is the last card Gene Smith is looking to play. The newly promoted vice president and current athletic director of Ohio State told The Lantern Wednesday Columbus is the final destination for both he and his family — cemented with his recently announced advancement in the school’s line of control. Staying put at OSU, though, wasn’t entirely his decision, Smith said. “I know I’ve been doing this for a long time and my wife and I decided that this is our last stop,” Smith said. “I actually say that tongue-incheek because I didn’t make that decision, she actually did.” Regardless of who actually decided Smith would stay in Columbus until his college administration days come to an end, the vice president and athletic director is slated to be working at OSU until at least June 30, 2020, after his four year contract extension and a nearly 12 percent pay raise was announced Tuesday. Smith sat down with The Lantern to talk Buckeye football and basketball, the recent additions to coach Urban Meyer’s staff and his goals for his new job.
SHELBY LUM / Photo editor
Make-up days an option to replace missed class MICHELE THEODORE Copy chief theodore.13@osu.edu Though the chill that canceled three days of Ohio State classes has passed for now, some students might have to revisit the classroom to make up the time they missed. Executive Vice President and Provost Joseph Steinmetz sent an email to faculty and students Wednesday afternoon announcing plans for rescheduling classes. Classes were canceled Jan. 6 and 7 as temperatures fell to roughly minus 7, and again Tuesday as temperatures dipped to minus 7 again, meaning OSU has missed two days of Tuesday classes. “The university is making available to instructors the option of using Tuesday, April 22, technically the reading day before finals, as a make-up day,” Steinmetz said in the email. “Students whose instructors want to take advantage of that make-up day should plan to meet at
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On being ‘Vice President and Athletic Director Gene Smith’ OSU Interim President Joseph Alutto announced Smith’s new title and updated contract Tuesday, giving him almost a 12 percent raise in salary — to $940,484 from about $840,484 — effective July 1, 2013. Smith said he is “excited” about the future and what he wants to accomplish in his new position. “I wanted to have an opportunity to see the vision that all of us have in the athletic department come to fruition, and that takes stability,” Smith said. “Joe was kind enough to listen and forward me that opportunity.” Smith said he has been involved in the business side of the vice presidency “for little over a year now.” “Really the vice president and that is formalizing those responsibilities I already have,” Smith said. Buckeye football Following a 6-7 season in 2011, Smith pursued and hired Urban Meyer to bring the program back to the nation’s elite. OSU is 24-2 since Meyer took over the reigns of the program in 2012, including winning 24 straight games as part of back-to-back undefeated regular seasons. But the Buckeyes faltered in their biggest games of this past season, losing, 34-24, to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship
SHELBY LUM / Photo editor
Newly promoted vice president and current athletic director of OSU Gene Smith in an interview with The Lantern. Game Dec. 7 and then to Clemson, 40-35, in the 2014 Discover Orange Bowl Jan. 3. Aside from the two losses, Smith said he is pleased with the job Meyer is doing. “I know Urban and his staff have done a great job transitioning in, in the first year and obviously going undefeated. But they’ve created the right culture,” Smith said. “We have young men who understand what their primary objectives are … Every game we have a chance to win, and ultimately we’ve won a lot of them. Even the games we lost, we were in the position to win.” OSU’s football team is set to start its 2014 campaign Aug. 30 against Navy at M&T Bank Stadium. OSU hoops OSU’s other major revenue sport, the men’s basketball program, began this season on a 15-game winning streak, but lost four straight over the span of two weeks. The Buckeyes seemed getting back on track, winning their last game, but fell to Penn State, 71-70, Wednesday. Smith had a bit of simple advice for the team down the road: stop thinking and just play. That could help the team stack up with the nation’s best.
“I think we have it in us,” Smith said. “I think we have to get away from thinkin’ when we’re playing, and just go play. Just go play. We have to relax and shoot the ball.” New football assistant coaches Meyer added two high-profile assistant coaches in the last month in former Penn State defensive line coach Larry Johnson and former Arkansas defensive coordinator and secondary coach Chris Ash. Both men are expected to bring stability to a defensive unit that finished 112th in the nation in passing defense, giving up 268 yards per game. Smith said Meyer had a “short list” of candidates he wished to go after to fill the open positions, and Smith is looking forward to seeing what each coach can bring to the table. “When Chris Ash’s named popped up, I was excited because he was with me at Iowa State,” Smith said, referring to when he was athletic director at Iowa State and Ash was a defensive graduate assistant. “Then Larry Johnson … here’s a guy with multiple years of experience at the age of 60 or 61 and will bring a lot to the table for us.”
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