Jan. 9, 2012

Page 1

Monday January 9, 2012 year: 132 No. 4

the student voice of

The Ohio State University

www.thelantern.com

thelantern OSU dishes out big bucks for Meyer’s reign

sports

1B

Defending the title

The OSU men’s volleyball team is set to defend their championship title with a match against Lees-McRae Friday.

[ a+e ]

4A

Blockbuster controversy

Multiple scenes of rape and violence in “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” has many up in arms.

campus

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

With some New Year’s resolutions already thrown out, there are many opportunities for students opting to go green.

weather high 49 low 33

2011

With a $4 million per year salary, new Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer is the highest paid coach in the Big Ten conference, but OSU is spending millions on Meyer’s assistants as well. The combined salaries for the assistant coaches Meyer has hired is just under $3.5 million, and some positions have yet to be ÿ lled. During Meyer’s introductory press conference Nov. 28, he said assembling a top-quality staff was a priority. “In 2005 … I think (Florida) put together the best coaching staff maybe in college football history,” Meyer said. “I know that’s a profound statement. But what those guys did, the recruits they brought in and the run that team went on, with the great players, the style of offense, defense and kicking game … my goal is to ÿ nd that kind of group of coaches again. “I think Ohio State deserves the best group of assistant coaches in America.” It appears OSU is helping Meyer pursue just that and is willing to shell out more cash than the university is accustomed to in the process. According to information released by the OSU athletic department, the school is spending signiÿ cantly more money on its football coaches in 2012 under Meyer than under former coaches Luke Fickell in 2011 and Jim Tressel. In 2011, the head coach, defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator made a combined $1.45 million. In 2010,

those three coaches earned $4.35 million. In 2012, the head coach, defensive coordinators and offensive coordinator will make a combined total of $5.62 million. That’s about a 288 percent increase from 2011 and about a 29 percent increase from 2010. The increase between 2011 and 2012 can largely be attributed to Meyer’s salary, which far exceeds that of Fickell. Tressel’s contract was for $3.5 million in 2010. Fickell was paid $775,000 in 2011, but after being removed as OSU’s head coach and named the team’s defensive coordinator for 2012, Fickell will receive $750,000 in 2012, meaning he’s taking a $25,000 pay cut. The co-defensive coordinator, Everett Withers, will make $450,000. Jim Heacock, the defensive coordinator in 2011, made $350,000. New offensive coordinator Tom Herman will make $420,000 in 2012, which is $70,000 more than his predecessor, Jim Bollman. But the increased spending isn’t conÿ ned to coordinators. New assistant athletic director for football sports performance Mickey Marotti will make $380,000, and will be in charge of the strength and conditioning of OSU football players. In 2011, director of football performance Eric Lichter and coordinator for strength and conditioning Troy Sutton

continued as Meyer on 3A

2012

$234,828 - COMBINED

= $10,000

$380,000

TROY SUTTON

MICKEY MAROTTI

Coordinator of Strength and Conditioning

Asst. AD for FB Sports Performance

ERIC LICHTER Director of football performance

$350,000

$420,000

JIM BOLLMAN

TOM HERMAN

Offensive coordinator

Offensive coordinator

$350,000

$1,200,000 - COMBINED

JIM HEACOCK

LUKE FICKELL

Defensive coordinator

Defensive coordinator

Source: Reporting CHRIS POCHE / Design editor CHRISTOPHER SCHWARTZ / Managing editor

EVERETT WITHERS Assistant head coach, co-defensive coordinator

New COTA system requires new BuckIDs BRIN KERKHOFF Lantern reporter kerkhoff.2@osu.edu

2A

Coaching Staff

MICHAEL PERIATT Asst. sports editor periatt.1@osu.edu

Any student who wishes to ride the COTA bus might be required to obtain a new ID. At the start of the New Year, the Central Ohio Transit Authority began requiring students to physically swipe their BuckID when riding the COTA bus. “An easy way to check if you need a new ID is to look at the back of your card; if it has our old address at Lincoln Tower, you will need a new one,” said Karina Kurzhals, student assistant at BuckID Services. A replacement card will be issued for free with the exchange of a current or old BuckID. “If a student does not bring a BuckID in exchange, there will be a $20 fee assessed for the replacement,” Kurzhals said. In addition to outdated IDs, there is also an issue of system glitches. “My ID didn’t swipe at ÿ rst but I didn’t end up having to replace it because it wasn’t old. My ID had just been set up by a website that wasn’t working with the new system yet,” said Angela Yerian, a secondyear in exploration.

Students can obtain their new card at BuckID Services in the Ohio Union, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Students will not be able to ride the bus without their card,” said Elizabeth Berkemer, public and media relations manager for COTA. Students must be enrolled in classes at Ohio State to ride the COTA bus for free with a BuckID. The new ID reader systems on the buses require that student enrollment status be encoded on the magnetic strips on the new BuckIDs; this information does not exist on the older BuckIDs. Only the Ohio Union is equipped with technology to properly encode COTA’s information, according to COTA’s website. “Our fare box program has been upgraded, therefore the BuckID’s need to be updated as well so they will swipe,” Berkemer said. Drivers are enforcing the swipe policy and are instructed to turn away riders who don’t have proper identification. The new system has been in effect now for more than a week and appears to be running smoothly, according to several drivers. Students are adapting to the new physical swiping process as well. “Swiping the ID doesn’t take

THOMAS BRADLEY / Campus editor

Per new policy from COTA, all OSU students now have to swipe their BuckID when they board all COTA buses. much longer, you just have to know which way to swipe it and at what speed,” Yerian said. The purpose of this program is to gauge COTA ridership among students for future planning, according to COTA’s website. “The main reason for the policy is that we want to look at the activity among the students and make sure their needs are being met,” Berkemer said.

This activity includes ridership trends such as where students are getting on and what lines they are using most. OSU and COTA have had a contract for 12 years now, which requires students to pay a $9 quarterly COTA fee, allowing them unlimited use of the COTA bus system.

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Students shift gears for semester switch

partly cloudy

AYAN SHEIKH Lantern reporter sheikh.51@osu.edu

T 51/36 sunny W 46/40 showers TH 46/26 cloudy F 32/24 cloudy www.weather.com

With the switch to semesters just two quarters away, Ohio State ofÿ cials reassure students worried about possible cuts in ÿ nancial aid and changes in the way tuition is paid. Gus Carlos, a second-year in psychology, said he is concerned about how the semester switch will affect his ÿ nancial aid. “I’m from Texas and so I have to pay out-of-state tuition,” he said. “I’m worried about how (tuition) is going to change, how my loans might change.” Despite students concerns, university ofÿ cials are

reassuring students that cost of tuition and fees will not be affected by the quarter-to-semester conversion. Under the semester calender, students will pay for tuition twice a year, instead of the three times a year tuition is paid on the quarter system. Subsequently, ÿ nancial aid awarded to students will be disbursed twice a year instead of three times a year. Tuition and fees for the 2011-2012 year are $9,711 for an Ohio resident, and $24,759 for an out-of-state student. Steven Fink, co-chair of the Semester Conversion Coordinating Committee, told The Lantern that although the amount of tuition students have to pay per semester might seem larger than usual, the cost of tuition will remain the same.

“You’d be billed for tuition twice a year instead of three times a year,” Fink said. “So the bills would look bigger but the cost of a single year of tuition will be the same (but it will be) divided up differently.” Fink also said ÿ nancial aid would be “adjusted to correspond” with the changes in tuition. The university’s “Pledge to Students,” details the promise to ensure that the cost of general and instructional fees in an academic year with semesters will not cost more than a year’s tuition would have cost with quarters. The pledge also mentions the switch will not have an effect on ÿ nancial aid. Jay Johnson, assistant provost, said in an email

continued as Tuition on 3A 1A


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