Monday October 10, 2011 year: 132 No. 15 the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern Lawyer: NCAA ignored records
sports
Alex Antonetz Arts editor antonetz.3@osu.edu
1B
Nebraska Reactions
Many students made the trip to Nebraska for the OSU football game Saturday, and shared their experience with the crowd of Cornhuskers with The Lantern.
arts&life
Suspended Ohio State wide receiver DeVier Posey’s attorney provided documents to The Lantern claiming that driving time, as well as phone records, bank activity and timecards are evidence that Posey wasn’t overpaid for summer work to the extent of a five-game suspension. Larry James, an attorney with Crabbe, Browne & James LLC, who is paid by OSU for representing Posey, spoke with The Lantern Saturday in his firm’s downtown office about the NCAA’s announcement Friday that Posey would be suspended five games for receiving money for work he didn’t do from former booster Robert DiGeronimo. OSU did not immediately provide The Lantern with information pertaining to how much James is paid. Posey was originally scheduled to return to play Saturday at Nebraska after being suspended five games for the “Tattoo-gate” scandal. However, OSU athletic director Gene Smith announced on Oct. 3 that Posey would be suspended at least one additional game, before the NCAA’s ruling Friday that Posey must actually sit five more games. OSU lost to Nebraska on Saturday, 34-27. OSU receivers only caught six passes on 18 total attempts between quarterbacks Braxton Miller and Joe Bauserman for 108 yards. DiGeronimo employed Posey at Independence Excavations and Valley Laser Car Wash near Independence, Ohio, from June 18, 2009, through
Many Appalachians not being given HPV shot
March 20, 2011. OSU and NCAA enforcement staffs concluded that Posey was paid for 70 hours of work, despite only working 21.5 hours. He was overpaid by 48.5 hours and $727.50. Posey is being ordered to pay that figure back as part of the NCAA’s ruling. James said he has “never seen any process like this whatsoever” in regards to the NCAA’s investigation of Posey. In an Oct. 5 letter from James’ firm to the NCAA reinstatement staff, James said the athletes “did not know the precise method by which their wages were being calculated” and that Posey “had no reason to believe that his wages may have been miscalculated or that he may have been overpaid.” DiGeronimo said in a June 29 letter to James that all athletes were paid $15 an hour, a rate he said was comparable to his shop employees but less than what local union members who do comparable work would be paid.
CODY COUSINO / Photo editor
Ohio State’s DeVier Posey lines up at the line of scrimmage during a game against the University of Indiana on Oct. 9, 2010.
Driving time James argued that drive time to the Independence area from Columbus and back was included in Posey’s compensation. James said in a letter dated Sept. 30 to Doug Archie, OSU’s associate athletic director for compliance, that the days and hours Posey worked were incorrectly reported. Independence Excavating originally reported that Posey worked 10 hours the week ending March 27, 2009, 24 hours the week ending June 18, 2009, 20 hours the week ending Feb. 19, 2010 and 16 hours the week ending March 25, 2011.
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Courtesy of Larry James
DeVire Posey’s lawyer, Larry James
Set to win Junior Emily Danks (1) slaps hands with Columbus-area 8th graders before Ohio State women’s volleyball match against Northwestern on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2011. Ohio State won 3-1.
Colleen Carey Lantern reporter carey.259@osu.edu
4A
‘Hypnotic’ DeGraw
Coming off a recent album release with “Sweeter,” Gavin DeGraw is scheduled to perform at Newport Music Hall Monday at 6:30 p.m.
campus
Pediatricians in Appalachia are less likely to recommend the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to their patients, according to a study. Janice Raup Krieger, an assistant professor of communication at Ohio State, conducted the study of the shot, which can potentially prevent cervical cancer. Krieger was first interested in conducting the study because women in Appalachia have high rates of cervical cancer. Krieger also said the mortality rates from cervical cancer are higher in this area. “The effectiveness of the shot depends on young girls actually getting it,” Krieger said. “We know from the literature that one of the reasons parents say that they do vaccinate their daughters against HPV is because their pediatrician recommends it.” HPV is a sexually transmitted infection with more than 40 types that can infect both males and females. Certain types of the STI can lead to genital warts and different forms of cancer, but the body’s immune system fights off most types in two years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Through a mail survey of 334 pediatricians in
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Brittany Schock / Asst. photo editor
Gee: ‘Smith is doing an excellent job’
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Celebrate Columbus
The 20th anniversary of the Santa Maria ship museum was celebrated Friday, kicking off a weekend of Columbus Day celebrations.
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Pat Brennan Sports editor brennan.164@osu.edu
Ten months have passed since NCAA violations committed by Ohio State football players were first revealed, and additional revelations have surfaced since then. Considering recent suspensions, the OSU athletic department doesn’t appear any closer to stabilizing the football team and according to one expert, there could be major ramifications for the university and athletic director Gene Smith. Receiver DeVier Posey, running back Dan Herron and offensive lineman Marcus Hall are the most recently suspended Buckeyes. Smith informed media of the suspensions at an Oct. 3 press conference and informed those in attendance the players would be forced to sit for being excessively compensated by a former OSU booster at their respective summer jobs. Posey will be suspended for the team’s next four games and won’t be eligible to return to action until the team’s Nov. 19 game against Penn State, according to a Friday release by the athletic department. Smith said the NCAA’s decision to suspend the player five games was “harsh.” Posey, Herron and Hall join — or rejoin, as the case may be — a long list of OSU players that have been penalized by the NCAA during the 2011 season. In December, six players — Posey, Herron, former OSU quarterback Terrelle Pryor, defensive lineman Solomon Thomas and left tackle Mike Adams, who each received five-game suspensions, and linebacker Jordan Whiting, who received a one-game ban — were suspended for selling team memorabilia in exchange for improper benefits in the form of tattoos. Former OSU coach Jim Tressel was forced to resign from his post as pressure mounted for not self-reporting the players’ violations. Days later on
CODY COUSINO / Photo editor
Gene Smith stands on the sidelines before the Ohio State football game against Michigan State on Oct. 1, 2011. June 7, Pryor left the university to pursue a professional career in the NFL. As attention began to turn back to on-field matters, three more players — running back Jordan Hall and defensive backs Corey Brown and Travis Howard — were suspended on Sept. 9 for receiving impermissible benefits at a Cleveland charity event in February. Smith also said he does not expect charges of “failure to monitor” or “lack of institutional control” from the NCAA to come as result of any of the infractions, but Michael L. Buckner, whose law firm specializes in college sports law, disagrees. Buckner says that Smith, the university and the athletic department should all be concerned. “In Ohio State’s case, for what was being alleged against the individuals involved and the type of infractions that the (NCAA) is investigating, I was surprised the (NCAA) has not alleged a ‘failure to monitor.’”
The suspensions are also coupled with the Buckeyes’ dubious 3-3 record through six games this season, which includes an 0-2 record in conference play and a gut-wrenching 34-27 Saturday loss to Nebraska. OSU’s lead against the Cornhuskers swelled to 27-6 in the third quarter before the Buckeyes allowed the largest comeback in Nebraska football history. In light of the current state of the program both on and off the field, Buckeye football historian Jack Park said he can’t help but wonder what is next for OSU’s embattled football team. “I can tell you that in all the years I’ve been covering Ohio State football, this is probably the low spot,” said Park, who has covered the team since the 1960s. “This doesn’t look very good, that’s for sure. I’m just disappointed that we have to be going through this.” The season presses on for the Buckeyes, but Park said he is troubled by the athletic director’s explanation of the suspensions on Oct. 3, which Smith said were “failures by individuals.” “I didn’t understand how all of this can all be going on and it’s always on the individual,” Park said. “I just don’t have a good feel for what’s going on here.” OSU President E. Gordon Gee might have tipped his hand about Smith’s job security as athletic director. On June 1, Gee told The Lantern that Smith’s job was “safe.” When asked if his stance had changed on Smith’s job security, Gee said in a Oct. 5 email to The Lantern: “Gene Smith is doing an excellent job. Thanks for asking.” When compared to “lack of institutional control,” Buckner said “failure to monitor” is a charge more likely to be filed, and a less-serious violation. “When you’re failing to monitor (student-athletes),
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