Wednesday October 5, 2011
the student voice of
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thelantern Prof: District lines are ‘grotesque’
sports
ANDI HENDRICKSON Lantern reporter hendrickson.1085@osu.edu
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Wooden Watch List
OSU basketball players William Buford, Jared Sullinger and Aaron Craft named to the preseason John Wooden Award watch list Monday.
arts & life
Republicans in Ohio redrew new congressional district lines that resulted in the loss of a Democratic district. Gerrymandering is when the lines drawn for congressional districts favor one party over another. Ohio’s new winding, curving districts are a perfect example. Ohio faced a difficult redistricting process this year because the state lost two seats in the House of Representatives. Eighteen districts have been redrawn to fit 16 districts in the state. Not everyone is happy with the new districts. Professor of political science at Ohio State Richard Gunther gave a testimony against the plan at the Ohio Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee meeting on Sept. 20. “This plan is the most grotesque partisan gerrymander that I, as a political scientist, had ever seen,” Gunther said. “It should either be rejected by the Ohio Senate or the courts, or overruled in a referendum by the citizens of this state, who deserve better.” In his testimony, Gunther listed four criteria that are “crucial for the proper functioning of democracy:” community preservation, geographical compactness, competitiveness and fairness in representation. The new districts, Gunther said, fail
Web app aids students access to health services
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Gerrymandering is the process of redrawing congressional district lines in favor of one political party over another. In Ohio, this was the case when 18 congressional districts were reduced to 16 after the 2010 census. Republican party members are in support of the newly drawn lines, while members of the Democratic party oppose it. One Democratic seat was eliminated in the process.
2 source: reshapeohio.org in all four categories. Herb Asher, a professor of Political Science at OSU, agrees with Gunther. Asher, however, said he believes the failure lies in the system used to draw the districts in Ohio. “We could have had a better, less partisan system today,” Asher said. “We’ve had opportunities to change it, but we haven’t. We haven’t been successful.” Asher said blaming the Republicans is not the
CHRIS POCHE / Design editor
solution because the Democrats would have done the same thing if they were the party in charge. “They try to draw district lines to benefit their party: Pack as many members of the minority party into a smaller number of districts,” Asher said. “That’s wasteful, you don’t need that much to win.“ Gerrymandering, according to Gunther, makes districts less competitive, and therefore, more
continued as Democrats on 3A
BRIDGE AT DUSK Shibi Likhite, a 3rd-year graduate student in molecular cellular developmental biology walks across the Lane and Olentangy River Bridge at sunset on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011 in Columbus, Ohio.
JENELLE COOPER Lantern reporter cooper.1995@osu.edu
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iPhone 5 a no-show
Apple made their long-awaited announcement Tuesday about the newest iPhone, the iPhone 4S. It will be released Oct. 14 to AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.
campus
New SB 5 poll
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Current and future educators share their reactions to the upcoming vote on Senate Bill 5, after release of new poll.
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A new web-based application designed specifically for Buckeyes is attempting to take some hassle out of going to the doctor. My BuckMD is attempting to make medical care access easier for students. The My BuckMD connection is a secure link between Ohio State students and Student Health Services. Currently, students can cancel and view appointments, receive test results, submit health forms and receive secure communications from Student Health Services staff. My BuckMD was launched in June 2011 and is free for students. To sign up for these services, students fill out a basic consent form and present a photo identification at the Wilce Student Health Center, Health Information Services located on the ground floor. Accounts become active by the end of the next business day after the forms are completed. Melissa Ames, the health information manager at Student Health Services, described the new system as an option for students who prefer to do things online. “Email is a preferred means of communication for students, however it isn’t always secure,” Ames said. “My BuckMD connection is secure messaging through HIPAA-compliant technologies. It permits effective communications to our patients without leaving confidential or non-specific messages on voicemails, or with family or roommates.” The Health Insurance Portability and Affordability Act, or HIPAA, Privacy Rule “protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information,” according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website.
LEONARDO CARRIZO / For the Lantern
The link also features a blog called Ask BuckMD for students to pose general health, nutrition, dental, optometry or wellness related topic questions. All of the questions are answered on the blog, which is maintained by Dr. John Vaughn, a doctor at the Wilce Student Health Center. Lauren Levi, a first-year in pharmaceutical science, said she has never used Student Health Services, but would probably use this feature if she got really sick. “I would use it if I needed immediate care,” Levi said. “I have a cold right now; maybe if it turned into
something worse I would look into it.” According to Student Health Services, 3,929 students had enrolled in the health portal as of Tuesday morning. The Student Health Services My BuckMD Connection Patient Guide urges students to not share their passwords for the system with anyone, but ensures that the site is secure. The patient guide also reminds students that while the online services are available, My BuckMD Connection is not a substitute for traditional medical care.
Block ‘O’ shows inner soccer hooligan NICHOLAS DVORSCAK Lantern reporter dvorscak.2@osu.edu Play like Connor today. The Block “O” organization has adopted this motto for their cheering section for Ohio State men’s soccer games. The motto pays homage to Connor Senn, a walk-on freshman who passed away during a September 2001 match against Akron. “We wanted to do something that meant something to the school,” said Jamie Buehler, Soccer Coordinator for Block “O.” This marks the first year that Block “O” has had cheering sections for men’s and women’s soccer Buehler said. “At the Louisville and Michigan men’s games we had to turn people away,” Buehler said. Buehler said that during the Michigan game, it was evident that the Michigan players noticed the cheering section. “It was cool to see us getting at the Michigan players,” Buehler said. “One player made gestures toward us after he scored.” On Sept. 28 the group traveled to Akron to support the men’s team in their game against one of the nation’s top-ranked teams. “The effort they made to travel to Akron was unbelievable,” said John Bluem, the men’s soccer head coach. “The guys really like it.”
It was the first trip to an away men’s game that Block “O” has organized. Buehler said that about 90 people traveled to the game. “To get two buses full of people was surprising,” Buehler said. “You could still hear us over Akron’s huge section.” While the trip was successful, Buehler said that it is the only men’s road game that they are planning on attending this year. Buehler said that the group has seen better numbers at the men’s games compared to the women’s games. Despite this, volunteer assistant coach for the women’s team Spencer Bownas still notices the contributions from the cheering section. “Games are so long, athletes can get so tired, but when you hear constant support, it reenergizes the players,” Bownas said. “It helps to have that 12th man.” Sophomore midfielder Danica Wu also appreciates what the group has done. “It gives people a chance to get involved,” Wu said. “I think it’s great for support.” Buehler said the big event Block “O” is organizing for the women’s team will be for the game on senior night, Oct. 30, against Indiana. “We don’t have a trip planned for the women’s games officially, but some of us may travel to some games with a group,” Buehler said. The cheering section can be found directly behind the goal for all of the Big Ten conference men’s games and the women’s game on senior night.
Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
Katie Baumgardner walks a receiving line before taking on then-top-ranked UNC.
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