10 8 lantern page

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Tuesday October 8, 2013 year: 133 No. 82

the student voice of

The Ohio State University

www.thelantern.com

thelantern Police presence raised following bank robberies

sports

SHAY TROTTER Senior Lantern reporter trotter.35@osu.edu

6A

Defense turns it up a notch

After losing senior safety Christian Bryant to injury, the OSU defense stepped up its game to play for him.

[ a+e ]

The Ohio State University Department of Public Safety has taken steps including increasing patrols and responding to more calls to address concerns expressed by local banks and OSU students following two armed robberies that occurred at Huntington Bank on West 11th Avenue in September. “We’ve increased our officer presence not only at that bank, but all the other banks on campus,” said University Police Deputy Chief Richard Morman. “Just having officers periodically stop by, talk to staff. As you can imagine, they’re probably pretty uneasy.” The robberies took place less than two weeks apart, Sept. 14 and Sept. 26, at the Huntington Bank branch located at 235 W. 11th Ave., across from Canfield Hall on South Campus. In the Sept. 14 incident, the suspect was armed with a knife, and in the second, the suspect had a gun. Both incidents occurred before 10 a.m. and the suspects in each case were described similarly — an approximately 6-foot-tall black man in his mid-30s. Investigations for both crimes are still under way, Morman said. “This is a big priority right now (and) we’re dedicating a lot of our resources to this investigation,” Morman said. Meanwhile, OSU police officers are also making an effort to ease the concerns local bank branches might have after hearing about the two reported crimes. “(We) are really redeploying a lot of our resources and paying extra attention to the banks,” Morman said. The University Police has been working with Huntington Bank in particular to examine possible

Courtesy of University Police

A screenshot from security footage at Huntington National bank located at 235 W. 11th Ave. around 9:25 a.m. Sept. 14.

Courtesy of University Police

A screenshot from security footage at Huntington National bank located at 235 W. 11th Ave. at about 9:35 a.m. Sept. 26.

security measures. The branch has already added a security officer to its 11th Avenue location, Morman said. Other safety strategies, however, cannot be made public at this time, according to a Huntington Bank statement, emailed to The Lantern by Maureen Brown, director of Huntington Bank public relations. “It is Huntington’s policy not to discuss the details of its security tactics,” the statement read. “But we can say that every measure has been taken to make certain security at the branch is strong.” Not every local bank, though, sees the robberies at Huntington as cause for concern.

continued as Robberies on 3A

20 phones reported stolen in campus area

4A

Creeping out Columbus

The Creep, a three-house haunted attraction, scared our columnist senseless.

campus

2A

Going green, getting gold

OSU received an award for its sustainability efforts from the Environmental Protection Agency.

BROOKE SAYRE Lantern reporter sayre.128@osu.edu Cell phones have become a target for theft in the Ohio State campus area, as some students have been the mark of scams and others have had phones disappear at local bars. One area police division has responded by dedicating officers to finding phones. In the first half of Fall Semester, there were 20 reports of stolen phones in the OSU campus area, University Police Deputy Chief Richard Morman said. He said last year, during the same time period, there were 25 reports involving 33 phones. “Out of those incidents, 18 were (items) left unattended,” Morman said. “Either the phone itself was left unattended or (it was) in a backpack.” Thirteen of the phones were left at recreational areas, such as campus basketball courts. Some students recently lost their phones in a different setting though. A female OSU second-year in political science, who wished to remain anonymous for professional reasons, had her phone stolen at a bar early last month. “I was at Midway on High Street and we were dancing and talking. I had my phone with me … I was by the DJ and set my phone on the DJ (stand). When I looked back up, it was gone,” the student said. She said in addition to her phone,

20 reports of stolen phones from

Aug. 18

Oct. 4

Source:Reporting at least one other student at the bar lost an ID. “I found a girl’s ID and found (her) on Facebook and (she) had (other) items stolen,” she said. When she returned to the bar the next day to ask the manager if anyone had turned in her phone, she realized she wasn’t the only person with a missing something. “They said they didn’t have any phones, but said it was weird because they had six different people asking about their white iPhone being stolen,” the student said. Some of the reports of stolen phones this academic year, filed between Aug. 18 and Oct. 4, involved multiple victims, Morman said. Midway on High, located at 1728 N. High St., has certain procedures regarding lost and found items. “We have a lost and found area behind both bars,” said Andrew

KAYLA ZAMARY / Design editor Crowell, a manager at Midway. “At the end of the night, we collect the items that patrons or security guards have given us and put (them) behind the bar. We wait a day (to see if someone picks it up) and then we put it in the office.” The office is open to any Midway employee. For found items, such as an iPhone, employees have the person claiming the device call the phone or identify the case or the home screen. If the device is locked, they will ask them to unlock it, Crowell said. The bar also places security cameras in both the upstairs area and downstairs area. “There are cameras everywhere,” Crowell said. In addition to the cameras, Midway employs a staff of security guards. “(On busy nights, we usually have)

LOGAN HICKMAN Lantern reporter hickman.201@osu.edu

high 69 low 46 sunny

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continued as Phones on 3A

OSU ‘doing fine’ on flu shot availability despite govt shutdown

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two people upstairs, one downstairs, two patio guys, two door guys and a roamer,” Crowell said. “(It’s) usually a total of seven or eight security guards.” Public streets, however, do not have security. Conner Nagel, a second-year in neuroscience, said he was tricked into giving someone his phone. Nagel was out with friends on Indianola Avenue at the beginning of Fall Semester 2012 when a man who looked like a student approached him. “(He) asked if (he) could borrow my phone so they could call someone to get a ride,” Nagel said. “So I let him and he just took off. I chased him and I didn’t catch him.” Nagel attempted to locate his phone on the Find My iPhone app but didn’t see a location until the middle of the night. “I kept checking that on my laptop when I got back and he shut it off, but then at some point in the middle of the night, it got a signal from an apartment complex, and then it was off for good,” Nagel said. Find My iPhone is a tracking app that will help locate the device on a map. In the app description, it states that an Internet connection is required. Nagel filed a police report but heard nothing after the initial report. Daniel Brandt, a fourth-year in sustainability, was in a similar situation

ELIZABETH GARABEDIAN / Lantern photographer

The Wilce Student Health Center, located at 1875 Millikin Road, has flu shot walk-in hours Monday through Friday.

While the government shutdown has affected the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ohio State’s Wilce Student Health Center still has flu vaccinations available for students, faculty and staff. “It’s true that the CDC is kind of shut down right now with the government being shut down, and I know that is posing difficulty in terms of distribution of the vaccine, but we have enough here — we’re doing fine and we’ve got our flu programs scheduled throughout the semester,” said Dr. Mary Lynn Kiacz, the medical director of Student Health Services. The U.S. government discontinued funding for federal services not deemed “essential” starting Oct. 1 after Congress failed to approve a national budget Sept. 30. The federal funding cuts to the CDC will primarily affect the center’s weekly flu-tracking surveillance data known as “FluView,” which have not been updated on the CDC’s website since the shutdown. Flu vaccines have largely already been distributed and are not expected to be disturbed, according to a report by International Business Times.

The Wilce Student Health Center received a large shipment of flu vaccines, which it ordered over the summer from private suppliers, Kiacz said. “Our supply trickles in over time,” Kiacz said. “We keep an ample supply in place and we also have access to borrowing from the hospital and we have a couple different suppliers that we use, so we tend to do a pretty good job. I don’t really anticipate any problems.” Student Life spokesman Dave Isaacs said there were 4,851 flu shots given to students, staff and faculty at the Wilce Student Health Center in 2012. Isaacs said this year’s supply of flu vaccinations should match that of last year, but he does not know the exact number of flu shots available. The Wilce Student Health Center Pharmacy has walk-in hours where students, staff and faculty can get a shot from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to the Student Health Services website. Flu shots cost $25 but are free to students who have comprehensive student health insurance through OSU, Kiacz said, adding that students with private health insurance should check with their provider about whether or not the flu shot is covered.

continued as Flu on 3A 1A


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