Thursday October 30, 2014 year: 134 No. 83
@TheLantern weather high 55 low 43 mostly sunny
thelantern
Barrett to play despite injury
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Store brings slice of Japan
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OSU could privatize its utilities
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Columbus hasn’t run the program in 6 years KRISTA MCCOMB Lantern reporter mccomb.28@osu.edu
Lantern file photo
North High Street
High Street sees an uptick in homeless population CHELSEA SPEARS AND CLAYTON EBERLY Multimedia editor and Lantern reporter spears.116@osu.edu and eberly.72@osu. edu Every day on his way to class, Alex Castrey walks by rows of Greek houses, stores on High Street and homeless people. But lately, he’s noticed something different on his route. “I think there’s been an increase, definitely,” Castrey, a second-year in finance, said of the homeless people he passes each day. Castrey isn’t the only one to take notice of this rise in the off-campus homeless population. It’s a difference officers on the Columbus Division of Police force have reported to their commander, too. Columbus Police Commander Christopher Bowling said that since the spring, many of his officers have told him about more and more homeless individuals establishing roots in the off-campus area, sticking mainly to the east side of High Street between 12th and 15th avenues. He said the homeless population has also increased in the Short North recently. “As the year has progressed, we’ve seen an increase probably since spring, and it’s been incremental to the point where it’s noticeable,” Bowling said.
CHAHINAZ SEGHIRI / Lantern photographer
Gourmet hamburger restaurant The Chop Shop, located on the corner of Lane Avenue and North High Street, is estimated to open early Spring Semester.
Students who are reeling from the closing of Red Robin’s Burger Works need not fear. There is a new burger joint opening to offer a different type of burger experience. The Chop Shop has been under construction since July, at 2195 N. High St., next door to the Buffalo Wild Wings located at 2151 N. High St. In an area with several burger joints — Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Five Guys — The Chop Shop hopes to offer high-quality
After a six-year break from investing in off-campus pest control, the city of Columbus is looking for rodents around the Ohio State area again. Columbus Public Health is sending health inspectors around the University District area to look for signs of rodents, according to an article by The Columbus Dispatch. The last time the program ran was in 2008, before the Columbus Public Health Department discontinued the $275,000 rodent control program in an effort to cut back city spending, according to Lantern archives. Even so, Ohio State takes its own precautions against infestation problems, a Student Life
Short North area also sees a rise He said homeless individuals have progressively migrated to the Short North because many people in the area have money. So why have many homeless individuals rooted themselves near a college campus as well, when college students are known to lack cash? It all comes down to foot traffic, Bowling said. “Although college kids don’t translate to money, there’s a lot of traffic, a lot of chances to sit there with a cup out asking for spare change,” he said. Even so, Bowling said Columbus Police hasn’t quantified the number of homeless individuals in the off-campus area despite this noticeable increase. “Noticeable could be eight individuals instead of four. We don’t go around counting homeless people — it’s not a crime,” Bowling said. Unless those individuals are aggressively panhandling passersby for money or too close in proximity to places like ATMs, they’re not doing anything wrong, according to the law. There were 1,488 homeless people living in Franklin County in 2013, according to the 2013 Homelessness Report by the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio. That number was 3.8 percent higher than the 1,434 reported in 2012.
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The Chop Shop burger joint to take a slice of High Street
THOMAS WILLIAMS Lantern reporter williams.4514@osu.edu
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City’s health inspectors to look for rodents
LOGAN HICKMAN Campus editor hickman.201@osu.edu In its quest to cut costs and reduce its carbon footprint, Ohio State is looking to privatize the management of its utilities, including water, electricity and gas. And while it’s not the first time OSU has privatized an asset, officials said this also might not be the last. The effort, dubbed the Comprehensive Energy Management Initiative, would involve entering into a long-term lease with an outside company that would manage the university’s utilities. That company could then profit by helping OSU cut energy costs and make it more energy efficient — something Provost and Executive Vice President Joseph Steinmetz said OSU can’t easily do on its own. “Through these kinds of opportunities, we might be able to generate revenue that we can then just plug into the sustainability efforts that we want,” Steinmetz said in a Wednesday interview with The Lantern. “The asset-generated revenue also could be plugged into student support and faculty help as well.” OSU currently spends $100 million annually on energy, said Geoff Chatas, senior vice president and chief financial officer. It also has about $250 million to $300 million worth of energy improvements that could be made, but haven’t because of a lack of funding. OSU would spend the early part of 2015 assessing which companies might be fit for the job, Chatas said. Bidding could then start as early as next fall. The duration of the lease and the amount OSU might save depends on what the companies propose. Still, Steinmetz said it’s unclear if the initiative — which was announced to the University Senate Fiscal Committee Tuesday — could result in people losing their jobs. “Changes in either plus or minus on positions could happen,” Steinmetz said. “It depends on what the final proposal actually looks like.” Although Steinmetz said it’s too early to consider employee reductions, Chatas said the money OSU might gain from the deal could create jobs. But this isn’t the first, and perhaps not the last, time OSU has sought to gain capital from privatization. The university agreed to a 50-year lease on its parking assets for the upfront price of $483 million. QIC Global Infrastructure, an Australian investment firm, placed the bid and created CampusParc to operate
Student biz in competition
ingredients in a high-energy environment. “The quality of our food is going to be above and beyond what anyone is putting out,” said Sean Bannan, general manager of The Chop Shop. “A lot of places go for frozen because it’s cheaper and easier, but we’re not about that. We want to put out good, quality food.” The menu, including prices, had not been finalized as of Wednesday, Bannan said. He is aiming for a meal to stay under $10. Burgers, hot dogs, fries and onion rings will be offered, Bannan said. The burgers will be made of fresh Angus beef, never frozen and all-natural. The cows will be grass fed with no added hormones or antibiotics. There will also
be a made-from-scratch vegetable burger. All of the burgers will be made to order, but some signature options could be added, Bannan said. The french fries and onion rings will be hand-cut in the restaurant and fried in peanut oil. Bannan said the dessert menu is currently under construction, but might include some ice cream options. The produce, for condiment purposes, will come from a local vendor, but there has not been a food source chosen yet, Bannan said. Bannan said The Chop Shop will offer counter service, which should make for a quick experience. A customer will place an order and be given a paging device. When the food is ready, the pager will buzz and the customer will pick up the order from the counter, similar to Five Guys. Bannan said the plan is for the wait to be less than 10 minutes. Bannan promises The Chop Shop will have a more upscale experience, similar to Flip Side in Easton. There will be a full bar and the interior is set to include new tiles, decorative woods and sheet metal for a retro feel, Bannan said. Rachel Baileys, a first-year transfer student in visual communications, plans on trying the new restaurant when it opens. “I think it’ll be good. There’s always so much stuff on High Street, so anything will be a good addition,” Baileys said. Despite existing burger competition, Chad Gomez, a second-year in athletic training said he expects the business to succeed. “I think it’ll bring a lot of attention to the campus,” he said. “Since a lot of college students tend to prefer foods like hamburgers, I think it’ll do well.”
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“With vermin, we take very aggressive attacks.” - Dave Isaacs Student Life spokesman spokesman said. The university has a contract with JC Ehrlich Company, a pest control company with an office in Columbus. Each month, JC Ehrlich Company performs routine inspections, along with daily monitoring from technicians. “Even a single sighting is going to bring a crew in to access the situation,” Isaacs said. Glenn Boyet, spokesman for JC Ehrlich Company, said in an email that there haven’t been many infestations around OSU. “Ehrlich inspects every dorm monthly, and over the years, have found very few issues and only one comes to my attention revolving around mice or rodents during this time,” Boyet said. Boyet did not know the year of the occurrence but said it occurred in the past couple years noting that it was “successfully contained.” “The university does a very good job of education and doing the things that help reduce infestations of pests of any kind,” Boyet said. Isaacs said the previous incident with rats occurred because of a trash problem. He didn’t want to identify the residence hall, but said the problem was solid waste and bags of trash piling up. The trash then fell off the platform location where it was being held and rodents were getting into the waste, he said. “With vermin, we take very aggressive attacks,” Isaacs said, and added the area was cleaned and OSU hasn’t had any other issues since. Last fiscal year, Student Life spent $124,055 on pest control. The Columbus Public Health website recommends preventing rat infestations by getting rid of food sources. These include cleaning up cat, dog and bird food, as well as cleaning up garbage on the ground, taking care of garbage by bagging trash, keeping lids on garbage containers and reporting any damaged city trash cans or dumpsters to prevent rodents. Some students said rats haven’t been an issue in the dorms. Caroline DeSantis, a first-year in exploration, said she hasn’t seen any rats or signs of rats while living in Taylor Tower. “I’m on the seventh floor,” she said, “so I think it would be less of an issue.” She said that overall the dorms are kept clean, but trash buildup does happen on weekends. “They do not pick up trash on the weekends so by Sunday night it’s a little gross, especially the communal one outside the dorm,” she said. Elizabeth Peyton, a first-year in engineering, said she has not seen any rodents in her residence, Paterson Hall, either. “We have a decent amount of bugs, but no animals. I think they’re pretty good about cleaning up trash. It’s never smelled or anything,” she said. Isaacs said if students do see any evidence of rodents in the dorm to call OSU’s Service2Facilities.
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