Wednesday October 10, 2012 year: 132 No. 113
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andrew holleran / Photo editor
President Barack Obama speaks to a crowd of 15,000 people on the Oval Oct. 9. Obama spoke for roughly 20 minutes.
Run in the park
andrew holleran / Photo editor
President Barack Obama speaks to a crowd of 15,000 people on the Oval Oct. 9. It was his 5th visit to OSU in 2 years.
4A Obama: ‘Don’t boo, vote’ to Oval crowd
For OSU men’s cross-country runners, their sport of choice is ‘just racing.’
Caitlin Essig Asst. arts editor essig.21@osu.edu
Ohio State’s Oval was barricaded by metal fences Tuesday that caged in bleachers, a banner reading “Vote Early,” and in the center, a lectern that sat waiting for President Barack Obama. Obama returned to Central Ohio for a grassroots campaign rally Tuesday, the last day to register to vote in Ohio. His speech began at about 5:10 p.m., and he spoke for about 20 minutes.
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In his remarks, Obama focused on the importance of education, calling it the “gateway of opportunity.” “I believe that we should have the best education system in the world, bar none,” Obama said. “I got a great education because that’s what this country does.” Obama said he has a plan for education reform. “(I want to) recruit 100,000 new math and science teachers, focus on early childhood education, provide job training for 2 million workers at our community colleges, (and) cut the growth of tuition costs in half so that you guys are not loaded up with debt when you graduate,” Obama said.
Special guest will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas took the stage at about 4:30, DJing for the estimated crowd of 15,000, which he referred to as “Buckeye Peas.” He performed for about a half-hour and talked about the importance of education during a version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In The USA.” The estimated 15,000 attendees surpassed the 14,000-person crowd at the Schottenstein Center in May when Obama kicked off his re-election campaign. Throughout his speech, when Obama mentioned Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, he was
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OSU-Newark reopens after bomb threat Michael Periatt Managing editor for content periatt.1@osu.edu
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Surrealism comes to Columbus The exhibit titled “Dark, Twisted, & Crunchy III” will be running from Friday through Oct. 22 at CS Gallery in Columbus’ Olde Towne East neighborhood.
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Obama rally bothers some weather
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OSU band video goes viral john wernecke Asst. multimedia editor wernecke.5@osu.edu The video of Ohio State Marching band’s halftime show during the Nebraska game Saturday has more than 4.3 million hits, but only 72 hours after its on-field tribute to video games went viral, the band is back at its weekly routine. Jon Waters, OSUMB interim director, attributed the video’s internet fame to the marching band’s desire to always put on a good show. “Our goal is to create an entertaining show for the audience every time out. This just happened to be a night game with the students all pumped up for it and people were really excited about the game
itself,” Waters said. “We happened to be winning the game, which always helps.” The video has gained more than a million views per day since its original posting Sunday, but Waters said the band still has several shows he expects will wow the crowd on the docket this season. In the performance, the band took on the shape and played the soundtrack of notable titles from video game history including “Space Invaders,” “PacMan,” “Pokemon” and “Halo.” The band also brought to life Epona, from “Legend of Zelda” in the form of a giant horse that galloped across the Ohio Stadium field. This was a highlight for some, including the video’s uploader, YouTube user “handmrow gobucks,” who warned viewers not to miss the running horse at the six minute mark.
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Will.i.am DJs for OSU crowd
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sarah Pfledderer Arts editor pfledderer.2@osu.edu
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Courtesy of Ed and Karen Crockett
The OSU Marching Band performs its halftime show during the game against Nebraska Oct. 6. The video has gained popularity since the game and has more than 4 million views on YouTube.
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Walking up to the Oval Tuesday to open for President Barack Obama’s speech, will.i.am had numbers on his mind. Asking his escorts how many people were on the lawn already and how many students attend Ohio State, one of the escorts let him know she was an OSU alumna. As though a light bulb went off in his head, the frontman of Black Eyed Peas said to himself, “Buckeye Peas,” then laughed at the name. Taking to his turntables at about 4:30 p.m., the rapper greeted the crowd with “Wassup Buckeyes!” Before launching into his nearly half-hour set. “Right now, I wish the rest of my group was here, but it’s OK because I’m here with the Buckeye Peas,” will.i.am said to the crowd. In an exclusive interview with The Lantern before
You can’t force every musician to get involved, so I’m involved, not as a musician, but as an American citizen. will.i.am rapper of the Black Eyed Peas performed before Obama on the Oval Tuesday his opening performance, the rapper made it seem opening for Obama is one of the highest honors of his career. “It means so much to be considered by the United States president,” will.iam said. “It just makes me proud, speechless really.” Some members of the audience weren’t so psyched for will.i.am’s performance though.
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Ohio State’s Newark campus reopened at about 5 p.m. Tuesday after a morning bomb threat shut it down. An alert on the university’s website asked all students, faculty and staff to evacuate the campus in a “calm and orderly manner.” Newark Police did not respond for comment Tuesday evening, but according to an email sent at about 3 p.m. from the Newark campus emergency broadcast system, the campus was scheduled to reopen at 5:30 p.m. for “normal business and classes.” At 9:22 a.m., OSU’s emergency management Twitter account, @OSU_EMFP, tweeted that the Newark campus would be closed until further notice. Officials at the Newark campus released a statement saying the campus would be closed as the Newark Police and Fire Departments were investigating the bomb threat Tuesday afternoon. OSU Police did not immediately respond to The Lantern’s request for comments. Brittany Lloyd, a first-year student at the OSU-Newark campus, said she was frightened when she first heard of the threat. “I was in Warner Library just doing some math,” Lloyd said in an email. “It was around 10:30 when a lady came running upstairs yelling, ‘There’s a bomb threat, you guys need to evacuate now.’” Some students at OSU’s Columbus campus were upset they did not receive an email notifying them of the threat. “We should have been notified here because we’re all OSU students and any threat to an OSU community is a concern to us,” said Tyler Bonta, a second-year in criminal psychology at OSU’s Columbus campus. Johvonty Stewart, a second-year in journalism, agreed and said President Barack Obama’s Tuesday visit to OSU’s Columbus campus made the matter a little more concerning. “I think we should of all gotten informed even if we don’t go there,” Stewart said. “I think it’s fairly significant that Obama is coming the same day there’s a bomb threat.” Alex Zoll, a first-year in electrical engineering, said officials didn’t evacuate the residence halls, but only the “main buildings” on campus. Zoll said his professors were understanding of the situation and didn’t assign any extra work to make up for missed class. “I had one exam today and my other class he sent an email out … he’s kind of a funny guy, he sent an email out saying he hoped we all survived,” Zoll said. Ayan Sheikh, Megan Sharp, Ally Marotti and Matt Kraus contributed to this story
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