Tuesday November 9, 2010 year: 130 No. 149 the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern Students to tackle steam vent ‘eyesore’
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all Y Maro tti Lantern reporter marotti.5@osu.edu
t ime for tip-off
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The Lantern previews the upcoming seasons for the Ohio State men’s and women’s basketball teams.
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Several rusty, metal steam vents sprout from the ground around campus, issuing potentially hazardous and slightly acidic steam. A group of engineering students — Engineers for Community Service — has noticed the pipes. The students contend that the vents are dangerous but, moreover, that they’re unsightly. “The purpose of this project isn’t due to safety concerns. The purpose is that these are an eyesore,” said Steve Ottobre, a fifth-year in chemical engineering. “They’re just ugly. They’re these rusty metal pieces of junk sticking out of the ground.” Ottobre is working with Lisa Reisenauer, a fourth-year in chemical engineering, to lead a group of students who want to turn one of the vents into a work of art. The project is in its beginning stages, but Roger Dzwonczyk, a clinical associate professor advising the group, said one idea is to build a statue of Woody Hayes with steam coming out of his ears. “The object was to make something interesting to look at and make a sort of dynamic art piece,” Dzwonczyk said. “We’re trying to make this a sort of interdisciplinary project for Ohio State.” The vents function as a release for steam from underground tunnels. McCracken Power Plant produces steam that is transported through underground pipes to buildings throughout campus. Rain and ground water penetrate the tunnels housing the pipes. When the water makes contact with the pipes, it vaporizes and is released through the vents. “It’s like a cloud just lifting out of the ground,” Ottobre said. “Inhaling it is not a problem.”
aUstin oWens / Lantern photographer
soon-to-be-retired plummer bob ledford watches steam pour out of a vent near ohio stadium on no v. 1. The vent the group will focus on is located at the north end of Ohio Stadium off Woody Hayes Drive. The student group leaders say that particular vent was capped with a yellow fixture concealing the dangerous part because the spewing steam burned several people leaving the stadium. Police and other officials could not confirm that allegation. But water changes from liquid to gas at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, and burns form on skin at
temperatures higher than 140 degrees, according to Mayo Clinic’s website. The steam is also slightly acidic. Dzwonczyk said the steam contains carbonic acid, which could potentially injure passersby. Other steam vents are located by Morrill and Lincoln Tower on Cannon Drive, and in between
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‘Church lady bandit’ strikes again “Church lady bandit” hits two Columbus locations
ricK scHanZ Campus editor schanz.5@osu.edu
The world-renowned video game developer will speak at Mershon Auditorium tonight.
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New book backed by Tressel
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71 Morse Rd. Second robbery: Nov. 7 Less than a month after the U.S. Bank robbery, she struck again at Charter One Bank off Dublin Granville Road, police said.
First robbery: Oct. 20 On Oct. 20 the “church lady bandit” robbed the U.S. Bank in the Ohio Union, police said.
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Jane McGonigal
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Less than a month after robbing the U.S. Bank in the Ohio Union, the suspect dubbed the “church lady bandit” has struck again. The robbery happened at about 1:36 p.m. Sunday at the Charter One Bank inside Kroger at 5727 Emporium Square on the Northeast Side, according to the FBI. The suspect walked to the teller counter where two tellers were waiting for customers. Pretending to talk on her cell phone as she approached the desk, the woman told the teller that she needed cash and was robbing the bank. Officials at the FBI said they don’t think she indicated she was armed, nor did she appear to be. The robber at Kroger did not pass a note to the teller like the woman who robbed the Union did on Oct. 20. But the result was the same — the teller complied and gave the robber money. FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas could not disclose the amount of money the suspect stole. “Typical bank robbers get less than $3,000, and the typical amount they get generally falls in the $1,000 to $2,000 range,” Trombitas said. He said the Kroger suspect’s loot was less than $3,000. After receiving the money, the robber fled, though officials said it is unclear where she went or how she got away. “Most likely a car was involved,” Trombitas said. “We are checking Kroger’s parking lot cameras and cameras from nearby businesses.” Trombitas said investigators don’t know if the suspect is getting outside help but said it’s plausible. The “church lady bandit” is described as a medium-built black woman, about 5-foot-4 to 5-foot-7 and in her 30s or 40s. For the Kroger robbery, she shed the wig she wore during the Union robbery, opting for a dark baseball cap, glasses, a dark T-shirt and dark pants.
EMILY COLLARD / Lantern designer
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Fourth-year a Rhodes Scholarship finalist dYlan tUssel Lantern reporter tussel.2@osu.edu Fourth-year Surili Sheth is one step closer to the Rhodes Scholarship. If she wins, she will be the second woman from Ohio State to receive the scholarship since it became available to women in 1976. The scholarship’s organizers break the country into 16 regions and choose 14 finalists from each region. Sheth is one of 14 chosen from Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, and has a chance of being one of two finalists in the region who will win the prestigious award and study at the University of Oxford. Sheth, studying economics and political science, wasn’t going to apply until her adviser suggested the award to her in an e-mail during the summer. At the time, Sheth said, she was volunteering in the slums of India. “I was like, ‘Well OK, I can do that. I can work on it this summer when I come back. When is the deadline?’” she said. “And my adviser was like, ‘Oh, it’s in three days.’” She has focused her work in recent years on improving the quality of life in slum neighborhoods in India, sparked by visits to her family’s home in Gujarat, India. It was in those slums that she completed the lengthy application for the award. “I was sitting in the back of Seva Café, working on my personal statement and the whole application and everything. The interview was like a week later,” Sheth said. “It was funny because they were asking me about Seva Café, and I was sitting inside it.” The seeds for her work were planted in summer 2006 — after her junior year in high school — when her classmates from the U.S. took a trip to India. “I was already in India with my family that summer, but I joined the high school trip,” Sheth said. “Part of it was a service trip to south India to a fishing village that had been hit by the tsunami.” That summer, Sheth and her classmates met then-President Abdul Kalam. After her first year at OSU, Sheth went on another family trip to India. She connected with a non-governmental organization in the area and began teaching English to children who lived in a nearby slum.
tYler JosWicK
/ Lantern asst. photo editor
rhodes scholarship fi nalist surili sheth has worked to impro ve the quality of life in india’s slums in recent years. one of her mementos is an artistic creation made by school children she met during her work. “I started bonding with the kids and the community and learning about the issues they face every day in health and education,” Sheth said. During that summer, Sheth took an interest in the social problems of the Indian slums. “It was really interesting because I saw how many different issues overlap,”
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