Wednesday February 15, 2012 year: 132 No. 25
the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern
sports
Blaze away
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Blaz Rola continues to be a power player for the OSU men’s tennis team. The ITA Nationals are Feb. 17-21.
Jackie Storer / Lantern photographer
James McMillan, a physics graduate student, Andrea Salyer, a 2nd-year in exploration, Rami Aziz, a 2nd-year in political science, and Katherine Chang, a 2nd-year in biochemistry, protest outside of Starbucks Tuesday for the right to carry a concealed weapon on campus.
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Concealed carry laws trigger protests Mary Posani and Jackie Storer Senior Lantern reporter and For The Lantern posani.3@osu.edu and storer.29@osu.edu Guns and coffee collided today outside as Ohio State students from the student group Buckeyes for Concealed Carry on Campus spent part of their Valentine’s Day advocating for the right to carry a weapon on campus. The group protested outside Starbucks on 14th Avenue and High Street in a response to a
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Off-broadway to the Stage
The Short North Stage is premiering ‘The Marvelous Wonderettes’ at the Garden Theatre Feb. 16.
campus
Study connects climate change, politics
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“At Starbucks we deeply respect the views of our customers, and recognize that there is significant and genuine passion surrounding the issue of open carry weapons laws. We comply with local laws and statues in the communities we serve. Our longstanding approach to this issue remains unchanged and we abide by the laws that permit open carry in 43 U.S. states where these laws don’t exist, openly carrying weapons in our stores is prohibited,” a Starbucks company spokesperson said in an email.
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Will e-books replace college textbooks? Kristen Mitchell And Kaitor Kposowa Lantern reporters mitchell.935@osu.edu and kposowa.3@osu.edu Traditional textbooks could quickly become a thing of the past. Apple Inc., recently announced the company will be joining Amazon and Barnes & Noble as a major player in the electronic textbook business. The technology powerhouse has made deals with textbook companies to sell electronic copies of books for grades K-12 for $14.99 or less. Some students spend hundreds of dollars each quarter on textbooks alone, and e-books are advertised as a cheaper alternative to hard copy versions. “It’s the kind of thing OSU has the resources to take advantage of and develop really innovative, engaging material with,” said Scott Lissner, Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator at Ohio State. Ken Petri, the director of the Web Accessibility Center at OSU, said he thinks digital textbooks will eventually be the norm at OSU. “I think it’s totally, 100 percent, completely inevitable,” he said. Vendors boast of savings of more than 50 to 60 percent on e-books, and some Ohio State students are cashing in on the deals. “The book for my biology class cost like $200,
Sarah Pfledderer / Lantern photographer
With Apple Inc.’s release of the iBooks 2 application, e-books could be the future of education. which I decided was just too much to spend, so I ended up getting it online for free,” said Brittany Hopkins, a third-year in animal science. According to Undergraduate Admissions and
Experts ‘like’ Facebook’s chances in public market Jaime Ortega-Simo Lantern reporter ortega-simo.1@osu.edu
weather
nationwide boycott against Starbucks for its neutral position on concealed carry. The National Gun Victim’s Action Council called for a nationwide boycott of Starbucks on Valentine’s Day until the corporation prohibits guns in the stores. Michael Newbern, a second-year in industrial engineering and president of Buckeyes for Concealed Carry on Campus, said Starbucks has a neutral position on concealed carry laws. Starbucks company spokesperson wrote in an email the company follows the state law but did not say whether it is for or against concealed carry.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced the multi-billion dollar company would be going public this spring, and most experts agree it will continue its reign of investors and user support. Hussein Fazal, cofounder and CEO of AdParlor, the leading company managing Facebook’s advertisements, said in an email this was the next step for Facebook. “I think it is the logical progression for the company,” Fazal said. “I have confidence that the leadership at Facebook will continue to make the right product decisions and innovate despite becoming public.” Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation once bought Intermix Media Inc., which held Myspace, which was previously the most popular social networking site, for $580 million. News Corp., later sold Myspace for $35 million to Specific Media, less than 16 times its original price. Fazal said there is no way this type of digression would happen to Facebook.
“Not a chance, Facebook is a very different business in a very different time,” Fazal said. “Facebook has built an extremely large and accurate social graph — in addition to being disciplined about their product and the way they treat users.” Rolfe Winkler, writer for the Wall Street Journal, described some of the pros and cons of large companies when they decide to go public. “The pro, Zuckerberg will have publicly trading stock which he can use to help finance acquisitions,” Winkler said. “The con, increased scrutiny from the public and pressure to deliver solid results each quarter.” Winkler said Facebook going public is a good thing, but nothing much will change as Zuckerberg’s “super voting shares” will still have control of the company. “It wasn’t a matter of wanting to go public so much as regulations require them too,” Winkler said. “The SEC’s 500 investor rule requires companies with that many shareholders to file financials publicly and might as well raise capital at the same time.”
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First Year Experience predictions, the average student will spend $1,317 on textbooks every year, which some students find unacceptable. “I think it’s a little ridiculous to spend that much on textbooks, especially because in some classes you won’t even talk about them or use them,” said Nick Rettig, a second-year in agribusiness and applied economics. Rettig said he sees the financial advantage of using electronic textbooks. “As a college student, you don’t have a lot of money floating around. Anything that is cheaper should be considered,” Rettig said. Wayne Carlson, vice provost for undergraduate studies and dean for undergraduate education at OSU, said he is thinks e-readers are the future. “I see this as a real future,” he said. “I see this as a real way for the university to achieve its goals of making materials more available, more timely, more affordable and impacting students’ learning.” Along with their savings, some students enjoy the convenience that e-books provide. “I like it because I can search for something and it will show me chapters and sections the word I’m
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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg owns 28.2 percent of the company but controls 56.9 percent of the voting stock, according to initial public offering documents. This level of control is greater than what chief executives enjoy at a number of other tech companies that recently have gone public.
Percentage of total voting power in each company at time of public offering Andrew Mason, 31
Chief executive, Groupon Daily deal website Reid Hoffman, 44
Chief executive, LinkedIn Networking website Joseph Kennedy, 52
Voting power
19.8% Voting power*
23.1% Mark Zuckerberg, 27
Voting power
Chief executive, Pandora Streaming music site
2.6%
Mark Pincus, 45
Voting power
Chief executive, Zynga Social network game developer
37.4%
*Includes voting rights for shares other than his own
Chief executive, Facebook Social network
Voting power*
56.9% Courtesy of MCT
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