Tuesday February 18, 2014 year: 134 No. 25
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thelantern the student voice of The Ohio State University
Bucks head to NFL Combine
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House of Cards best in binge
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OSU apparel deal costing local business
OSU investigates startup after talks go awry Universities with shrinking enrollments and more competition for students are absolutely going to be looking at those kinds of sources and they’re going to want to protect it. It’s an investment.
Ohio State is investigating a startup company for copyright infringements and violation of trade secret information after a potential deal Jack Greiner between the attorney at Graydon Head, university and a law firm in Cincinnati the company’s CEO went awry. OSU is attempting to commercialize a curriculum management software system used by the College of Medicine called nSPIRE. The university has been working “for some time” on making it available to sell for third-party use, OSU spokesman Gary Lewis said in an email. The university looked to Jason Adams in June to work on marketing the product to third parties. Adams was just “one party” OSU was looking at for the deal, and Lewis did not say who or how many others were also being considered. Conversations with Adams, however, ended in October and Adams founded nSpireU LLC, an independent startup based in Dublin, Ohio, in November, hoping to launch a product similar to OSU’s nSPIRE software. Lewis was not specific about the reason that conversations ended. “Ohio State did not move forward with Mr. Adams because his proposal was not in the best interests of Ohio State,” Lewis said. Adams declined to comment on why the deal didn’t work out. “We wish them (OSU) the best of luck in their ongoing process and we’re confident in honoring
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Nike deal: $46M
J. America deal*: $85M
More than a year after Ohio State announced it had agreed to enter an exclusive apparel deal with two companies, it has finalized a contract with one. While the deal is making OSU $85 million in addition to royalties, one local store owner said her business is hurting. “Prices have definitely gone up, mainly because royalties have gone up,” said Kelly Dawes, owner of College Traditions, located at 286 W. Lane Ave. “Because the money J. America has spent with OSU, they have to get that back somehow.” When she had more vendors to choose from, the prices were lower for herself and the customers, Dawes said. “Where we could normally offer a T-shirt at $12.99, we can’t really do that anymore … the lowest we can get is $14.99,” she said. The contract with J. America Sportswear Inc., based in Webberville, Mich., was released to The Lantern Thursday, more than a year after an initial records request was placed. The 10-year contract dictates OSU will receive 18 percent of net sales from licensed products and a $20 million upfront payment. However, it also has stipulations in the event of negative publicity of certain university officials. An “adverse reputational effect” on sales that could “reasonably be viewed as attributable to public awareness” of any action or perceived wrongdoing by the university president, athletic director, coaches or staff associated with the football or men’s basketball teams or any student-athlete in those programs, could result in an adjustment to the agreement terms. Former OSU President E. Gordon Gee announced his decision to retire from OSU days after controversial comments he made at a Dec. 5, 2012, OSU Athletic Council meeting came under
KAYLA BYLER Managing editor of design byler.18@osu.edu
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Apparel contracts at OSU
KRISTEN MITCHELL Editor-in-chief mitchell.935@osu.edu
source: reporting
public scrutiny. Remarks about Notre Dame and the Southeastern Conference in particular brought national attention. The adverse reputation stipulation, however, explicitly excludes poor performance by athletic teams. In case that OSU’s football or men’s basketball team is handed down a “death penalty” sanction by the NCAA — meaning the team is banned from play for at least one season — adjustments are set to be made between OSU and J. America in “good faith,” according to the contract. An example for a potential adjustment would be adjusting the minimum royalty OSU receives on net sales. The contract states that OSU is still able to enter apparel agreements with other companies, and specifically mentions Nike’s $46 million agreement, which supplies athletic gear for varsity teams. It also specifically outlines J. America’s right to produce and sell items for the Limited Brands Inc., founded
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With fewer vendors $1 to choose from, prices on apparel have gone up, according to a local business owner.
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OSU is slated to receive 18% of net sales from licensed products in addition to a $20M upfront payment. MADISON CURTIS / Design editor
by Wexner Medical Center Board of Trustees Chairman Les Wexner, and to co-brand OSU apparel with the PINK trademark for Victoria’s Secret Stores Brand Management Inc., which began selling OSU apparel in December 2012. If the agreement is terminated or expires, the contract says OSU has the right to purchase any branded J. America inventory. If OSU chooses not to purchase “any or all” of the items, J. America is set to provide proof of destruction of the inventory in question, according to the contract. OSU must have “reasonable satisfaction” with all branded items before they are sold, and if an item cannot be brought to compliance, the contract dictates it must be pulled from the market and destroyed. The contract also stipulates that J. America will “open and maintain” a Columbus-based sales
Dogs take on water therapy
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USG campaign accused of failing to report expense KRISTEN MITCHELL AND LIZ YOUNG Editor-in-chief and Campus editor mitchell.935@osu.edu and young.1693@osu.edu An Ohio State Undergraduate Student Government campaign is being accused by other candidates of failing to report a campaign expense. According to a plaintiff brief submitted to the USG judicial panel and obtained by The Lantern, a case is being brought against presidential candidate and current vice president Josh Ahart and his runningmate Jen Tripi by candidates Celia Wright, Leah Lacure, Vytas Aukstuolis, Nicholas Macek, Mohamad Mohamad and Sean Crowe. The brief alleges the Ahart-Tripi campaign team failed to report the purchase of a domain name “clearly meant to deter an opposing campaign.” The domain name in question is “voteceliaandleah.com,” which public record from GoDaddy, a domain and website service, shows was registered to an email address belonging to the Ahart-Tripi campaign manager Tim Lanzendorfer in November. A hearing on the case is set to be brought before the judicial panel, which consists of a clerk of courts with eight judges and a chief justice, Tuesday evening. Ahart declined to provide comment to The Lantern on the case until after the hearing. Tripi and Lanzendorfer did not respond to email requests for comment Monday. Failing to report the alleged purchasing of the domain name is a violation of USG bylaws, the plaintiff brief argues. “Given that almost three months have elapsed
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Student captures ‘Faces of Ohio State’ JACOB HOLLAR Lantern reporter hollar.38@osu.edu “What’s your craziest story at Ohio State?” That question and the answers it receives serve as captions for portraits of those on and around the OSU campus on Faces of Ohio State, a Tumblr blog run by an OSU student. The photo project was started in April 2013 by Mohammad Ashique, a fourth-year in city and regional planning, as a way to combine his interests in photography and hearing people’s stories. “Ohio State is a large campus, one of the largest in the world, and we all have our story,” he said. “And I just wanted to go out and listen to all the stories and all the people.” His process is straightforward: If he sees someone “sitting around not particularly doing anything,” he’ll go up and ask if they’ll talk to him and let him take their picture. Most people, he said, are willing to participate — like Kara Spada, a third-year in international relations. Spada said she enjoyed working with Ashique, and she believes he’s onto something with Faces of Ohio State. “(Ashique) is obviously interested in people who seem a little bit different or who have something interesting to say,” Spada said. “People are doing so many strange things, and you don’t get to hear about it. “People want to know crazy stories, like that guy living in those people’s basement,” she said, referencing The Lantern’s story from September of a stranger found to be living in the basement of some OSU students’ off-campus home. That story might not have been out of place on the blog — stories there range in subject from sneaking into bars, to dates with teaching assistants, to tripping on mushrooms, to converting to Islam. That wide range of experiences shared on the blog is what Evan Yarrington, a third-year in electrical and computer engineering, said he liked about it. “When you attend such a large university or live in a city with millions of people and see so many faces in a day, it can be hard to humanize every person that you see,” Yarrington said. “Often we lose sight of the fact that every single person has his or her own unique experiences, morals and goals in life.” Spada said those kinds of stories are what people like to hear about.
Courtesy of Mohammad Ashique
Kara Spada, a third-year in international relations, poses for a black-and-white photograph later posted on the Faces of Ohio State blog. “People are really interesting. People are interested in the strange stories of other people,” Spada said. While some people might have a natural interest in other people, Ashique said not all of the work behind the blog came to him effortlessly. “I’ve always been rather shy, and I still am,” he said. Asking other students about their crazy OSU stories is part of his attempt to be “more outgoing,” Ashique said. “It’s becoming more natural now that I have some experience, but sometimes it’s still kind of tough,” he said. The future of the blog is uncertain moving forward, as Ashique is set to graduate at the end of Spring Semester. He’s unsure of his plans following graduation, he said, adding that he’s not certain he’ll stay around campus or Columbus at all. But he said the blog will live on regardless of what his own future holds. “It will be continued, whether it’s through me personally, if I stay in Columbus, or through others,” Ashique said.
Courtesy of Mohammad Ashique
Mohammad Ashique, a fourth-year in city and regional planning, poses for a black-and-white self-portrait. Ashique runs the blog Faces of Ohio State.
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