2-24-11

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Thursday February 24, 2011 year: 131 No. 31 the student voice of

The Ohio State University

www.thelantern.com

thelantern OSU deals with $now problem

sports

MIKe hUGhes Lantern reporter hughes.1217@osu.edu

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Trying to keep momentum

Riding a four-game winning streak, the OSU women’s basketball team takes on Michigan State tonight.

arts & life

“There is often an expectation that campus parking should be as clear as the parking lots at major retail centers. Rarely can we provide that level of service.” Sarah Blouch

director of OSU Transportation and Parking services

more than four times the Statue of Liberty, according to Infoplease.com. On days in which possible class-canceling snow is eminent, OSU road crews will start clearing and treating the roads at 3 a.m., Calamari said. The Lantern reported Feb. 2 that Sarah Blouch, director of OSU Transportation and Parking services, said the hiring of contractors was “not going to be cheap.”

continued as Snow on 3A

Thompson hours extended; $50K price tag KyLe KNoX Lantern reporter knox.154@osu.edu

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‘rent’ in columbus

Shadowbox Live is bringing its version of the musical ‘Rent’ to Columbus beginning March 6.

campus

Teachings of earth’s past still vary

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campus

Department to focus on illnesses weather

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With an impending state budget release causing nail biting in departments across Ohio State’s campus, the Undergraduate Student Government negotiated a trial run of extended hours at William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library for Spring Quarter. Under the agreement, Thompson will close at 2 a.m. instead of midnight Sunday to Thursday during Spring Quarter. On Dec. 1, USG unanimously passed Resolution 43-R-46, declaring official support for the effort to extend Thompson’s closing time. USG President Micah Kamrass said the extended hours would come with a price tag of about $150,000 per school year, or $50,000 per quarter. The change would not affect Summer Quarter. Carol Diedrichs, director of university libraries, said the Office of Academic Affairs has provided the estimated amount, and it will cover any money needed beyond the estimate. USG Sen. Niraj Antani, a secondyear in political science and philosophy representing the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, introduced the resolution to the USG Senate and conducted a study on Thompson library’s patronage during late-night hours. His findings showed that during finals week Autumn Quarter, student usage of Thompson increased significantly, but dropped off after midnight, the regular closing time. Thompson holds extended hours during finals week, staying open until 2 a.m. “Even though we worked with USG over finals during December to try to publicize better, and improve usage during that period, we really didn’t see a significant change,” said Nancy O’Hanlon, interim assistant director for Collections, Instruction and Public Service for OSU libraries. University administrators saw contrasting results. Executive Vice President and Provost Joe Alutto said in an e-mail that university-collected data shows that hours offered are adequate. He also said because of the

Photos by KayLa ByLer / Lantern photographer

ToP: amanda hays, a fifth-year in health sciences, studies at William oxley Thompson Memorial Library on Wednesday. rIGhT : students in the Buckeye reading room at Thompson librar y on Wednesday. student leaders’ passionate case, the university agreed to examine alternatives, calling the Spring Quarter hours extension an “experiment.” Alutto was traveling and unable to comment further. “Right now, since we’re not open, we can only speculate based on data we have,” Diedrichs said. “This will give us a wonderful chance over the course of a full quarter to see how the building is used.” The Science and Engineering Library is the only campus library open 24 hours a day. Critics of the proposal have said students already have a late-night library for study. Kamrass, a fourth-year in political

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Ink dries on last UniPrint robber’s sentence

high 44 low 35

JUDy saMsoN Lantern reporter samson.27@osu.edu

t-showers

F SA SU M

While Ohio State students cautiously inch their way to campus on snowy and icy streets and parking lots, the costs of clearing that accumulation are inching upward. The snow removal process, which requires contributions of more than 100 staff members, takes place mainly overnight, said Nicole Hernandez, OSU Transportation and Parking spokeswoman. The staff used to clear the roadways and parking lots include groundskeepers, custodians, mechanics and equipment operators. “Winter weather has been something we have had to manage on this campus for a long time,” said Peter Calamari, interim director for Facilities and Operations Development. “It gives you the opportunity to improve every year and learn from past mistakes.” FOD and Transportation and Parking have combined to use more than 1,000 tons of salt from their 2,000-ton supply. One thousand tons, or 2 million pounds, weighs

Having up to 20 staff members working overtime and using extra materials can cost between $3,000 to $5,000 per morning. FOD was unavailable to comment on the frequency that overtime employees and materials are used. Numbers that estimate all OSU snow-related closure costs are not tabulated, said Bob Armstrong, director of Emergency Management and Fire Prevention. OSU’s Risk Management office collected some snow-closure information four or five years ago, Armstrong said. The office is defunct and its findings unknown. Some students said OSU’s effort has its hiccups. “They need to plow the parking lots better,” said Aaron Kerr, a fourth-year in zoology. “It’s taken me 30 minutes to find a parking spot by the ROTC building before.” Any issues with the snow removal process are not because of a lack of preparation or equipment. OSU Transportation and Parking uses 33 plows, three salt spreaders and eight contractors in their

36/28 a.m. rain 43/36 cloudy 44/43 showers 54/28 rain www.weather.com

A Columbus State Community College student was sentenced Wednesday for the robbery of the Uniprint store on Millikin Way on Sept. 30, 2009. Kalvin S. Rohr was sentenced to prison for a total of four years and 11 months. His sentence consisted of three years for aggravated robbery, one year for firearm specification and 11 months for aggravated assault. Rohr was the last of three suspects to be arrested after a tip was left with Central Ohio Crime Stoppers on Oct. 27, 2009, said Ohio State Police Detective Pete Dragonette. Tekie Seyoum

Tesfamichael pleaded guilty Aug. 12, and Daquan M. Ellis pleaded guilty Sept. 22, Dragonette said. Tesfamichael was charged with robbery and was sentenced with six years in prison. Ellis was charged with aggravated robbery and sentenced with eight years of prison. Tesfamichael and Ellis were sentenced in October 2010. “To be honest with you, at that point, we had no idea who the third person was,” Dragonette said. Dragonette said Tesfamichael was a temporary employee of UniPrint at the time of the robbery. Tesfamichael told the other two that it would be a good place to rob and that “there’s a lot of money in the store.” Tesfamichael was sending texts to Ellis while he was working on the day of the robbery.

“(Based on those texts), it was clear that Tesfamichael was involved in the planning of this robbery,” Dragonette said. Dragonette said two masked men — Ellis, with a gun, and Rohr — aggressively forced their way into the UniPrint store, hitting an individual while the other workers were outside assisting customers. They got away with $3,200. The money was never recovered because they spent it, Dragonette said. The Lantern was denied access to the victim’s name in court documents. Dragonette is still not sure who hit the victim. Ellis claims that Rohr hit the employee, but the victim’s description of the robber who hit him/her matched the description of Ellis.

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