Thursday February 25, 2010 year: 130 No. 70 the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com campus
LaHood: Recalled cars ‘not safe’
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thelantern Meningitis cases rare at OSU Despite unusually high rate of infection at Ohio University, disease not often seen here RICHARD OVIATT Lantern reporter oviatt.3@osu.edu An Ohio University student who died last week after a bacterial meningitis infection was the school’s seventh case in a year. Eighty miles northwest in Columbus, Ohio, cases are few and far between. “In the time time that I’ve been here, which is a pretty long time, it averages out to one case about every other year,” said Roger Miller, a physician at Ohio State’s Wilce Student Health Center who has worked at the university for 20 years. Since 2004, there have been two cases of bacterial meningitis reported at OSU, and neither case was fatal. Columbus averages about one case of the disease every year, according to the Columbus Department of Public Health. All
local medical facilities are required to report cases to the department. College students, especially freshmen, are more likely to contract the potentially fatal disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “People do spend a fair amount of time in close proximity to each other, whether it’s living together in a dorm room or sitting two feet away from each other in a large classroom,” Miller said. “There are some opportunities there where there may be more risk.” Although OSU falls below the national average of annual cases, according to the National Meningitis Association, Miller said that when infections occur on campus the university quickly notiÿes students, staff and faculty. “If you were to compare Ohio State to a 50,000 person town, I think we probably have a better means of reaching everyone in our community,” he said. The Ohio Legislature passed a law in 2005 requiring all students at public
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BO FO SHO Bo Burnham, YouTube internet sensation/comedian/musician performed at the Mershon Auditorium Wednesday night as part of his Fake ID Tour. Burnham has over 50 million views on You Tube and was voted No. 2 in Comedy Central’s 2010 Stand-Up Showdown.
Turnaround Turner
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When the Bucks let a 17-point lead slip, star Evan Turner turned on the heat and scored 25 points to win 75-67
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Union to host own TV station
JOE PODELCO / Lantern photographer
Mission almost accomplished for director of new Union
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BEVAN SCHNECK Lantern reporter schneck.5@osu.edu
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AUSTIN OWENS / Lantern photographer
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Tracy Stuck, director of the Ohio Union, was hired specifically to get OSU a new Union.
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Tracy Stuck has already moved her ofÿce into the new $118 million Ohio Union, but she’s still waiting for the building to open. “When people come running in, I can see their faces,” said Stuck, director of the Union. COUNT “And I can’t wait for that moment.” When Stuck was hired at OSU, her supervisor, Bill Hall, had one goal in mind for her — to give OSU a new Union. Although Hall, former vice president of Student Affairs, died of cancer before he could see the new building, one could say Stuck has achieved his goal. The new Union is slated to open its doors March 29. Stuck, who is also assistant vice president of Student Life, grew up in western Pennsylvania. A small-town girl, she decided to study education at Westminster College, a small liberal arts school much like the schools her parents had gone to. She was a student leader involved in greek life, student government and cheerleading. It was her father who told her during her freshman year that she could have a career working on a college campus.
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Uncertainty about supplements means no ad space at OSU
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RICHARD OVIATT Lantern reporter oviatt.3@osu.edu
FR 30/27 snow showers SA 35/28 flurries SU 35/28 flurries MO 37/27 mostly cloudy www.weather.com
Although Ohio State’s recreational sports department is sponsored by 39 companies, there is at least one type of advertiser you won’t see: nutritional supplement companies. And because of ethical concerns regarding supplements such as creatine, it is unlikely students will ÿnd them advertising on campus in the near future. “We know that muscle-building supplements like creatine can certainly — in some people and at certain levels — hurt the kidneys or create other side effects,” said Clay Marsh, associate vice president of Health Sciences Research at OSU, who has been involved in studies on supplements. “Young people don’t always appreciate the consequences of their activities,” he said. “We look at nutritional supplements or bodybuilding supplements and I think many times people that are younger may not worry about the long-term consequences because they might not feel them immediately.”
Although OSU has been approached for sponsorship by multiple supplement companies, ofÿcials have always turned down the offer before discussing the cost of advertisement, said Beau Rugg, associate director of Recreational Sports. One of the prime reasons for turning down sponsorship from these companies stems from the university’s membership in the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association, which publicly denounces nutritional supplements. “We really don’t have a lot of data on what’s good and what’s not,” Rugg said. “It’s so nebulous out there on supplements, it makes it very difÿcult to make a decision. There’s just not enough [information] out there to say ‘Oh yeah, we agree with this and don’t agree with this.’ So we’re going to wait.” Many universities have also decided to wait as well. Rugg said he does not know of any universities in the intramural association that sell advertisement space to supplement companies — and every school in the Big Ten is in that association. Though no ÿgures are available for supplement advertising within college recreation facilities, various universities’ athletic programs are or have been
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