Thursday February 27, 2014 year: 134 No. 31
www.thelantern.com @TheLantern weather high 18 low 6 wind
thelantern the student voice of The Ohio State University
Pitchers hitting their stride
Buckeyes hope to avenge loss to Nittany Lions
6A
New murals in Short North
1B
Some students say no to cable
2A
Gene Smith mum on fired cheer coaches
Current athletes linked to former coach fired after sexual harassment complaint
“
I’m not going to get into a personnel issue. It was a personnel issue, there are legal issues around it, so I’m not discussing it. -Vice President and athletic director Gene Smith
”
Photo by: SHELBY LUM / Photo editor
KATHLEEN MARTINI Oller reporter martini.35@osu.edu
RITIKA SHAH / Asst. photo editor
Thad Matta stands on the sidelines during a game against Minnesota. OSU won, 64-46.
ERIC SEGER Sports editor seger.25@osu.edu An early season menace is set to rear its head again for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Just less than a month ago, Penn State — led by redshirt-junior guard D.J. Newbill and his 25 points — came to Columbus and ripped OSU’s heart out, defeating the Buckeyes, 71-70, in overtime. In the 10 seasons that coach Thad Matta has been at the helm of the men’s basketball program, it was the first time the Buckeyes lost to the Nittany Lions, and it came six days after they beat Illinois to snap a four-game skid. “Top 25 teams at home don’t lose these games,” senior guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. said after the loss Jan. 29. “And we lost.” Since the rock-bottom feeling of losing their fifth game out of seven during January, the Buckeyes have been on a tear this month, notching six wins and only losing once. “I think we’re a different team. We learned from that loss, we know
continued as Buckeyes on 3A
Ohio State’s cheerleading coach was fired in November after the athletic department found two former assistant coaches dismissed following sexual harassment claims continued to have access to the team members. Three months later, at least three current cheerleaders appear to be working with one of those former assistant coaches at a private facility. In an interview last month, OSU Vice President and athletic director Gene Smith declined to comment on the coaches’ terminations. “I’m not going to get into a personnel issue,” Smith said in an interview with The Lantern Jan. 29. “It was a personnel issue, there are legal issues around it, so I’m not discussing it.” Former assistant coaches Dana Bumbrey and Eddie Hollins were terminated “for cause” May 23, following an OSU investigation of a sexual harassment complaint that mentioned the two men. The report alleged Hollins had specifically harassed male cheerleaders, while Bumbrey had specifically harassed female cheerleaders. Head coach Lenee Buchman was initially kept on staff and received a salary raise in August, but was later fired Nov. 25. She had been OSU’s head cheerleading coach since July 2009 and was terminated for “several
serious lapses of judgment and leadership,” according to an email Smith sent to Buchman Smith Nov. 22 that was obtained by The Lantern. Hollins said in an email Sunday he has “moved on from this.” “My job at Ohio State was only a … parttime assistant,” Hollins said. “This (coaching at OSU) has never been my full-time job.” Hollins is the founder of the Cheer Combine, a cheerleading academy in Dublin, Ohio, where three current OSU cheerleaders are listed as instructors, according to the Cheer Combine website. An OSU athletics spokesman did not respond to multiple emails requesting comment about the possible employment of current cheerleaders at Hollins’ business. OSU’s Sexual Harassment Policy defines sexual harassment as “unwelcome sexual advances” and “requests for sexual favors,” and includes “other physical or verbal conduct of a sexual nature” when, among other conditions, it creates an “intimidating, hostile or offensive environment for working, learning or living on campus.” An Office of Human Resources report in October that discovered Buchman’s lapses began after former cheerleader Cody Ellis said Buchman had retaliated against him by kicking him off the team for reporting sexual harassment. Problems found through the report included a failure on Buchman’s part to disassociate herself and the team from Bumbrey and Hollins after they were fired. The HR report discovered Buchman
participated in a cheer camp run by Bumbrey in August, more than two months after his termination. “Though I know that the camp was not run by Ohio State, you took our students and brand there with you,” Smith wrote to Buchman. “All the while, you knew the nature of the behavior Mr. Bumbrey had been engaged in, that Ohio State had dismissed him just a few months earlier and that the university had emphatically chosen to disassociate itself from him and his damaging behavior.” The HR report also determined, Smith wrote, that when Hollins unexpectedly showed up at a cheerleading practice Sept. 9, Buchman did not approach Hollins or ask him to leave. “When an assistant that had been fired for sexual harassment shows up at a team practice, it is obvious what is expected of a head coach,” Smith wrote. Buchman was found innocent of retaliation against former cheerleader Ellis, though. Smith said he and Miechelle Willis, OSU’s executive associate athletics director for student services and sports administration, agreed Ellis’ dismissal was warranted. “We are both persuaded that the student’s past behavior — including persistent derogatory and offensive conduct toward teammates and others, the student’s negative attitude and other misconduct — all amply support the student’s dismissal from the team,” Smith wrote.
continued as Cheer coaches on 3A
Sprinklers douse RPAC racquetball courts ERAN HAMI Senior Lantern reporter hami.2@osu.edu Court damage from an RPAC sprinkler might have been the result of a swing and a miss. Just before 4 p.m. Tuesday, the RPAC was evacuated when the fire alarm went off. Dave Isaacs, Student Life spokesman, said the alarm was the result of a racquetball game. “We confirmed it was a ball. A protective cover that normally protects those heads was missing. It was replaced along with a couple others,” he said in an email Wednesday. Isaacs, though, complimented the RPAC staff for their work. “Due to the quick work of our staff in the RPAC, the water was contained and cleaned up very quickly and I think our overall damage will likely be minimal,” Isaacs said in an email Wednesday. Eric Thompson, a fourth-year in marketing, was near the racquetball courts when the incident occurred. “I’m taking handball class and we’re on the third floor. Class had just ended but we were staying a little extra (late) and I turned around and looked at the court diagonal to me. I saw water dripping down the glass,” Thompson said. “I saw this kid standing outside the room saying, ‘Oh jeez, oh jeez.’ I asked him if he hit the sprinkler and he said he did and about 7 seconds later, the alarms went off.” Isaacs said all areas affected by the water except some racquetball courts have reopened. “Two courts are still closed and we probably won’t know the extent of that damage for a couple more days. Everything else, including the other eight racquetball courts, is back in use,” he said. Isaacs said he didn’t have any cost information or estimated time frame for the repairs yet.
Sexual imposition reported KAYLA BYLER Managing editor of design byler.18@osu.edu
SHELBY LUM / Photo editor
Court damage resulted from a sprinkler going off at the RPAC. A ball from a racquetball game hit a sprinkler head causing it to go off and the RPAC to be evacuated Feb. 25. The incident was not the first time a water-related incident forced repairs this school year: two of the four basketball courts in the lower Tom W. Davis Special Events Gym were roped off sometime around Thanksgiving through this month because a broken air handler spilled hot water on the courts. Those repairs cost about $70,000, though senior associate director of facilities for OSU recreational sports Dave DeAngelo said the facility would only have to pay a $25,000 deductible if an insurance claim went through.
Prior to that, in Spring Semester 2013, a sprinkler head went off during an intramural basketball game that necessitated repairs to Court 4, the same northernmost court in the lower gym. At the time, DeAngelo said the RPAC would likely use a $25,000 insurance deductible to pay for it. Dan Hessler contributed to this story.
A female Ohio State student reported being “inappropriately touched” while helping her friend, who had sprained her ankle, walk back to a North Campus dorm Friday at about 10:40 p.m. Four men approached the student from behind and one groped her, according to a University Police report and University Police Chief Paul Denton. The female student confronted the group before going into Blackburn House to call police, but the group of men fled before police arrived. The student reported she and her friend were groped but neither was injured in the incident. “This appears to be an isolated incident and not a crime pattern or continuing threat,” Denton said in an email. There were 17 total thefts this week from Feb. 19 to Wednesday. Five incidents were thefts from automobiles. In one incident, a male staff member reported about $100 in food products, including a 24-count pack of “frozen novelties,” stolen from OSU Dining Services in Morrill Tower Friday at about 1 a.m., according to a University Police report. An 18-year-old female student was arrested for forgery and misuse of a credit card after attempting to use a 19-year-old female student’s Huntington Bank credit card Feb. 11. In other arrests this week, a 28-year-old man not affiliated with OSU was arrested for drug paraphernalia near McPherson Laboratory Friday at about 10:15 a.m. He was also suspected to be under the influence of drugs, according to a University Police report. Two individuals were arrested for operating vehicles under the influence of drugs or alcohol. A 56-year-old man not affiliated with OSU was arrested for OVI in the Ohio Union Parking Garage North, reported Sunday. A 27-year-old man not affiliated with OSU was arrested for OVI near Fred Beekman Park Feb. 20 at about 6:30 a.m. In one of two reports of disorderly conduct this week, a 28-year-old man, not affiliated with OSU and suspected to be under the influence of alcohol, was arrested in a parking lot off of Olentangy River Road Feb. 20 at about 10:05 p.m.
1A