Tuesday February 2, 2010 year: 130 No. 56 the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com campus
2A
sports
Students will pay quarterly fee for Union EVERDEEN MASON Editor-in-chief mason.388@osu.edu Ohio State has ofÿcially announced the new “Student Union Facility Fee,” which will cost students up to $62 a quarter beginning Spring Quarter 2010. Administrators and student government have known about the plan for the fee for six years. According to minutes from a June 2009 OSU Board of Trustees meeting, when the Union project was approved in 2004 it had been decided that a student fee would be needed for the project to proceed.
u
COUNT
DOWN
OSU athlete to volunteer in Haiti
thelantern 55
“This was agreed to at the time by all the stakeholders, including the administration, Board of Trustees and all three respective student governments,” accord-
ing to the minutes. The new fee is needed in order to defer some of the $118 million construction cost, as well as future maintenance, said Kurt Foriska, assistant director of the Union. The fee will start at $27, then rise to $62 by 2014.
After that, “it would adjust based on in° ation,” Foriska added. “What we’re trying to do is think ahead,” Foriska said. “That money is there for when the building needs maintenance … we’re not out to make surplus money.” The student governments agreed to the fee on the condition that students would be told about the fee ahead of time, said University Student Government President Ben Anthony. They wanted to make sure that “if there was going to be a fee, that it was not paid until students could use it,” Anthony said. However, “student government since 2004 [hasn’t] had much of a hand in the project.”
The Coca-Cola corporation has helped keep the fee down as well, giving enough money to lower the Union fee for the time being. “We wanted to make sure there was a transition into the fee,” Foriska said. “It was all done with good intent.” Foriska also said they have informed the last two freshman classes of the fee at freshman orientation. “We are not trying to hide the fee at all,” Foriska said. “I’m open to talking to students if they need to talk.” Check out thelantern.com for more details on the fee.
KATHY CUBERT AND ZACH TUGGLE / Lantern photographers
Samantha Prahalis and Evan Turner, both starting points guards for Ohio State, are ‘Facebook official.’
8A
And the new Buckeyes are... National Signing Day Wednesday is the culmination of coach Jim Tressel’s work to bring top players to OSU
thelantern.com
Exclusive mulimedia content sports
Indians baseball hits town weather
8A
Love and basketball, at OSU ALLYSON KRAEMER Lantern reporter kraemer.18@osu.edu It truly is love and basketball. Ohio State point guards Samantha Prahalis and Evan Turner are what many would call, “Facebook ofÿcial.” Sure, Turner could talk basketball all day, but it doesn’t compare to the illuminating smile he ° ashed when asked about his relationship with Prahalis. It’s likely the only interview that has made him blush. Both sporting No. 21 on their jerseys, they have more in common than meets the eye.
Prahalis and Turner came to OSU from more than 350 miles away — New York and Chicago respectively — but each calls the Schottenstein Center home. Turner said they met while hanging around the Schott together. Between practices, lifting, ÿlms, press conferences and classes it would seem that there’s no time for a relationship, but despite their hectic schedule they ÿnd time to spend with one another. “We see each other after practice mostly,” Prahalis said. “We go to the movies and stuff. It gets hard but we make it work.” As if they are on the same wavelength, Turner echoed that they usually ÿnd time to hang out after practice. They also ÿnd time to watch one another play, or at least they think.
continued as Romance on 3A
Audit: significant deficits in OSU finances
$1.4 million audit finds payroll problems, including too many people with access to info DAN MCKEEVER Oller Projects Reporter mckeever.16@osu.edu An audit of Ohio State’s ÿnancial statements turned up ÿve signiÿcant issues, according to a report that will be presented to members of the Board of Trustees on Thursday. The audit, which was performed by the ÿrm Deloitte & Touche, found 16 deÿciencies with OSU’s internal controls for ÿnancial reporting, ÿve of which were deemed “signiÿcant” under the standards of the American Institute of Certiÿed Public Accountants. One signiÿcant deÿciency, which concerned payroll controls, was identiÿed last year in the previous audit performed by Deloitte, but the problem has not yet been ÿxed, according to the audit. Deloitte performs its audit annually. Among the payroll problems identiÿed by the audit were the failures of some departments to complete payroll checklists or certiÿcations, an excessive number of people with access to payroll
BILL SHKURTI
LARRY LEWELLEN
information and late processing of terminations. Of the more than 26,000 terminations during 2008, 23 percent were processed anywhere from 30 days to almost 10 years after the employment ended. One graduate student employee was paid for three months after the position ended. In order to remedy these payroll control issues, Senior Vice President for Business and Finance Bill Shkurti and Vice President for Human Resources Larry Lewellen agreed to move the responsibility for
payroll from the Ofÿce of Human Resources to the Ofÿce of Business and Finance, which includes the Ofÿce of the Controller, Shkurti said in an e-mail. “We felt that [payroll control] is primarily a budget control function that ÿts better in the Controller’s ofÿce,” Shkurti said in an e-mail. “The Controller’s ofÿce is better structured to accomplish this function because it has application of controls as its primary function, whereas [Human Resources] does not.” Two more of the signiÿcant deÿciencies listed in the audit concerned the OSU Medical Center’s information security, and another two concerned the Medical Center’s ÿnancial accounting. OSU plans to ÿx one information security problem by March 31 and the other by June 30, and is ÿxing the ÿnancial reporting problems, according to the report. The audit cost $1.4 million, including $63,000 in contingency funds, the uses of which included additional work on a new software system installed in the hospital system, Shkurti said. The report will be presented to the board’s Audit and Compliance Committee Thursday.
OSU library patrons owe $1.4M, even without daily late fees
high 38 low 29
JACK MOORE Lantern reporter moore.1732@osu.edu
few snow showers
WE 35/25 cloudy TH 37/29 mostly cloudy FR 36/29 few snow showers SA 34/25 snow showers www.weather.com
There are more than $1.4 million in unpaid ÿnes owed to Ohio State Libraries. But despite the weak economy, library ofÿcials said there is no evidence that more patrons are struggling to pay library ÿnes, and the library has collected more than $80,000 in ÿnes since July. Diane Sliemers, business manager for the OSU libraries, said the ÿne total represented the entire amount owed by all faculty, staff, students and friends of the library, but that “at any given point that number can change drastically.” These ÿgures are cumulative and could represent unpaid ÿnes from as long as 15 years ago, said Tony Maniaci, coordinator of the library circulation services. Sliemers said that calculating the ÿne total is complicated because the numbers shift day to day. Students with books that are far overdue are charged a $140 replacement fee because the book is assumed lost. If the books are eventually returned, then often the fee will be revoked. Unlike most public libraries, such as the Columbus Metropolitan Library,
OSU’s libraries do not charge daily late fees for borrowed items unless they have been requested by someone else. Maniaci said this is common for academic libraries. This “encourages the idea that we want to get this material to another person, not to penalize,” said Larry Allen, communications coordinator for OSU Libraries. Often the focus is on getting the materials back, Sliemers said. “We’re not here to collect money. We don’t want students’ money,” she said. “We want our books back.” However, after 90 days, students who owe more than $75 have their accounts placed on a ÿnancial hold. They are barred from registering for classes and cannot receive grades, transcripts or ÿnancial aid. As of Dec. 31, 2009, there were 379 students who had holds placed on their accounts, and the total amount that those students owed was more than $123,000. Sliemers said it is important to understand that this number is also constantly in ° ux. For example, she said more students pay off their ÿnes in September in order to enroll in classes. Patrons of the Columbus Metropolitan Library owed about $1.1 million in
continued as Fines on 3A 1A