Wednesday February 8, 2012 year: 132 No. 21
the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern
sports
8A
Boilermaker battle
Courtesy of MCT
The OSU men’s basketball game won, 87 - 84, against Purdue in the Schottenstein Center Tuesday night.
[ a+e ]
Gov. John Kasich, pictured above at the Ohio Statehouse, delivered his State of the State address in Steubenville, Ohio, where he talked about jobs in Ohio. Kasich said last year, Ohio was No. 48 in creating new jobs. He said Ohio is one of the top states for creating jobs this year.
Ohio ranked No. 9 job creator MARY POSANI Senior Lantern reporter posani.3@osu.edu With what Gov. John Kasich calls one of the best job-creating states in the U.S., Ohio State students might have better chances finding a job in Ohio now compared to last year. Kasich delivered his State of the State address Tuesday in Steubenville at Wells Academy, a top-performing elementary school in Ohio.
5A
‘Uniquely Demetri’
Comedian Demetri Martin, known for his TV series on Comedy Central, is scheduled to perform Wednesday.
campus
2A
Hanna in the house
Director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, Jack Hanna, is scheduled to speak at Thursday’s ONA convention.
weather
44/22
continued as Kasich on 3A
Gee’s signature item ties Buckeyes, charity BRANDON ROSIN Lantern reporter rosin.7@osu.edu Some might know him for his off-color comments, others for his appearances at parties, but everyone knows him for his signature fashion statement: the bow tie. President E. Gordon Gee has donated a signed bow tie to a silent auction event Wednesday evening, which is expected to be one of the more popular items up for auction. The auction is hosted by a Pelotonia team, Team Buckeye Student Riders, and will take place from 6–9 p.m. at Woody’s Tavern in the Ohio Union. The event is free and open to anyone. All proceeds from the auction will go to research at Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. Team Buckeye Student Riders is a student-run group that rides each year in Pelotonia, an annual bike tour that raises money for cancer research. “We’re a non-profit kind of student organization,” said Lauren Kreger, marketing captain for the group. Items up for auction include a $200 Target gift card, Blue Jackets tickets, Kaplan test kits, a Fuji road bike, a Camelot Cellars wine experience and, of course, the autographed bow tie.
Gee’s bow tie tradition began more than 50 years ago when he was sitting in an ophthalmology office with his dad in Salt Lake City. He saw someone sporting the fashionable neckware for the first time. “The guy sitting next to me had one, and I asked him what it was, kind of curious,” Gee told The Lantern in 2010. “He undid it and then he tied it again, and I said, ‘How cool.’” Gee said he had his father buy him a couple bow ties that day, and now he has a collection of more than 1,000 bow ties. Kreger said she expects the bow tie to be one of the most popular items at the auction. “Signed by Gee, it’s priceless,” Kreger said. The doors open at 6 p.m., but people can come and go as they please for the duration, Kreger said. Items are set on tables with bid sheets in front of them, and bidders can write down new bids all night. This isn’t the first time one of Gee’s bow ties could be worn by someone else. One of his bow ties has made a journey into space. Richard M. Linnehan, an OSU alumnus, borrowed one of Gee’s scarlet and gray bow ties to take aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in 2008. In addition to the auction, patrons can buy raffle tickets to win smaller items. Tickets are $1 for one, or $5 for six. A raffle
Pelotonia pedalers offer bow tie that President E. Gordon Gee signed in upcoming silent auction
Team Buckeye Student Riders is holding a fundraiser for Pelotonia at Woody’s Tavern in the Ohio Union from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday. Here is what they are auctioning off: • • • • •
$200 Target gift card Blue Jackets tickets Kaplan test prep kits Fuji road bike Camelot Cellars wine experience Bow tie signed by Gee
•
Bow tie signed by Gee source: reporting
continued as Auction on 3A
War-torn Syria still struggles, under fire AYAN SHEIKH Lantern reporter sheikh.51@osu.edu
snow showers
40/29
which Kasich stated was the “largest deficit in the history of Ohio.” Kasich also said many students left the state after graduation to search for jobs elsewhere. Within a year, Kasich said Ohio has created 43,000 more jobs and Ohio is ranked No. 1 as job creator in the Midwest and No. 9 in the nation. In a statement from State Rep. Tracy Maxwell Heard (D-Columbus), Heard said. “Kasich said we went from being the No. 48 job
CHRIS POCHE / Design editor
A storm of protest
Tens of thousands of Syrians defied an increasing government crackdown on dissent, protesting in cities around the country to demand the ouster of President Bashar Assad: TURKEY
high 36 low 25
TH F SA SU
Kasich spoke about job progress in Ohio and said the state of Ohio went from being the thirdworst job creator to one of the top job creators in the nation. “A year ago, Ohio ranked 48 in job creation. We trailed only Michigan and California,” Kasich said. “Michigan, who has the automotive industry, and California is filled with a bunch of whack-a-doodles. Who would have thought we would have been third worst?” Kasich said in the last 10 years Ohio lost 600,000 jobs, and last year Ohio’s deficit was $8 billion,
sunny mostly cloudy
26/20
flurries
34/25
sunny www.weather.com
“My uncle, he was shot at in his house through his window by a sniper, it barely missed his head,” Yousef Alghothani said. Alghothani, a third-year in biology and a Syrian-American, said in his father’s and uncle’s home town of Inkhil in the Daraa province in Syria, the village is surrounded by Syrian forces army tanks. Alghothani also said three of his male cousins were killed during a peaceful demonstration in Inkhil. “Some of my second and third cousins were shot and killed while protesting,” Alghothani said. “There’s also some YouTube videos of my cousins after they were martyred.” Kamal Haykal, a recent Ohio
State graduate, said his close friend was kidnapped by the Syrian “secret police” during a recent visit to Syria. Haykal’s friend left for Syria last month to take part in the Syrian revolution, and upon his arrival at the Syrian airport, Haykal said his friend was kidnapped and his whereabouts are yet to be determined. “He decided to go back. I wished him well, I tried to convince him to stay. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do so, and he’s recently subdued in the airport by the secret police,” Haykal said. Haykal and Alghothani said they are unable to freely communicate with their families in Syria, given that the Syrian government censors all forms of communication going in and out of the troubled country. “They’re not very free to speak what they want because of surveillance constantly over the phone, so
Hatay Latakia
Aleppo Idlib Khan Shaykhun Dair Alzour Hama Homs
Mediterranean Sea
100 km 100 miles
SYRIA
Bokamal
IRAQ
LEBANON
Golan Heights
Damascus
JORDAN ISRAEL
Source: ESRI, AP it’s quite difficult to get the story from them via those means,” Haykal said. “The furthest we can get with them in terms of communication is ‘Hi, how are you doing? Are you OK?’ anything beyond that is dangerous for them.”
SAUDI ARABIA Courtesy of MCT Alam Payind, director of Middle Eastern Studies at OSU, called the ongoing struggles in Syria “difficult.” He said the monitors and observers
continued as Arab on 3A 1A