3 18 14 lantern

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thelantern

Tuesday March 18, 2014

the student voice of The Ohio State University

year: 134 No. 37

www.thelantern.com @TheLantern weather high 58 low 43 partly cloudy

Kenny G has eyes on NFL

OSU reacts to Kasich’s higher education reform

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Coffee truck to roll out brews

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Library under construction

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USG set to transition into new administration Taylor Stepp, current Undergraduate Student Government president, named three tasks he is handing off to President-elect Celia Wright and Vice President-elect Leah Lacure.

ALEX DRUMMER Lantern reporter drummer.18@osu.edu

Continuing to work on reducing student debt and excessive cost of a college education.

Some Ohio State student leaders said Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s latest budget review’s proposal for higher education, such as giving college credit for military experience and working to keep international students in Ohio post-graduation, are initiatives worth pursuing. The mid-biennium review is intended to update last year’s state budget and outline Kasich’s proposals for legislation for the next year. The review came out last week, and it included various pieces of higher education reform, including starting efforts to keep Ohio’s international students in Ohio after graduation. “To ensure that Ohio job creators can meet their workforce needs, the chancellor of the Board of Regents will create a globalization liaison to increase recruitment and enrollment of international students and to encourage them to remain in the state after graduation,” the review factsheet on higher education said. Miranda Onnen, vice chair of the College Republicans and a third-year in political science and economics, said the talent and skills acquired at OSU or other state colleges and universities shouldn’t leave Ohio. “Columbus was named the most intelligent city in the United States, and that trend of intelligence should continue. By encouraging college graduates to stay in Ohio, we can keep that intelligence going,” Onnen said. Columbus was named one of the top seven intelligent communities in the world for 2014 by the Intelligent Community Forum in January. College Democrats President Vince Hayden, a third-year in political science, said there should be an effort to keep international students in state because “tuition is heavily subsidized by state taxpayers.”

continued as Kasich on 3A

Making connections between OSU students and influential bodies like the Ohio House of Representatives, the mayor’s office and Columbus City Schools. Getting newly appointed University President Michael Drake familiar with Wright, Lacure and USG as a whole.

KAYLA BYLER / Managing editor of design

source: reporting

MATT HOMAN Lantern reporter homan.94@osu.edu Eight days. That’s all the time Undergraduate Student Government President Taylor Stepp and his administration have left to prepare Celia Wright and Leah Lacure for assuming control of an entity that had a budget of about $200,000 for the first two quarters of fiscal year 2013. Wright and Lacure, third-years in public health and public affairs, respectively, earned 3,953 votes (40.4 percent of votes cast) during the USG election held earlier this month. They are set to officially assume the office of USG president and vice president during an inauguration ceremony March 26. Wright and Lacure beat five other tickets competing in the election, including a campaign headed by current USG Vice President Josh Ahart. Ahart and his runningmate Jen Tripi came in second, garnering 31.9 percent of votes cast with a final tally of 3,127. Now that the election is over, Ahart and Wright are working together to make the transition as smooth as possible, and both sides said there are no hard feelings. “Celia and I are friends, we’ve worked together

for a long time now. Campaigns are just campaigns. Nothing’s personal,” Ahart, a fourth-year in public affairs, said Sunday. Stepp met personally with Wright March 7 – the day after the results were announced – to begin the transition process. He said she made it clear from the beginning that “the election was over and in the past.” “She just wanted to start getting work done and we just wanted to start helping her take control,” he said. Wright said one of her team’s first planned moves is to figure out a structure for leadership. “We will open a cabinet application process soon and have people start applying to directorships and cabinet positions,” Wright said. These positions include a chief of staff, internal affairs director, public relations director and director to the senior staff, among others. Ahart, Lacure, Stepp and Wright all said it’s important to foster student interest in USG during the transition period, especially after an election that saw the largest number of votes cast since 1972. Lacure and Wright hope to do this by increasing the diversity and involvement of student leaders. “We’ve made an effort to look as far as we can for leadership and senate positions from student groups,” Lacure said. This means appointing students from more than just the public affairs and

political science majors, she said, because she had noticed in the past a lot of people involved in USG were coming from similar backgrounds. Lacure added that conversing with multicultural students and leaders from a variety of student groups could lead to broader and deeper involvement in USG for all students. “As a member of USG, I’ve seen an issue with the senate being very homogeneous in terms of what students are involved in and what their interests are,” Wright said. “Encouraging those people beyond senate to get involved is our current goal.” Stepp, a graduating fourth-year in public affairs, said he is pleased with what he has accomplished as USG president but knows there is some unfinished business to pass on to the next administration. Specifically, he named three tasks he is handing off to Wright and Lacure he considers to be highly important. First is continuing to work on reducing student debt and excessive cost with an affordability initiative. He also mentioned making connections between OSU students and influential bodies around Columbus. “We worked hard to establish relationships outside the university in places like the mayor’s office, Columbus City Schools and representatives downtown. For example, we’ve testified in the Ohio

continued as USG on 3A

6-seed or not, Matta focused on Dayton CampusParc to fund student exchange scholarships ERIC SEGER Sports editor seger.25@osu.edu

At first, Thad Matta wasn’t sure what to make of his team’s seeding in the NCAA Tournament. Within the first 10 minutes of the bracket being unveiled Sunday, Matta knew who, where and when Ohio State was playing — Dayton, Buffalo, N.Y., and Thursday. The Buckeyes were given a No. 6 seed in the South region — the first component of the 68-team field to get revealed — but OSU’s coach wasn’t sure if the mark was fair. “Um … yeah, I guess,” Matta said Sunday, his lips curling. “Something — I thought we’d be a five.” The Big Ten collected six bids into the Big Dance — conference tournament champion and automatic qualifier Michigan State and at-large bids Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska and OSU. “I think with as many Big Ten teams that got in … that we may have gotten bumped,” Matta said. “Which is fine.” If the Buckeyes had gotten a No. 5 seed, there was a chance their first game in the tournament would be in Spokane, Wash., or San Diego — three of the four No. 5 seeds are set to play in those locations, three time zones away. The other option was Orlando, Fla., but Matta joked that playing in California wouldn’t have been a problem because of the chance to get away from the seemingly never-ending brisk Ohio weather. “San Diego’s so nice,” Matta said with a laugh. “But no, I always say that’s why I chose an indoor sport.” If the Buckeyes are under-seeded, they aren’t alone, national columnist for CBSSports. com Gregg Doyel said, because No. 4-seeded Louisville was another team who got the shaft by the Selection Committee. “Not only is Louisville a four, if they play Wichita State in the Sweet Sixteen, that will be in Indianapolis,” Doyel said in an interview with The Lantern Sunday, referring to the unbeaten Shockers, who are the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region. “That’s an hour from Louisville. That’s an hour away. That’s a home game for Louisville. A No. 1 seed should never play a road game against a four seed. Ever. “(But) first of all, if Louisville can be a four, (OSU) can definitely be a six.” The matchup between the Buckeyes and No. 11 Flyers is the lone one between schools from the same state in either the first or second

OSU is set to receive $150K to fund a student exchange program

Ohio State

Queensland University

OSU is set to receive $150K in funding over 5 years to cover a $15K scholarship for one undergraduate OSU exchange student and one University of Queensland exchange student each year. SHELBY LUM / Photo editor

Coach Thad Matta calls to players. OSU beat Purdue, 63-61, in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament March 13 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse. round of the NCAA Tournament. That, Doyel said, is “crazy.” “I’m not a big believer in conspiracy theories with the Selection Committee and all that, but this game is just one of many,” Doyel said, referring to potential third-round matchups between teams from bordering states. Among these include how Creighton would take on Nebraska and Kansas State facing Wichita State if all teams survive and advance, which could make it seem like the Selection Committee chose those seed in the interest of television ratings or other rivalries, instead of each team’s tournament résumé. But in the case of Dayton and OSU, Doyel believes the advantage will be on the Flyers’ side. “The emotional advantage will be Dayton’s,” Doyel said. “But I think in this case, you always give the edge to the underdog, try to knock off Big Brother … that’s not just winning a tournament game — that’s making history. If Ohio State wins, they’ve won the first round game. If Dayton wins, that’s school history.” After learning of his team’s whereabouts and adversary, Matta didn’t stick around long to see more of the bracket. The Buckeyes are in

the same region as traditional powers Florida, Kansas and UCLA, but Matta’s not concerned about that. “I know we got Dayton, Syracuse and Western Michigan. That’s all I saw,” Matta said. “I don’t even know where, if we win games, where we go, to be honest with you.” If the Buckeyes do get past Dayton Thursday, they are favored to take on Syracuse, the No. 3-seed, which wouldn’t be easy for them, Doyel said. “I just don’t think they’re all that good. But they can’t beat Syracuse in the (third) round. Syracuse is going to say, ‘Hey, shoot threes,’” Doyel said. “Well, Ohio State can’t shoot threes.” The Buckeyes are shooting 32.6 percent on 3-pointers this season, which is just good enough to tie for 262th in the country out of 351 teams. Opponents have shot 34.6 percent against Syracuse’s 2-3 zone defense this year, though. “I just hope I see it, to be honest with you,” Matta said of the defense. “We need a good three-day prep for Dayton. I have seen Syracuse play, but haven’t started to break them down in terms of that yet.”

source: reporting

MADISON CURTIS / Design editor

BRANDON MERRIMAN Lantern reporter merriman.65@osu.edu An Ohio State engineering student could find him or herself studying in Australia next spring, partly on CampusParc’s dime. QIC Global Infrastructure through CampusParc is funding scholarships for student exchanges between OSU and the University of Queensland in Australia, according to a press release from OSU. QIC is the parent company of CampusParc, which manages OSU’s parking garages, ground lots and permit sales. The $150,000 scholarship fund is in response to CampusParc’s 50-year, $483 million agreement with OSU, said David Teed, CEO of CampusParc. “We want the university to be successful, and we want to play a role in their success,” Teed said. Teed said CampusParc won’t have a part in giving out the scholarships – that responsibility will fall to OSU. CampusParc began managing OSU’s parking facilities in September 2012, and William Brustein, vice provost for global strategies and international affairs at OSU, said the $150,000 CampusParc is giving is separate from the amount received as part of the contract. Teed said CampusParc has also committed $100,000 toward parking surface materials research, which is separate from the scholarship fund. Brustein said OSU is set to receive the $150,000 in funding over five years to cover a $15,000 scholarship for one undergraduate OSU student and one University of Queensland student each year for the next five years.

continued as Scholarships on 3A 1A


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