Wednesday April 18, 2012 year: 132 No. 54
the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern Contracting change halts bidding ‘gamble’
sports
ALLY MAROTTI Copy chief marotti.5@osu.edu
A running battle
1B
With the Spring Game days away, four new and returning running backs have been competing for playing time.
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Changes Ohio State’s Board of Trustees made to the way it hires contractors will increase workmanship quality and save the university money. Since December, 14 projects have been identified under these new requirements, valued at more than $1.5 million. Doug Rhoades of Rhoades Construction has been working with the university for about 20 years on projects that typically cost between $5,000 and $200,000. Until the Board of Trustees met in February, the university’s threshold for competitive bidding was $50,000. The university had to post any project costing more than that for public bidding. So for the majority of Rhoades’ projects, his company and others like it, had to submit expected costs and quotations for the work that needed done. The university would then contract the company with the most competitive quote.
Pieter Wykoff, director of public affairs for the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, said these changes came about because there was a section in Gov. John Kasich’s state budget that included public construction reform. The Ohio Construction Reform laws, included in House Bill 153, went into effect in January and raised the competitive bidding threshold for public institutions, like OSU, from $50,000 to $200,000. Ken Wayman, senior director of design and construction for OSU’s Facilities Operations and Development, said with the new changes, projects costing less than $200,000 can be contracted via purchase order. “It will lower the cost of the project and it will let us complete the project more quickly because all contractors have costs associated with publicly bidding work,” he said. “If we don’t have to publicly bid, they can give us a lower overall cost.” Wayman said that since December, the university has identified about 14 projects
ALLY MAROTTI / Copy Chief
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Because of policy changes, smaller projects, like construction in Caldwell Laboratory, no longer need to be posted for competitive bidding.
Advisers make changes for switch
THIRD EYE BLIND Students and other concert-goers line up on High Street to get a good spot for Third Eye Blind’s sold-out concert at Newport Music Hall April 17.
SHAY TROTTER Lantern reporter trotter.35@osu.edu
4A
‘West Side’ comes to Columbus
The Grammy award-winning musical, “West Side Story,” is scheduled to run at the Ohio Theatre Tuesday - Sunday.
campus
With registration for Fall Semester classes opening April 30, many students might be struggling to meet with their academic advisers for various scheduling concerns. As a result, some academic departments have recently adopted different options for students to ensure they get the advising help they need. The College of Arts and Sciences normally offers walk-in advising Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., but has extended it from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. three days a week to accommodate students planning for the semester switch. The Fisher College of Business offers 15-minute, same-day appointments the second week of classes through the seventh week. Thirty-minute evening and Sunday appointments are also offered, as well as a manager on-call daily for urgent questions. Jacqueline Elcik, executive director of Undergraduate Programs and Advising Office of Fisher, said that while no new changes are being implemented, the aforementioned options serve as “things as part of the semester conversion that we’ve tried to be mindful and planful knowing that there would be more students than ever coming in to see us for appointments.” On the current academic schedule, students say there is usually a point during the quarter where they all attempt to schedule appointments at once, often the cause of frustration for those anxious to see their adviser.
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THOMAS BRADLEY / Campus editor
Older students attend for non-traditional reasons LINDSEY BARRETT Lantern reporter barrett.684@osu.edu
New pub in town
2A
A new pub called Chumley’s is opening its third bar and restaurant on High Street, near 17th avenue.
weather high 69 low 48 mostly sunny
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74/55
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mostly cloudy
53/40
t-showers
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partly cloudy www.weather.com
Joanie Randle is not your typical 52-year-old. Randle is divorced, has four children and supports her family, but none of that makes her out of the ordinary. None of that makes her part of a nationwide trend, a trend of more and more students over the age of 50 heading back to the classroom. Randle is a nursing student at Ohio State, returning to the education scene more than 30 years after graduating from high school. “It was intimidating,” she said. “I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb, and I was really self-conscious about it at first.” Randle decided to return to school after her divorce left her needing to support herself and four children, three of whom are college students. Randle graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in political science and worked until the birth of her first child. By the time Randle decided to go back to school, she had been a stay-at-home mom for 20 years. Randle attended OSU for one year for her pre-requisite courses and transferred to Otterbein University in 2008. By the fall of 2009, she was back at OSU after being accepted into the nursing program. Randle first contacted the Office of Continuing Education in 2007, to assist her with her education. She later went through the Office of Admissions when she was admitted in 2009. Corinna Owens works with non-degree seeking students as the assistant director of the Office of Continuing Education. Owens advises nontraditional students, which at OSU includes those aged 50 and older but also includes students who are significantly younger. “We use ‘nontraditional’ and ‘adult’ to refer to those who did not directly enroll (in college) after high school, worked, joined the service, etc.,” Owens said. “They’re 24 years old or older … A
OSU’s non-traditional student numbers behind the times Despite a national surge of non-traditional students (24 years and older) over the last few years, OSU’s numbers have been on the decline. Here’s a look at who’s going back to school to get a degree.
Total Students
Undergraduate Students Under 24
27.4% 28.4%
Autumn 2010
Autumn 2011
11.4% 12.4% Autumn 2010
Students 24 and older source: OSU registrar
lot of students earned their B.A. already and are working on graduate or master’s degrees.” The latest data available from the National Center for Education Statistics reported that the number of students aged 50 to 64 increased 17 percent nationwide from fall 2007 to fall 2009. Data reported by the Office of the University Registrar for Fall Quarter 2010 and Fall Quarter 2011 show fairly consistent numbers of non-traditional students at OSU. While Randle and other students might not be four years out from their high school prom, they said going back to classes began to feel normal. Janel Carey is a 42-year-old student in strategic communication at OSU. Carey said one of the biggest differences between her and other students is the use of technology in the classroom. “(It’s) the difference in communication with one another,” Carey said. “People are always on their
Over 24
Autumn 2011
Students under the age of 24 CHRIS POCHE / Design editor
phone or computer, and that’s hard for me to get used to. This generation is so introverted.” Carey began pursuing a business degree at OSU in 1987, but left before completing her degree to work for Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc. While working, she took classes part time under the company’s tuition reimbursement program, but it was not until 2010 when she made the decision to attend college full time to receive her degree. “Career-wise, it wasn’t a concern with that,” Carey said. “I’m going back to school for personal accomplishment. I want to be an example for my daughter.” Ohio residents aged 60 and older also have the option of enrolling in the state-mandated Program 60, offered through the Office of Continuing Education. Diane Dortmund, coordinator of Program 60, said
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