Wednesday April 2, 2014 year: 134 No. 48
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Joseph Steinmetz not slowing down in time of transition Ohio State Provost and Executive Vice President Joseph Steinmetz isn’t one to slow down. “It’s very easy to say, ‘Let’s stop. Let’s not do anything for a year.’ But that’s not what we’re all about,” he said in an interview with The Lantern Tuesday. In a time of transition into newly appointed OSU President Michael Drake’s term, Steinmetz, who began his OSU tenure in 2009 as a vice provost and executive dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he is “fairly used to transition,” having previously worked at the University of Kansas and Indiana University. Steinmetz talked about topics including his thoughts on the current transition phase, Maymester and class cancellations in the hour-long interview.
you’re trying to make that transition as smoothly as possible, but he asks the right questions, I think, and is probing to the depth that I think is healthy.” He added that Drake’s medical experience as an ophthalmologist provides him with experience that should reduce the time it will take for Drake to adapt to administrating OSU and its Wexner Medical Center. “It’s a part of the learning curve that is often difficult that he doesn’t have to worry about,” Steinmetz said. Steinmetz said he hasn’t talked to Drake about what changes could be made academically. “Before we can have that kind of a discussion, you have to have full understanding of what’s going on here,” he said. Steinmetz said he expects any new directions would emerge in “the first six months or so.” He also said Drake has a particular interest in the global perspective a university can take and said a new focus in that area is possible.
Preparing for Michael Drake’s arrival Steinmetz said perhaps his biggest impact as provost so far has been to be an anchor of stability during the transition to Drake’s administration. “Up to this point, I’ve had three substantial conversations … with Dr. Drake to give him a snapshot of where we are on the academic side,” Steinmetz said. “He’s interested, so example, in the summary of where we are in the development of the Discovery Theme development, where we are with the initiatives we launched in (the Office of Academic Affairs).” The Discovery Themes initiative, which was launched in October 2012, targets health and wellness, energy and environment, food production and food security, which are areas identified by some OSU officials as university priority areas. The $400 million plan includes expanding research and hiring new faculty. Steinmetz said he and Drake have developed a good relationship, and he expects a smooth transition. “The style of people change. Different leaders have different styles and I’ll adapt to that style and what he’s looking for,” he said. “I know the difficulty there is when you’re somewhere else, and
May Session’s present and future Steinmetz said there are no significant changes set to be made to May Session this year. “What we’re trying to actually do is run it as close as we could to the last time to get an idea of its use, what classes are actually being offered, how they’re being staffed, that sort of thing,” Steinmetz said. May Session is one of two parts of OSU’s summer term. Under the term’s existing structure, students enrolled in classes during Spring Semester 2014 who do not graduate at the end of the semester are eligible to take
KARLIE FRANK AND DANIEL BENDTSEN Lantern reporter and Senior Lantern reporter frank.359@osu.edu and bendtsen.1@osu.edu
a three-credit class with no additional tuition payment. It was developed as part of the university’s transition from quarters to semesters in 2012. Steinmetz said the program, though, is being studied to make it better in the future. “I asked the Senate Fiscal Committee to
look at (Maymester) and study the recommendation from a fiscal sense of where we should go, and then to also study the data of who took advantage of it, how did students take advantage, what was offered, that sort of thing,” Steinmetz said. “That’s one of those examples where I wish that we were quicker at times, but they’re thorough and I appreciate that.” Consistency is necessary in a program like this, Steinmetz said. “In a lot of ways, it’s like the second year of the experiment. I’m a neuroscientist, so I’ve done a lot of experiments in my day, and the last thing we want to do is to change the parameters,” Steinmetz said. Class cancellations in Spring Semester Steinmetz said he received mixed reactions, including “colorful emails,” about class cancellations and subsequent plans to allow for class makeup days over the course of the semester. OSU called off classes Jan. 6, Jan. 7 and Jan. 28 because of extreme weather conditions.
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RITIKA SHAH / Asst. photo editor
Orton Hall signatures to stay OSU students with mumps paid to donate their plasma ZOE CHRYSOCHOOS Lantern reporter chrysochoos.2@osu.edu
Courtesy of an OSU student
Some students consider it a tradition to sign the walls of the Orton Hall bell tower. While there were plans to repaint the walls last year, OSU officials said those plans have been put aside for the time being.
KARLIE FRANK Lantern reporter frank.359@osu.edu Signatures canvasing the walls of Orton Hall’s bell tower are no longer slated to be covered with paint. Ohio Staters Inc. and OSU Facilities Operations and Development were planning last year to repaint the walls decorated with signatures of members of major student organizations across campus in an effort to preserve the history of the bell tower. Students involved in some major campus organizations such as class honoraries, Greek organizations and ambassador programs have visited the bell tower to sign their names on the wall. Ohio Staters, which aims to promote the traditions and welfare on campus, is the primary student organization that helps facilitate students going up to the tower and manages its upkeep. Lindsay Komlanc, spokeswoman for OSU Administration and Planning, said those plans, though, have been put aside. “There are no plans to paint the Orton Hall bell tower at this time,” Komlanc said in an email Monday. Scott Boden, faculty adviser to Ohio Staters and associate director of Residence Life, said while Ohio Staters initially thought the idea of painting over the signatures would be well-received, it was met with mixed views. “One of the things (Ohio Staters was) looking
at was removing the writing on the walls because it was considered graffiti. Then we met with folks that had different opinions about that. We had lots of conversations with … folks in the university that have responsibilities with physical structures on campus,” Boden said. Last year, some students argued against the proposed cover up, saying signing the walls was an OSU tradition to them. Boden said if the walls were to be repainted, that responsibility should fall on a group at OSU that deals with the physical facilities rather than a student organization. “There’s some people who think we should take better care of a certain landmark, and there’s others who think this is a new tradition that’s starting to occur. And I’m not sure that’s a decision for the student organization, but rather, other entities of the university,” Boden said. Ohio Staters continues to take student groups on tours of the bell tower weekly. Boden said Ohio Staters asks the students not to sign the wall, but ultimately it’s up to each student whether they want to do so. Dani Harriger, a fourth-year in education, said she has several friends who have signed the walls and doesn’t see any reason to repaint them. “Traditions are there for a reason, and as long as no one is getting harmed, I think painting over it (would) just make people angry,” Harriger said. “People are doing it in the context that the university meant so much to them, not to cause damage.”
Some Ohio State students diagnosed with the mumps virus are receiving $400 for the donation of their blood plasma at Access Plasma/Saturn Biomedical in Indianapolis . Michael Vieth, a fourth-year in computer and information science who has the mumps, found out about the opportunity when an email regarding the need for blood donors who were diagnosed with the mumps virus was forwarded to him from the president of his fraternity. Shannon Coates, senior donor recruiter at Access Biologicals LLC , said once the company heard about the mumps outbreak at OSU, she sent out emails to sororities and fraternities on campus explaining its study. “Mumps is really not that common. With the (mumps, measles and rubella) vaccine, you usually do not hear about the virus. Once we heard about the outbreak at Ohio State, we knew that it would be very helpful for our study,” she said. As of Tuesday afternoon, 116 mumps cases had been reported in Franklin County, five more than Monday’s count. Ninety-three of the 116 cases were linked to the OSU outbreak with 74 OSU students, nine OSU staff, nine people with OSU links and one family member of someone with OSU ties affected, according to a Columbus Public Health release. Vieth acted upon the opportunity to give plasma and made an appointment along with a friend, another OSU student diagnosed with the mumps. “I decided to get the procedure done because having the mumps and receiving $400 is better than just having the mumps,” Vieth said. Access Plasma/Saturn Biomedical provided all travel reimbursements, Vieth said. “We received our check immediately after donating the plasma,” he said. Coates said the compensation rate varies. “The compensation rate is dependent on their levels of the virus. Typically we offer anywhere between $100 to $400. We provide mileage reimbursements and hotel accommodations,” Coates said. The normal compensation rate for blood plasma of someone who is healthy is usually about $30 to $35, she said. Plasma is the liquid portion of blood. The
Students with mumps give plasma
A normal compensation rate for healthy blood plasma is $30-35. Access Biologicals LLC is offering $100-400 for the mumps-infected plasma of some Ohio State students.
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MUMPS
source: reporting
MADISON CURTIS / Design editor
procedure uses a single needle, and the blood is put through a process that spins the plasma away from blood cells and platelets and then returns blood cells and platelets back to the donor, Coates said. “It only takes your body 24 hours to reproduce blood plasma, unlike donating cold blood, which takes your body eight weeks,” she said. Vieth said the procedure was a lot like donating blood. “I wasn’t nervous for the procedure because I have given blood before and I heard that donating plasma was pretty much the same thing,” Vieth said. “The procedure was the same except after the machine drew the blood out, it removed the plasma and then returned the blood back into my body. They emphasized that is was important for us to eat and to drink a lot of fluids.” Vieth said he was told the plasma was going to be shipped to the Access Biologicals LLC
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