6.1.11

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Wednesday June 1, 2011 year: 131 No. 78 the student voice of

The Ohio State University

www.thelantern.com

thelantern Officials keep quiet on Tressel

sports

OSU shields Smith, Gee, others as questions about coach go unanswered ZACK MEISEL Editor-in-chief meisel.14@osu.edu

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Nature won’t take this course

Silence can be deafening, and Ohio State’s closed-lip policy could be a sign that the university wasn’t prepared for what transpired Monday. The football team’s boss resigned, but his bosses are being shielded, and local public relations experts say OSU’s apparent lack of preparation and absence of open communication is “dangerous.” Following the departure of Jim Tressel, the third-winningest coach in OSU football history, the university has, for the most part, kept quiet. President E. Gordon Gee released a statement Monday morning informing faculty of Tressel’s resignation. But university spokesman Jim Lynch said Gee was “out of the state” on Monday and wouldn’t speak to anyone until he returned, if at all.

On Tuesday, Lynch said Gee had returned to Ohio, but told The Lantern in an email, “We are making a list of all the requests and we will entertain the opportunity if we chose to do any interviews at a later date.” In his ofÿce Monday morning, Tressel submitted his letter of resignation to athletic director Gene Smith, who released a three-minute video statement shortly after. Smith has no further plans to speak to the media, athletic department spokesman Dan Wallenberg told The Lantern. On Tuesday, Wallenberg told The Lantern that players will not be made available to the media “through at least the end of ÿnal exams.” Access to the university’s athletic department ofÿces on the seventh ° oor of the Fawcett Center was restricted on Tuesday. The building’s elevators were only operational with valid identiÿcation. The front desk attendant said he did not know the reason for the

The Muirfield Village Golf Club will be ready for this weekend’s Memorial Tournament despite recent record rainfall.

Jim Tressel

Gene Smith

lockdown and directed a request for photos and interviews to Wallenberg. “I think we’ll pass on that,” Wallenberg told The Lantern. Wallenberg said all requests for access must be submitted in advance, and directed The Lantern to Lynch. The Lantern had a quarterly interview scheduled with Smith for Wednesday afternoon. Smith’s secretary, Beth Mullinix, called Friday morning to reschedule the interview.

E. Gordon Gee Mullinix told The Lantern on Tuesday that there was no timetable for when the interview could be rescheduled. When asked if it would be “days, weeks or months,” Mullinix replied, “We’ll let you know.” Tressel hasn’t spoken, either. He could not be reached for comment and a man who answered the door at his house Monday told The Lantern he

continued as Tressel on 3A

Students fill libraries, coffee cups for finals DANIELLE HIXENBAUGH Lantern reporter hixenbaugh.9@osu.edu

‘Captain’ of movie industry

“Captain America: The First Avenger,” is scheduled to hit theaters July 22. The Lantern spoke to one of the stars.

sports

Clippers ball boy defies the odds

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campus

+1,000 0 -1,000 -2,000 -3,000 -4,000 -5,000

Finals Week

During finals week, staff is added and subtracted to mirror the differences from normal weekly sales. Student staff stray from the normal fixed schedules to work around their own final exams.

University cafés are extraordinarily busy in the weekend leading up to finals week and then experience a drop off by Wednesday of finals week. Sunday before finals is $4,000–$5,000 more lucrative than an average Sunday. By Tuesday, sales are back to normal, after which students begin to leave campus. Normal weekly sales Thursday

+2,000

Tuesday

+3,000

Monday

+4,000

Sunday

+5,000

Saturday

As ÿnals week looms, students cramming for exams aren’t just ÿlling campus libraries. They’re also ÿlling their coffee cups. The Saturday before ÿnals week, coffee sales at campus coffee shops increase between $1,000 and $2,000 from a normal Saturday, and by Sunday, sales are up between $3,000 and $4,000, said Kathy Grant, the operations manager overseeing all coffee shops on campus. “This is not random; it’s because of ÿnals,” Grant said. Samantha Sakelos, a second-year in English and student manager at Berry Café in Thompson Library, said the cafe’s busiest week is ÿnals week when students are constantly there throughout the day. “People meet us here at eight o’clock to get coffee,” Sakelos said. During ÿnals week, the libraries stay full of students throughout the day. “(Thompson Library) ÿlls up about mid-day and stays full with everyone studying during the ÿnals week,” said Tonya Maniaci, the coordinator for circulation services. Thompson is the busiest library in front of the Science and Engineering Library (SEL), Maniaci said. As students ° ock to the libraries, Grant said there are a few drinks that seem to be especially popular. “We sell a lot of the TBC mochas which is a caramel, white mocha coffee drink and right now we are looking at smoothies because of the weather,” Grant said. She said there is also more demand for caffeine. “A lot of the sales are with an extra shot of espresso for the extra boost to study,” Grant said. “We sell a lot of carbs, bagels and, of course, juices and Vitaminwater.” With the increase in sales, extra staffers are needed to help keep things efÿcient. “We do staff up on Saturday and Sunday before, absolutely,” Grant said. “We add on one to two students per shift.” But while many turn to coffee for the energy they need to get through ÿnals, some students choose to study without help from caffeine.

Wednesday

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Exploring OSU café sales trends during finals week

Dollar amount above or below average daily sales

arts & life

Top-selling coffee drink:

• TBC Mocha (iced, frozen or hot) Other finals week best-sellers:

• • • • •

Bagels Juices Vitaminwater Fruit smoothies Extra espresso shots Source: Kathy Grant Operations Manager of Univer University Residences and Dining KARISSA LAM / Design editor

“I don’t like coffee,” said Hunter Davis, a secondyear in pharmaceutical sciences. “I don’t like the way it tastes and I’ve had Red Bulls and they make me feel jittery. It’s not a great feeling to me.” Davis said he plans to study for six hours for each of his two exams and said the caffeine buzz is not something he would want while preparing. Other students choose other forms of caffeine for their extra boost of energy. Matt Gruver, a second-year in ÿnance, said he has three ÿnals and plans to study about ÿve hours for each.

“I’ll drink energy drinks more during ÿnals week or leading up to ÿnals than I normally do,” Gruver said. Grant said she considered that some students prefer energy drinks over coffee. She specialordered a shipment of energy drinks to the campus cafés for Winter Quarter’s ÿnals to help students prepare for their ÿnals, she said. While there is no doubt that sales increase during

Study aims for local creation Was Tressel the ticket to high ticket sales? of rubber

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weather high 86 low 62 isolated t-storms

R F SA SU

84/64 mostly sunny 84/69 partly cloudy 91/61 mostly sunny 84/65 sunny www.weather.com

continued as Coffee on 3A

MATT EDWARDS Lantern reporter edwards.907@osu.edu

Ohio State football tickets are scheduled to go on sale for students today at 4 p.m., and some some say coach Jim Tressel’s resignation will change their buying plans. Tressel resigned on Monday after a scandalous offseason, and some students say it has affected their decision to buy tickets. “I’m disappointed that he’s leaving because I thought that Tressel was different from most coaches,” said Mark Rudolph, a ÿrst-year in biomedical science. “I bought tickets last year, but I’m not going to this coming year.” One student said she isn’t optimistic about the upcoming season. “It’s not going to be a great football season without him next year,” said Katy Wheeler, a fourth-year in accounting. “But then again, I know it really just comes down the players.” Others don’t think Tressel’s departure will hurt the program’s ticket sales. Tickets will be sold by students’ rank, which is determined by a student’s number of credit hours. Sales will run through June 15, with any unsold tickets going on sale to all ranks at 4 p.m. on June 16. “If I buy tickets next year, I’ll probably just sell them,” said Natalie Zeleznik, a ÿrst-year in math and physics. Students can purchase the student season ticket package, which includes tickets to the ÿnal ÿve home games of the year. This package includes games versus Colorado, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana and Penn State, respectively.

continued as Tickets on 3A

ANDY GOTTESMAN / Multimedia editor

Some students said Jim Tressel’s resignation won’t affect whether they buy football tickets for the upcoming season.

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