Tuesday September 20, 2011 year: 131 No. 2 the student voice of
The Ohio State University
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thelantern Officials approve $375M parking change
sports
KAITLYN LYLE Lantern reporter lyle.42@osu.edu
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Playmakers needed
The OSU football team struggled to hold on in their win against Toledo and took a blow from Miami. Team effort is needed to ensure success in future games.
arts & life
University ofÿcials are moving forward with a proposal to lease parking services to a private vendor for up to $375 million. The Ohio State Board of Trustees approved a proposal on Sept. 9 to begin looking for private vendors to take over OSU’s parking operations. The agreement with the private vendor would be a 30- to 50-year lease, to be implemented in June 2012 at the earliest. Geoffrey Chatas, the university’s chief ÿnancial ofÿcer, met with OSU’s Board of Trustees on Sept. 8 and 9 to discuss permission to begin looking for possible vendors. “We’re looking at all of our non-core assets. We would never do this for housing, as an example, or our dorms ever, but parking we should look at.” Chatas told The Lantern. Now that the proposal has been approved, Chatas said he is working to create a request for qualiÿcations to send to possible companies. Chatas said they will consider how many states companies manage, the companies’ experience levels, how many years they have been in the business, the companies’ sizes and locations and whether they’ve worked for the university before making a decision. “We’ll look at all those and say, ‘Are you qualiÿed or not?’” Chatas said. The request is to be ÿnalized within the next couple of weeks, according to Chatas. Chatas said the outside vendor would be responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the university’s 35,000-plus parking spaces in garages and lots on the main Columbus campus. Regional campuses would still be maintained by current management. OSU would also manage
BRITTANY SCHOCK / Asst. photo editor
Tuttle Park Place Garage on Sept. 19, 2011. Ohio State trustees voted to privatize all parking on campus no earlier than 2012. parking during special events like home football games and student move-in week, according to Chatas. OSU would retain control over the CABS bus system and continue to negotiate with COTA for student bus fares, Chatas said. Trafÿc signals and street and bicycle safety would also be handled by the university, said Sarah Blouch, executive director of transportation and parking services. OSU will hand over control of snow removal, repainting parking lots and garages and parking permit operations to the chosen company. The look and organization of the current permit system would remain largely unchanged, according to Chatas. Chatas said OSU would use the money from the deal to fund scholarships, on-campus transportation
and faculty research. But student and faculty parking permit fees, garage fees and pay-and-display fees would go to the outside vendor. Parking fees at OSU have doubled in the last decade, going up about 8 percent per year. With a permit, the average parking spot that once cost around $1.25 per day now costs about $2.50, Chatas said. Private vendors will still be able to increase these fees for 10 years after signing a contract at a rate no larger than 7.5 percent per year. For the remainder of the lease, fees could be increased at maximum of 4 percent per year. The potential fee increase is among students’
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Overwhelming crowds rained on fair’s parade ANDI HENDRICKSON Lantern reporter hendrickson.1085@osu.edu
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‘Raising Hope’ raises bar
The second season premiere of the Fox comedy series is set to air tonight at 9:30 p.m.
campus
McFadden’s moves out, new Irish pub moves in
CODY COUSINO / Photo editor
An overwhelming number of students packed into the Ohio Union for the Fall 2011 Student Involvement Fair on Monday, Sept. 19, 2011.
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$7.7M bridge project bothers students
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PLEASE RECYCLE
A $7.7 million construction project closed Dodridge Street, west of Neil Avenue, and will continue to inconvenience some Ohio State commuter students for an entire academic year. The Dodridge Street Bridge, connecting Olentangy River Road and Neil Avenue, provides a less-congested trafÿc route to the north campus area. The bridge, along with part of the Olentangy Trail underneath, is closed after being deemed “structurally deÿcient,” and received a low rating by annual inspection, Franklin County deputy engineer of bridges Jim Pajk said. “The whole bridge is being replaced,” Pajk said. “We are going to put a
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BRIDGE OUT W. Dodridge St.
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bridge that looks like it will expand the Olentangy River.” The project is on schedule and is projected to cost $7.7 million to rebuild, Pajk said. Some students residing in houses and apartments near the bridge are frustrated with the construction, altering access to their homes. “I live right off of Neil on north campus. Every time I want to visit home or go to work, I have to go all the way around to either Lane Avenue or North Broadway to get to Olentangy River Road or 315,” said Michael Frabott, a ÿfth-year in sociology and criminology. The bridge construction delays a normal commute anywhere between ÿve and 15 minutes, Frabott said. The new bridge will not have a pier
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MARY POSANI Lantern reporter posani.3@osu.edu
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Ohio State’s annual Involvement Fair, including more than 1,000 students, clubs and organizations, was moved into the Ohio Union on Monday due to rainy weather. Around 6 a.m. Monday, an email notiÿcation to student-organization leaders, from Union ofÿcials, was sent to change the location to the Union. With about 6,900 freshmen directed to the Union after convocation and other students ÿling in throughout the afternoon, the Union was packed to capacity for the majority of the day. The Involvement Fair was open for a four-hour period, and almost every room in the Union was utilized for the fair. The capacity of the rooms utilized at the fair is about 4,400 people. While moving the fair indoors helped students avoid ruined tri-fold posters and soggy ° yers, some students were unhappy with the decision. Lizzy McLennan, a ÿrst-year in business, said she felt “overwhelmed” by the crowds at her ÿrst Involvement Fair experience. “Honestly, it’s kind of hectic,” McLennan said. “It would have been better outside.”’ In previous years the event has been held outside. Last year was hot and sunny, and the year before that it was cold and raining. Both remained outside. Union ofÿcials were not available for comment. First-year student Jessica Coon was also disappointed by her ÿrst Involvement Fair. She said the Union was “hot and claustrophobic” and that it was hard to ÿnd the clubs she wanted to join. “I wish it was on the Oval,” Coon said. Stephanie Hancock, a third-year in political science and English, was present at the Involvement Fair both this year and last year. “I liked it last year better because I am slightly claustrophobic,” Hancock said. “But I liked that it was in the Union because of the rain. It was OK to navigate, and it was easy because it was categorized based
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CHRSITOPHER SCHWARTZ / Managing editor of design