Tuesday September 11, 2012 year: 132 No. 95
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thelantern lantern Gee talks hate speech, campus safety
sports
BRIANA MALASKA AND BECCA MARRIE Lantern reporters malaska.5@osu.edu and marrie.6@osu.edu President E. Gordon Gee said semesters gave Ohio State “a much different rhythm,” and he’s still trying to figure out when classes change. During a meeting with The Lantern editorial staff, he also spoke about campus safety, hate speech at the university, new football coach Urban Meyer, tuition costs and parking privatization.
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Redshirt senior corner back Travis Howard has three interceptions in OSU’s first two games.
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Comedic relief
Safety concerns plague start of semester Gee said the university has a responsibility to keep its students safe, but that responsibility is two-fold. “We just need to encourage our kids to be more safe,” Gee said. “Students are walking along wearing hoodies, earbuds and sitting there texting all the time. The university has a responsibility to keep students safe. We have to create awareness.” Last Wednesday a student was hit by a dump truck near a construction site on Woodruff Avenue while biking to class. Gee and the OSU administration created a task force aimed to increase traffic safety. Heading this group are Jay Kasey, senior vice president for Administration and Planning and Javaune Adams-Gaston, vice president for Student Life. “We’re going to try to start raising awareness,” Gee said. “So that’s a sad note at the beginning of a great year.” The recent robbery outside Hitchcock Hall has raised questions from the student group Buckeyes for Concealed Carry, which opposes OSU’s strict anti-gun policy. Gee however, stood firm behind the policy, and said he can’t foresee a time when the university would change it. “Not as long as I’m president,” Gee said. “I’m unequivocally opposed. I think that is a horrible idea on a university campus to be carrying guns. Period.”
DANIEL CHI / Asst. photo editor
Hate at Ohio State continues, despite task force Hate speech has resurfaced on social media via some Tumblr and Twitter accounts aimed at exposing racial language at OSU online. The OSU Haters group gained university-wide attention last week by exposing racial social media posts from OSU students, while the authors of the accounts remained anonymous. Gee reiterated that hateful speech will not be tolerated at the university. “We can’t control every level of speech,” Gee said. “Offensive speech is something we have to talk a lot about. The best way to control it is to recognize it for what it is.” Last April, “Long Live Zimmerman” was spraypainted on the outside of Hale Hall, the home of the Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center. The reference, officials said, was most likely to George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch leader
who allegedly killed Trayvon Martin in self-defense Feb. 26 in Florida. “We all have a responsibility to believe that our university is better than that,” Gee said. “I think that we’ve made that very clear.” Reminiscing Tressel, pleased with Meyer After the infamous “tattoo-gate” scandal that led to the resignation of former OSU football coach Jim Tressel, the university has embraced new football coach Urban Meyer. Gee told The Lantern that the situation involving Tressel was a “sad moment in my life,” but said he liked the direction of the program under Meyer. “I think Meyer is an excellent coach,” Gee said. “When we hired him as coach, he made it very clear that we are going to hold students to very high standards.”
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4A OSU remembers, reflects on 9/11 tragedy
NBC announced the addition of three new ‘Saturday Night Live cast members Monday.
OSU
REMEMBERS
9-11-2001 campus
New meal plan an adjustment
2A
EMILY TARA Oller reporter tara.3@osu.edu
The morning of Sept. 11, 2001, began like any other. But for many, it has become a day frozen in time. For the first time classes have been in session at Ohio State on Sept. 11, and most on campus, including Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee, can still remember where they were and what they were doing 11 years ago. “I remember that so vividly,” Gee said. “I remember exactly where I was. I was at Vanderbilt (University) at the time, I was giving a speech and someone came up and said the Twin Towers had been attacked and I went back to the campus immediately.” “I was at home. My two boys were in about third and fourth grades. They came home for lunch every day. I didn’t know whether to let them watch it (on TV),” said Pat Wirthlin, mother of two OSU students. “I was in eighth grade history class. I was upset because they canceled football practice. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized what happened,” said Wayne Eggleston, staff sergeant in the U.S. Army. “I was the night shift supervisor the night before. I got off at 7 a.m. on the 11th. I was supposed to start a hostage negotiation conference that day. My wife came in and told me what happened … just in
Lantern file photo
After hearing about the death of known terrorist Osama Bin Laden on May 2, 2011 OSU students jumped in Mirror Lake in celebration. time to see the second plane go into the tower,” said Deputy Chief Richard Morman of Ohio State Police. “I was younger. Probably eighth grade when it happened,” said Fabian Callaham, a fourth-year in pre-physical therapy. Eleven years ago, terrorists attacked the United States when two hijacked airplanes struck the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, along with an attack
on the Pentagon in Washington D.C. A third attack was thwarted by aircraft passengers who brought down a plane in Pennsylvania that had been overtaken by terrorists, killing everyone on board. The U.S. lost nearly 3,000 lives that day. Eleven years later, many Americans can hardly believe it has been so long but they continue to move forward. “You know that saying, you have to know where you’ve come from
to know where you’re going,” said Callaham, who also served in the U.S. Army after high school and is still under active duty while finishing his bachelor’s degree. Other students said they will never forget that day. “It seems like it just happened. I remember exactly where I was when it happened, even though it happened (11) years ago,” said Kristen Boyd, a fourth-year in biology. “I think this is the something that I always remember.” The OSU Security and Intelligence Club is hosting an event in honor of the anniversary. Due to the semester conversion, this year is the first time since the attack that OSU has had classes in session over the anniversary, and that students have had the opportunity to reflect together. The event will be held Tuesday evening at Browning Amphitheatre near Mirror Lake. The events of Sept. 11 affected the country as a whole, but it also impacted individuals in different ways. For Wirthlin, the attacks hit on a more personal level. “We had a friend, a childhood friend, who died (in the WTC),” she said. Her friend was the father of three young children. Eggleston, who fought in Afghanistan, said he’s seen the results of the attacks first hand.
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Data transfer hinders 165 student veterans LIZ YOUNG Lantern reporter young.1693@osu.edu They served their country. They enlisted in the military, and after at least 90 days of service, they earned the right to have their college tuition paid for. The government has promised them this in the Post-9/11 GI Bill. But the money doesn’t come until after they’ve had to worry about how they’re going to pay for housing and books. For hundreds of thousands of student veterans across the United States, this is the reality of dealing with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs . And this year, there have been even greater delays than usual because of a switch to move the records of student veterans
attending college in Ohio and West Virginia from the Buffalo, N.Y., regional office, to the St. Louis, Mo., office. The records were moved in an attempt to lessen the load of the Buffalo office, and in turn, speed up tuition payments and eliminate most delays, said Mike Carrell, assistant provost and director of the office of military and veteran services at Ohio State. “In general and in the long run, (the move is) a wonderful thing, (because the office will be less busy),” Carrell said. “But they had to transfer both physical and electronic files, some of which didn’t get to St. Louis.” According to a university release, records of some students’ eligibility suffered a “temporary loss” during the transfer. Those students were offered emergency no-interest loans to cover their expenses and to prevent them from needing to drop classes or pay late fees.
The transfer affected records belonging to Ohio and West Virginia veterans with pending enrollments, received between July 24 and August 9. According to a report from the Columbus Dispatch, the VA issued a statement saying only 300 students from the two states might have been affected. There are about 2,000 students at OSU who are either veterans or are using the benefits of a spouse or guardian. Of these, 165 students were confirmed to have been affected by the transition issues, Carrell said. “Fortunately, because of my student veteran full-time status, I am allowed unemployment until my benefits run out,” said Allison Whitaker, a firstyear in agricultural communication, in an email. “It helps, but not enough to pay my rent and other expenses.”
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