Tuesday January 8, 2013 year: 133 No. 2
the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern Family of mangled student sues university
sports
ally Marotti Editor-in-chief marotti.5@osu.edu
Boiling tensions
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The OSU men’s basketball team travels to Purdue to try and get back on track after its blowout loss to Illinois.
The family of an 18-year-old student who lost his leg after an on-campus accident is suing Ohio State and the contracted companies, alleging negligence and other charges and seeking tens of thousands of dollars in damages. James Daniel Hughes, a first-year student from South Point, Ohio, was hit while on his way to class at about 2:45 p.m. on Sept. 5, close to the entrance of a construction site. Hughes’ lawyer Steve Crandall said he has lost roughly one-third of his body, including his right leg and hip. He’s also dealt with a bone infection, and his family is seeking more than $25,000 each from OSU and the companies it contracted through two separate lawsuits. But according to the lawsuit, the injuries do not end there. Hughes “sustained and will sustain past and future medical expenses, great pain and suffering, permanent injuries, temporary and permanent
disability, humiliation, embarrassment, loss of enjoyment of life and future lost wages.� OSU Police released a report last week on the four-month-long investigation of the accident concluding that no criminal charges will be filed. The report is hundreds of pages long and includes witness testimonies, officer narratives and emails from university officials. OSU is being sued on three counts, the first of which includes intentional or negligent conduct. OSU was responsible for ensuring vehicles came into and out of the construction site safely, according to the suit, and the safety of the pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle traffic around the site’s borders. One construction company offered suggestions for safety improvement after the accident, but the suggestions came too late for Hughes. The suit says that OSU failed to properly monitor the site and take necessary safety precautions, and Hughes’ injuries are a direct result of that. The suit also aims to rectify the loss of services and companionship of Hughes to his family and the “mental anguish and emotional distress� they suffered.
Ice plagues OSU’s campus parking The top floor of OSU’s Northwest Parking Garage is coated with ice on Jan. 7, the first day of Spring Semester.
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This lawsuit will be successful in proving justice for Daniel and his family as well as ensure nothing of this magnitude ever happens to another OSU student again. Steve Crandall James Hughes’ lawyer The accident could have been prevented had OSU not been so negligent, according to the suit. It demands that OSU pay more than $25,000, court costs, punitive damages and other relief to which the Hughes family is entitled. OSU spokeswoman Gayle Saunders declined to comment because the case is ongoing. The companies OSU contracted to do construction on the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry Building (CBEC) site are also being
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OSU distances itself from recent Steubenville rapecase controversy patrick maks Asst. sports editor maks.1@osu.edu Michael Nodianos is no longer an official Buckeye. The Steubenville High School graduate’s role in a video at the heart of an alleged rape case in Steubenville, Ohio, is “no longer a student at The Ohio State University,� according to the school’s Facebook and Twitter pages Monday. OSU spokeswoman Gayle Saunders confirmed to The Lantern Nodianos was no longer enrolled but would not disclose the terms of his leave, citing Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations. OSU released a statement Friday that said “the student in question was in attendance only through Dec. 12,� the last day of the university’s final examinations. Saunders reiterated that statement to The Lantern Sunday, as well. “Find People,� the school’s faculty, staff and student directory, showed Thursday that Nodianos was a student in electrical and computer engineering. Nodianos, who has not been charged criminally, did not respond to The Lantern’s request for comment. Nodianos’ involvement in the Steubenville case, a town of about 18,000 along the Ohio River, has pulled OSU into a situation that’s increasingly garnered national attention in recent weeks.
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andrew holleran / Photo editor
‘Shoe construction won’t impact graduation Brent Hankins Lantern reporter hankins.116@osu.edu University officials said the more than $4 million Ohio Stadium construction project won’t force Spring Commencement out of the ‘Shoe. Graduation is set to be held in the ‘Shoe, which is usual for Spring Commencement, but the format could be altered slightly to accommodate a construction project, said Don Patko, assistant athletics director of facilities management. Plans for the $4.3 million construction project are already in place. The construction is a routine maintenance project that occurs every 10 to 15 years, and it involves relocating the concrete in order to waterproof it and repairing the wear and tear on the concrete and construction joints. “The steps are to take off the old coating, sound the concrete, check your joints, and if there’s anything we need to fix, we will fix those items, and we will go on and put a new coating on top of that,� Patko said. Sounding the concrete is a practice used to detect sub-surface cracks and delamination in a concrete structure such as a bridge. Striking the concrete will return a hollow sound if there is internal damage. “(The project) is complex even though it’s a maintenance project,� Patko said. “You’ve got to have pretty skilled people that know how to put
$4.3M Construction to the ‘Shoe A routine construction maintenance project at Ohio Stadium is estimated to take about two years and cost at least $4.3 million. Because of the construction, the 2013 Spring Game will be held in Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. Spring Commencement will still be held in the ‘Shoe, University officials said.
KAYLA BYLER / Design editor coatings down because it’s sensitive to temperature and different things like that.� OSU spokeswoman Amy Murray confirmed the details of the project and that graduation would not be relocated. “We don’t really expect (commencement) to look any different than in years past, although we will be accommodating larger groups,� Murray said.
Because of the Spring Semester construction, the Ohio State Spring Game is scheduled to be played at Paul Brown Stadium, home of the Cincinnati Bengals. While this is a break from Spring Game tradition, the construction isn’t expected to interfere with the coming 2013 or 2014 football season schedules.
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