Monday September 17, 2012 year: 132 No. 99
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thelantern Simon’s speech motivates Meyer, team
sports
PatricK MaKS Asst. sports editor maks.1@osu.edu
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Smith saves the day
Devin Smith’s 72-yard score in the 4th quarter propelled OSU to a 35-28 win against California.
[ a+e ] cody coUSino / Multimedia editor
Regardless of what inspired John Simon’s postgame outpouring, the typically stoic, tight-lipped senior captain and defensive lineman said he still has no idea where it came from. “I can’t tell you I’m planning speeches before the game or anything like that,” he said. “It came out and, you know, I just wanted to tell them how I felt.” Perhaps thanks to Simon’s rallying cry, a reason to battle through a season with almost nothing tangible to play for might have never been more apparent. The question, which has almost become rhetorical, of “what is this team playing for” finally might have been answered, but not because of anything that happened on the field that day. After surviving California, 35-28, first-year coach Urban Meyer said Simon “opened his soul” for everyone else to see. Simon, Meyer said, was close to not suiting up against the Golden Bears. “He had a sore shoulder. They kept telling me all week, it should be fine, it should be fine; it just didn’t heal as fast as we hoped,” he said. But Simon did play, and to the tune of one tackle and one sack. After junior safety Christian Bryant’s late interception helped the Buckeyes (3-0) squeak by Cal in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, a near-gut wrenching loss for OSU seemed to be a gut-check win for the undefeated squad. Meyer said Simon lost it behind the closed doors of the team’s locker room inside Ohio Stadium. A typically corporate-like Meyer opted to share a moment with reporters that could’ve otherwise remained unknown to anyone outside of the confines in which it happened. “Can you put a jersey up there or something that says ‘John Simon?’” Meyer asked. “Because that’s a grown ass man, excuse my language.” While Meyer chose not to divulge the particulars of what Simon had
oSU junior safety christian Bryant (no. 2) celebrates with senior linebacker etienne Sabino (no. 6) after intercepting a pass in the 4th quarter of oSU’s 35-28 win against california Saturday.
continued as Simon on 3A
Obama to make Columbus return Monday eMiLy tara Oller reporter tara.3@osu.edu
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World-class gallery
The Wexner Center for the Arts’ is scheduled to host a full gallery dedicated to Annie Leibovitz beginning Friday.
campus
Cause of traffic accidents debated
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weather
cody coUSino / Multimedia editor
President Barack obama speaking at capital University aug. 21. he is scheduled to return to columbus Monday. conference call question from The Lantern that the Ohio youth vote is one reason he has visited OSU’s campus four times in two years. “If Ohio is doing well, then America is gonna do well,” he said. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was in Powell, Ohio, Aug. 25, a suburb about 30 minutes from campus. He spoke about small business and the economy to a crowd of about 5,000 at Village Green Park. Romney’s last Ohio stop was in Painesville Sept. 14, where he talked about economic growth. Obama’s appointed United States Permanent Representative to the
United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice made a visit to Ohio Stadium for the Buckeyes’ Sept. 15 game against California. In an interview with The Lantern, Rice reflected on the Tuesday death of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Libya. She said she was “very, very sad” about the deaths, and called it a “tragedy.” Romney’s vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan made a visit to the ‘Shoe during the first OSU football game of the season against the Miami Redhawks, his alma mater, on Sept. 1. Current national polls rank 49
percent of the American population in favor of the Obama and 46 percent in favor of the Romney according to a recent poll on Politico from CBS News and the New York Times. With such a close election, Ohio as a swing state has become a battleground for each of the candidates. The most recent Politico poll has placed Romney with a 47 percent favor in Ohio and Obama at 46 percent. These close numbers may be the driving force behind the candidate’s frequent visits to the Buckeye State. The polls state that 3 percent are undecided and 3 percent have a choice of “other.”
2,000 evacuated after water main break
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In a August conference call with The Lantern, President Barack Obama hinted a Central Ohio return before the Nov. 6 election, and he’s scheduled to make good on that promise Monday afternoon. “I expect that if you’re not completely tired of me, you’re gonna see me in Ohio State again,” he said. According to an Obama for America Ohio release, Obama is set to arrive in Columbus around 3 p.m. and speak at Schiller Park, which is about 15 minutes from campus in German Village. The “grassroots” campaign event will be open and free to the public with tickets that were distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis at five Obama for America Ohio field offices. Doors are scheduled to open at 2 p.m. Monday. The entrance to the event at Schiller Park will be on the corner of 3rd Street and East Whittier Street. Shuttles are scheduled to run to the park from the Columbus Commons located downtown at 160 South High St. for the event. This will be Obama’s second time in Columbus since he kicked off his re-election campaign in the Schottenstein Center in May. He also spoke at Capital University Aug. 21 to a crowd of about 3,300 focusing mainly on student loan debt and the important of education. But before he spoke at Capital, he swung by OSU’s campus for lunch at Sloppy’s Diner at the Ohio Union. Obama has previously commented on the importance of youth votes in the upcoming November election. Obama said in response to a
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Students were evacuated from South Campus dorms Sunday night after a water main break flooded the basement of Park-Stradley Hall. “Right before this happened, we were looking at Park-Stradley, and all the lights went out. There was a really loud, kinda like a hum, and then everything came back on, then the sirens just started,” said Tom McKinney, a chemical engineering major living in Baker West. Park-Stradley Hall, Baker Hall East and West, and the Ohio Union were evacuated as a result of the breakage. Taylor Stepp, Undergraduate Student Government president, said he was inside the Union when it was evacuated. “We were in the USG office having a meeting,
and a security officer walked into the building and told us that they’re evacuating the building,” Stepp said. “We just looked at him and he said, ‘It’s not a joke, I’m serious.’ We all left and found out that there was a water leak, and that it’s a state law that a building of that size needs to be evacuated when there is a water leak.” Dave Isaacs, communications and media relations manager of Student Life, said the Ohio Union was closed at 9 p.m. due to a water main break. He also said the Union will be closed until further notice, at 10 p.m. Sunday. The Columbus Division of Fire received an alarm at 7:52 p.m. that there was a fire alarm at Park-Stradley. “It’s a major water leak, and it started filling up the basement. And it’s also filling up all the tunnels, so it’s a pretty major leak under there,” said Jim Cannell, deputy chief of Columbus Fire. Jim Lynch, university spokesman, said in an email to The Lantern that OSU discovered “an
underground water line break” at about 8:30 p.m. “While crews have isolated the water-line break, approximately 2,000 students have been moved to RPAC as crews continue to assess the situation. The university is working to return the students to their residence halls as soon as possible.” “We’re evacuated, and we gotta find paces to sleep tonight, or go to the RPAC,” said Matthew Green, a sustainable plant systems major. “We have no idea when we’ll be able to go back.” Andrew Holleran contributed to this article.
TURN TO A3 FOR A PHOTO FROM THE SCENE
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