Monday April 8, 2013 year: 133 No. 50
the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern Arrests down at ‘Woodfest,’ ‘ChittShow’
sports
mJ dorony Lantern reporter dorony.4@osu.edu
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decade of dominance
The OSU men’s tennis team hasn’t lost a home match in more than 10 years.
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In what are often deemed as chaotic block parties, “Woodfest” and “ChittShow” were coupled with higher safety and a lower number of arrests compared to the past two years. Commander Chris Bowling of the Columbus Division of Police said Sunday afternoon that the department is still calculating the number of arrests but knows the number is low compared to the previous two years that the parties on Woodruff and Chittenden avenues took place. Three people were arrested in May 2011 during Woodfest and three people were arrested at Chittshow. In 2012, The Lantern reported two people were arrested at Woodfest and one person was arrested at ChittShow. The 2012 arrests included one OSU student. Bowling said, to his knowledge, there was one use of pepper spray and no use of MK-9 Fogger, a more powerful pepper spray officers were equipped with on Friday and Saturday nights. Pepper spray has been used in the past to control crowds at OSU-area block parties. “Not that many arrests were needed. There were a few, but most were cooperative. We never needed to use our spray and we never had to throw any gas and overall shape or form to force the crowd to disperse. When the time came, people listened,” Bowling said. Of the two parties, Bowling said ChittShow on Saturday night was a lot busier than Woodfest on Friday night. “ChittShow was busy … I’d say there were twice as many people compared to the night before at Woodfest.
tim kubick / For The Lantern
osu partygoers and others attend chittshow on chittenden avenue april 6. Chittenden (Avenue) has a lot more yard space (compared to Woodruff Avenue), so things got pretty packed around midnight,” Bowling said. Nick Klacik, a fourth-year in finance, lives on Chittenden and had people over during the day Saturday but went to other spots once the street got busy. “I’ve lived here the past couple years and this year it was a little more quiet but still a lot of fun,” Klacik said. “It was much bigger than Woodfest.” Klacik said there was a little more spontaneity involved in this year’s ChittShow, leading to fewer people. Jennifer Villaflor, a fourth-year in human development and family science, lives on Woodruff and did not
Shooting threat prompts public safety notice ally marotti Editor-in-chief marotti.5@osu.edu
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shaking up shakespeare
Off the Lake Productions performed ‘All Shook Up’ at Hitchcock Hall over the weekend.
campus
Board of Trustees meet
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weather high 71 low 59
Ohio State University Police issued a public safety notice Sunday at about 7:30 p.m. for a “potential threat of shooting or explosive violence focused on a ‘cafeteria’ or other unspecified area of campus on Monday.” “We received this late (Saturday) night, and we’ve been investigating ever since,” said Deputy Chief Richard Morman of University Police Sunday evening. “Looks like it came over a proxy server that came into a website.” The threat originated in a chat site. “The person in there chatting mentioned the desire to place explosives around campus, now they didn’t say where,” Morman said, although the threat was focused on a “cafeteria.” Morman made the point that “cafeteria” was an unusual word to use to describe campus dining facilities, and besides that description, location of the threat was not specified. “That’s their word, ‘cafeteria,’ and it’s not a word that’s usually used around campus,” Morman said. “We will definitely have an increased presence in areas around campus tomorrow.” There will be an increased police presence around campus dining facilities Monday, and federal, state and local law enforcement agencies will aid University Police in these extra security measures. The notice comes four days after University Police issued a notice for a similar concern.
open her house for a party like many others on her street did because her landlord has a “no-party clause.” “I went to my friend’s house down the street. I think there was about half the crowd (compared to) last year. I think it was a lot less organized this year,” Villaflor said. Bowling said it did not seem like much was going to get going on Woodruff early in the night. “Woodfest wasn’t that big of a deal. We weren’t even sure it was going to get going for a while. Then about midnight the crowd started increasing and it picked up and lasted for about an hour,” Bowling said. “The only downside to (Friday night) is Woodfest has smaller yards so we had to really patrol people blocking the sidewalk.” Valeri Wolf, a third-year in biology, said she had some close friends over to her house on Chittenden and thought the police were a bit over the top with controlling traffic. “I think they were trying to intimidate a little with the flashlights and screaming at people a bit, but things were pretty organized so they did a good job,” Wolf said. Bowling said it was relatively uneventful. “We’re pretty aggressive in staying on top of it because we couldn’t afford for it to get out of control,” Bowling said. Wolf, Villaflor and Klacik said the block parties seemed to be less populated this year compared to the last two years, but they all were able to enjoy their time, especially since there was no pepper spray involved. “I talked to OSU officials and some of them were amazed at how things got cleared up the way they did,” Bowling said. “I have to thank everybody. When we finally had to move everybody, for the most part people were orderly and things moved along well.”
Crowd gathers for Student Appreciation Day an osu student kicks a field goal at the student appreciation day practice at the woody hayes athletic center april 6.
“Ohio State University Police have been investigating postings to fantasy, role-player game sites which referenced a potential public safety threat of a shooting at OSU,” University Police Chief Paul Denton told The Lantern Wednesday. The area of concern for that threat was also an unspecified cafeteria. OSU community members received that public safety notice Wednesday just before noon. Security was increased in cafeterias around campus. University Police are unsure if this threat is related to Wednesday’s, but they will continue to “aggressively investigate,” according to the notice. “We can’t say without a doubt it was the same person,” Morman said. “There are some similarities.” Morman said in this case, the threat came in only one chat. Last week, however, the threat was found in “several different” places online. Denton said Wednesday that University Police received information Tuesday about potential threats being made across multiple fantasy game websites, and “immediately initiated an investigation.” He said it was initially unclear whether threats toward “OSU” referenced Ohio State, until receiving more information Tuesday “just before midnight” from a chat room moderator on one of those websites. “We felt it important to notify the university community to heighten awareness and to stress the importance of ‘if you see something, say something,’ and report suspicious activities or individuals to the appropriate authorities,” Denton said Wednesday.
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Parking privatization hits bumps in year 1
few t-storms
kaydee laney Lantern reporter laney.26@osu.edu
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tim kubick / For The Lantern
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isolated t-storms
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showers daniel chi / Asst. photo editor
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osu leased its parking operations on campus to Qic Global infrastructure in a $483 million, 50-year deal.
The parking privatization on Ohio State’s campus has been described as smooth by some university officials, however the first academic year under the transition hasn’t gone off without a hitch. A deteriorating garage, slower garage entering and exiting, the possibility of higher parking rates and complaints from drivers have plagued CampusParc, which handles the day-to-day operations of university parking. The transition is the result of the Board
of Trustees’ decision to lease OSU’s parking operations to QIC Global Infrastructure last June for a 50-year contract. The $483 million deal with the Australiabased investment company gave it control over operations of campus parking garages, lots and permit sales. CampusParc began managing the day-to-day parking systems in September, and many updates on technology and infrastructure have been planned and carried out since then. But some at CampusParc feel the campus community misunderstands what responsibilities are within their control.
continued as Parking on 3A
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