Thursday October 11, 2012 year: 132 No. 114
the student voice of
The Ohio State University
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thelantern USG to bus students to major Ohio cities
sports
michael burwell Lantern reporter burwell.37@osu.edu
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Students will be able to travel to Ohio’s biggest cities for free with the Undergraduate Student Government’s creation of Buckeye Roadtrip, a busing service which will bring undergraduate students to and from Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toledo. “This was a fun project for us,” Stepp said. “A lot of the things we do in USG are town halls or related to academics, but this was a fun one for everyone.” Stepp said Buckeye Roadtrip is a free service for students as of right now, and the nearly $4,000 tab for the
first set of weekend trips is being paid for by USG. “We’re really glad to finally officially bring this program,” Stepp said. “There was a lot of work put into it over the summer, but I’m glad to have finally gotten it done and we’re excited about it.” The first opportunity for students to use Buckeye Roadtrip will be Veterans’ Day weekend, Stepp said. Buses will leave from the south side of the Ohio Union on Nov. 9 at 5 p.m., and buses will leave for OSU on Nov. 12 at 4 p.m. Stepp said the first booked trip for Veterans’ Day weekend will cost $3,930, which comes from USG’s portion of the student activity fee,
This is definitely one of those programs where we weigh the risks and benefits of expending some of our dollars on this and say the potential benefit for this far outweighs the amount of money we’re going to be spending on this program. Taylor Stepp USG president on the cost of transporting students. funded by a $37.50 per undergraduate student charge each semester. However, he said the cost is “surprisingly” about $6,000 under-budget. “On the cost component of this, this is definitely one of those programs where we weigh the risks and benefits of expending some of our dollars on this and say the potential benefit for this far
outweighs the amount of money we’re going to be spending on this program,” Stepp said. Three separate Ohio State charter buses, one for each city, will bring students to the respective cities Friday afternoon and will bring
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At the crossroads
OSU is scheduled to take on the Indiana Hoosiers Saturday at 8 p.m.
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Candidates not ‘specific’ on tax cut plans kristen mitchell Campus editor mitchell.935@osu.edu This is the eighth story of an 11-article series leading up to the Nov. 6 presidential election that will break down the issues dominating political debates. Check back next Thursday for our segment on immigration.
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‘Dance Moms’ 2.0
‘Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition’ is scheduled to air 9 p.m. Tuesdays on Lifetime.
campus
Review of Hollywood Casino
Regardless of political affiliation, many Americans can agree that they don’t want to pay higher taxes. Promising not to raise taxes is a broad, favorable argumentative tool used by candidates during election season to win voters and attempt to alienate their opponent, but one Ohio State professor said it’s not up to them anyway. In a speech to 15,000 on OSU’s campus Tuesday, President Barack Obama used the words “tax,” “taxes” and “taxpayer” 21 times in his roughly 20 minute address according to a transcript from the Office of the White House Press Secretary. In his remarks, Obama criticized Republican presidential candidate Mitt
Romney for his $5 trillion tax cut plan that Obama said “favors the wealthiest Americans” and caters to the “top 1 percent.” However, at a campaign event Wednesday in Mount Vernon, Ohio, Romney promised not to raise any taxes if elected president. “I will not raise taxes on small business, I won’t raise taxes on business, I won’t raise taxes on middle income people — I won’t raise taxes at all on the American people,” Romney told the crowd. Obama told the crowd Romney’s plan to cut the nearly $16 trillion national debt would be impossible if enacted. “Gov. Romney’s tax plan either means blowing up the deficit or raising taxes on middle-class families — one or the other, pick your poison,” he said. In response to his comments about Romney’s plan, Obama said Tuesday the U.S. needs to stop subsidizing tax cuts to oil companies and stop rewarding tax breaks to companies that outsource jobs. Obama has signed off on 18 tax cuts on small businesses over the last four years, and about 160 million American workers are paying a reduced payroll
sarah niekamp Lantern reporter niekamp.37@osu.edu
weather Andrew Holleran / Photo editor
The Ohio State Marching Band performs during a football game against Nebraska Oct. 8. OSU won. 63-38.
‘Instrumental’ Waters named band director
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tax. Middle-class American families have seen tax reductions that average $3,600 over the past four years, according to data from the White House. Obama has urged Congress to extend President George W. Bush-era tax cuts including one for families on their first $250,000 of taxable income. Romney has been calling for a 20 percent reduction in all tax brackets from Bush-era rates. This would reduce the tax rate by 2 percent for those who pay
a bottom-bracket rate and reduce the top-bracket rate by 7 percent. According to Romney’s campaign website, he plans to make across-theboard tax cuts by 20 percent “in marginal rates” and “Eliminate taxes for taxpayers with AGI (adjusted gross income) below $200,000 on interest, dividends and capital gains.”
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No fall break puts strain on students
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Andrew Holleran / Photo editor
(Left) President Barack Obama speaks at the Oval on OSU’s campus Tuesday. (Right) Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks in Powell Aug. 25.
Caitlin Essig and John wernecke Asst. arts editor and Asst. multimedia editor essig.21@osu.edu and wernecke.5@ osu.edu Jon Waters had the interim dropped from his title when he was officially named the Ohio State Marching Band’s director Wednesday afternoon. News of Waters’ promotion comes
just days after the video of the band’s halftime show from the Buckeyes’ Saturday game against Nebraska went viral. A video of OSUMB’s show, a tribute to video games, had more than 7 million views on Youtube as of Wednesday. “Personally I’m just very surprised that this has gained the legs it has with all the media around the world,” Waters told The Lantern Tuesday.
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Halfway through the semester, some Ohio State students are beginning to feel the effects of the longer term and greater stretches between breaks. Unlike many universities on semesters, OSU doesn’t have a fall break, and some students have been questioning why. Students at schools such as the University of Dayton, Bowling Green State University and the University of Toledo have a fall break in October. Both the University of Dayton and BGSU were on break last weekend with no class scheduled on Oct. 4 or 5. Some OSU students thought the semester switch would bring a fall break, but they soon found out that wasn’t the case. “That (fall break) is the one thing I was looking forward to,” said Robert Rice, a second-year in
science and technology exploration. “I was a little mad when I realized we didn’t get a fall break at all.” Since a day off classes on Sept. 3 for Labor Day, OSU has held regularly scheduled classes without any days off. The next day students have off from class is Veterans’ Day on Nov. 9. Because of the longer period of classes and different calendar than previous years, Wayne Carlson, dean of undergraduate education, said OSU had to find a way to fit 70 days of classes into the schedule. “We have to fit 70 days of classes from Point A to Point B,” Carlson said. Carlson said that with the addition of a Reading Day, a day set aside by some universities to study for final exams, between the end of regularly scheduled classes and the start of finals week, and the extension during Thanksgiving break, there was no place for a fall break. “Student Life also wanted to
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