Wednesday January 9, 2013 year: 133 No. 3
the student voice of
The Ohio State University
www.thelantern.com
thelantern CABS expands services on weekend nights
sports
michael burwell Senior Lantern reporter burwell.37@osu.edu
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Traveling in the campus area on the weekends could soon be more accessible for some students with the help of a new $20,000 Undergraduate Student Government funded pilot project. Starting Friday, the East Residential route of the Campus Area Bus Service will extend its Friday night hours to 2 a.m., two hours later than the previous midnight cutoff. CABS will also add hours of operation Saturday night from 8 p.m. until 2 a.m., a day it didn’t previously run at all. There will be one bus driving the route for the extended hours, with a 30-minute frequency. The East Residential route, which includes Summit Street and 4th Street east of High Street, as well as 17th and 19th avenues on campus, will not change during the extended hours. The extended hours pilot program will last the entire semester, said USG President Taylor Stepp. He also said there will be a Student Safety Service representative from Ohio State Police on the bus during the extended hours as well. The estimated cost to add the hours of operation will be about $800 per weekend, said Lindsay Komlanc, spokeswoman for Administration
and Planning in an email. USG will pay up to $20,000 of the additional costs, which will go toward drivers, student safety representatives and other expenses such as fuel and bus maintenance. Stepp said the two main points of the pilot program are to continue improving student safety and provide convenience to students traveling at night. “To offer a service extension like this is not only big for students, but really great for the university’s peace of mind about our students traveling in the off-campus community,� Stepp said. Niraj Antani, USG’s senior counselor, said student safety was an important factor for the additional hours.v “I think it’s huge when it comes to safety. The way to make kids safer is to keep them off the streets,� said Antani, who played an integral role in forming the program. “This way they can ride the bus instead and be dropped off a lot closer to home instead of trekking through off campus.� The agreement to add hours was made over winter break, Stepp said, but the program has been in the works for several months. “From Transportation and Traffic Management, when USG approached us with this initiative, we were definitely interested in being able
East Residential Route Extended Hours
Bus Routes
Friday until 2 a.m. Saturday until 2 a.m.
Photos courtesy of MCT and Ohio State to partner with them to try this pilot program to evaluate it,� Komlanc said. Some students said they are supportive of the decision. Ryan Hopkins, a second-year in business, said he would use the extended service. “Obviously there have been some accidents and stuff that have happened late at night, so I think it will help people to get where they need to go, and it’s a safer way of transportation,� Hopkins said. Dani Rand, a third-year in animal
KAYLA ZAMARY / Design editor
science, said the change will make her feel safer when she’s on campus studying late. “Those of us who study really late are going to be a lot happier that the bus runs late,� she said. “I utilize it every day, and the fact that it’s going to have longer hours benefits me more.� However, others said it could lead to problems.
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Snow days a rarity for OSU’s main campus caroline keyes Lantern reporter keyes.64@osu.edu
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campus
Students get meal plan refund
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weather high 48 low 29
For many students, each snowfall brings the hope for a day to be called off from school, but at Ohio State, snow days have proved unlikely occasions. Over the last three decades, OSU has only called off seven full days of school due to severe weather. “The university takes very seriously its obligation to provide the full measure of instruction to tuitionpaying students, so for that reason we try to remain open,� said OSU spokeswoman Amy Murray. The last official full-day class cancellation at OSU was Feb. 16, 2010. While students at OSU might be subject to more snowfall than some other universities, it is still a rare event for a snow day to occur. “In the last 32 years, the Columbus campus has closed seven times for an entire day,� Murray said. “That’s not a lot, and that goes back to the Blizzard of ’78.� There’s a process involved with deciding whether to cancel classes due to excess snow or ice. To secure a snow day, several OSU departments, administrators and officials collaborate, and President
daniel chi / Asst. photo editor
OSU’s Oval coated in a blanket of snow on Jan. 6, the day before Spring Semester classes began. E. Gordon Gee makes the final decision. Some departments involved on the administrative team that assesses snow day factors include Emergency Management, University Police, Facilities Operations and Development, Student Life and Transportation and Traffic Management. Murray said administrative members take into account several
New product gives shots some extra flavor
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variables when analyzing the impact of weather on campus life, including if roads, parking lots and sidewalks are clear. Other factors include whether buildings are and can be kept warm, as well as if the weather actually poses dangerous risks to students. Lauren Bedal, a third-year in dance from Chicago, said safety should be one of the most important factors in determining snow days, but has never
felt unsafe on campus during severe winter weather. “Being from Chicago, the amount of snow we get here is really not that much from what I’ve had before,â€? Bedal said. According to OSU policy, administrators will attempt to decide on a snow day by 5 a.m., and if one is called, there will be efforts to notify students through email, web announcements or the media shortly after. Murray said that even when a snow day is called, some university offices remain open. “We also have the Ohio State University (Wexner) Medical Center, and it never closes,â€? Murray said. There are also “essential personnelâ€? who, according to policy, are described as “one whose presence is required regardless ‌ of the canceling of classes, and whose absence from duty could endanger the safety and well-being of the campus population.â€? Cara Watkins, a second-year in education, said she thinks OSU has done a good job of keeping students safe from winter weather but said a snow day would be exciting. “I think it’d be nice to have classes canceled ‌ and to be able to go hang out with friends or catch up on homework,â€? Watkins said.
pam harasyn Lantern reporter harasyn.1@osu.edu
showers showers cloudy showers Courtesy of Glenn Hettinger
www.weather.com
Shot Dropz, which debuted in Columbus last June could be coming to local stores this semester.
The taste of a margarita might be great, but a blender, ice and salt don’t exactly fit in your pocket. Or maybe the Lemon Drop shot is delightful but not the assembly-required aspect and step-by-step process of the drink. Enter: Shot Dropz. “Shot Dropz was designed for ease of travel,� said founder Glenn Hettinger. “It’s a small pack, you can throw a few in your purse or your suitcase.� Hettinger said the idea for Shot Dropz came to him while on a cruise in September 2011. Plagued by the price markup of mixers and liquor on the ship, he imagined a one-serving, travel-sized solution that could be mixed with alcohols like rum, tequila and vodka.
“It’s still expensive for the booze, but then when you start adding cans of coke and things like that to mix ‌ just cans are like $1.95,â€? Hettinger said. “I had the idea and had never heard of a shot flavoring ‌ We said, ‘Hm, maybe we’re on to something.’â€? Four months later the product was born, and it could be coming to Columbus-area stores soon. Each packet contains a 0.5 oz. flavor shot that can be added to any alcohol. With about 10-15 calories per packet, the alcohol-free addition adds a sweet, “candy-likeâ€? flavor that doesn’t overpower a typical 1 oz. shot of liquor. “Like the Lemon Drop, we wanted it to be like the lemon drop candy,â€? Hettinger said. “It has that coating on it that makes it sour at first, but then you get the heat of the vodka, and then in the end you get that sweetness that lingers.â€?
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