Ohio State’s largest recorded donation, statehouse protests and Tattoo-gate headlined Winter Quarter.

OSU students complained about braving the slush and snow, while other students decided to stay inside and hibernate. If students chose the latter, or didn’t want to take their hands out of their warm pockets to pick up a newspaper, they missed some exciting events:

OSU, Wexner announce $100M donation

Leslie Wexner and the Limited Brands Foundation announced a donation of $100 million to OSU on Feb. 16. This donation was the largest-recorded philanthropic gift in OSU history.

During the announcement, Wexner spoke about how much the university meant to him as an alumnus, and said “But for Ohio State” he wouldn’t be where he is today. OSU students have displayed the phrase throughout campus and even on T-shirts, showing their gratitude to Wexner.

“The way I think about it, it probably began about 35 years ago,” Wexner said. “But for Ohio State, I wouldn’t have gone to college. It was an important institution in my life.”

Wexner is the chairman and CEO of Limited Brands Inc., a 1959 OSU alumnus and a Board of Trustees chair for OSU.

Shelly Hoffman, assistant vice president for media relations, said Wexner’s gift will be dispersed across a nine-year period. The donation is scheduled to be completed in 2029, with $20 million being donated this year.

Hoffman said $65 million of the total $100 million is a personal gift from Wexner and his wife, Abigail. The remaining $35 million is a gift from the Limited Brands Foundation to the university.

Suspected robber flees High Street bank, but not before showing his face

Valentine’s Day, a day of love, was thrown a twist this year with a robbery of Huntington Bank at 1928 N. High Street.

The crime was the second on-campus bank robbery in less than six months, with the U.S. Bank robbery in the Ohio Union in October.

Not only was the robber’s timing off, but he also did something else most robbers avoid — he removed his hood during the robbery.

Because of his error, he was dubbed the “wrong-order robber,” and nabbed a day later. He was identified as Patrick D. Kelley and charged for aggravated robbery.

Kasich, Ohio must make difficult decisions

Controversy erupted in the Ohio Statehouse as Senate Bill 5 was pushed through the Senate.

Hundreds of protesters voiced their strong opposition to the bill, which changes Ohio’s collective bargaining law for public employees, including teachers, police officers and firefighters. In the original version, SB 5 banned collective bargaining. After the few days of protesting, Kasich and Senate Republicans agreed to amend it. The bill now permits union negotiations for wages, hours and working conditions, but it still bans collective bargaining for benefits.

SB 5 also prohibits public employees from going on strike. Protesters flooded the Ohio Statehouse during Kasich’s State of the State address on March 8.

The bill has the potential to save the state $1.3 billion by cutting pay increases for public workers and requiring them to pay more for health insurance.

The bill passed in Ohio Senate by one vote, and the House of Representatives is considering it now.

Fire causes estimated $50,000 of damages

Fire broke out in Campus View Village Apartments in early February on OSU’s Newark campus. The fire consumed two apartments and caused significant damage in each after a cooking accident in one of the apartments.

Chase Collier, an undecided first-year at OSU Newark, said the fire originated in his apartment. Newark Fire Department Assistant Chief Bill Spurgeon said a stove was to blame for the fire.

Collier was away on a snowboarding trip when he received news of his apartment.

American Red Cross of Licking County provided $110 to each student to purchase essentials and allowed all the homeless students to stay in a hotel after keeping them in a gym for three or four hours.

The fire removed 40 students from their apartments and of those 40, 26 spent the night in a hotel. Collier said damage will displace 14 total students for a while.

Ben Stevens, a first-year in fashion retail, said he lost almost everything in his apartment because of the flames. He said everyone in the complex evacuated even before firefighters arrived.

Spurgeon estimated damages at about $50,000. The complex was uninhabitable and officials were unsure when or if the damaged apartments would be livable, Spurgeon said.

Vest undressed: Tressel suspended, fined

OSU football coach Jim Tressel was suspended for the first two games of the 2011 season because of violations of an NCAA rule, when he failed to report information involving two football players.

Tressel is also facing a $250,000 fine, a public reprimand and apology and attendance at a compliance seminar as part of OSU’s self-report to the NCAA. The report was submitted on March 8.

Athletic director Gene Smith, Tressel and President E. Gordon Gee addressed the media on March 8, when the punishments were announced.

An unnamed attorney, later identified as Christopher T. Cicero, e-mailed Tressel on April 2, 2010.

Cicero, a former OSU walk-on linebacker, informed Tressel that Edward Rife, the owner of Fine Line Ink Tattoos in Columbus, was receiving OSU football memorabilia in exchange for discounted tattoo services.

In the e-mail, Cicero said the “federal government raided (Rife’s) house” on April 1, (2010), seizing $70,000 and “a lot of Ohio State memorabilia.”

Tressel had responded saying he would take care of the issue right away.

The NCAA will conduct an investigation and can add to Tressel’s punishment.