Category: News
Drackett, Houck to close next year while 5 new buildings open
When housing contracts are made available to students this year, two familiar buildings will be replaced by four new North Campus residence halls. Drackett Tower and Houck House will temporarily close this fall when four new residence halls are scheduled to open. “Drackett is going to be closed because of renovation work on the ground and first floors,” said Dave Isaacs, spokesman for the Office of Student Life. Isaacs said the building will be closed while crews add office space and event space to the halls and complete renovations to the lobby and front desk areas. “There is fairly extensive work going to be done on Drackett, enough that it… Read more
Student leaders support Obama’s community college plan, differ on other State of the Union ideas
Ohio State College Republicans and College Democrats had mixed reactions to President Barack Obama’s proposed plans in his State of the Union address, but there was one thing they agreed on: free community college is an efficient way to fuel the economy. Obama spoke about predominantly middle-class-focused plans during his State of the Union address Tuesday night, focusing on reform in areas like taxes, education and family leave. The president proposed a $320 billion plan to raise the tax rate on couples making more than $500,000 from 23.8 percent to 28 percent. His plan also implements a higher tax rate on attaining financial inheritance, such as trust funds, and said… Read more
Fire reported on North Campus construction site
A construction vehicle caught on fire at a North Campus construction site Tuesday evening. No one was hurt, said Lt. Pete Dragonette of University Police, and the only damage was to the construction vehicle itself. The vehicle was near a building under construction, but there was no structural damage to the building, he said. The construction vehicle, a boom crane, was a “total loss,” Dragonette added. Dragonette said the police department did not have a cause of the fire yet. “The construction workers were done for the day, and the vehicle just caught on fire,” Dragonette said. Students and staff walking by saw columns of smoke and white steam as… Read more
Chipotle nixes pork in 1/3 of its locations
Many Chipotle restaurants, including the one on High Street near Ohio State’s campus, will no longer serve carnitas after the company suspended purchases from a local pork supplier when a routine audit found it did not meet Chipotle standards. An audit in the food industry can find problems that range from the way animals are housed to the record-keeping of the supplier, said Steven Moeller, a professor in OSU’s Department of Animal Sciences who works closely with the swine industry. “We have to be careful about speculating that it was anything to do with animal abuse,” Moeller said. “We sure need to be cognizant that similar to most of the… Read more
Lyft suspends Columbus operations, citing city legislation
Students who use Lyft to get around town might have to trade the car with a pink mustache for a yellow taxi cab when the app-based ride-sharing service officially suspends operations in Columbus on Monday. Lyft, a San Francisco-based company that uses a smartphone app to connect riders and drivers, announced in a January email to Columbus drivers that it would be pausing operations in Ohio’s capital city. The suspension of operations in Columbus is set to begin at noon on Monday, the email said. Mary Caroline Pruitt, a Lyft spokeswoman, said the decision was based on “unnecessarily burdensome regulations” enacted by the city of Columbus that “essentially treat Lyft… Read more
Ohio State alumnus’ hunger strike approaches its 1-year mark in an Egyptian prison
A social media campaign for an Ohio State graduate imprisoned in Egypt for more than a year is trying to push for change as Mohamed Soltan nears the 365th day of his hunger strike. Jan. 26 will mark one year since Soltan, a dual American-Egyptian citizen who graduated from OSU in 2012 with a degree in economics, began his hunger strike. The Free Soltan campaign promotes Soltan’s release on social media and an awareness website. The campaign uses the hashtags #SaveSoltan, #FreeSoltan and #DyingtoLive to promote awareness of the situation. “We’ve had a telethon, passed out informational flyers at OSU and are working to release videos to help the public… Read more
Ohio State experts say Charlie Hebdo is important to French free speech
Last week’s attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo spurred discussions of free speech across the world, and at Ohio State. A professor and an expert said while the publication’s cartoons could be offensive, they’re an important part of free speech rights and French culture. On Jan. 7, two gunmen entered Charlie Hebdo’s offices, killing 12 people, including the editor of the magazine, seven other employees and two National Police officers. The main suspects, the Kouachi brothers, were proclaimed Muslims who were allegedly offended by the magazine’s controversial cartoons that pictured the Prophet Muhammad. The two brothers and their friend were killed by police Jan. 9. Founded in 1970,… Read more
Rev. Al Sharpton calls on students to continue civil rights ‘struggle’
Civil rights figure Rev. Al Sharpton called on today’s young generation to continue the activism for civil rights and carry on “the struggle” in a dialogue and discussion event presented to Ohio State students at the Ohio Union on Wednesday night. “In this time, with these challenges, do what Dr. (Martin Luther) King (Jr.) did in his challenges,” Sharpton told The Lantern in an interview after the event. “Do what Dr. King did…and lead to real change and lead to lasting change.” The college-age generation, Sharpton added, “has come into its own and we’re counting on them to continue to the struggle.” Sharpton earlier talked on stage to Jamal Watson,… Read more
Tear gas use questioned after National Championship celebrations
Students celebrating Ohio State’s National Championship victory streamed out into the cold night air in a sea of scarlet and gray, only to be obscured minutes later by white clouds of tear gas. “We were all on the sidewalk. No one was really in the street, and we were all just cheering,” said Jacob Knock, a second-year in finance. Shortly after the College Football Playoff National Championship ended Monday night, students crowded campus — including Mirror Lake and High Street, particularly in front of the Ohio Union — to celebrate OSU’s 42-20 victory over Oregon. Officers from the Columbus Division of Police and a SWAT team wore gas masks and… Read more
