May 23, 2011

Monday May 23, 2011 year: 131 No. 73 the student voice of

The Ohio State University

www.thelantern.com

thelantern OSU group chews out Sodexo

arts & life

Students hope OSU will be next to end contract with the food services company GORDON GANTT Lantern reporter gantt.26@osu.edu

‘Nothin’ on’ B.o.B.

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B.o.B. performed at Newport Music Hall Saturday for the Buckeye Benefit Concert as part of ‘Big Three Weekend.’

sports

Matched up

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campus

Ride for global health stops in Columbus

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OSU hosts national flight contest

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weather high 84 low 67 scattered strong storms

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College, offices to implement voluntary separation plan

elections,” Marchese said. “Those are not the issues students are concerned about. We’re concerned about racism, sexism and sexual harassment” The National Labor Relations Board is pursuing charges against Sodexo for anti-union activity. USAS has accused the company, which employs 120,000 in the U.S., of creating a racist and sexist work environment and paying full-time employees so little they are forced to go on food stamps. OSU has tried to wash its hands of the alleged problems, Marchese said. He contends that OSU has benefited from Sodexo’s abuses. “The facts are there are 130 workers on our campus bringing in $10 million every year and half of that gets kicked back to Ohio State,” Marchese said. “So, I think it’s ridiculous for the university to say these workers aren’t our problem when they’re making them $5 million every year.” OSU’s contract with Sodexo, which was signed

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ChittShow chaos a no-show Police were out in force, patrolling Chittenden Avenue Saturday night as hundreds of Ohio State students attended the ChittShow block party. The previous weekend, several houses organized Woodfest ’11, a block party that spilled into the street, blocking traffic on East Woodruff Avenue between High Street and Indianola Avenue. Columbus police dispersed the Woodfest crowd at about midnight with the use of pepper spray, and three students were arrested, two from OSU and one from Columbus State Community College.

AMANDA CAHOON Lantern reporter cahoon.6@osu.edu

The No. 4-seeded OSU men’s tennis team beat No. 5-seed Baylor Saturday to advance to the semifinals.

campus

Critics of the food and facilities management company, Sodexo, Inc., said they hope the recent decision of Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash., to end its food services contract with the company will pressure Ohio State to do the same. “We’re naturally disappointed that Western Washington University decided to go with another company,” said Monica Zimmer, public relations director for Sodexo. Sodexo, Inc., provided food services for WWU for the past 50 years but lost its contract with the university last Tuesday. Sodexo has taken criticism for alleged violations of workers‘ rights. United Students Against Sweatshops has been one of the chief critics of Sodexo. The student

organization supports a variety of workers’ rights issues but has been particularly vocal about Sodexo because it holds contracts with universities around the country, including OSU. “It is important to remember that the university is not directly involved in this matter,” OSU spokesman Jim Lynch said in a May 18 email to The Lantern regarding the complaints against Sodexo. “We continue to maintain that every employer is entitled to its own views on unionization and employee relations, just as every employee is entitled to vote on representation; we should not infringe on the rights of either party.” Ryan Marchese, a fourth-year in international studies and president of USAS at OSU, said the university is trying to change the subject by making the issue about unionization. “Every time we ask our administration about the issues we’re hearing about on our own campus — issues like racism, sexism, sexual harassment — they try and change the topic to unions and

78/60 scattered t-storms 77/66 scattered t-storms 72/62 scattered t-storms 71/60 t-showers

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One of Ohio State’s colleges and two offices have decided to implement an incentive plan that could provide monetary compensation to faculty and staff who choose to leave the university. Ashleigh Hohenbrink, a fifth-year in human resources and psychology and president of the Human Resources Association, said incentive plans can boost morale and increase productivity. “It should be offered from an organization looking to let (employees) go, but not for poor performance,” Hohenbrink said. “Incentive plans should motivate employees to perform well.” In February, The Lantern reported that the Board of Trustees backed a Voluntary Separation Incentive Program that had two parts to it: a lump-sum separation incentive, which pays an employee a portion of their salary in one payment for leaving the university, and a phased retirement. The number of colleges and departments that would decide to use the plan was unknown. Since then, the College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences is using the separation incentive plan, officials from the Office of Human Resources said in an email. If a member of the college’s faculty and staff is approved for the plan, he will receive one cash payment for the separation, said Suzanne Steel, The College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences spokeswoman. The lump-sum is equivalent to nine months of the worker’s base salary, up to $75,000. No other colleges are using VSIP right now, said Julie Snyder, senior director of the Office of Human Resources. “There was no expectation that a VP or dean needed to use it at this time,” Snyder said. “The rest of the colleges are proceeding business as usual.”

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JEFF BARNETT / For The Lantern

Thefts strike chord with School of Music SARAH STEMEN Senior Lantern reporter stemen.66@osu.edu A recent string of thefts in the Ohio State School of Music has left students with a heightened awareness of their personal belongings. Two thefts of backpacks within the last three months occurred in Weigel Hall, one of the School of Music’s two buildings located off of High Street. Jennifer Cross, a first-year in music education and French horn player, said she is much more alert with her instrument and her belongings now. “I definitely am aware of the recent thefts,” Cross said. “I used to leave my equipment outside in the hall during band, but now I will keep it with me in the auditorium at all times.” Adam DeAscentis, a second-year in jazz studies, said he did not hear about the specific thefts. “We actually get emails all the time from the School of Music,” DeAscentis said. “We hear about thefts all the time within the school, but I didn’t know any of them had happened recently.” Richard Blatti, director of the School of Music, sent an email to students on May 5 describing the latest theft and warning them to be wary of their surroundings. Blatti said the School of Music is now in “airport mode,” meaning an increase in security and awareness on behalf of all faculty and students. “We are all going to have to be in ‘airport mode’ where personal belongings are concerned,” Blatti said in the email. “None out of sight at any time for any reason.”

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We are all going to have to be in ‘airport mode’ where personal belongings are concerned. None out of sight at any time for any reason. Richard Blatti Director of the School of Music

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Deputy Chief Richard Morman of OSU Police confirmed the two thefts. Morman said the two thefts occurred on May 5 and March 15 in Weigel. Nathan Blackwell, the most recent victim and a third-year in performance and Japanese, reportedly lost his backpack and its contents when he left it unattended in a room in Weigel Hall. “This kind of thing is bad of course, but I have personally experienced worse on this campus. I was mugged and kidnapped in October of 2009,” Blackwell said. “In comparison, this bag thing is just a minor inconvenience.” Blackwell said he left the bag containing his MacBook unattended in a closed room, partially concealed under his desk for about four minutes. “I went to the bathroom and just didn’t think about locking up my backpack or taking it with me,” Blackwell said. “It was gone when I returned.”

Christopher Ott, the victim of the March theft and an OSU student in jazz studies, lost his backpack and its contents when it was taken out of a room in Weigel Hall between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m March 15. The backpack contained Ott’s computer and iPod, Morman said. Ott did not respond to The Lantern’s emails. Blatti said it is hard to say how students will react to the thefts. “I think that being musicians, we form a family,” Blatti said. “So we look out for one another. I don’t think the students are necessarily scared, just more aware that something could happen.” Blatti said he encourages students to be “more protective and more pre-emptive” to prevent theft within the School of Music. “With us so near High Street and with the high traffic in our buildings, we simply cannot trust anyone at this point,” Blatti said. “What is disturbing is you have all kinds of people around on such a large university, and they see easy targets in students.” Morman said students should not be alarmed by the thefts, but should simply take caution. “It’s nothing to be scared of because things like this happen all over campus,” he said. “But students should definitely be watching their stuff and not leaving it unattended.” Blatti said to pay special attention to “messenger bags, laptops, instruments and backpacks.” “We just had two very similar thefts, maybe

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