Post (Athens, Ohio) February 9 2007

              the post Healing hands PAGE 8 Trainers provide healing, support FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9,2007 INSIDE "CITY Repairs delayed at dam State officials recommended structural repairs at Stroud's Run's Dow Lake Dam more than five years ago, but those repairs have not yet happened. See page 3 ■ATHENS 360 Cut the fat The Post gives some of its own suggestions to help fix the budget deficit, starting with administrator pay. See page 2 Slow to move Columnists Matt Mossman and Doug Cloud debate how effective the Democrats have been since they took over Congress. See page 2 » NATION Anna Nicole Smith dies The former Playboy playmate died yesterday from yet-to-be determined causes. See page 3 Ticket to ride? Some Republicans are protesting the request of democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to use an Air Force plane to fly to her hometown of San Francisco. See page 3 ■ SPORTS Bobcats fall to Rockets The Ohio women's basketball team dropped a 53-52 heartbreaker to Toledo last night, making it 20 years since it won in Toledo's Savage Hall. See page 8 Tough stretch lies ahead The Ohio wrestling team will square off with strong competition this weekend as it travels to West Virginia and No. 25 Kent State. See page 6 • WEATHER Today Tomorrow 2679° 24710° OU to absorb post-season costs Katie Carrera | SPORTS EDITOR kc207604@ohiou.edu The Ohio football team's first trip to a bowl game in 38 years wasn't planned, nor was it budgeted for. After reimbursement payments from the Mid-American Conference and ticket revenue are factored in, Ohio University will pick up the remaining $277,550 tab from the Bobcats' appearance in the MAC Championship and GMAC Bowl, paying for it out of institutional general reserves, said William Decatur, vice president for finance and administration. "It's one-time money," he explained, adding that the same reserves were used to comply with the minimum wage increase. "It's an opportunity that wasn't anticipated or budgeted for in the athletic department, but certainly something the university is proud of and, there was no question about us attending those games." For winning the MAC East Division, coach Frank Solich received the 5 percent bonus $12,484 stipulated in his contract, which will come out of the athletic department's salary budget, said Kirby Hocutt, director of athletics. Solich's base salary is $249,672. There are no contractual bonuses for assistant football coaches, but Hocutt said the athletic department received private donations amounting in $40,000 that is being used "to reward our football coaches for a great season." Ohio's participation in the MAC Championship game in Detroit on Nov. 30, for which the conference doesn't offer any reimbursement, makes up $95,000 of that total. That includes travel and lodging costs, along with the expense of housing the team while they practiced in Athens during winter break. Total expenses to send the football team and its staff, cheerleaders, dance team and university officials to Mobile, Ala., for the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 7 came to $531,105. That number includes transportation ($237,644) and meals and lodging per diem ($198,001) for all 261 people who participated in the weeklong bowl-game festivities. Some other GMAC Bowl expenses include entertainment ($7,124), equipment and supplies ($26,671), awards ($37,223) and promotion FRIDAY FOCUS 'TWEEN takeover New pre-teen culture emerges Gina Beach | FOR THE POST rb165405@ohiou.edu Call them adolescents, call them middle-schoolers or call them 'tweens no matter the title, the crop of 9 to twelve-year-olds is just as self-conscious and awkward as ever. But what sets them apart from other generations is how tech-savy, tuned-in and trendy they are. 'Tweens are in between childhood and young adulthood meaning acne, training bras, crushes, first kisses, growth spurts and the first sprouts of facial hair that generally define the middle school experience. On the emotional level, "they're capable of good conversation and deep thought one minute and acting like kindergartners the next," said Betsy Anderson, an Athens Middle School teacher. Überconnected Last Friday as the weather worsened, Athens Middle School was released early. To avoid a long line for the main office phone, a class was asked if anyone had a cell phone to call home. Only one student had to borrow a phone. College-age students matured as cell phones gradually became the norm and saw the explosion of blogs and instant messenger. Today's 'tweens have grown up in a world already technologically established, never knowing a time without mobile devices and e-mail. 'Tu/cru I WKtU Definition: A youngster between 10 and 12 years of age, considered too old to be a child and too young to be a teenager Etymology: a blend of teen and between Source: dictionary.com u/ycu yyc uur&c wntrt f»t- fwcriL i ¥¥ EXP? a~. 1996: ■Beanie Baby craze kicks off ■"Macarena" is No. 1 song for 14 weeks ■Tickle Me Elmo is released mCrocodile Hunterfnsi airs on TV ■DVDs first hit market ■Nintendo 64 is the new game console ■Pop-Up Video airs first episode Susie Shutts I ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Krista Smith, 12, a sixth grader at Alexander Middle School, got a cell phone for her birthday in November. Smith says she uses it to call and text her friends. She also enjoys playing Sims and Whyville on the computer. Renovation plan links Baker, R-TV Laura Bernheim | STAFF WRITER lb175804@ohiou.edu When Ohio University's Scripps College of Communication connects the former Baker University Center with the Radio-Television Building, it will also join five schools scattered across nine buildings. Greg Shepherd, dean of the Scripps College of Communication, unveiled the college's plans for the empty former Baker University Center building Feb. 6. The college, housed in the Radio-Television Building, will expand into the former Baker University Center to centralize its operations. The five-school college, which is spread among nine buildings, will retain E.W. Scripps Hall and Sing Tao House. The Collaborative, an architectural firm based in Toledo, submitted conceptual drawings that involve renovating a portion of the former Baker University Center, refurbishing the Radio- Television Building and removing a part of old Baker to construct a new section that will connect the two buildings. "The whole front (of Baker) will be salvaged," Shepherd said. "We're going to keep the pretty parts of Baker and more or less gut the insides." Shepherd met with the College of Communication faculty and staff Feb. 6 and will set up meetings with the separate schools before giving presentations to the public Spring Quarter. Shepherd said the next step in the process will be to determine how the estimated $34.4 million project will be funded. "Currently we have $2l million in capital appropriations, which could still go up or down," he said. "The question is where does the other $l3 million come from?" t Unlike the new Baker, no student general fee money will be used for the project. The money likely will come from private fundraising or stateissued bonds, Shepherd said. The money also won't come from the $l5 million Scripps Howard Foundation endowment Fall Quarter, which was specified solely for programming. Scripps made it clear that the university should "step up and provide the facilities to match the excellence of the program," Shepherd said in October. OU, Athens see increase in parking tickets, revenues collected Elyse Ball | FOR THE POST eb105303@ohiou.edu Ohio University Transportation and Parking Services collected nearly $1 million in parking fees and fines in 2005, while the Athens Police Department brought in $564,000 from parking in 2006. OU employees wrote almost 36,000 tickets and collected more than $564,000 in parking fines in 2005, according to their annual report. The office also collected almost $345,000 from student parking permits and more than $83,000 from parking meters, for a total of $992,000. The 2006 statistics have not yet been released. APD issued 38,449 parking tickets in 2006, collecting more than $391,000 in parking fines, according to recently released statistics. APD also collected an additional $173,000 from parking meters. Athens parking fines range from $5 for minor citations, such as parking at an expired meter, to a state-mandated $250 fine for parking in a handicapped spot without a permit, APD Capt. Tom Pyle said. Pyle said ticket revenues for 2006 were a 16 percent increase from the previous year, an increase of about $51,000 in revenue. "Some of the increase in revenue came from increased collections," Pyle said, referring to outstanding tickets from previous years. In 2005, APD signed a contract with a new software company, whose services include assisting in the collection of unpaid parking tickets going back several years, he said. Most tickets issued by OU are $2O and result from parking in a lot without a permit. While parking is free in most OU lots between 5 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Monday, OU's online parking map lists 10 color-coded lot designations, three of which require permits at all times. "It is my personal belief that the signage is not as clear as it could be," said Doug Lape, OU's director of transportation and parking services. Lots are marked with signs indicating parking hours, but the size and layout of these signs is restricted by university guidelines, Lape said. Drivers who are ticketed by OU Parking Services or APD can appeal tickets. Drivers who think they were wrongfully ticketed can appeal to APD by talking to the officer who issued the ticket, Pyle said. However, ticket prices increase if not they are not paid within 48 hours, meaning that students must either appeal quickly or pay the fine. Students ticketed by OU can aopeal through an online process, Lape said, adding that OU gives a "courtesy void" to first time parking violators. More than 3,400 tickets were voided last year through the courtesy void program, according to an annual report. OU's appeals form can be found on the parking services Web site, www.facilities. ohiou.edu/parking, and must be filled out within 10 days of when the ticket was received. See GMAC Page 3 See SCRIPPS Page 3 See TWEENS Page 3