Gee talks tickets, crime

Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee visited The Lantern newsroom Monday to answer questions about a variety of issues important to the OSU community.

TICKETS The Ticketmaster system for ordering student football tickets proved frustrating for many students on Wednesday, who faced long waits and quick sellouts.

Gee said that the system was supposed to provide tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis in the interests of fairness, but unanticipated levels of demand swamped the system.

"The whole approach with this was to be able to be fair, but no one knew that within 10 minutes or 10 hours we were going to get [20,000 or 30,000] requests," Gee said.

OSU will stick with Ticketmaster for future student football ticket sales, but the system will need to be adjusted, Gee said.

"The system got overwhelmed. But that will be corrected. And as with any new system, it takes a minute or two to get the thing corrected, and they will get it corrected. Ultimately, I think it'll work out a heck of a lot better," he said.

COAL Gee has come under fire recently for promoting environmental causes at OSU while simultaneously serving on the board of directors of Massey Energy, a mining company. Although Gee created the President's Council on Sustainability, which is charged with promoting sustainability initiatives at OSU, environmentalists have protested Massey's coal mining practices.

Environmentalists claim that Massey's practice of "mountaintop shearing" for coal removal harms forests and water quality and endangers nearby residents, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Gee said that he is an independent director for Massey, chairing a committee on environmental and safety issues.

"It would be very easy for me to get off the company, because I really don't need to do that, but the other side of it, the reason I've continued to serve, is the fact that I believe very strongly in environmental issues, and it's better to be inside the tent making a difference than it is outside complaining."

Gee said that Massey has one of the best environmental records in the country and has won many environmental awards. In January, however, Massey paid a $20 million civil penalty to resolve Clean Water Act violations at coal mines in West Virginia and Kentucky, the largest civil penalty in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s history, according to the EPA web site.

"Coal is a difficult business," Gee said. "There are huge safety problems, there are huge environmental problems, and yet it represents 60 percent of the energy in this country, it's the only self-sustaining energy course that we have right now. So we need to get it right, or else we need to shut off the lights."

Gee said that Massey has obeyed federal legislation, EPA regulations and federal court judgments.

"All three have been done, and Massey has always proven that it has had a sustainable record in that regard," he said.

CRIME In the wake of a recent rash of armed robberies near campus, Gee spoke about OSU's efforts to combat crime.

"We're upgrading our efforts," he said. "I just saw our new cruiser that [the Undergraduate Student Government] bought, which is pretty intimidating and pretty compelling."

The cruiser is manned by one OSU Police officer and one Columbus Police officer in an effort to solve jurisdictional issues. The joint patrol between OSU and the city will be complemented by more foot patrols, Gee said.

"If one takes a look at the crime statistics for this campus, and compare to a lot of urban campuses, we are still a very safe place, but until we feel absolutely safe we will put a lot of time and emphasis on it," Gee said.

The weak economy is also to blame for increased crime, Gee said.

"Unfortunately, I think it's a little bit of a sign of the times," he said.

SEMESTERS The switch to semesters, confirmed Friday by the Board of Trustees, has come under fire from some students and faculty, but Gee remained adamant about the switch, slated for 2012 at the earliest.

"It's like planning the Normandy invasion," Gee said. "It's a very big university and to do something like that is going to take a period of time. We're gonna move to semesters which I think will prove to be a great opportunity for the institution."

PARTYING WITH GEE Gee said that he was "not at all" offended by the article "Hangin' with Gee," published March 5 in The Lantern, which included a photo of Gee posing at a party with a student dressed as a Playboy Bunny. An official from the Ohio State Interfraternity Council reported that Gee was offended by the story.

"I am who I am. I go to student parties, I am invited to birthday parties," Gee said.

Gee said that he does not plan to stop attending student social events.

"I went to a couple birthday parties on Friday night, and all these guys were dressed in togas - what the hell? I can't protect myself from what students do, and in fact, I enjoy it."