Update from Campus Partners:  January 1, 2001

Contents:

Burglary Special, Emergency Telephones and Other Safety Issues

Columbus Police, University Police and the Community Crime Patrol are cooperating again in a "burglary special" which targets crime prevention in the predominantly student neighborhoods during the holiday break. Mark Hatch, executive director of CCP, told the Campus Partners Safety Coordinating Committee at its last meeting on Dec. 13 that "this great joint partnership" began Friday, Dec. 8, and will continue until students return in early January. The three public safety agencies work together to put special patrols and undercover officers in the area to stop burglaries and similar crimes. In the past, burglary reports have increased when students have left the area for the holidays.

Mr. Hatch noted that crime reports appear to be down, but that patrollers found one fraternity house with an upstairs door left wide open. Students must pay attention to properly locking their residences before leaving. In conjunction with the "burglary special," Campus Partners placed posters about crime prevention in the university's CABS buses at the end of autumn quarter.

Robert Barnett of Ohio State's Office of Housing, Food Services and Event Centers told the committee that plastic covers were installed over the red activation button on the seven off-campus, "blue light" emergency telephones in mid-November. No one from the Columbus Division of Police had updated figures on the false alarms, but the hope is that the plastic covers will reduce the number of prank calls.

A five-member subcommittee will meet in early January to explore the idea of a University District Crime Stoppers Program. Agreeing to serve on the subcommittee are University Police Chief Ron Michalec; Ron Meyers, president of the Council of Graduate Students; Ryan Robinson, speaker of the Undergraduate Student Senate; Luke Whitworth, co-chair of the Student Safety Initiative; and Amanda Runyon Lynch, communications director of the University District Organization.

Columbus Police and residents in the northern part of the University District are sharing information and are working to stop acts of vandalism involving tire slashing. A number of parked cars on one street had their tires slashed in late September and again in November. Another tire slashing occurred just north of Lane Avenue in late November.

The next meeting of the Safety Coordinating Committee will be Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 2:30 p.m. in the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road.

Follow-up to Disturbance After Ohio State-Michigan game

Ohio State and the University District were embarrassed again with the disruptions which followed the Ohio State-Michigan football game. In the days before the game, community members and police officers had worked in a variety of ways to promote a safe event. Some trash fires were started and other problems encountered on West Lane Avenue during and immediately after the game on Nov. 18. More than 130 fires were set and 34 persons arrested in the early morning hours of Nov. 19 in the neighborhood east of High Street.

In response, University President William E. Kirwan has taken the following actions:

-- Asked Bill Hall, interim vice president for student affairs, to swiftly investigate the actions of any student arrested and others who may be implicated and to make recommendations to the president as to disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion. Mr. Hall did so and recommended sanctions in a number of cases.

-- Requested that the University Senate expedite passage of a revised Code of Student Conduct that will increase the university's ability to discipline students who engage in activities which clearly endanger safety in the campus area.

-- Sent a letter to parents of all students explaining the university's concern for student behavior and emphasizing the steps which the university is taking to encourage proper conduct.

-- Sent a letter to more than 500 owners of rental property and businesses in the predominantly student neighborhood. He asked them to work with Willie J. Young, director of Off-Campus and Commuter Student Services, and Terry Foegler, president of Campus Partners, to develop measures to prevent, or to better control, these situations which often lead to unacceptable behavior. Mr. Young and Mr. Foegler will convene a student housing advisory panel to explore these strategies.

Meanwhile, car dealer Frank Byers in early December invited the four individuals whose cars were damaged during the disturbance to choose a replacement vehicle from among seven used cars at his Chrysler dealership. Byers, an Ohio State graduate, says he is gratified to give back to the community that his family has served since 1897.

Planning for African American Heritage Festival

The African American Heritage Festival Coordinating Committee met Dec. 13 and discussed the plans for the festival activities, which will run May 14-20, 2001. The committee is chaired by Bill Hall and includes representatives of the university, various city offices and neighborhood leaders. The tentative schedule for the week includes the Black Greek Step Show on Friday, May 18; the festival on the Oval on Saturday, May 19; and the dance on Saturday night, May 19. A major concert may be scheduled at the Schottenstein Center to follow the step show.

Mr. Hall reported that United Parcel Service and BankOne have expressed interest in being corporate sponsors of the festival. Vernon Baisden, assistant vice president for public safety at Ohio State, reported that Columbus Police and University Police had met to discuss the safety and traffic aspects of the festival. Police haven't yet determined a traffic pattern to reduce the effect on nearby neighborhoods of the High Street "cruise" associated with the festival. More community volunteers and clergy will be recruited to participate under the direction of the God Squad.

The next meeting of the coordinating committee will be Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 1:30 p.m. in the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road.

Campus Partners Public Service Committee

As part of improving garbage pick-up and the appearance of the University District's alleys, the city's Refuse Collection Division plans to step up enforcement of dumpster box maintenance in 2001. Division Administrator Gerald Edwards and Operations Manager John Johnson told the Campus Partners Public Service Committee on Nov. 15 that dumpster boxes must be free of graffiti and rust, have working lids and doors, and be repaired when burned. They said the city is complying with the code on the city-owned dumpsters.

They also are considering a third dumpster zone in the University District. The new zone might be located in the Weinland Park neighborhood. In a dumpster zone, the city replaces the plastic 300-gallon containers with city-owned dumpsters. The dumpsters generally increase refuse capacity and are damaged less by fires.

A subcommittee of the Public Service Committee is reviewing the problem of 90-gallon refuse containers being left at the curb for long periods. The containers are unsightly and often are overflowing or knocked over. Subcommittee members said the city could consider several solutions, including adding language to the University District's zoning overlay to require residents to bring containers back on their property.

The next meeting of the Public Service Committee on refuse collection will be Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 4 p.m. in the community meeting room of the Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St. The Public Service Committee will next meet on street sweeping on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at 3:30 p.m. in the Northwood-High Building. Property owners and residents are welcome to attend and can join the committee.

Committee Hopes to Circulate SID Petition Early in 2001

The leadership of the University Uptown Improvement District hopes that very early in 2001 the legal issues will be worked out and the petition drafted to establish the special improvement district (SID). The petition will seek signatures from property owners to create the High Street portion of the proposed SID from roughly East Ninth Avenue to Northwood Avenue. "Once this is up and running and we are successful," explains Wayne Garland, co-chair of the Steering Committee for the University Uptown Improvement District, "we believe we can then realistically move forward with the formation of the residential SID for the predominantly student core area."

The petition for the High Street portion of the SID must be signed by the property owners representing at 60 percent of the front footage or 75 percent of the area to be assessed. The petition then would go to City Council for review. If the SID is approved, the county auditor would most likely begin the collection of the SID assessment in January 2002.

City Inquires about Permit Parking Changes

Steve Welk of the city's Traffic Engineering and Parking Division contacted Campus Partners about recommendations in the University Neighborhoods Revitalization Plan proposing an area-wide permit parking system for the predominantly student neighborhoods. Currently, a number of streets have permit parking, but the hours of regulation vary and not all streets are included. Given the unique nature of the University District, Mr. Welk indicated that the city likely would consider an area-wide system that could be adopted by City Council to replace to current petition process for each street. Campus Partners convened a meeting Dec. 13 with Mr. Welk and representatives of the University Community Business Association and University Area Commission to discuss the matter. Campus Partners will work with community organizations to explore further the permit parking issue and related parking recommendations.

Campus Partners Board Names New Members

The Campus Partners Board of Trustees recently appointed two new members to represent students and neighborhood residents.

The board named Kendra N. Davitt, a fourth year student majoring in German and international relations, to represent undergraduate students on the board. She will complete the unexpired term of Jessica Weeks, who resigned last September. Ms. Davitt will serve until June 30, 2001. She is one of two students on the board. The other is Greg Lestini, who represents graduate and graduate-professional students.

The board also has appointed Kathleen M. Fox, who lives on Dennison Avenue, to represent neighborhood residents. Ms. Fox is an Ohio State graduate, has lived in the University District for 15 years, and is executive director of the Ohio Arts & Sports Facilities Commission. She succeeds Don Pearson, who resigned from the board when he moved out of the University District. Ms. Fox is one of two neighborhood representatives on the board. The other is Sharon Austin, president of the board of the University Community Association.

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