It would seem that "they" want our free speech

Top of Mind

Erasing Expression: OSU Bans Chalking

The Ohio State University has found its line in the sand, or rather, on the sidewalk. Starting this fall, chalking on campus is officially banned. That means no slogans, no doodles, no pastel-colored protests. Facilities crews will erase it, and the students responsible could be fined or dragged into conduct hearings.

This isn’t just about chalk. It’s about free speech. The administration insists the crackdown is about “complaints” and “administrative time.” Still, critics see it for what it is: another step in a nationwide trend of universities narrowing where and how students can express themselves. In the wake of last year’s pro-Palestinian encampments, schools from Harvard to Iowa State have adopted similar bans. If washable sidewalk chalk is now too radical for campus, what’s left?

Ohio State’s own history proves the point. When “Build the Wall” appeared in chalk on the Oval in 2016, hundreds of counter-messages popped up overnight: “Together we stand,” “Immigrants welcome,” “Love trumps hate.” That’s free speech in its purest form: debate, disagreement, ideas colliding in public. A few rains later, the slate was literally wiped clean. No administrative hearings required.

By banning chalk, OSU isn’t protecting the community. It’s protecting itself from criticism. And that should make everyone nervous. Because once a university starts rolling back free expression, even in something as harmless as sidewalk chalk, it doesn’t stop there. As OSU’s own faculty group warned, free speech is like a muscle: use it, or lose it.

So sure, chalk washes away. But the precedent being set here? That sticks.

Scarlet Letter Trivia

Question: What is considered the biggest protest in OSU history?
A. The May Day rally against tuition hikes in 1985
B. The 1970 anti-war riots and student strike
C. The 2016 sit-ins over campus diversity demands
D. The 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations near the Oval

Your New Role in Big Tech’s Electric Bill

 If you’ve noticed your electric bill creeping up like a horror movie monster, you can thank Central Ohio’s booming data center industry. AEP Ohio’s latest rate hike will cost the average household about $27 more a month, and the official explanation is “infrastructure upgrades” to handle the enormous power needs of massive tech facilities.

Central Ohio is quickly becoming a data center hotspot. Tech companies love it here: cheap land, low disaster risk, and enough open space to drop a warehouse the size of a small country without upsetting too many neighbors. But those server farms require an obscene amount of electricity. In some cases, a single facility can use as much power as 30,000 homes.

Regulators recently tried to put their foot down, telling data centers they must commit to using at least 85% of the electricity they’ve contracted for over the next 12 years, or pay for it anyway. The idea is to keep them from reserving more power than they actually need, which ends up forcing utilities to overbuild infrastructure that ratepayers cover.

Sounds good on paper. But in practice, these companies are already working around it by building their own backup power systems, meaning they can still dodge the rule while keeping their costs down, and yours up. It’s a little like telling someone they have to eat everything they order at a restaurant, and they just start packing a cooler in their car.

Meanwhile, the average Ohioan gets to “contribute” to the digital economy by footing the bill for the wires, transformers, and substations that keep the cloud running. It’s civic pride, Silicon Valley style: Your neighbor’s TikTok loads 0.2 seconds faster, and you get a higher utility bill.

The state sells this as economic development, but when the benefits are measured in jobs, it’s not much to brag about. A single hyperscale data center might employ a few dozen people once it’s up and running. Compare that to the thousands paying more every month to keep it running, and it starts to feel less like growth and more like subsidized server storage.

Smile for the School Bus Camera

Ohio’s new “Lane and Lights” School Bus Safety Act is here, and the message could not be clearer: Pass a stopped school bus and the state will pry open your wallet, remove up to $2,000, and possibly take your driver’s license as a keepsake.

This isn’t just about harsher penalties; it’s about making sure every school bus is outfitted like a mobile episode of Cops. Soon, buses will be equipped with cameras to catch offenders in the act, and the footage will be used to issue citations. No more “that wasn’t me” or “I didn’t see it.” You’ll see it when it arrives in your mailbox, starring you.

The law comes after a troubling number of drivers decided that a big yellow vehicle with flashing lights, a stop sign sticking out the side, and a line of children crossing the street was optional to stop for. In 2023, Ohio bus drivers reported over 2,000 violations in a single day of a statewide survey. That’s 2,000 people who either failed kindergarten safety week or decided the rules didn’t apply to them.

Of course, the camera rollout also raises the question of where all this fine money will go. Officially, it’s about safety. Unofficially, it’s about creating a reliable new revenue stream for local governments while handing school transportation departments some shiny new tech toys. We’ve all seen how “temporary” fines or fees tend to work in this state; they become as permanent as the potholes on I-71.

If you’re a good driver, none of this will affect you. But if you’re the type who views bus stop arms as friendly suggestions, prepare to be immortalized in 1080p and billed for the privilege. The lesson here is simple: Slow down. Wait. And maybe don’t give the state a new excuse to send you mail.

Trivia Answer

B) The 1970 anti-war riots and student strike, which led to nearly 300 arrests, more than 60 injuries, and seven gunshot wounds after OSU rejected a list of student demands.