Published: Sunday, September 24, 2006
State trustees oppose issue for slot machines on ballot
COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio State University's board of trustees has come out against a proposal that would allow slot-machine gambling in the state with part of the proceeds going toward college scholarships.
"If we are silent, it implies we support it because we could benefit from it," trustee and Limited Brands founder Les Wexner said Friday of the Learn and Earn proposal. "I think it's very clever — and bad public policy."
The constitutional amendment, Issue 3 on the Nov. 7 ballot, would allow seven horse racing tracks and two free-standing sites in downtown Cleveland to operate 31,500 slot machines. Thirty percent of the money raised would be for scholarships that students would earn while in high school.
Wexner said the proposal would give the nine entities a monopoly. He joked that he would like to see an amendment allowing only Victoria's Secret lingerie to be sold in Ohio. Limited Brands owns Victoria's Secret.
After discussing the proposal Friday, board chairman Robert Duncan asked whether anyone objected to drafting a statement opposing the issue. No one objected, and Duncan said the statement would be written by a subcommittee.
The state's Board of Regents, which oversees Ohio colleges, said last week it will study the proposal's promise to provide an estimated $850 million in scholarships, but it has no plans to take a position on the issue, regents Chairman Edmund Adams said.
A spokeswoman for the campaign said many university officials and trustees think they cannot show public support for the issue.
"Yet we know that many people at universities are working quietly behind the scenes in support of this," Linda Siefkas said. She called Ohio State's opposition shortsighted.
