Yes, there are homeless people in Columbus. There are homeless people in every major metropolitan city. I often question why people want to shelter their college-aged children (i.e. adults) from the harsh economic realities of life in the US. Maybe your child will be inspired to get involved in the numerous outreach efforts to help the poor in and around campus. Wouldn’t you rather have an education that teaches you to confront poverty rather than hide from it?
Truth be told, homeless people rarely pose any danger. They’re poor and they’re cold and they’re hungry. You’d do better to prepare your child by teaching him to be vigilant of other college students, who perpetrate the vast majority of crime on college campuses. In general one would do well to keep their guard up in their dorms and around other OSU students, since other OSU students are most commonly the perpetrators of sexual violence. Never heard of a homeless person walking in off the streets to rape students; I’ve heard countless stories of OSU students raping other students, however.
http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2014/11/04/columbus-ohio-osu-student-reports-sexual-assault.html
http://www.nbc4i.com/story/27517579/sexual-assault-allegations-on-osu-campus-prompts-safety-notice
Moreover, last time I checked, the riots at OSU’s campus were carried out by other OSU students as well, not by the population of vagrants. So rather than asking if those scary poor people pose a threat, maybe ask instead why OSU encourages the kind of culture that causes so much damage after a little football game. Think of all the taxpayer money wasted by that rioting. It should have gone to homeless people.