The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
VOLUME 139 NO. 37
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1992, The Miami Student reported that nine complaints of discrimination had been filed by students, faculty and staff against Miami University during the 1990-91 school year. Four of the nine cases were sexual harassment, two were racial harassment and one was on the basis of disability. The complaints resulted in several warning letters, required community service, loss of pay, and one employee being fired.
Music professor, brain scientist fight fear By Sam Kay
Editor in Chief
At the nexus of neuroanatomy, music and philosophy, you will find two women with advice for how musicians – or anyone – can manage fear and live in harmony with their brain. Miami University distinguished professor of music Michele Gingras and Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine, have co-authored two articles about the brain and stage fright; one appears in the Feb. 2012 issue of an Australian clarinet journal, and another will appear in the June 2012 issue of The Clarinet, an international journal. As part of their scientific and artistic collaboration, Taylor visited Gingras’ clarinet studio at Miami Nov. 29 last year to help Gingras’ students manage their stage fright by improving their awareness of their brains. Taylor has unique insight into the brain. A Harvard-trained neuroanatomist, she suffered a rare form of stroke in 1996. Although the stroke damaged the left hemisphere of her brain, the right side of her brain bloomed with creative energy. Following an eight-year recovery in which she relearned how to think, talk and walk, Taylor wrote a book, My Stroke of Insight, chronicling her experience. Taylor’s 2008
TED talk about her stroke and recovery became an Internet sensation, with nearly 7.5 million views. Director Ron Howard is making a movie about her story. What can a neuroanatomist do to help musicians play better? Taylor’s message is about understanding the brain better to live a better life. “The better we understand this organ, the better we get it to do what we want it to do,” Taylor said. “And who doesn’t want their brain to work better?” To help them defeat stage fright, Taylor told Gingras’ students what was going on with their brains. Certain structures in the brain are responsible for generating fear, according to Taylor, and better understanding how they work can make the fear go away. The limbic system is where information from the body’s sensory systems first streams into brain. This system paints an “emotional color” on all incoming information, according to Taylor. “The amygdala (part of the limbic system) is asking moment by moment: ‘Am I safe? Am I safe?’” Taylor said. “When the external world feels familiar, then the amygdala feels safe, feels calm … when you look at stage fright, the amygdala’s immediate assessment is: ‘I do not feel safe.’” In this moment, the brain focuses on past negative experiences and future negative possibilities.
CONTRIBUTED BY KIP MAY
After her stroke, Jill Taylor (right) got more in touch with her creative side. Miami distinguished professor of music Michele Gingras (left) and Taylor have an onging academic and artistic collaboration. Gingras and Taylor co-authored two articles about stage fright and the brain for clarinet journals. Taylor describes fear as “False Expectations Appearing Real.” Taylor said it is possible to defeat these false expectations. “We can train ourselves in future experiences not to run that circuitry, but to run other circuitry,” Taylor said. Some methods Taylor and Gingras suggested to the studio included recording themselves, practicing for friends or practicing in a public space. Gingras said these methods
can help bridge the gap between practicing and playing. “I believe we practice with the left brain and perform with the right brain,” Gingras said. “So when it comes time to play, you’re just left with nothing.” Along with Miami violin professor Harvey Thurmer, Gingras pioneered a “virtual audience room,” or VROOM. This can help students preparing for a recital replicate the environment of a performance to train their brains.
Gingras said she saw immediate changes in her students following Taylor’s visit. “I could immediately see in the body language of the studio class that basically, they were letting go of fear and thinking in the moment,” Gingras said. First-year music major Maura Wenk said she has seen an improvement in her own playing by
TAYLOR, SEE PAGE 9
University reviews Harrison scholarship, could reinstate aspects of old program By Adam Giffi
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
JULIA ENGELBRECHT THE MIAMI STUDENT
AIM-ING FOR SUCCESS The Armstrong Interactive Media Studies program hosts an open house Thursday evening at its new location in Laws Hall.
Miami,Wright State create joint master’s program By Jasmine Hayes
For The Miami Student
Miami University and Wright State University are joining forces with high hopes of introducing a new joint master’s degree program by fall 2012. The title of this program is The Greater Miami Valley MSW of Collaborative: Miami University and Wright State University Master’s of social work (MSW). According to Gary Peterson, chair of the family studies and social work department at Miami University, the MSW program is an accredited program with a national accrediting agency of social work. Students with a desire to become a licensed social worker have to earn a MSW. This degree is the primary qualification to become a licensed social worker. In order for students to become an independent social worker, they are required to have two years of field practicum experience with an
agency; this requirement will be fulfilled by the MSW program. “This program gives them content information about how to provide services and they also have practicum experience where they work in an agency situation under close supervision of our faculty and on sight supervisor. That is a fundamental part of their master’s training too,” Peterson said. To participate in the program, students must apply through the graduate school. “It’s a bit of an advantage if you have a bachelor’s of social work but it isn’t required. Usually, students complete some kind of social science background in their undergraduate training,” Peterson said. Peterson said students will be admitted to either Miami or Wright State’s program. Courses will be taken at either campus, televised back and forth, and online
WRIGHT STATE, SEE PAGE 9
Miami University scholarships as they currently exist could be changed in the future, as they undergo review in the coming months, Michael Kabbaz, associate vice president for enrollment management, said. “We’re operating in a competitive environment for the best and brightest and most diverse students, whether it’s in the state of Ohio or outside of the state,” Kabbaz said. “It’s critical that we evaluate our programs and how they stack up against institutions with which Miami competes.” One of the scholarships that will be under special examination is the Harrison Scholarship. Named after United States President Benjamin Harrison, a Miami graduate, the scholarship has long been considered Miami’s most prestigious award, but has changed in recent years. Senior Mark Noviski is a Harrison Scholar and has a 4.0 cumulative GPA, is active in extracurricular activities and when he graduates in May, he intends on transitioning from Miami University into a PhD program at Harvard University, Stanford University, The University of California, San Francisco or Johns Hopkins University. However, if Noviski were a high school student rather than a soon to be college grad, he would not be preparing to attend Miami. “The scholarship was the deciding factor for me to come here,” Noviski said. “I did like Miami
when I visited. But when compared to the current Harrison Scholarship, other schools would have offered me a lot more money and so I would not be here.” Noviski and the 25 Harrison scholars in the class of 2012 received a full ride, including the entire cost of tuition as well as room and board, for all four years. Fifteen current juniors received the same scholarship. Since then, Harrison awardees have received less. Brent Shock, director of student financial assistance, said currently Harrison scholars are awarded at least the cost of in-state tuition. For current first-year Harrison scholars, he said this amount is $12,625 per year. According to Shock, one of the reasons for the change in the amount awarded was so that more students could be offered the scholarship. Forty members of the class of 2014 and 30 members of the class of 2015 received the new scholarship. He said there is a fixed total amount they are allowed to offer, from a fixed donor fund, and this amount has not changed. Therefore, to offer more students the scholarship, the total sum per student needed to decrease. Currently no full ride scholarship exists for non-athletes. The advising of Harrison Scholars has also changed. In the past, Harrison scholars had a full time adviser dedicated to Harrison students. The last of these advisers, Hays Cummins, a professor for the Western program, explained the value this role added when it existed.
“My task was to build a community among the Harrison scholar students. We would meet once a week, read books, have discussions, and go on service trips,” Cummins said. “We went on a service trip for several years to the New Orleans, Louisiana, area to work on repairing homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. In later years, we gave aid to areas affected by hurricanes Rita and Ike. We were quite successful in building a pretty strong community of Harrison scholars.” Cummins said there was also a spring Costa Rica trip to explore the natural areas and do service. These trips no longer exist and there is no dedicated adviser tasked with creating a close connection among these students. Cummins said now, Harrison scholars are counseled by general advisers of the honors program. Noviski said he and his fellow senior class Harrison scholars have a close bond. Noviski is saddened that subsequent classes did not get the same experience. Sophomore Harrison Scholar Kyle Norquist described his contact with fellow Harrison scholars as being sparse. “There really isn’t any relationship anymore,” Norquist said. “I really don’t know any of them.” Kabbaz said the direction the scholarship has currently gone is not necessarily the path Miami will continue to follow. Many options will be considered, including going back to the old model, including
HARRISON, SEE PAGE 9