February 4, 2014 | The Miami Student

The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014

VOLUME 141 NO. 29

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1992, The Miami Student reported there had been nine complaints of discrimination filed by students, staff and faculty in the 1990-91 school year, according to an Office of Affirmative Action report. Four of the nine were sexual harassment complaints. Assistant Director of Student Leadership and Program Development Jane Goettsch said, “There are probably a lot more cases that don’t get reported for a variety of reasons.”

MU students line up for a taste of ASC

BY REIS THEBAULT CAMPUS EDITOR

A building several years in the making, millions of dollars in fundraising and inescapable promotion, Miami’s newest red brick addition opened its doors as this year’s second semester began.

A veritable mass of students flooded the Armstrong Student Center (ASC) after its official opening Jan. 27. For many, it was the first time they saw the building’s high ceilings, open spaces and glass-walled offices meant to promote increased student interaction. It was also the first chance to sample the new dining hall options.

The mall-style food court was at the epicenter of the opening’s chaos.

Both Miami students and Oxford residents formed lines lasting as long as an hour and 45 minutes.

Katya Michaels, an Armstrong dining employee, was working at the Haines’ Boulangerie the opening night.

“In the beginning, it was crazy,” she said. “It was ridiculous because everyone wanted to come.”

This sort of reaction, ASC board member Allison Gnaegy said, was to be expected. Similar to Maplestreet Station’s opening, students heard of something new and flock to it. Those in dining knew it was coming and did their best to prepare, Gnaegy said.

“They anticipated it,” she said.

“A lot of people who work in the food court have been in the dining system for a while, so that kind of experience helps.”

Executive Manager for Armstrong Student Center Dining Services Kristina Rotundo agreed and said another reason for the lengthy wait time is the robust and customizable menus, something students had requested during ASC’s planning stages.

“Anytime you open a new restaurant there are always long lines initially,” Rotundo said, “which quickly go away as students learn the routine of points of service, menu options and understanding the customization options.”

Opening night however, the crowds did not die down.

“We served over 600 people at Boulangerie alone,” Michaels said.

Michaels was swamped that night, but she kept her cool.

“You either dealt with it or people KATIE TAYLOR THE MIAMI STUDENT would get really angry,” she said.

Students socialize as they sample an array of foods in the recently-opened Armstrong Student Center.

“They got angry anyway.”

Sophomores Sarah Blocksidge Tyman said. and Cheyenne Woodall were among Boulangerie’s early popularity really good attendance,” she said.

Tyman said the money was already those disgruntled patrons waiting for was no fluke. The sandwiches are One event in particular that drew Boulangerie’s Panera Bread-esque worth the long lines and occasional a well-dressed throng of people was in the ASC budget so it just made sense to put it toward something free soups and paninis. order mishaps, Woodall said. the SnowBall.

“We had to wait 30 minutes just “I love [Boulangerie],” she said.

“There were over 1,500 at the that could benefit all students.

As time goes on, ASC will begin to place the order,” Blocksidge said, “They have sandwiches you can’t get SnowBall,” Gnaegy said. “then had to wait 25 minutes to anywhere else.”

SnowBall, which took place in to feel less like a spectacle and more get our food.”

Rotundo also reported positive re- ASC’s Pavilion, was Miami’s an- like a part of the campus; in fact, Woodall was equally peeved. views and high popularity. swer to Prom, but far more decadent. Gnaegy said, it already has.

“It was interesting to see how stu“They kept messing up or“We served 29,648 customers as With ice sculptures, a DJ, elaborate ders,” she said. “They need to hire of close [Feb. 2], with outstanding lighting and catered food, SnowBall dents automatically settled into the more people.” feedback on the menus, pricing and aimed to kick off ASC’s event sched- building,” she said. “It was like it had ule in style. always been there. It seemed like a Admittedly, the food court service,” she said.

The lavish party also had a really easy transition in.” was and still is understaffed, While the food may have received Despite long food lines and an asevidenced by flyers advertising a lot of attention, both positive and large budget.

“Our budget was $36,000 but tronomically high SnowBall budget, employment there. negative, various other facets of the “We are still understaffed,” Mi- building have received excellent we only spent $30,000,” ASC ASC seems to be living up to the board member and SnowBall plan- hype as students continue to file in chaels said. “We are getting kind feedback, Gnaegy said. of desperate.”

“All of our opening events had ning committee member Cole and out of Miami’s newest building.

No rose for Miami alumna

BY JANE BLAZER COMMUNITY EDITOR

PHILL ARNDT THE MIAMI STUDENT

MU STANDS AS ONE

Students, staff and faculty walk together on Unity Day, Feb. 1. The group reflected on the acts of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

55 percent to graduate with student loans

BY JAKE ZALAC

FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

In this year’s State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama vowed to assist those with crippling student debt by limiting monthly payments.

“We’re offering millions the opportunity to cap their monthly student loan payments to 10 percent of their income, and I want to work with Congress to see how we can help even more Americans who feel trapped by student loan debt,” Obama said in the address.

With the promise from the President of low loan payments, and the Free Application for Federal Student AID (FAFSA) due June 30, Miami University students on financial aid begin to wonder how much they will pay after graduation.

The answer is, according to Brent Shock, Miami’s director of financial assistance, is around $300 a month, which is the national average loan payment a student will pay after graduation. But this could differ for Miami students depending on their income. According to several surveys conducted on the class of 2012-2013,

the majority of employed alumni reported salaries between $30,000 to $59,999 in their first year.

In 2012, 55 percent of Miami students were receiving some form of a student loan, Shock said. The national average of students receiving student loans in 2012 was 71 percent. This was higher than Ohio’s average of students receiving loans, which was 69 percent. Ohio is the ninth highest in the nation in terms of student debt post-graduation.

“This could be because the state focuses more on improving higher education rather than enhancing aid provided to those that would be attending,” Shock said.

In 2012, Miami students graduated with an average of $27,817 worth of debt, Shock said. However, in the past four years, the average amount of debt of all Miami students increased by only 4.6 percent, which, according to Shock, is the lowest among all Ohio schools.

“I really think [Miami] has done a great job of keeping the rate from increasing more than it did,” Shock said.

The school with the highest increase is Ohio State University,

coming in at an increase of 43 percent.

Sophomore Erik Weaver has received loans since his first year at Miami. He said he is aware of all the rules and stipulations that come with the responsibility of handling student aid, including the established sixmonth grace period after graduation.

“You just have to stay up-to-date on these things in order to know how to prepare for it after graduation,” Weaver said.

When requesting a loan, he explained, students are asked how much they want. However, how much they actually need for a given timeframe, such as a semester, is not assessed.

“Loan debt is the worst when people take out a loan for multiple years’ worth of tuition at a time rather than by year or semester,” Weaver said. “That’s when the interest payments skyrocket.”

He also said he utilized the option of a pay-as-you-go plan, allowing students to make monthly payments while still in school to ease the debt after graduation.

LOANS,

SEE PAGE 8

Miami University alumna Alli Restko said she had the experience of a lifetime as a contestant on ABC’s reality TV show, “The Bachelor.”

Near where she works, Restko entered Chicago’s open auditions in hopes of falling in love with Venezuelan bachelor, Juan Pablo.

When she went to the audition, Restko said she was discouraged by the long line. But, before giving up, a Bachelor employee pulled her aside and took her into a private room. “[The employee] shut the door and she was like, ‘We like you. We want you,’” Restko said.

After the Chicago interview, she was sent to California for additional interviews and drug testing. She was notified three weeks later she had been chosen to be on the show.

According to Restko, the possibility came as a surprise to her.

“I actually never really watched the show,” Restko said. “It’s kind of funny, I would just chime in on random episodes with my sister. She’s a huge fan, and so are my parents.”

It was Restko’s family and friends who helped her decide to accept the invitation.

“I decided ‘Hey, why not?”

Restko said. “40,000 girls auditioned for the show and I was the one picked, and I obviously was single.”

Deciding to go on the show meant agreeing to be accompanied by a camera every waking moment of the day Restko Said, as the contestants are filmed around the clock.

But the constant camera coverage does not always translate into actual airtime when the massive amounts of footage are edited into a twohour show.

Restko said she was taken aback by the process.

“I expected to be shown a lot more,” Restko said. “For instance, there was this soccer date … he called me MVP and did a whole trophy ceremony thing and they didn’t show any of that. It’s funny what they pick and choose.”

Restko said she often left the room when drama occurred between the other girls, which she believes kept her from being featured much on air.

“I never got a one-on-one date and I was kind of upset about that because I am not very pushy, and in these group-date settings, I just kind of fell to the back,” Restko said.

Restko did not end up with a rose, and was kicked off yesterday’s show, Feb. 3. Restko said her connection with Pablo was friendly rather than romantic, and there were no hard feelings over their goodbye.

“We talked about his daughter, we talked about our families. I have a big crazy family and so does he, there was always a great connection, just never a spark,” Resko said. “He was very fair. If he didn’t feel it, he wasn’t going to waste your time.”

Restko said she had the experience of a lifetime. She said she had no regrets and became really close with the other girls on the show.

“My experience in general was incredible,” Restko said. “I got to travel, we went overseas, I honestly think I met life-long friends.”

Restko majored in journalism and mass communication at Miami, participated in club soccer and was a sister of the Alpha Phi sorority. Restko said Miami definitely played a role in her Bachelor experience.

“Going to Miami was a risk for me because I only knew one other person going there,” Restko said.

“I guess it kind of opened me up

BACHELOR, SEE PAGE 8

2

CAMPUS

EDITORS REIS THEBAULT VICTORIA SLATER

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014

CAMPUS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Short but sweet:Weekly 140 delivers news

BY VICTORIA SLATER CAMPUS EDITOR

Senior marketing and communications major Abigail Pautz is making 140 characters mean more to the average Miami student than the latest Miami confession or attire critique from @MUFashionPolice.

As an intern for University Communications and Marketing, Pautz is helping generate a new campus media outlet called the Weekly 140, a website that provides weekly university news updates in the Twitter-like style of 140 characters. The goal, according to Pautz, is to create a more aware, connected student body in a quick, accessible fashion.

“We wanted to create a weekly news update that was unlike any of the others that already exist, like The Miami Student, The Hub, the Miami calendar or even the Facebook page,” she said. “The Weekly

140 is short, to the point, providing relative news for students in one accessible place.”

The idea was the brainchild of Associate Vice President of University Communications and Marketing Deedie Dowdle, and took root during fall semester after Dowdle, Pautz and several other communications interns reached out to the Associated Student Government (ASG) for more effective ways to inform students. Dowdle said the team found students were looking for more routine rundown of news and events.

Dowdle said this idea, coupled with the success of the Miami’s social media, helped the team to determine the 140-character limit best accommodated quick news updates.

“Social media has become much more dominant, so we thought such news today would be much more interesting and easier to share and digest if it was in quick ‘bits and

bytes,’ hence the Weekly 140 name, as all items are 140 characters are less,” Dowdle said. “We discussed the idea with ASG and other students around campus, the name seemed to stick.”

In addition to its convenience, Dowdle said the tweet-like news updates are also more practical.

“With so much going on, it can be very difficult for campus offices and student organizations to get the word out, and it is not practical, affordable or sustainable for flyers or other material to be printed and posted,” she said.

Now, Pautz is responsible for comprising the Weekly 140 website with weekly news and events. She said she and other interns collect the news from various outlets such as The Hub and the Miami University news site, condense it into 140 characters and post to the website each Monday. Students can also

submit an idea to be published on the website.

According to Pautz the website was officially launched on Monday, Jan. 27 for a trial run, to correspond with the opening Armstrong Student Center (ASC).

Dowdle said the team has high hopes that students will be more receptive to the new outlet, and enjoy its style of production and content.

“We hope this test phase will be well-received and be not only helpful, but fun, too, with items about what’s buzzing on campus and online in general presented in a tone that is sometimes a tiny bit irreverent,” she said.

Since the launch, Pautz reported the website has received hits from 10 percent of the student body. That may seem like a small number, but Pautz said it is significant.

“We are doing pretty well considering we are hitting the target

audience and this being the first week,” she said.

In order to increase traffic on the website, Pautz and the team are brainstorming ways to connect the Weekly 140 with the additional news organizations on campus.

“This includes adding a link for the Weekly 140 on the MyMiami page, the Miami webpage and the Student Life page,” she said.

As the website grows, Pautz said she is looking forward to witnessing the impact it will have on the student body.

“I think this website will allow Miami students to be more informed of events and cool activates going on so they can go and show their support and take advantage of opportunities,” she said. “Miami students are really passionate about things and we all put time into things and when we all get together then that’s when great ideas are formed.”

Students take their startup to San Fran

BY COLLIN MORAN FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

“Hey, wanna start a business to help students find offcampus housing?”

When Sean Crowe sent that text to Thomas Gorczynski, neither of them knew it would take them to San Francisco for their final semester at Miami University. In fact, they didn’t even know that a few weeks ago.

Such is the life of an entrepreneur, and such is the life of Crowe and Gorczynski – a management information systems major and an electrical engineering major who decided to start a business in the housing market.

The journey that their business – Hutster – has traveled is much longer than the 2,500-mile trip from Oxford to San Francisco.

BEN TAYLOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

STUDENT CENTER ONE, TWO STEP

The Miami Hip Hop Dance team performs during opening week in the Shade Family Room of the Armstrong Student Center (ASC).

ASC opened Monday, Jan. 27 and featured a variety of events during its opening week.

Event celebrates Olympics, responds to homophobia

BY RYAN HEBEIN, EMILY CRANE NEWS EDITOR

For Miami’s Russian Club and the LGBTQ support group Spectrum, the Olympic opening ceremonies are much more than just an international entertainment experience; they’re a platform for spreading awareness of the plight of homosexuals in Putin’s Russia, according to Keary Iarussi, Outreach Chair of the Russian Club.

The two groups will be hosting an event Feb. 6 to kick off the 2014 Winter Olympics—and bring together students from across campus to discuss and ask questions about the issue of homosexual rights across the globe.

“We would like to discuss the situation,” Iarussi said, “and the role of the Putin regime in it and fill in any gaps of misunderstanding.”

This year’s Olympics, to be hosted in Sochi, Russia Feb. 7-28, have drawn increasing international attention to the subject of international gay rights because of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent push for anti-gay legislation.. According to an article in the Washington Post, this legislation includes a ban on “propaganda of homosexualism among minors” and a ban educational materials advocating for homosexuality, among others.

Head of the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies, Karen Dawisha, said homosexual

competitors are being restricted and restrained from expressing themselves at these Olympics.

“Though gay Olympic competitors will be permitted legally to compete,” Dawisha said, “the environment in Russia at the moment is homophobic and suggests that anyone caught expressing gay pride will be booed by the crowd.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been encouraging competitors to limit themselves from homosexual ousting, acting or inclinations. He said it is his goal to protect Russia’s culture from homosexuality, which he labeled a definitive cause for undermining the youth of Russia.

In an interview, Putin stated, “We do not ban anyone or anything, we don’t detain anyone on the street, but [we ask to] leave [the] children in peace. We have our own traditions, and our own culture.”

Spectrum’s marketing chair, Christian Carter, said he is hopeful the event, taking place 7-9 p.m. in 111 Harrisan Hall, will be well-attended.

“The goal of the event is not to protest the Olympics or Russia,” Carter said, “but to educate individuals about the controversy surrounding the event so they may draw their own conclusions.” Carter added, “Spectrum is focusing on advancing LGBTQA causes on campus while providing a safe environment for individuals who identify with or support the community.”

The city by the bay Every spring, Miami sends a dozen students to intern at startups through the Armstrong Interactive Media Studies San Francisco Digital Innovation Center. This is the first year the university added a competition to send one student startup as well.

Students who aimed to take their business out west each submitted an application, and the chairs of the entrepreneurship and interactive media studies departments chose three to pitch their ideas to them. From there, the top two business ideas advanced to the final round where they pitched their ideas to Miami alumnus Ryan Graves.

Graves created the app called Uber, which is used by millions in over 50 cities for hailing, scheduling, and paying taxis, according to its website. He returned to Miami to judge this competition. Graves picked Hutster as the winning startup that would get to spend spring 2014 in the San Francisco RocketSpace office space in San Francisco. According to RocketSpace’s company profile, this is where Uber got its start, as well as another well-known company: Spotify.

There is a reason this place is known as a top-notch entrepreneurship incubator in the country.

Crowe and Gorczynski are think-

ing big too. Their goal is not only to solidify their business in the Oxford market, but to expand it across the country.

Gorczynski described their vision for San Francisco as simply, “we want to work our butts off and see what happens.”

The third result Crowe got his business idea from his frustrating search for housing in June and July of 2012 between his sophomore and junior years at Miami.

“I Googled the heck out of ‘student housing in Oxford’ for weeks,” says Crowe as he sits down at his kitchen table and turns down the Pandora ‘Whispers’ station. “I couldn’t find any good information and the websites that I did find looked like they were made in the 90s. It just wasn’t a good user experience.”

So he decided to fix it.

“It’s such a stereotypical startup story,” Crowe says with a laugh. He starts to take a sip of the tea he just made with his tea-making kit.

“I didn’t see it as a problem. I saw it as an opportu–– okay wow, that tea is hot.”

He took advantage of that opportunity. Within three weeks, he and Gorczynski surveyed students

to gain its first customer. Part of the new business’ revenue model was charging property managers to have their houses featured on Huster. com’s homepage. Crowe remembers the feeling he got when they signed their first client.

“I remember high fiving when we walked out of the meeting. It was so awesome to have someone believe in us at an early stage.”

Crowe and Gorczynski could have been content with what they had accomplished. Their business was up and running, their website was getting traffic, and word was getting out among property managers in Oxford about this new service. But to them, this meant the real work had just begun.

“You can’t fall in love with your solution to a problem that’s always subtly changing,” says Gorczynski.

“We’re always looking to change our business model to accommodate nuances in the market. We’re very open to changing rapidly if we know we can do something better to solve the problem that we set out to solve.”

Five percent Crowe’s older brother, Justin, has seen the Hutster business adopt the characteristics of his little brother as he’s watched them both grow.

COLLIN MORAN THE MIAMI STUDENT

and talked to property managers, validating that other people saw the problem too. They had a business plan and a working website by the end of July.

Now, when you Google “student housing in Oxford,” Hutster is the third result.

“I remember high fiving when we walked out of the meeting.”

Hutster didn’t have to wait long

“He’s stumbled into an addiction of expanding his knowledge,” says Justin. “He’s afraid of boredom.

Sean doesn’t just take advantage of opportunities – he puts himself in a position to take advantage of any possibility that comes his way. Maybe only 50 percent of those

SAN FRAN, SEE PAGE 8

Redhawk player, coaches represent at Super Bowl XLVIII

BY TOM DOWNEY SPORTS EDITOR

Miami University had three former athletes coaching or playing in Super Bowl XLVIII, but only one added the Lombardi Trophy to his résumé.

The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos 43-8 in one of the more lopsided Super Bowls in NFL history, giving former Miami quarterback Sherman Smith bragging rights over former Miami quarterback Zac Dysert and former Miami baseball player Mark Thewes.

Smith is the running backs coach for Seattle, while Dysert is the third

quarterback for Denver and Thewes is an assistant to Broncos head coach John Fox. Smith played at Miami from 1972-75 and ranks 12th all-time in rushing yards as RedHawk. He was the school’s first black quarterback.

He was drafted in the second round as a running back by the Seahawks in 1976 and played until the 1983 season. Smith was the running back’s coach at Miami in 1990, before later serving as the running back’s coach with the Houston Oilers/Houston Titans/Tennessee Titans for over 10 years. He was also the offensive coordinator for

the Redskins for one season, before returning as Seattle’s running back’s coach for the past four years.

Dysert was a seventh round pick in the most recent NFL draft by the Broncos. He did not play in a regular season game this season, serving as the third-stringer behind Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler. Dysert set multiple school records at Miami, and is the all-time passing leader.

Thewes was shortstop for the RedHawks from 1996-99. Thewes has been with Denver since 2009, serving as an assistant to former Denver coach Josh McDaniels.

EDITORS JANE BLAZER CHRIS CURME

COMMUNITY TUESDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2014

COMMUNITY@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

3

POLICE Cat’s cradle: Cougar at state park

BEAT McDude just wants some McNuggets

At 1:45 a.m. Saturday, OPD was dispatched to 601 S. Locust St., McDonalds, in response to an unmoving vehicle at the third drive-thru window. The complainant stated the black Subaru would not move, the occupant claiming he had not received his entire order. McDonalds’ staff refuted this, OPD said, and reported they believed he was intoxicated.

When the officer approached the car, the window was down, the dome light was on and the white male in the driver’s seat was eating his McMeal. When asked what he was doing, the male responded in a slow, deliberate and slurred voice that he was “waiting for his food.” When asked what food, he replied, “nuggets.”

However, on the passenger seat was sprawled a spilt box of McNuggets, according to OPD. The call had been placed to the police after he refused to stop asking for his nuggets.

When the officer mentioned the nuggets in the passenger seat, the male responded, “still waiting nuggets.” When asked if he had been drinking, he responded, “waiting nuggets.”

The officer, noticing the driver’s eyes were red, asked him to exit the vehicle. The male rolled up the window, and began to drive forward. The officer slammed his hand on the window and told him to turn off his engine.

Unsteady, the male spilled out of his car, and the officer noticed a smell of alcohol on the man. The first time he was asked, the male responded he had not been drinking. After further questioning, he admitted to having consumed three or four beverages, OPD said.

It was determined the male was underage, and, given his apparent intoxication, the rainy conditions and the male’s unsteadiness, the officer took the male into custody to prevent him from driving.

While handcuffing the male, the officer noticed he was wearing two wristbands, one from 45 East and the other from the Hatch.

At the station, the suspect agreed to a Breathalyzer test. His BAC was measured at .226. He was charged with OVI and sales to and use by underage persons.

OPD described him as cooperative and respectful. He was driven back to his residence hall.

Mysterious white pills found in Walmart bag Around 3 a.m. Sunday, an OPD officer executed a traffic stop at the intersection of College Corner Pike and Melanie Lane. The officer who pulled over the 1997 black Ford believed the vehicle had an outstanding traffic violation that needed to be served.

Upon contact with the driver, the officer found the vehicle’s registered owner in the passenger seat, along with two females in the back.

The officer asked if there were any illegal substances in the car, and all passengers responded no. When asked if the officer could search the car, the driver again said no.

The officer then requested K9 unit backup, and when they arrived, the assisting officer asked all four occupants to exit the vehicle.

The dog began barking, indicating something was amiss in the vehicle, according to OPD. The dog ripped open a clear sandwich baggie containing round white pills, packaged in a suspicious way.

The baggie was in a Walmart bag along with clothes, which the owner admitted to owning, yet denied he owned the pills. No occupants had outstanding warrants, and were released pending an analysis of the pills, according to OPD. If the test reveals the pills in question are illegal narcotics, a warrant will be issued for the owner of the vehicle, according to OPD.

BY JANE KOESTRING FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

They are an animal known by many names: puma, cougar, panther, mountain lion. But at Hueston Woods State Park, everybody just calls him Timber.

The young cougar bounds around his enclosure at the Hueston Woods Nature Center, enjoying the attention he gets from guests. He’s long and graceful, almost like an overgrown housecat, with a small head and a puffy tail. He seems comfortable in his new home, an exhibit affectionately called the “Cougar Cave.”

It wasn’t easy bringing Timber to Hueston Woods. When Cougie, the cougar on display at the Nature Center for the last 18 years, passed away of old age in the spring of 2012, the naturalists set out to fill his paws.

The search was extensive. There didn’t seem to be any available cougars anywhere. After contacting zoos across the country and inquiring about wild cougars that needed rescue or were orphaned, the Hueston Woods Naturalists came up short.

That’s when the Heaven’s Corner Zoo and Animal Sanctuary in West Alexandria, Ohio stepped in.

They had received a litter of cougars from a zoo and were willing to donate one to the Nature Center.

And so it was that Timber found a new home. After Cougie left the enclosure empty, the Hueston Woods staff got to work renovating the habitat to make it comfortable

COURTESY OF HUESTON WOODS STATE PARK

Timber, a cougar, looks out from his new home at Hueston Woods State Park. for Timber.

Park Naturalist Amanda Dalton said Miami University students played a role in getting “Cougar Cave” ready for Timber’s arrival.

“We had a group of Miami students and we took a big truck down to our creek beds and had them load up about a ton of creek rock,” she said. “We covered this cave with creek rock so it looks really natural.”

But Timber’s home is more than just a fancy façade; one side of the cave is heated to keep the cougar warm during those harsh, Ohio winters.

“Because [cougars] are native to Ohio, they are very adaptable to our climate,” Dalton continued.

“Our climate wouldn’t bother them at all, but since he doesn’t have the ability to move if he was cold, we decided to go ahead and spoil him rotten a little bit.”

The exhibit also has three inches of mulch to give Timber soft ground to walk on, multiple platforms for relaxation, scratching posts and, of course, a litter box; Timber is just bigger than most.

When Timber gets peckish, he snacks on a mixture called Carnivore Diet, which is made up of chicken and beef byproducts, mostly bone, cartilage and organ meats. And when he recently celebrated his first birthday, Timber got a tasty treat: a lean T-bone steak.

Timber has made a great

impression on the visitors to Hueston Woods, acting as an educational animal for guests of all ages interested in wildlife. But that is not the only reason Timber is so important to the park. “[Timber] is a reminder of how we should widely risk-manage our resources,” Dalton explained. “We used to have cougars in Ohio. They were plentiful. However, they were over-hunted and lost a lot of their habitat when we deforested Ohio.

They basically became extirpated, which means that they’re not extinct, they just no longer live or breed here in the state. They

COUGAR, SEE PAGE 9

Miami nursing students visit with Miami, Okla. tribe

BY KATE GROTON

FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

During Miami University’s winter term, 15 nursing students traveled to Oklahoma to assist the Miami Tribe and get hands-on nursing experience.

The students were from Hamilton, Middletown and Oxford campuses and all took nursing 305, “Cultural Perspectives in Healthcare,” which satisfies Miami’s global perspectives requirement and is a nursing elective. Students were sophomores, juniors, seniors, and RN-BSN students – registered nurses returning for a bachelors in science and nursing.

Assistant Professor of Nursing at Miami’s Hamilton campus Stephanie Nicely helped organize

the trip along with Suzanne Stricklin, another Miami Hamilton nursing professor. The group worked at a preschool as well as an elderly care center.

“At the Leonard Learning Center, which is a preschool for children in the Miami Tribe, the students taught the kids about nutrition and exercise,” Nicely said.

“Everyday, they would help the kids create a healthy snack.”

Tracy Rogers, a teacher at Leonard Learning Center, said the school was happy Miami students were able to help out.

“The kids did have fun with the students, especially the one on one time they had with the students,” Rogers said.

Rogers said the children were very enthusiastic and

excited to work with new faces.

She explained the nursing students brought many new ideas to the table.

“One child even told me some facts about the heart that he learned while working with the 305 students,” Rogers said.

Along with teaching preschoolers, the students also taught the elderly about diabetes, Miami Middletown senior Jonathan Hibbs said.

“As we taught them about diabetes, they taught us about their culture,” Hibbs said.

Hibbs said the program was a life changing experience and that his acceptance into the Miami culture was “beyond amazing.”

Nicely said the group stayed in a house owned by the tribe.

In the evenings, they participated in tribal activities to learn more about the Miami people. In their free time, the students toured the town in which they were staying and further immersed themselves in the native culture.

“We had a tour of the Miami, Oklahoma area and tribal properties and lands with the Chief Doug and Second Chief Dustin,” Sticklin said.

One evening, a lady of the tribe taught the students about beading and weaving bags, Hibbs said. The experience encouraged him to get a tattoo of three feathers, which symbolizes the Miami tribe he was so moved by meeting.

“The ink doesn’t run as deep as my heart and blood, but it’s the closest I could get,” Hibbs said.

Student on the Street While some may describe Sunday’s game as anticlimactic, the advertisements were anything but. Although there is little to discuss about the game, plenty of people are talking about the commercials.

What was your favorite advertisement during the Super Bowl?

“I liked the Tim Tebow commercial. I also liked the Budweiser ad where they had troops returning from war.”

“My favorite was probably the Budweiser puppy ad because it was adorable. It was really memorable.”

Kyle Roll

Melanie Bukovec

“I liked the puppy, but I didn’t watch much; I fell asleep during the game.”

“I’d say my favorite was the Maserati commercial right at the beginning. It was very powerful.”

Sophomore

Grant Hutcheson Sophomore

Sophomore

Sean Graham Sophomore

4

ARTS & EVENTS

EDITOR LAUREN KIGGINS

ARTS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014

BEN’S BOOMBOX

Clash of the ages: classical vs. electronic Computer, check. Notebook, check. Pen and highlighter, check.

Books, check. Headphones, check.

Many students choose to put the headphones on and press play when doing their schoolwork; it’s a way of zoning out BEN at the library MEINKING or the common room, where there can be distractions lurking around each corner. Take a second and think about what music you choose to listen to. Is it

classical? Does the sound of violins and pianos calm your brain and allow you to focus in on the task ahead? Is it electronic dance?

Maybe some Daft Punk and Deadmau5 as you try to get hyped for your homework?

In his book, “Pourquoi Mozart?”

Alfred A. Tomatis coined the phrase “The Mozart Effect.” He explained as the music was being presented by different frequencies, the listener had short-term improvement of performance of certain mental tasks involving mental imagery and temporal ordering. Symphonies have a range of different frequencies depending on the conductor and composer. On average, our human ear can hear a range of 20 to

20,000 Hz. As we grow older, that range becomes smaller and smaller.

Most symphonies move throughout that range tiptoeing through the frequencies so that you can feel the movement of the piece. This is why musical scores for movies are a popular choice for students. There is an “epic-ness” to the sound. The composer’s job is to match the feeling that is presented on screen while keeping in mind what frequencies can trigger what feelings, such as an uplifting key change or a sudden bass note that sustains and speeds up to match the suspense of an underwater shark the size of a fishing boat.

Electronic dance music (EDM) is a relative to classical music, if

not distant cousins. EDM has what many DJs and electronic-enthusiasts call a “drop.” It is obvious when it happens, which makes EDM distasteful to lovers of other genres. Even though it is blatant when the “drop” happens, there is still suspense up to that point, which parallels classical music. EDM uses a range of frequencies that is primarily brought upon (wait for the drop) digitally. Speakers try to blast all that lower in the spectrum joy so that you can literally feel the bass. As for the beats per minute (BPM) of EDM, a constant down beat that repeats typically keeps the mold and rhythm of the dance floor.

Over in the library, a dance floor is not ready to be improved into start-

ing. The headphones are on and the tasks are being completed at a natural steady pace like the down beat of the song. The “drop” is something to look forward to, making it without words, a better piece to listen to than a new Miley Cyrus song.

Both EDM and orchestral music have a purpose for study habits at school. It keeps our head down and in books, rather than up in the clouds dreaming of where we would rather be. The music we listen to defines us in ways that can only be made similar by endless possibilities. We get the job done.

We smile. We dance. We walk. We dream. Sometimes it’s nice to take the headphones out and realize that we are all the same.

Comedian to represent Falling in love with Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’ Miami throughout U.S. MOVIE REVIEW

“Her”

BY BRITTON PERELMAN FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

“Falling in love is a crazy thing to do; it’s like a socially acceptable form of insanity.”

In a world that continually churns out movies that are all far too similar to one another, “Her” is a wonderful breath of fresh air. Nominated for five Academy Awards that it very much deserves, including Best Picture of the Year, Spike Jonze’s futuristic love story is painful, honest and heartbreakingly real.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a lonely, recentlydivorced online love letter writer.

The irony in the fact that he writes beautiful love letters for strangers yet can’t seem to emotionally connect to the people in his own life is lost on no one. Although Phoenix plays a character who seems to be his trademark, broken, tortured and extremely emotional, there’s no denying his portrayal is perfect.

Everyone in Jonze’s cleverly thought-out world of the not-sodistant future is self-absorbed and technology-dependent, with the newest trend being an artificial intelligence operating system. Theodore is no different than everyone else, except that when he upgrades, he begins to fall in love with his

operating system (OS), Samantha, voiced beautifully by Scarlett Johansson.

Samantha organizes and learns more about Theodore’s life with an innocent, childlike view on life that is almost humbling at times.

She asks Theodore, “How do you share your life with somebody?” because the concept truly makes no sense to her. The world is completely new to her and she yearns to learn as much as she can about herself, and about everything. In this way, she makes Theodore, and the audience, begin to look at life and love again, as if for the first time.

As Theodore and Samantha’s relationship develops, the audience’s initial doubts and prejudices fade away. The audience watches them get to know one another, fall in love, go on cute dates, and even have their first argument. They’re an odd pair, whose unlikely romance brings up very realistic issues about what it means to love, be in a relationship, deal with emotions and be human.

Their relationship is tested by the boundaries inherent in it.

Samantha is an operating system and therefore has no body, something that severely limits her and, inevitably, their relationship.

Although she feels humanlike emotions, she isn’t human, a fact

that Theodore reminds her of more than she’d prefer. The question is eventually posed, though never properly answered and left up to interpretation, about whether or not their relationship is even real.

What’s refreshing about “Her” is that it’s a challenge. The audience has to work to accept the nature of the story that ultimately leaves them contemplating what love is, the role of self-acceptance in relationships and the challenge of being in love with a person who will ultimately grow and change throughout the course of time. Unlike the majority of movies produced today, “Her” prompts the audience to become actively involved in the story, to think about the issues it raises and to come to individual conclusions.

With absolutely beautiful cinematography and precise storytelling, Spike Jonze has created something completely original that will force audiences to look at the world in a new light. Add the fact his story is perfectly casted, down to minor characters played incredibly by Amy Adams and Rooney Mara, and this movie is easily one of the best of the year.

ARTS & EVENTS CALENDAR TUESDAY FEB. 4 Running out of room in your closet? Drop off unwanted clothes at the Miami University Club of Fashion and Design (MUCFD) clothing drive, benefiting the Talawanda Community Clothing Center. MUCFD will be accepting donations from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at their office in Armstrong Student Center room 3009.

WEDNESDAY FEB. 5 College linebacker turned country singer, Chase Rice, will be performing at Brick Street Bar & Grille. The show starts at 8:30 p.m.; tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door.

SATURDAY FEB. 8 Catch Fusion, the Miami University Asian American Association’s pan Asian cultural performance at 2 p.m. at Hall Auditorium. The show will feature dance styles from Cambodian and Polynesian styles to hip-hop. Tickets are $5 and are available at the Shriver Box Office.

THURSDAY FEB. 6 Michael Pyatok of Pyatok Architects Inc. will give a lecture entitled “Sustainability = Equity” at 5 p.m. in Alumni Hall room 1.

MONDAY FEB. 9 Bartok Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion will be performed at 3 p.m. at Hall Auditorium.

The concert is free and open to the public.

FRIDAY FEB. 7 Spend the night dancing to live music at the Hoedown Square Dance, hosted by the Oxford Community Arts Center. No experience or partner is necessary, so grab a friend and head Uptown for the 7:30 p.m. event! Tickets are $7.

TUESDAY FEB. 10 The Calder Quartet, who has played on the stages of Coachella music festival and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” among others, will be performing at the Oxford Community Arts Center at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10-$15 at the Shriver Box Office.

COURTESY OF DAVID MULLER

Miami alumna ‘07 and standup comedian Beth Stelling.

BY CHRISTINA CASANO SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Comedian and Miami University alumna ‘07 Beth Stelling won Comedy Central’s “@midnight” hosted by Chris Hardwicke on Jan 14. Triumphing over Rory Scovel and Jon Dore, Stelling showed her skill with words while navigating a series of challenges related to events in social media.

“It was really great getting to be up there with people I know and love, standing up there next to people I’ve worked with over the years,” Stelling said.

Having moved to Chicago after graduating from Miami in 2007, Stelling has won a number of awards including being named The Chicago Reader’s Best Standup Comedian in Chicago in 2010.

She has traveled with her show to cities across the U.S. and in 2011 was invited to take part in the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal.

“It was a big honor,” Stelling said. “I was one of the only Chicago comics that went.”

Now based in L.A., Stelling has a weekly show while continuing to take her show around the country. She made her debut on “Conan” this year, and will appear as a guest on “Chelsea Lately” on Feb. 24.

“I’ve been finding my voice over the past seven years. I’ve finally found a voice that I’m comfortable with for my show,” Stelling said. “I’ve found that in L.A. people have similar goals and work ethic. Chicago is a great place to grow, develop, whereas L.A. is where people are finished products.”

Stelling began her Miami career as a pre-med student, but quickly learned that her interests lay in a different direction.

“I got a C in Biology, very generously, and so I ended up auditioning sort of last minute for the theater department,” Stelling said.

“I wasn’t shopping around for the best theater program, but I’d done some musicals and speech and

debate in high school.”

Stelling’s interest in comedy started in high school, though it was in her first acting class at Miami that she actually performed stand-up.

“In Julia [Guicard]’s acting class we had Fool’s Day where you got to be anything for the class,” Stelling said. “I procrastinated, so I wrote it the morning of, this halfpage of stand up. But my classmates were really supportive.”

Through her years at Miami, Stelling was in a number of productions in the theater department.

“I always wanted the funny parts,” Stelling said. “I sort of made it by playing roles that normally were played by men.”

Rosalyn Benson, assistant dean of the College of Creative Arts, remembers Stelling from her time in the theater department, when she took part in an architecture and theater trip to London as a first-year.

“I remember that Beth was very independent, she always did sort of her own thing,” Benson said. “She was very outgoing, confident.”

It was not until her senior year that Stelling performed stand-up again.

“During my senior year I was asked [by a friend] to crash an open mic night at a bar Uptown, and about 75 of my friends turned out to see me,” Stelling said. “So they had these once a month, and I went February, March and April of my senior year.”

After her first theatrical production in Chicago, Stelling became disillusioned with Storefront theatre in Chicago.

“I had interned at Steppenwolf one summer which was a great experience, so I knew how good theatre could be. But I also knew a lot of crappy theater was there. So I said, screw this, I’m going to take things into my own hands,” Stelling said. “With stand-up I felt like I could do whatever I wanted to.”

Find out more about Beth Stelling on her website, www.sweetbeth.com, and on Twitter, @BethStelling.

www.miamistudent.net

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2014

Dedicate & Celebrate On Friday, Feb. 7 at 2 p.m., join the Miami community and Mike ’61 & Anne Armstrong ’61 to dedicate the new Armstrong Student Center. »

Free Food Samples

»

Giveaways

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Entertainment

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5

6

OPINION

EDITORS EMILY ELDRIDGE NICOLE THEODORE

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014

EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

EDITORIAL

The following piece, written by the editorial editors, reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.

Firing off on gun control debate: students still don’t see eye to eye Another shooting gripped headlines this weekend: two Michigan State University students were shot multiple times Saturday resulting in the death of one and serious injuries to the other. Sadly, this is no longer news in the United States.

A child or teen dies or is injured from guns every 30 minutes; guns are the second leading cause of death among children teens ages 1 to 19 and the number one cause for African American children and teens, according to a 2013 study done by The Children’s Defense Fund. More startling statistics show that since the devastating Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Newtown, where 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot 20 children and six adults, there have been another 9,900 related deaths from guns in the United States.

The Obama administration failed to get any gun control measures passed last year through Congress even though the numbers of innocent lives taken from guns are increasing. Even though some of these shootings and murders may seem far away from the Oxford bubble, they really aren’t. There have been 24 school shootings since Newtown, and two thirds took place on college campuses. The Miami Student Editorial Board is divided on the issue of gun control.

Our online editor Brett Milam believes there are already safeguards in place for gun control, and there may be no actual way to stop future shootings from occurring, “We have the laws. The laws are there. The shooter at the Navy Yard acquired his gun legally and had a credible ID to get into the building. The Sandy Hook shooter used his mother’s weapons. I’m not sure how you stop those. Violent gun crime is down, but sure, there definitely appears to be a cluster of mass shootings over the last two or so years, but I’m not convinced there is a trend,” he said.

On the other side of the gun control spectrum, are those who feel guns should be completely done away with. Campus Editor Reis Thebault believes this should be the next step for the United States.

“At this point, everyone has been or knows someone who has been affected by gun violence. There is no need for guns and I am tired of hearing about something new every day, because what if it’s Miami next time? It’s scary, it’s sad and it doesn’t need to happen,” Reis said.

Some also feel the right to own a gun should not be taken away from them, but there should be more background checks in an attempt to identify those who should not own

a gun. Editor-in-Chief Katie Taylor sees this as a possible solution, but far from happening any time soon.

“People have the right to own weapons. I don’t think we should take that from them. On the other hand, there are individuals who should not be able to get their hands on them. The big issue is one, identifying those people, and two, finding a way to make it impossible to obtain a weapon. If that’s even possible,” she said.

The mental health issue has been another widely-debated topic in the realm of gun control. The most typical argument has been that it’s not guns that kill people; it’s people who kill people. This usually comes down to the mentally ill who are shown in the media as having killed people, or gotten a hold of guns one way or the other. Whether or not you agree, it is still an argument relevant in the conversation.

“I think that everyone should have a right to own a gun, but if you have a mental health issue or a past violent criminal then you lose that right,” said Sports Editor Tom Downey.

Campus Editor Victoria Slater has seen a different side of the gun control debate from another country’s perspective, as her parents are originally from Australia.

“In Australia, all automatic and semi-automatic weapons were banned in 1996 for all civilians, and since, the country has not faced any mass shootings. I know if the federal illegality of all guns were proposed it would be shot down immediately with a resounding argument of unconstitutionality. However, I still think it is something we should consider,” she said.

And then there are those, like Community Editor Chris Curme, who just feel like the issue is too far gone to even try and propose a solution or take a side.

“It seems to me that if one wants to acquire a gun, he or she can, legally or illegally. So the issue is too complex for me to even imagine a clean solution,” he said.

Our news editor Emily Crane understands that telling Americans they can’t own guns isn’t going to happen, but there needs to be some sort of regulation.

“For better or for worse, it is a basic right of every citizen in this country to carry a weapon and trying to change that now is both futile and wrong,” she said. “The best thing we can do is to continue to pursue stricter regulation of who is allowed to purchase weapons and how they are allowed to do so. And let’s start at the state level since we can’t expect to see this addressed in Congress anytime soon..”

PATRICK GEYSER THE MIAMI STUDENT

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

New recruitment fee deters potential members This year, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) decided to charge a $20 fee to sign up for formal recruitment. In previous years, this fee did not exist. Apparently, the primary reason for imposing the fee was to provide food (pizza) for all chapters during rush.

For some reason, it must have been deemed “unfair” that some chapters had provided food to potential new members (PNMs) during rush in previous years and others had not.

Honestly, the infliction of this payment on PNMs is nothing

more than a deterring factor. I am a member of Greek Life and former recruitment chair of my fraternity at Miami. Personally, I was not sure about rushing my freshman year. Had the fee been in place at that time, I would have been less likely to sign up for formal recruitment. I’m sure this was the case for more than a few guys this year.

IFC needs to reconsider charging the registration fee next year for formal recruitment. No one should be discouraged from signing up just so chapters can have

food during rush. This year, the fee made PNMs decide whether or not they wanted to partake in Greek Life prior to going through formal recruitment. Rushing should be a time for exploration in order to make a decision about joining the Greek community.

Forcing PNMs to make this determination ahead of time is not conducive for maximum inclusion, and it simply is not fair.

BEN MEACHAM

JUNIOR, MICROBIOLOGY MEACHABP@MIAMIOH.EDU

Tweets from readers on gun control debate

Rule of Thumb Weekly140 The newest way to get your oncampus news. p. 2

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The Miami Student, please recycle!

13-year-old on X Factor Carly Rose Sonenclar blew judges and audience away with her performance of “Feeling Good.”

Olympics controversy We’re excited for the Games, but we could do without all the drama surrounding it.

Super Bowl XLVIII Not only was the game boring, but so were the commercials.

KATIE TAYLOR EDITOR IN CHIEF EMILY CRANE NEWS EDITOR EMILY ELDRIDGE EDITORIAL EDITOR NICOLE THEODORE EDITORIAL EDITOR LAUREN KIGGINS ARTS AND EVENTS

CHRIS CURME COMMUNITY EDITOR JANE BLAZER COMMUNITY EDITOR VICTORIA SLATER CAMPUS EDITOR REIS THEBAULT CAMPUS EDITOR TOM DOWNEY SPORTS EDITOR

www.miamistudent.net

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014 OP ED

7

MILAM’S MUSINGS

Bill Nye the “Science Guy” to debate creationism at the Creation Museum When Bill Nye the “Science Guy” debates the founder of Kentucky’s Creation Museum on Tuesday, he will be defending science and reason against the anti-scientific culture — a culture prevalent among many BRETT MILAM C h r i s t i a n fundamentalists and in the Republican Party.

Bill Nye is afraid of creationism. He does not want to see a future where students are scientifically illiterate.

“I say to the grown-ups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, that’s fine. But don’t make your kids do it, we need them,” he said.

Ken Ham founded the apologetics ministry, Answers in Genesis, which pushes a literal interpretation of the book of Genesis. They believe the world is 6,000 years old and that humans coexisted with the dinosaurs.

In 2007, he opened the Creation

Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky.

Over 250,000 people visit the museum every year, although that’s a drop from 400,000 in the first year.

Ham believes today’s students have evolution imposed upon them and there is no critical thinking involved.

“We certainly believe students should be allowed to critically analyze evolution. You can’t add millions of years to what the Bible teaches,” he said.

Deborah Haarsma, president of the BioLogos Foundation, whose motto is “science and faith in harmony,” offers a nuanced position about whether the debate should even occur.

“It looks like science versus Christianity and it ignores the people who have accepted the science of evolution and have not let go of their faith,” she said.

According to a Pew Research Poll, “60 percent of those surveyed agreed with the statement that ‘humans and other living things have evolved over time.’” Compared to other countries’ acceptance of evolutionary theory, though, the United States ranked 33rd out of a surveyed 34 countries, only ahead of Turkey.

COMMENTARY

Only 43 percent of Republicans agreed with the statement, which is a drop in 11 points since 2009. Among Democrats, 67 percent agreed.

Nye’s concern about children and scientific illiteracy is a salient one.

Just this year, laws were introduced in Missouri, Virginia and Oklahoma challenging evolution in public school science curricula, while Texas, Louisiana and Tennessee permit the teaching of “alternatives” to evolution.

Written in a new bill South Dakota Senate lawmakers seek to pass, “No school board or school administrator may prohibit a teacher in public or nonpublic school from providing instruction on intelligent design or other related topic,” says a new bill South Dakota Senate lawmakers seek to pass.

Certainly, I agree with Ham that school ought to be a bastion of critical thinking for students, but teaching creationism is like giving the Flat Earth Society room at the table with round Earth theory proponents.

I have a fervent belief in the separation of church and state. Introducing creationism alongside evolution in the classroom would constitute a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Aside from that, there is just no scientific basis for creationism.

Unfortunately, anti-science advocacy is nothing new to the Republican Party and Christian fundamentalists. Consider the propagation of the “pray away the gay” camps or climate change denial. Or this case, desiring intelligent design to be taught alongside evolution in the classroom.

Scientific illiteracy is largely the reason for confusion over evolution and the propensity toward anti-science advocacy. One often hears, “It’s not a fact; it’s just a theory.” In other words, the common usage of the term “theory” has the connotation of “abstract thought: speculation,” according to Merriam-Webster’s definition.

On the other hand, a scientific theory, in short, is “a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena,” according to dictionary.com. Essentially, a scientific theory is testable. Creationism is not.

To put it another way, I do not see those in the Christian fundamentalist movement disputing Isaac Newton’s theory of universal gravitation as “just a theory” and offering

competing alternatives.

Carl Sagan once said, “We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good.” A literal interpretation of the book of Genesis may feel good, but it is not factual.

I sincerely hope the debate Tuesday will be a fruitful endeavor for Nye and not merely a platform for the spread of inane ideas, like humans frolicking with dinosaurs.

Neither Nye nor Ham is going to change the other’s mind; they have admitted to as much. But I applaud Nye for his efforts in trying to thwart the anti-science narrative.

“The way I work, I can do my best in convincing people because I don’t have to do the convincing. God does the convincing,” Ham said.

Such is the antithesis to critical thinking, which fuels scientific illiteracy, which fuels bad policies.

I am not suggesting for someone to throw out their Bible; just leave it out of the classroom.

SENIOR, PHILOSOPHY MILAMBC@MIAMIOH.EDU

ANDREW’S ASSESSMENTS

Ukrainians reject Russian model, Despite it’s flaws, football continues to preserve still hopeful for EU membership several characteristics of American sports culture Vladimir Putin is very nervous – and not just because his cherished Olympic games may turn out to be a flop. For the last two months, ordinary Ukrainians have occupied the streets of the capital, Kiev, because their president, Viktor Yanukovych, backed down from signing an agreement in November that would have brought Ukraine and the European Union closer.

At that time, Yanukovych’s balk was hailed as a foreign policy victory for Putin after Russia threatened economic retaliation if Kiev initialed the agreement. Putin even gave Yanukovych a discount on Russian natural gas imports and what amounted to be a $15 billion loan. And now with Ukraine on the brink of civil war, it’s all blowing up in Putin’s face.

From the beginning, Moscow treated the possibility of Ukraine signing a so-called Association Agreement with the EU as a zerosum game. While many in the West refuse to acknowledge it, Moscow was right.

Concluding an Association Agreement would have meant visafree travel for Ukrainians to the EU as well as significant liberal governance and economic reforms that, over time, would deliver greater economic growth. This was concerning for Putin for two reasons.

First, he needs Ukraine to make the Eurasian Сustoms Union, his answer to the EU, a reality. Second, the example of the second largest former Soviet republic, and “little brother” of Russia, charting a course distinct from Moscow (i.e. towards the West), may inspire Russians to demand the same thing.

Yet, Putin is far too busy enriching himself and his friends and clamping down on dissent in Russia to be bothered with such ideas. Indeed, Konstantin Krylov, a Russian oppositionist, even compared bordering Russia with living next to a dump (pomoika).

And for these reasons, you can understand why most Ukrainians yearn for the EU Of course, to get the benefits that an Association Agreement would confer, but also to escape the shadow of Russia; to become a “normal” country. The reaction of ordinary Ukrainians to Yanukovych snubbing the EU (after a series of closed-door meetings with Putin) was swift and dramatic.

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets, tired of living under the Russian model, whose most salient features include corruption, authoritarianism and economic stagnation.

Yanukovych’s repeated attempts to disperse protesters who had set up camp in central Kiev only added fuel to the fire. He took a page straight out of Putin’s playbook

when he transported paid thugs into the capital to beat up protesters and incite the crowd to violence, kidnapped and even murdered protest leaders and illegally rammed a bill through the Ukrainian parliament which threatened citizens with stiff punishments for participating in protests. One article in this bill threatened protesters with 10 days in jail for wearing helmets (worn to soften the blow from police batons), while another made it illegal to drive in columns of more than five cars.

Today, the protests have spread outside of Kiev and protesters occupy numerous government buildings, including federal ministries.

Yanukovych is quickly backpedaling, offering concession after concession to the protesters, but it may be too late as they now have inflated their demands to include snap presidential and parliamentary elections. It is reported that senior Ukrainian law enforcement officials have already left the country, while Yanukovych has abruptly taken a sick leave.

Moscow is reeling. Since the protests began, Russian state television channels have deliberately misrepresented them, labeling the protesters “fascists.” And recently, an aide to Putin, Sergei Glazyev, publicly called on Yanukovych to “suppress the insurgency, which is provoked and financed by external forces [read ‘the West’].” Most disturbingly, there have been unconfirmed but persistent reports of Russian Special Forces “clandestinely involved in kidnappings, beatings and sniping” of Ukrainian protesters.

Only time will tell what will happen in Ukraine. However, one thing is certain: Putin has already lost.

Even if Yanukovych were to regain his former power, it would require incredibly violent and repressive measures, discrediting himself and his Russian backers further (think Assad in Syria). Moreover, for the time being, Moscow is limited in what it can do with regard to Ukraine because of the Olympics.

The great irony is that while seemingly no one wants the EU anymore, many Ukrainians are willing to risk their lives just for a chance at membership. But if you read closer, the real impetus is their desire, once again, to throw off the Russian yolk that is holding Ukraine back.

The author is a Junior Fellow at the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies.

KEARY IARUSSI

IARUSSKP@MIAMIOH.EDU SENIOR, GLOBAL POLITICS; RUSSIAN & POST-SOVIET STUDIES

Roger Goodell’s NFL is at the top of the sports heap. The league’s ratings crush every other major sport. Millions of kids across the country grow up playing backyard football with friends and playing Madden for hours on end.

ANDREW The game GEISLER has reached its cultural peak. The spectacle that is Super Bowl week is unmatched in American sports. Football is undoubtedly America’s game, and though that should be celebrated, the game does come with its contradictions.

Football is violent. It’s a game with violence at its core. Hitting another man as hard as you can (or being able to take the hits) is the fastest way to gain accolades.

ESPN’s pregame show might’ve gotten rid of the segment, but fans still love to watch guys get “jacked up.”

That’s why an obsession with making a fundamentally unsafe game safe is in vogue today.

Americans will worship the violent game, but are fundamentally uncomfortable with the notion of violence. They cannot abide by hard hits to the head, which are certainly unsafe (though at times unavoidable on a football field), so the league penalizes such hits.

The purists say, “You’re fundamentally changing the game.”

Some pragmatists say, “What about the knee injuries to come?”

There’s really no good answer to any of these questions.

Roger Goodell is smart to get behind and work with Heads Up football, which teaches youth league players to tackle with their heads up to avoid head injury.

But even the most Pollyannaish football fan (of which I am one) will admit this doesn’t eliminate

risk of serious injury. Hitting with a vengeance will lead to injury.

The injuries are hard to watch.

The Colts-Chiefs first round game was at many times painful to sit through because guys were going down left and right. And nobody needs to be reminded of the Navarro Bowman leg twisting injury during the NFC championship.

Yes, the injuries are hard to watch, but still over 100 million Americans will most likely have watched the Super Bowl on Sunday. With all apologies to Alan Alda, pretty soon the list of the top five most-watched TV programs in American history will be nothing but Super Bowls.

Nothing illustrates the obvious contradiction football creates better than the President telling “New Yorker” editor David Remnick he wouldn’t let his son play football while they worshiped at the altar of the NFL during some downtime aboard Air Force One. The elites are, more and more, rejecting a game for themselves that’s fine for the rest.

Some, like Malcolm Gladwell, suggest that down the road, football will go the way of boxing, spurned by the upper classes and played only by those trying to lift themselves out of poverty because of the risk of brain injuries.

But there’s risk in everything, and if they stop playing the game in the Acela corridor and continue to replace it with lacrosse, then fine—I doubt the rest of America will follow suit for quite some time. And we should hope we never follow suit, because there will still be nothing more fun than banding together with teammates and working together to win any kind of game. There’s really no game more rewarding than football: hours upon hours of preparation for the shortest season in all of major league sports. It takes the most mental toughness of any game.

Football is actually one of the better things about today’s culture.

The game is physical, but also can be looked at as one big chessboard. Even the smallest movement a player makes can make all the difference on a given play, and each play is part of a grand strategy based on many hours of study.

It’s steeped in contradictions, but ultimately so rewarding; the handwringing is only taking away from the joy it can bring.

On top of that, people in our generation are already too often so mentally weak, so unable to take criticism. And because of this, they are so afraid to stake out intellectual claims or take smart risks.

I worry about a culture that rejects games like football that teach men

Yes, the injuries are hard to watch, but still over 100 million Americans will most likely have watched the Super Bowl on Sunday. to be men. It’s a game that teaches kids to take constructive criticism, teaches them not to be afraid to make mistakes doing their best, and holds them accountable to for their effort. Many sports do these things, but none is quite like football. You just cannot fake it in football. Teamwork is completely necessary to win. And without the game, this pervasive cultural weakness will only get worse.

Underlying violence and all, football is worth preserving ultimately because it preserves character traits drying up throughout our culture. Traits we have to find some way to preserve.

JUNIOR, POLITICAL SCIENCE GEISLEAJ@MIAMIOH.EDU

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LOANS, According to Shock, the real difficulty comes not only in repaying the loan, but also in the supplemented interest associated with it. The national average loan payment after graduation is about $300 per month based on a 5 percent interest rate over a period of 10 years.

Weaver said the interest rate could be the most daunting aspect of the loan payment.

“I recently saw my interest rates get raised by 3 percent,” Weaver said. “In the end, it’s the interest payments that put on the most pressure. After graduation, my interest payments will be close to a third of the initial loan cost.”

According to Shock, the current interest rate for a federal loan is 3.8 percent. In a Sept. 2013 Miami Student article, Shock also noted that 95 percent of Miami students will graduate and be able to pay back their loans in a timely fashion. However, some graduates may face a scenario in which they cannot pay back their loans, called default.

“The worst case scenario would be a default on the loan which although uncommon, has the largest impact on credit score and is

not forgivable under bankruptcy,” Shock said.

However, he said default is rare because the government tends to work with those in debt if they show effort to pay off the debt on a consistent basis. Other consequences of a student loan default include the loss of eligibility for future financial aid, he said.

The government also then obtains the right to garnish wages and tax refunds, a repercussion not associated with other forms of debt.

Shock also commented on how the debt accumulated by loans after graduation may deter students from attempting to obtain a loan for education.

Miami alumnus Devin Bachman, who graduated last May, is now paying back his loans each month. While he said he was aware of his debt during his time at Miami, it became more of a harsh reality after graduation.

“Although you know how much you’re going to have to pay, you just can’t seem to avoid it,” Bachman said. “It still seems extremely overwhelming even after graduating.”

He added that being conservative with spending and constantly having a source of revenue is key to successful and timely loan payment.

Alpha Phi and Miami well and my friends and I here at school all got together to watch it to see her.”

After college, Restko moved to Australia and worked in television as a freelancer for the Australian Open.

A few years later, she moved back to Chicago to continue working for as a freelancer for ESPN and The Tennis Channel, while doing childcare on the side.

Restko currently works as a

designer at the Trunk Club, a men’s clothing service in Chicago.

Restko said she didn’t need The Bachelor to find love. She found it after the show on Tinder, which is an app where one can scroll through pictures of potential love matches based on location and interests.

“Its funny now watching [The Bachelor] with my boyfriend,” Restko said. “I’m always like, ‘I didn’t kiss him or anything!’”

SAN FRAN,

about Hutster, Lacker knew he had something special.

“Normally, I have to tell students to go out and talk to customers and find people who would be willing to pay you for your idea. When Sean came in, he had already done that. It was a strong indicator of the future success I saw in him.”

Lacker calls himself a coach for Hutster – nothing more and nothing less. He says this with an unassuming and humble tone. Crowe was a bit less reserved when he explained Lacker’s ties to Hutster.

“Mark is awesome!” Crowe says with an inflection that says ‘trust me, you have to meet him and see how awesome he is for yourself.’ “He has this ability to get you excited about things, and you don’t even know why you’re excited about them.

“Sometimes, I leave my meetings with him thinking ‘oh man, we’re not doing anything.’ He pushes us.

He puts things in perspective. He tells us what we need to hear.”

FROM PAGE 1

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BACHELOR, FROM PAGE 1

for adventure.”

Miami junior and Alpha Phi member Katie Vanover said she loved that one of her former sisters participated in the show.

“When I found out she was an Alpha Phi from Miami, I had someone to root for right off the bat because I had a connection to her,” Vanover said. “I feel like she represented

FROM PAGE 2

possibilities fits with what he wants, and only 5 percent of those are what he’ll actually need, but he realizes he’ll never get those 5 percent if he just sits around.”

Justin is an entrepreneur himself.

He started an online art gallery that explores culture’s role in technology and technology’s role in culture, according to his blog. In the spring of 2013, he started a campaign on Kickstarter called “Meme the World” that raised $5,000 in capital for his business. He says he hopes his foray into internet entrepreneurship inspired his brother to do the same, but he also likes to say he has an official position at Hutster.

“I’m his brainstorming partner. Sean and I could talk forever about all the possibilities he has with Hutster.”

“Ideas are worthless” Crowe has another role model who loves to talk forever about ideas – Mark Lacker. Lacker is a Miami professor who has three business startups to his name, one of which was a corporate event marketing company that put on 1,700 events. He is in charge of the startup curriculum for the entrepreneurship department and runs the internship program.

“Ideas are worthless,” says Lacker. He pauses, letting his firm opinion set in. “All ideas can be good ideas, but not all ideas are good business ideas. Thinking of an idea is easy, but going out and testing it and failing and changing it and testing it again – that’s the hard part.”

Lacker says most students only come to him with ideas. When Crowe first came to him in the fall of 2013 and wanted to talk

“I don’t want to be happy” Crowe takes another sip of his tea, very carefully this time. He points out the whiteboard on the wall of his kitchen with the “Hutster To Do List” on the left side of it. He can’t believe he will be taking it down in just a couple days and moving out of his four bedroom, two bathroom house with a great location close to Kroger.

Where does Crowe picture himself in five years?

“I hate that question,” he says with a sigh and a grin. “Two weeks ago, I didn’t know I was going to San Francisco. We’re not trying to plan out the finer details of the business plan, we just need to go out and do it and see where it takes us.

“But in five years, I don’t want to be happy. I want to be excited.”

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FROM PAGE 3

became extirpated in the mid1800s. We haven’t had a breeding cougar population since that time period.”

Timber’s ancestors may have thrived right where his enclosure now sits. However, bounty hunting beginning as early as the 1600s and continuing into the 1900s virtually wiped out cougar populations in the Midwest, according to the National Park Service. The last-known cougar in Ohio was killed in 1845.

Recently, there have been reports of cougar sightings further east of their western United States habitats, including one in Illinois two weeks ago, according to the Mountain Lion Foundation. However, there is yet to be any concrete evidence of cougars in Ohio.

The closest indication we have of cougars passing through the state occurred two years ago,

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when a cougar tracked in Chicago made its way to Connecticut, where it ended up getting hit by a car. The animal most likely made its way through Ohio during its journey, but there were no actual sightings.

A cougar sighting can be anything from actually seeing a cougar in person or on a wildlife camera, to finding tracks, none of which have indicated cougars in Ohio. Also, there haven’t been any cougars accidentally caught in hunter’s traps or hit by cars, a fate common for the bobcat, which is often mistaken for a cougar.

Though the cougar and the bobcat are often confused, they are actually very different creatures. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the cougar grows to about 5-6 feet long, compared to the bobcat’s relatively small two to three and a half feet. The cougar’s tail is long, making up about 40 percent of the body length, while the bobcat’s six-inch tail is more of a stub.

Bobcats have a similar history to cougars in Ohio. Extirpated from the state in 1850, they were very rarely seen for a century.

However, it seems the bobcat is returning to its old home. Bobcat sightings have shot up dramatically since the mid-1900s.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources reported 628 verified bobcat sightings in the last 41 years, with 542 of those occurring in the last 10 years alone. That is compared to the cougar’s grand total of zero.

If bobcats can return to Ohio after being extirpated, there is a chance cougars could make their way back as well. Mountain Lion Foundation Staff Biologist Amy Rodrigues elaborated on the possibility. “[Mountain lions] are capable of traveling hundreds to thousands of miles,” Rodrigues said. “It’s usually those young males that are looking for an available territory. They’re looking for females. But since you don’t have any females in the Midwest, they just keep on wandering until somebody kills them. So yeah, eventually Ohio could have some mountain lions, probably not a huge population, but they could be travelling through the state to get to the Adirondacks or the Appalachian mountains.”

The Mountain Lion Foundation makes it their mission to protect mountain lions and their habitats by trying to pass legislation that keeps mountain lions from being killed if they pose no immediate threat.

They have had success in California, a hotbed for cougars, passing a bill that protects the animals if they accidentally wander into towns. Rodrigues said the foundation hopes to find legislative success in Midwestern and eastern states as well.

“In the Midwest and on the East Coast we’re looking now to pass legislation that would protect any lions that wander into the state,” Rodrigues stated. “Just to give them a chance that they could recolonize. In Illinois, there are no laws. The mountain lion isn’t even recognized as a native species because it was wiped out before the state’s game agency was ever formed. If we can pass the laws first, that will lay the foundation for the species to come back.”

The Mountain Lion Foundation also aims to protect the cougar’s habitat, allowing them to have a place to live if they make their way back to their habitats of yore.

Timber, his sisters still at Heaven’s Corner, and a handful of other cougars in zoos throughout the state are all that remain in Ohio of this mighty Midwestern cat.

Timber seems pretty happy living on the land once ruled by his kind. He dozes in his cave, unaware that the faces that stare everyday are looking at a relic of a time gone by. Timber is oblivious. He has other things to worry about; there might just be a little bit of that birthday steak left.

9

10

SPORTS

EDITOR TOM DOWNEY

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014

SPORTS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

ROB HANES

MEN’S BASKETBALL

‘WILL’ POWER CARRYING MIAMI MEN’S BASKETBALL

’Hawks soar past Eagles

ROB’S REVIEW

Saturday’s win against Eastern Michigan University (EMU) showed the Mid-American Conference (MAC) that the Miami University basketball team is a legitimate contender.

After starting the year 0-4, the RedHawks have posted a 9-6 record and are 5-3 in conference play. That puts them within one game of a share of MAC East division leaders Ohio and Akron.

This is extremely impressive considering the transfer of the team’s second-leading scorer through its first six games, Reggie Johnson.

His sudden transfer left many RedHawk fans wondering if they would even have a chance to go .500 this season. But here we are midway through the season and the RedHawks are 9-10 and two games above .500 in MAC play. So, how has Miami done it and who has stepped up to make this team a legitimate threat in the MAC? The answer is the two Wills.

Many already know Will Felder.

The RedHawk big-man is leading the team in points, with 14.8 per game, and in rebounds at 7.4 per game. He was most impressive in his last game where he amassed 15 rebounds against EMU’s 7-foot center, Da’Shonte Riley. Felder also made the game-winning shot against EMU with only a few seconds left on the clock. When the RedHawks need a big game or a clutch shot, Will Felder has stepped up.

While Felder has been tearing it up, another Will

has quietly been putting up incredible numbers.

Will Sullivan has stepped up in Johnson’s absence and has made it hard for head coach John Cooper to take him off the court. Since Sullivan has become a starter, the RedHawks are 8-5. Watching him on the court is like watching a general command his troops while on the front lines. He is continually making plays and using his voice to keep the RedHawks under control. He is also shooting an astounding 50.9 percent from 3-point range, which is over 18 percent higher than anyone else on the team. If Sullivan had enough 3-pointers to qualify, he would lead the nation in 3-point percentage. In his last game against EMU he was almost automatic going 5-6 from beyond the arc. Sullivan has taken his opportunity and run with it. This Will may not be the high profile guy that Will Felder is, but he has certainly impacted the RedHawks immensely.

If the RedHawks are going to make a run at the MAC title, it will largely depend on the two Will’s. If they are able to continue playing the way they have been these past few weeks, they will be a legitimate dark horse during the tournament. There are many if’s and there are many games left to be played, but every other MAC team better watch out because the two Will’s and the Miami RedHawks may just surprise them.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MU knocks off Eastern

BY JUSTIN MASKULINSKI SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Three days after a heartbreaking, last-second loss to the University at Buffalo, the Miami University women’s basketball team travelled up to Ypsilanti, Mich. for a Mid-American Conference (MAC) game against Eastern Michigan University.

The RedHawks (7-13, 3-6 MAC) took down the Eagles (128, 2-7 MAC) 71-65. “[The win] felt good,” sophomore forward Hannah McCue said. “We played as a team and we rebounded very, very well. It felt good to get that win on the road.”

Miami head coach Cleve Wright said the team arrived in Oxford at 5:30 a.m. Friday, the students attended classes, and left for Ypsilanti the next day after a shoot around.

Wright said he was proud of the way the players handled the short turnaround.

Neither team led by more than six points in the first half.

The Red and White opened up the scoring and had a 5-0 lead early in the game courtesy of a three-point bucket from senior guard Hannah Robertson and a layup from redshirt senior center Kelsey Simon.

Simon finished the game with 13 points and eight rebounds.

The Eagles led the RedHawks 21-15 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half, but Miami was able to muster up a 12-2 run to close the half with a 27-23 lead.

The leading scorer and rebounder for the ’Hawks in the first half was McCue, as she tallied 10 points and eight rebounds in the first 20 minutes. McCue finished the game with a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

“We went to the boards well, we really did a good job of boxing out,” McCue said. “I think we had momentum and we ran with it the whole time.”

The RedHawks and Eagles traded buckets to begin the second half before freshman guard Jillian Spurlock scored seven straight points to give the ’Hawks a 39-29 lead three and a half minutes into the second half. Spurlock finished the game with a team-high 20 points and seven rebounds.

The closest the Eagles could get for the rest of the half was a 51-50 deficit. When their lead was brought down to one point, the ’Hawks answered with backto-back three pointers from junior guard Courtney Larson and Robertson. Robertson finished the game with 11 points and Larson finished with a team-high nine assists.

The RedHawks led the entire second half and won the rebounding battle 51-36. The ’Hawks shot 43.1 percent from the field and 40 percent from behind the arc.

“We moved the ball really well in the second half,” Wright said.

“Today, I felt like we were able to respond to the runs [Easter Michigan] had. I’m really proud of the effort.”

The RedHawks had four players in double digit scoring Sunday in McCue, Robertson, Simon and Spurlock.

The RedHawks have a few days of rest before they take on the University of Toledo (9-11, 4-5 MAC) Thursday in Millett Hall.

The Rockets have lost thei r last two games and four of their last six.

Toledo is shooting just 39.4 percent from the field.

Junior guard/forward Inma Zanoguera is the Rockets’ leading scorer and rebounder. She is averaging 14.8 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game.

“We’re going to go in and practice hard this week,” McCue said.

“We will continue to work on our rebounding and our shooting.

We’re going to continue to keep each other up and focus on what we’ve been doing really well.”

BEN TAYLOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami redshirt senior Bill Edwards attempts a hook shot during Miami’s 65-61 win against Eastern Michigan.

Edwards contributed four points and four rebounds during the win.

BY ZACH MACIASZEK FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

The Miami University men’s basketball team (9-10, 5-3 MAC) rebounded from an eightpoint halftime deficit to ground Eastern Michigan University (12-9, 4-4 MAC) 65-61.

Senior forward Will Felder sank what proved to be the gamewinning shot with 24.5 remaining, giving the RedHawks a 6361 lead. Felder initially had his shot blocked on the possession, but senior guard Quinten Rollins corralled the board and fed it back to Felder who capitalized on the second chance opportunity with a short jumper.

The ’Hawks were carried by Felder and senior guard Will Sullivan. Felder garnered 17 points, most of them coming during the home stretch of the second half, as Miami pounded the ball inside to finish off the Eagles. He also tallied a career-high 15 rebounds.

Sullivan buried five of six 3-point field goals en route to a gamehigh 19 points.

Sullivan said Miami knew to expect a tough game against the defensively stout Eagles.

“Coach [John] Cooper said to expect the kind of game where

you’ve got to grind it out,” Sullivan said. “Even when things aren’t going your way you have to have the same kind of attack mentality. I thought throughout the second half we kind of stuck with it, stuck with our offensive principles against the zone and started clicking in the second half.”

The RedHawks were able to stay within striking distance of the Eagles during an ugly firsthalf that saw both teams struggle to execute their offenses and find the basket.

Miami did not hit its second field goal until 10:58 remaining in the first half. The RedHawks shot 30 percent from the field for the first half and went into the locker room down 30-22.

Cooper said the RedHawks struggled to find open looks against the 2-3 zone defense of EMU. “We struggled early trying to get a feel for it,” Cooper said.

“Trying to find areas where we could attack the zone …

Jaryd Eustace was able to hit some threes. Will Sullivan hit threes. So that sort of kept us in the game.”

MU’s opening period effort was salvaged solely through

the play of Sullivan, who nailed three 3-point field goals to keep the game from getting away from the ’Hawks.

The RedHawks came out firing in the second half, nailing nine of their first 11 shots to open the period. Miami didn’t take its first lead until Sullivan converted a layup with 13:07 remaining.

Cooper attributed the second half improvement to the RedHawks becoming comfortable against the zone, resulting in crisper ball movement that led to open shots.

“Part of it is understanding that because the zone is so big and so extended you can’t let the ball stick,” Cooper said. “You’ve gotta get constant ball movement, you’ve gotta get guys that are cutting and filling spots.”

Miami outmuscled EMU 3929 on the glass and sank eight of 16 3-point field goals. These were massive improvements from the loss to the University of Toledo last Wednesday in which the ’Hawks were embarrassed on the boards and hit only one of 17 3-point attempts.

MU next suits up against the Northern Illinois University on the road. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

Women record eighth straight win

BY JORDAN RINARD SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Miami University men’s swimming and diving team fell 125-175 to Mid-American Conference (MAC) foe Eastern Michigan University on senior day, while the women’s team earned its eighth straight victory of the season with an 176-124 decision over the Eagles.

The men’s squad (4-3, 1-2 MAC) tasted defeat for the second straight weekend after being downed 134-166 by the University at Buffalo.

The women’s team (8-1, 6-0 MAC) has not been beaten in conference play since the 201112 season.

“We were behind the backs of our seniors,” junior Sam Crockett said. “Sophomores got wins and seniors got wins, so it was great to see that team effort. EMU won the conference last year, and it was like a boxing match today, punch after punch.”

Seniors Sean Minderlein,

Michael Cavanaugh, Dan Nemeth and junior Joe Baumgartner and freshman Grant Stafford all picked up wins for the RedHawks. The relay team of Baumgartner, Stafford, sophomore Evan Bader and sophomore Heshan Unamboowe took first in the 200-medley relay.

“We’ve got a fast class coming in with some big shoes to fill,” junior Andrew Kilkenny said. “EMU is our biggest rival, so we’re chipping away at them. They came out on top but we’re getting faster and we’re getting better.”

On the women’s side, junior Katie Bootsma claimed the 100 and 200-meter backstroke as the Red and White had eight wins in individual events. Junior Courtney Collett, senior Cynthia Donovan, sophomore Aubrey Kluth, freshman Stephanie LeMire and juniors Annie Marquiss and Stephanie Pearce also tallied victories.

The ’Hawks also posted victories in two relay events as LeMire, Donovan, senior

Brianna Fujan and sophomore Emma Szczupakiewicz took the 200-medley relay and the team of Marquiss, sophomore Sara Krueger, sophomore Natalie Rohr and junior Caitlin Fujan placed first in the 400-freestyle relay.

“This [meet] was as close as we’ve been in all year,” head coach Mark Davis said.

“It’s good to show what we’re made of. Taking the top three spots in the 1000 freestyle really set the tone … It was good to see Marquiss and the distance group step up. This is probably the best Eastern team since 2008 … We’ve got the Battle of the Bricks next week. Throw the records out. It will be a good meet and senior night for us.”

The RedHawks return to action Saturday when the men’s team hits the road to take on Ball State University, while the women’s team squares off against Ohio University in the Nixon Aquatic Center Saturday for senior day.