February 7, 2014 | The Miami Student

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

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

VOLUME 141 NO. 30

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1972, The Miami Student reported rats were no longer a problem at the Bern Street Apartments, according to Butler County Sanitarian Richard Workman. The residents refrained from taking legal action following the havoc caused by the “squirrel-sized” vermin.

RedHawk recruit: Martin adds 26 athletes

BEN TAYLOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami University Assistant Athletic Director and Director of Broadcasting Steve Baker (left) asks head football coach Chuck Martin (right) questions during Miami’s National Signing Day event.

BY TOM DOWNEY SPORTS EDITOR

Twenty-three high school athletes signed with Miami University Wednesday, marking new head football coach Chuck Martin’s first recruiting class. Martin also added three transfers from the University of Notre Dame.

Quarterback Andrew Hendrix, tight end Alex Welch and cornerback Lo Wood will spend their fifth and final year of eligibility at Miami after spending four years with Martin at Notre Dame.

Hendrix is a 6-foot-2, 226-pound quarterback who saw limited

action in 16 games at Notre Dame.

He completed 25 of 58 passes for 360 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also chipped 229 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Martin praised Hendrix’s ability as a dual-threat quarterback.

“He can make every throw you want and he can run the football and he is big and strong, and not only can take hits but deliver hits,” Martin said. “He is a super-smart kid. Very unique when it comes to his well-roundness … He is one of the more intelligent kids you will ever be around. I’m looking forward to him potentially having a monster

year for us.”

Welch is a 6-foot-4, 251-pound tight end and caught just one pass during his time at Notre Dame. He was stuck behind current or future NFL players Kyle Rudolph, Tyler Eifert and Troy Niklas at Notre Dame. He also suffered a knee injury during his junior season that caused him to miss the whole season.

Martin praised Welch’s passcatching ability.

“Alex has NFL hands,” Martin said. “There is not anybody that has better hands than Alex Welch.

The first time you see him catch a pass you’ll know what I’m talking about. There are certain guys that

just catch a pass differently and he is one of them.”

Martin said if Welch not been hurt during his junior season, things may have turned out differently for him.

Wood is a 5-foot-11, 194-pound corner who also suffered an injury during his junior season. He spent most of his time as a reserve at Notre Dame, but Martin said Wood can be a lockdown corner for Miami.

“Lo is a lockdown corner,” Wood said. “He is a great man-coverage guy, not saying he’s not great in zone, but that is his forte. He has the speed and the strength and the toughness.

He’s been trained a long time to play man-coverage and loves to play man. We really feel like he can be a lockdown corner.”

Martin said Miami needs size, power and depth in the trenches.

“The trenches are everything,” Martin said. “The skill guys are awesome if the guys in the trenches are doing their job … It is a major need for us. Not only depth, but upgrading the size and the power of those positions. We’re not very big up there right now, that is just the way it is.”

Martin said patience would be important as the RedHawks build their lines.

“And that is a tougher fix … it is a process,” Martin said. “You’re not going to play a bunch of young guys and be a dominate football team …

We’re going to have to be patient as a staff and the people that want us to fix it in a day are going to have to be patient.”

Martin said depth was especially key, as Miami was short on bodies on both lines.

“In the trenches, were short on

numbers, not necessarily talent,” Martin said. “Just short on numbers on the offensive and defensive front sevens so we had – just to function next fall – we had to add numbers there just so we could have a twodeep and a scout team and to be able to prepare like everybody does for games.”

Depending on position changes, Miami signed as many as seven or eight players who could play on the offensive or defensive line.

Martin signed seven recruits from the state of Ohio, excluding Welch and Hendrix, who went to high school in Ohio. Martin said recruiting Ohio is a priority.

“Local and the whole state of Ohio is going to be our bread and butter … ” Martin said. “We will recruit the daylight out of the state. I have recruited all over the country the past four years at Notre Dame and they play as good of football in the state of Ohio as they do anywhere in the country.”

Miami was in a battle for wide receiver Sam Martin, who flipped his commitment from Miami to Rutgers and then back again in the week leading up to signing day.

Miami has just two three-star recruits in Gus Ragland and Zach Hovey, according to Scout.com.

Ragland is a quarterback from Moeller high school in Cincinnati and Hovey is a tight end who could have walked-on at Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Scout.com has Miami’s class ranked 105th in the nation and seventh in the Mid-American Conference. However, Scout’s site doesn’t have an up-to-date list of Miami’s commits as of 8 p.m. Thursday.

The money behind the magic: A look Athletes work to change into the new student center’s budget the game for LGBTQ

BY JOE GIERINGER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

KATIE TAYLOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

Students danced the night away at the SnowBall as a part of opening week at the Armstrong Student Center.

BY LIBBY MUELLER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Students, donors and the university alike see their dollars at work creating, maintaining and celebrating the grand new addition to campus, the Armstrong Student Center (ASC).

The ASC will cost about $860,000 to operate this school year, according to the 2013-14 Miami University Operating Budget. In addition, the ASC has budgeted $550,000 for debt repayments as well as $320,000 for contingency repairs, bringing its total projected expenditures to $1.73 million.

The ASC expects to recoup $1.72 million of these costs from student fees, according to Vice President of Finance and Business

Services David Creamer.

“The Student Center additional fee on the bill, $110 per semester, that fee goes to pay for operation of the building as well as some set of services,” Creamer said.

“That amount is provided for the director of the facility and they develop a budget that covers both operating costs and staff.”

Creamer said the additional student fee to support the ASC will stay in place for years to come.

The student center is projected to more than make up the remaining deficit through $15,000 in projected revenue streams this year, according to the Operating Budget.

“It has a set of revenues that it generates from its activities and that helps to support the creation of its budget,” Creamer said.

“There will be a set of fees for the

building, rentals for some of the space that will generate revenue.”

According to Creamer, rentals would include use of the meeting room space and the ballroom space.

Director of the ASC Katie Wilson provided details about fees from student center activities.

“There’s a fee scheduled for use of the facility by university departments, non-university users and student organizations when their event is an event fundraiser or they’re selling tickets,” Wilson said. “If they’re using technology, we have a fee schedule so that we have a fund to keep our technology up-to-date.”

For opening events like the

ASC,

SEE PAGE 4

Two weeks ago, 19-year old Conner Mertens came out to his Willamette (Ore.) University football team as bisexual and … nothing happened.

Media outlets like USA Today, Yahoo! Sports, and OutSports told the young man’s story, reporting that he was the first active college football player to admit he was not exclusively heterosexual. A post by Mertens himself was retweeted hundreds of times, and favorited by more than 1,000 users. But, for Mertens, nothing was different. His coach, his teammates, his friends – all of them accepted him. Not a single thing had changed.

The athletic landscape has become much more aware of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) community, and increasingly accepting of it. Jason Collins came out as the first active, gay NBA player in April.

Seven LGBTQ athletes from five different countries will be competing in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, all of them women. Mertens is the most recent in a line of hundreds of sports personalities to come out, but he’s one of the few that did so while competing.

“When athletes like [Mertens] come out, I think it’s great,” Miami University head hockey coach Enrico Blasi said. “I think it means that society is starting, hopefully, to understand that we’re all in this thing at the same time and there really isn’t any difference between any of us.”

The key word there is starting.

According to a recent DiversityInc article, nearly one quarter of LGBTQ athletes at the high school level come out as opposed to less than 5 percent of those in college. Having played hockey for Miami in the early 90s and currently serving his 15th season as head coach of his alma mater, Blasi can attest to the unique challenge the collegiate athletic culture presents for those in the LGBTQ community. Programs are more autonomous from their respective universities than their high school counterparts, and the stakes are higher, Blasi said.

According to him, competitiveness is at a premium and the intimacy of the locker room setting serves as an incubator for homophobic feelings.

That is why, for LGBTQ sportspersons across the country, former Miami student Brendan Burke’s story continues to echo on the highest echelon of importance.

Brendan was 19 years old when he told his father Brian, an NHL general manager, that he was gay. Brian told him, “Of course, we still love you. This won’t change a thing.”

One year later, Brendan became the hockey team operations assistant at Miami University. The program is known as “The Brotherhood,” and that is not just some gimmicky, mediabestowed calling card. Miami hockey players past, present and future are expected to embody the qualities of commitment,

LGBTQ,

SEE PAGE 4

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CAMPUS

EDITORS REIS THEBAULT VICTORIA SLATER

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

CAMPUS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

BEN TAYLOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

LICKS OF LOVE

Students enjoy a break from classes to pet several therapy dogs Wednesday in the Armstrong Student Center.

Price hike has students ‘booking it’ out the door

BY CYNTHIA MARCINEK FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

Textbook prices are stacking up according to the College Board, which reports students spend an average of $1,200 on books and supplies each year. Given the necessity of textbooks in college classes, many Miami University students are questioning the high cost.

Sophomore Nathan Mandrell, a double-major in chemistry and political science, said he spent more than $1000 on textbooks for only a semester’s worth of classes.

“Last semester, I spent $980 on textbooks, my organic and physics textbooks cost me $457, and I spent an additional $367 for the lectures and labs,” Mandrell said.

Junior Gabriella Simeone, a double major in Microbiology and Latin American Studies, also feels that the costs of textbooks are too much.

“I rent all of my textbooks and they’re still too much money,” Simeone said. “Professors should only have course packets. Not course packets and textbooks, because that’s too much.”

However, Sarah Thacker, Director of Miami Bookstores, said the average price a Miami student will pay each semester is much lower than the national average.

“It varies from major to major.

It’s hard to give a solid number because obviously if you’re a finance

MIKE CHIORAN THE MIAMI STUDENT

major you’re going to be spending a lot more on your course material, than maybe a music major might,” Thacker said. “But on average textbooks are about $300-$350 a semester.”

According to Thacker, students can save up to 50 percent for renting.

Last semester, students rented over 5,000 textbooks and this semester’s number is already greater.

However, rather than renting, some students decide to purchase their books on websites such as Amazon, Chegg and Abebooks.

Junior Paige Schmeling is an architecture major who decided to purchase her textbooks online this past semester.

“I purchased mine online using Amazon or Abebooks. I had to buy about six books. They weren’t too bad individually on Amazon, but they definitely add up,” Schmeling said.

If students decide to buy their textbooks at the bookstore, there are a lot of factors that go into the cost, according to Thacker.

“The initial cost of a textbook is determined by the publisher,” Thacker said. “We also have our cost, we have our shipping cost and our labor cost. We employ over 65 students that work here so part of the cost is for them to receive the textbooks and put them on the shelves. We have a very elaborate

textbook rental and pick-up program so the cost of labor for running this program and running the full textbook department is a factor in that as well.”

A Feb. 3, 2013 survey from the U.S. Public Interest Research group found 65 percent of college students had at some point decided against buying a textbook because of the high price. Junior Hannah Olenick, a Kinesiology major, said she decided not to buy some of her textbooks.

“I haven’t bought a lot of mine this semester,” Olenick said. “The price is a factor in that decision, but I have also found that I hardly use the textbooks in some of my classes, so it’s a waste.”

Thacker said she believes textbooks are important for a student’s success.

“Textbooks are important. We talk to a lot of professors, we take orders directly from them,” Thacker said.

“They take time in designing their syllabus and designing their course.

They spend a lot of time and care picking out their textbooks so if they’re using their textbooks for the course then it’s absolutely required.”

For students who are having difficulty paying for textbooks, the university can offer some help, according to Brent Shock, the director of Student Financial Assistance.

“We do have some aid that the university offers, if students are having trouble buying a book we offer a combination of a loan with 0 percent interest that they pay back throughout the semester,” Shock said. “We also have a small number of book grants.”

Thacker said she wants students to realize the bookstore is a helpful resource.

“We’re here to help. We’re a resource to students. We do talk to students that are trying to save money the best way possible,” Thacker said. “I would encourage students if they’re in a tight mind to talk to us and see what we can do because we are here to help.”

MU professors celebrate new lives and shared past

BY EMILY CRANE NEWS EDITOR

In room 47 on the ninth floor of the University of Michigan Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital, Richard Campbell, chair of the media, journalism and film department, cradled his newborn grandson in his arms: Reese Anthony Campbell, born Jan. 29, seven pounds, one ounce. As he looked down at him, Campbell couldn’t help beaming.

“You just feel elation,” Campbell said. “You can’t believe this little person is in your life. It’s kind of magical.”

Five days later, as Campbell addressed the students of his Journalism 101 class, his co-teacher and long-time friend James Tobin found himself on the same floor of the same hospital, just down the hall in room 36, staring into the tiny blue eyes of Benjamin James Keller.

And so it was that the two Miami journalism faculty welcomed into the world their first grandchildren within days of each other at the same hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich. Although both agreed the circumstances are odd, in some ways, they’re fitting. The two just seem to find their lives intertwined.

Campbell and Tobin met picking up their daughters, now 29 and 30, from pre-school in Ann Arbor. Campbell was teaching at the University of Michigan and Tobin was working as a reporter for the Detroit News.

Between sleepovers and soccer games, their daughters ensured that they continued to see much of each other over the years.

In the early 90s, they joined a writers’ group together to work on books they were both writing. In Campbell’s case, it was a textbook on media and its use in society, now one of the leading media studies textbooks in the nation, currently in its ninth edition. For Tobin, it was a narrative book on World War II war correspondent Ernie Pyle, a book that went on to win the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Nearly 10 years into their friendship, Campbell took a job teaching at Middle Tennessee State University, but remained tethered to Ann Arbor. For the first year in fact, he commuted between Murfreesboro, Tenn. and his home in Michigan, flying back and forth between the two every week. Often, it was Tobin who took him to the airport as he drove to work in Detroit.

Though Campbell and his family eventually moved to Tennessee, the two continued to cross paths. And Campbell began persistently prodding Tobin to consider leaving his career in the newsroom to join him in the classroom.

“I knew he was a really gifted writer, but that he could also teach writing because he had patience,” Campbell said.

GRANDSONS, SEE PAGE 9

CONTRIBUTED BY TOBIN AND CAMPBELL THE MIAMI STUDENT

Campbell (left) and Tobin cradle their newborn grandsons, born within five days of each other in the same hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich.Tobin and Campbell, both journalism professors, are long-time friends.

Global students take on new writing style

BY EMILY C. TATE

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

AMANDA PALISWAT THE MIAMI STUDENT

FUN IN THE FROST

Juniors Carson Swartz and Kristen Adkins will not let the cold weather stop them from bundling up and making it to class.

The first time Miami junior Yan Zhu ever cited another person’s work was during her first year of college in the United States. All her prior schooling had taken place in China, where she said she was never required to attribute someone else’s writing or recognize the use of outside information.

This is just one difference that exists between American and international writing styles. According to Gabriele Bechtel, Professor of English Second Language and Professional Writing courses, academic writing in the U.S. can be very distinct from other writing cultures.

“Academic and professional writing in the U.S. is very straightforward and predominantly deductive, front-loading the main point and developing the details further down in a paper or document,” Bechtel said.

Jing Li, assistant professor of

economics and faculty adviser to the International Student Advisory Council, also had to learn to adapt to this style of American writing.

Li grew up in China and, like many international students at Miami, had to make an adjustment in his writing when he moved to the United States.

“Americans are like, ‘What is my topic? What distinguishes my idea? I’ve got to give them that big picture first,’” he said. “The Chinese are the opposite. They talk about detail first – people get bored, people get lost, people wonder why they should care.”

While no particular method is better than another, Li said, he has enjoyed becoming more familiar with the American style.

“It works well with our human nature – I want to hear a very interesting story, I want to know the important stuff immediately, and that is the American way,” Li said.

Li said it is not just about writing, though. It is also about how to think,

and Zhu agreed with this claim.

“Sometimes it goes beyond what we write and deals with the way we think about things,” Zhu said. “The way an American student or professor explains something is very different than the way I would choose to explain it. That is because the way we think about these things is also very different.”

These writing inconsistencies exist between many countries, as each culture has its own way of doing things in academia. Originally from Germany, Bechtel had to go through her own transition period when she moved to the United States.

“When I was a grad student, I did not know what a thesis statement is, and I developed my paragraphs inductively,” she said. “This led to adviser feedback such as ‘Frontload your main point – this is not a detective story,’ which did not necessarily

WRITING, SEE PAGE 9

EDITORS JANE BLAZER CHRIS CURME

COMMUNITY FRIDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2014

COMMUNITY@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

POLICE

New design for police cruisers

BEAT

Conniving knife-carrier commotion in Kroger

BY KELLY HIGGINSON FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

At 6:31 p.m. Wednesday, OPD officers were dispatched to Kroger, 300 S. Locust St., to address a report that an employee had been threatened by a customer.

According to a cashier’s statement, a woman with whom he had been having “problems” for several months, entered the store and filed into his checkout lane.

The cashier noticed the female was holding a closed knife in her hand and that she began to back up and go into the next checkout lane. Then, the female opened the knife and stared at the cashier, according to his statement.

The cashier immediately contacted his manager, who also saw the knife and called police.

When speaking with OPD, the cashier said the female had entered the store in the past, asking other employees about him and his hours, specifically, when he would be leaving. He believed she was trying to follow him home, OPD said.

The female was asked to come to the station for questioning and admitted to having the knife, but said she left the lane because she felt threatened by the employee. She also denied opening the knife.

The police then informed the suspect there was a video surveillance feed of the incident, at which point the female said she may have opened the knife.

She was cited for aggravated menacing and released to her family.

“Hello? 911? Is your refrigerator running?”

At 3:04 a.m. Wednesday, OPD responded to the apartments at 216 E. Sycamore St. in reference to a 911 call regarding a noise complaint. The caller complained of men making excess noise in a hallway.

Officers found two seemingly intoxicated males in the stairway being loud, according to OPD. The males, identified as being over 21 and tenants of the building, were told to go back inside their apartment.

At 3:48 a.m. OPD received another 911 call from the building, but the caller hung up without saying anything. Officers traced the call’s origin, and returned to the two males’ apartment, whence the call came.

When the males denied calling 911, officers asked if they could check their phone records, and the occupants agreed. It was found they did call 911, and received two subsequent incoming calls from dispatch.

The male who made the call was told to only call 911 in emergencies, and that if he called again in the absence of an emergency he would be arrested.

At 4:19 a.m., OPD received another call from the same male who claimed he was having an argument with another tenant.

Upon arrival, the male became belligerent and shoved one of the officers. He was promptly arrested.

He was taken to OPD and charged with disrupting public services and disorderly conduct: intoxication. He was taken to Butler County Jail.

3

TAYLOR WOOD THE MIAMI STUDENT

INSTANT RICE

Chase Rice performs at Brick Street Bar and Grille Wednesday night. Rice is a country music singer/songwriter.

The Oxford Police Department (OPD) will be changing the design of 20 police cruisers this spring.

Unlike years past, the OPD has decided on wrapping the cars with panels instead of painting them.

The OPD updates the cruisers each year from damages and scratches. Patrol Sergeant Jon Varley works with the cruisers on a daily basis and manages parking.

“This year, we want to present a new image that will be more noticeable to people,” Varley said.

“We are finally getting away from what we used to do with re-painting them and wrapping the cars in black and white.”

According to Varley, to paint the cruisers costs $18,000 and to wrap is only $11,000.

“It’s a much cheaper process. We are going with a different company than before and essentially all they do is wrap a big sticker around

the car,” Varley said.

The re-design process starting this spring will take a whole year to change all 20 of the police vehicles.

In addition to the year-long cruiser redesign process, OPD also has updated their computer software to portable tablets, making it easier and more efficient to carry around outside of the cruisers.

“The tablets are similar to an iPad, and they are much cheaper than the computers and easier to carry,” Varley said. “We can do our reports on them outside of the vehicles which is a nice upgrade.”

The changes being made for this next year not only benefit the OPD officers, but the whole city of Oxford, Varley said.

“In the long run, we are saving tax payers a lot of money, because when the cruisers get damaged, it’s usually worth a thousand dollars or more,” Varley said. “The new wrap panels will save us money with repairs down the road, as well as save the city and tax payers money.”

Beyond a shadow of a doubt: Winter will persist CAITLIN LAMB

FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

As students trudge to class with snow wetting the hemlines of their North Face coats and an icy wind cutting through their Patagonia jackets, hearing that Punxsutawney Phil once again saw his shadow is enough to make them want to scurry back to their dorms, curl up with some Starbucks and Netflix and neglect that 5 p.m. lecture on western campus. However, unlike the wily whistle-pig, students cannot hide out in their burrows for six long weeks.

Since the beginning of the American tradition in 1887, and not counting nine years of lost records, Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow 100 times, announcing six more weeks of winter each time.

Only 17 times has Phil delighted the world with a failure to spot his shadow. Last year was one of these fortunate years, and the nation celebrated a quick end to winter. However, the first day of spring brought with it a layer of snow in many cities, and people were incensed.

Butler County’s own Court of Common Pleas filed a lawsuit against the oversized rodent, with Prosecutor Mike Gmoser even calling for the death penalty if the conviction were upheld. But Pennsylvania courts shut down the lawsuit, claiming the Butler County courts had no jurisdiction in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

While trusting the reaction of a groundhog to predict the future may seem far-fetched, ancient civilizations employed similar strategies. Miami Classics professor Charles Campbell, described a tradition practiced by the Ancient Romans, where young girls were sent into a cave, sacred to the goddess of fertility, Juno.

“The chosen girls would take with them cakes made of barley, which they would offer to the snakes that dwelled in the cave,” Campbell said. “If a snake grabbed a cake held out by one of the girls, she would return to the surface, greet her parents, and the crowd would shout, ‘fertilis annus erit! It will be a fruitful year!’”

Though Phil had nothing to say about the fruitfulness of the year, he did predict six more

SOURCED BY CREATIVE COMMONS

weeks of winter.

“I believe him, especially with the winter we have been having,” junior Curtis Jefferson said.

Perhaps he was simply avoiding lawsuits that would surely follow as the country continues to face

snow storms and the already-infamous polar vortex.

Yet Miami students don’t seem to be complaining, as six more weeks of winter surely means the chance of more class cancelations.

CRIME STATISTICS: Jan. 27 – Feb. 5 TOTAL INDIVIDUALS CHARGED: 22 TOTAL MIAMI STUDENTS CHARGED: 14 TOTAL CRIMES: 38

Criminal mischief Prohibitions Warrant Felonious assault Assault Resisting arrest Disrupting public services Domestic violence Offenses involving underage persons OVI Theft Certain acts prohibited Disorderly conduct LAUREN HUTCHISON THE MIAMI STUDENT

Sales to and use by underage persons

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WRITERS WANTED.

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JACK FROST CROSSES THROUGH OXFORD 12

Students trudge through snow, ice and slush to make it to class throughout the first two weeks of school. And there may be more to come.

The MiamiStudent is looking for beat reporters and staff writers.

E-mail news@miamistudent.net for more information.

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www.miamistudent.net

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

LGBTQ, FROM PAGE 1

excellence and acceptance that Blasi’s teams have come to represent. In the aftermath of the RedHawks’ 2009 NCAA Finals run, “Burkie,” as the team affectionately called him, came out to the team, a group he considered family. It was not an issue. It did not matter. They loved him for who he was: “A great guy, personable and caring … a blessing,” as Blasi told ESPN’s John Buccigross. When Burkie went public in November of 2009, he became a pioneer in the fight against homophobia in sports. It was a battlefield on which Burkie would hardly set foot.

On Feb. 5, 2010, Brendan Burke was killed in an automobile accident that cut short not only his campaign for equality, but a promising life and career in hockey management. His father and older brother, Patrick, were quick to pick up the banner and lead the charge for LGBTQ athletic acceptance. Patrick helped create the You Can Play Project (YCPP) in March 2012, a realization of his brother’s dream. YCPP was founded on a simple premise: “If you can play, you can play.”

After two years in operation, dozens of organizations at the professional, collegiate and amateur levels of dozens of sports have pledged their support.

“The time was right to have this discussion,” Brian Kitts, a co-founder of YCPP and a sports marketing professor at Denver University, said. “It’s in locker rooms, it’s in venues where there are fans. It’s in high schools and colleges. People hear about it and it’s an easy thing to get behind. It’s all about sports. We’ve always said that if you’re a good athlete, that’s what you should be judged on, not your religion, your race, your sexual orientation or your gender identity.”

ASC,

FROM PAGE 1

SnowBall, additional money was provided, according to Wilson.

“We were given an allocation from the university for some startup expenses,” Wilson said. “That included doing a big kickoff event.”

The university allocated the SnowBall funds separate from the Associated Student Government (ASG) budget, Wilson said.

“That was an accumulation from donors who wanted to make sure this went well,” Herbert said.

According to Wilson, the SnowBall event cost around $27,000.

The largest expenses were food, decorations and marketing.

Cole Tyman was co-chair of the event planning process for the gala. He said the number of students who attended SnowBall exceeded expectations.

“It was somewhere between 1,500 and 1,800 [students],” Tyman said.

To manage the budget, the student planners were advised by a faculty member who oversaw the spending.

“We were given the task of creating a student-focused large-scale

Miami University, specifically its hockey program, was quick to get on board. Blasi was named a chairman of YCPP, a position he still holds. Feb. 5 marked the four-year anniversary of Brendan Burke’s untimely passing, and Blasi’s continued conviction speaks volumes to not only his belief in equal opportunity in athletics, but also his team’s.

“I do what I can in promoting the opportunity for anyone to play the game, no matter of race, color or sexual orientation,” Blasi said. “To me, we’re all in the same boat, we’re all human beings. It’s not for us to judge or for us to make decisions based on some of those things. I think it’s really important that we continue the fight.”

No player on the current roster knew Brendan Burke personally, yet the Brotherhood offers an outpouring of support. Sophomore forward Kevin Morris was one of several underclassmen who helped record a video for the YCPP in the fall of 2012, a video still shown during the second intermission at Miami home games. Willingness of straight athletes like Morris – known as “allies” in the LGBTQ community – is said to be a clear indication that support is building, but it’s a process that has not reached its full potential.

“A few of us came up with the idea last year,” Morris said. “We had heard about the legacy of Brendan Burke, and that’s how we got the ball rolling. But really, if you go online and learn about the You Can Play Project, the biggest thing they preach is that it’s only a building block. They want people to know this is just the beginning … They have a vision.”

Those building blocks do not just refer to athletes coming out. They refer to the surrounding communities – teammates, coaches, fans and universities – taking a vested interest in

changing the culture to help both LGBTQ athletes and those around them understand one another and thrive.

“What you’re starting to see, and what Brendan started, is there’s way more awareness and I think there’s a different level of understanding and care that you didn’t see before,” Blasi said.

“We all come from the same place, we’re all going to the same place and we need to do a better job while we’re here of accepting and understanding and not judging.”

While the hockey program might be the most visible Miami team in terms of LGBTQ support, they do not house an openly-gay athlete – no collegiate or professional hockey team currently does. That distinction lies with the Miami softball team, and to senior Allie Larrabee, who identifies as a lesbian.

“I’ve been out since freshman year, and it’s been great, actually,” the first baseman/catcher said. “It’s a little bit different with female sports, but my team has been great about using proper language … and it’s honestly never been a big issue on my team, never has been. It’s been a very positive experience for me.”

Again, the phrase “Never been a big issue.” Teammates who had not been exposed to a player of a differing sexual orientation sat down with Larrabee. They learned about and discussed each other’s lifestyles, and after that, there were no problems. Gay athletes such as Larrabee and Mertens are just a few of the men and women who have taken the plunge and found out for themselves that the final frontier for equality in sports has made significant advances in ridding the locker room of stigmas from a bygone era. It’s allied athletes and coaches like Morris and Blasi, and ladies like the Miami softball players that are making

that a reality. “[LGBTQ] athletes have similar experiences coming out to their teammates,” Kitts said.

“They fear the worst and they agonize over it, and absolutely nothing happens. And from the perspective of that athlete, that’s the best you can hope for.”

According to Kitts, athletic programs like Duke and Ohio State have traditionally been the leaders in LGBTQ athletic support, but the last few years have proven that Miami has become a focal point for LGBTQ athletic acceptance. “[Miami’s] absolute acceptance of Brendan [Burke] sets a really high standard for not only LGBTQ athletes, but for the way humanity perceives athletes and friends,” Kitts explained. “They looked at Brendan as a friend and as a colleague, and it says something about sports in general and sports at Miami … it has become a school that is quite a role model.”

Larrabee takes that notion one step further, noting that in addition to feeling accepted on her high school and college teams, the general campus consensus is warming, too.

“I’ve never been ostracized by teammates or classmates or anything,” Larrabee said. “Having the hockey team, really the whole campus be forward with the You Can Play Project, and having people attend the LGBTQ Awareness Week events, it’s good to feel that acceptance and know that it’s just not a problem. If it were a problem, I would think more of it.”

As a coach, alumnus and board member of YCPP, Blasi might be the best-situated to gauge Miami’s progress on the topic.

“I feel proud of Miami University,” Blasi said. “I think our campus as a whole has always been maybe on the cutting edge. Even as a student we always knew that not only were there gay students,

there were gay athletes, and we always felt they were a part of us. For Miami as a whole, Miami athletics, I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it and we’re going to continue to do our small part to help any way we can.”

The world of sports has come a long way in 25 years. A new generation is in locker rooms that are more accepting and eager to understand what was once different and distrusted. Organizations like the You Can Play Project, OutSports and Go! Athletes have provided a support network for the LGBTQ community to learn from one another, share stories and inspire others.

Blasi, Morris, Larrabee and Kitts all said they believe within their lifetimes they will see homophobia in sports completely eradicated.

“At some point in sports, you’re going to get momentum where enough people have come out and said ‘this is how I live my life, I’m normal,’” Kitts said.

“That sort of normalization, I think, is coming much faster than most of us realize. Certainly in our lifetimes, and I actually think that it’s probably going to happen within the next decade.”

This past week, freshman outfielder Chandler Whitney told his Walla Walla Community College baseball team that he was gay. He had actually been dating Conner Mertens for some time and didn’t know how to break it to his teammates. He feared the backlash, knowing full well that some of his teammates might never look at him the same way again. But the reaction to Mertens’ coming out was positive, and it eased his mind.

He stood up at practice, told his team he was gay, and… nothing happened. For Whitney, nothing was different. His coaches, his teammates, his friends – all of them accepted him. Not a single thing changed.

event,” Tyman said.

Events like the SnowBall will be remembered by the student body for years to come, according to Tyman.

“I think it gives students a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity to really use this building and set the bar for what this building is supposed to be used for,” Tyman said. “We only get the chance once to open the Armstrong Student Center and by doing events like SnowBall, it puts it in the heads of future students the caliber of things that can be done with this space.”

Although the university provided the money for the SnowBall, the dedication event today was sponsored by University Advancement. University Advancement identifies and solicits contributions and gifts to the university and builds relationships with university stakeholders.

Vice President and Executive Director of Miami University Foundation Tom Herbert said donations were given to University Advancement for the dedication event.

“That was an accumulation from donors who wanted to make sure this went well,” Herbert said.

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OPINION

EDITORS EMILY ELDRIDGE NICOLE THEODORE

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

EDITORIAL

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

Snowball: An impressive event, but was it worth a year’s tuition?

Our amazing new office in the Armstrong Student Center (ASC) provided The Miami Student staff a great view of the 2014 SnowBall last Thursday. An estimated 1,500-1,800 students showed up to enjoy a night full of dancing, celebrating and eating some really tasty snowflake cookies, among other treats. Some compared the event to a decked-out high school prom; a few guys even broke out their tuxedos.

Tickets were free and students came and went as they pleased between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m.

The event was a huge hit. We give the food, the music and the décor thumbs up, and everyone we talked to seemed to have a good time. But the Editorial Board of The Miami Student is a bit concerned about the amount of money spent on last week’s grand gala. The SnowBall wracked up a bill of $27,000, spending $14,000 on food alone, according to co-chair of the SnowBall planning committee and Secretary for On-Campus Affairs Cole Tyman.

That’s right around a year of instate tuition at Miami University.

This put a lot of students into sticker shock; 80 percent of you thought it was too much according to an online poll. But the SnowBall planning committee actually stayed well under its original budget of $36,000 – an outrageous amount of money to allot for a five-hour party.

Our concern is the fact that the planning committee for the SnowBall was given $36,000 in the first place. We understand the people behind the ASC and SnowBall wanted to throw an event students would never forget – and we believe they were successful in doing just that. But we do want students to know just how much money Miami spends to keep its students entertained. And with all the renovations and new buildings popping up around campus, Miami is burning through money at incredible rates.

When you do the math, the $27,000 averages out to about

$18 a student. This is relatively low. Much lower than other events on campus and much less than you probably spent on your high school prom ticket. Tyman says the majority of the money went to Carillon Catering. The rest was spent on decorations and a last-minute expansion of the dance floor, per President Hodge’s request. The music was put on by DJ Steve the Greek and students who attended were all given a complementary Armstrong Student Center/Miami University coffee mug, with a package of instant hot cocoa, of course. But the fact remains: that amount of money could have covered someone’s tuition for a year.

The question Miami students need to ask themselves is: are we okay with that kind of money being spent for our pure entertainment while we go into debt to pay our tuition and our academic departments face down-sizing?

This beautiful new student center was built “For the Students, By the Students” and the SnowBall event was designed with that mission in mind. We think they did an excellent job of that.

According to Tyman, the planning committee reached out to a number of large student organizations such as RHA, the Greek Councils, Diversity Affairs Council, MUSF, MAP, ASG and the ASC Board. He said, “We felt, between those organizations, that is a pretty representative size of campus.” Each one of these organizations was given the opportunity to put a representative on the SnowBall committee. Only a few of them took that opportunity up, according to Tyman. The committee then based many of their decisions on these student representatives’ input. We understand you can’t please everyone, so this was a great way to make sure the SnowBall would be a hit with a wide range of students.

Like we said, we think the event was a hit. But we also believe you should know what it cost us.

Rule of Thumb Psych ending Great eighth season run, but we will miss Ovaltine Jenkins.

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Avoiding heterosexual language bias is necessary In last week’s edition of The Miami Student, you ran an article titled “Event celebrates Olympics, responds to homophobia”. In this article, the authors used the term homosexual on six different occasions. While I praise The Miami Student for covering the bigotry and violence toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes in Russia, I implore those writing about LGBT issues to avoid using the term homosexual.

Several style publications, including the American Psychological Association, condemn the heterosexual bias prevalent in the language the authors use in referring to lesbians, gay men, bisexual persons and transgender persons.

In the past, the term homosexual has been associated with deviance, mental illness, and criminal behavior. Furthermore, homosexual is ambiguous in its reference and it is assumed to refer exclusively to gay men, thus rendering lesbians and bisexuals invisible. These negative stereotypes are perpetuated by biased language used when discussing LGBT persons.

Writers need to be sensitive to social changes that affect the use of language. From the American Psychological Association, lesbian and gay man refer “primarily to identities and to the modern culture and communities that have developed among people who share those identities,” which should be

distinguished from sexual behavior that is implied with the term homosexual. In the future, writers need to consult style publications for proper language usage. Thus you would be “spreading awareness of the plight of gay men and lesbians in Putin’s Russia” as well as asking questions about “the issues of LGBT rights across the globe.”

For further information, writers can refer to http://www.apa.org/pi/ lgbt/resources/language.aspx for style guidelines for avoiding heterosexual bias in language.

REBECCA FROST

STUDENT AFFAIRS IN HIGHER EDUCATION KUHNR@MIAMIOH.EDU

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Sochi drama Instead of picking a politically neutral place in the world, the Olympic Committee picked Russia... head scratcher there.

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Salt on boots Not the most fun when your new boots are ruined just by walking to and from class.

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014 OP ED

7

NICOLE’S TWO CENTS

From corruption to unfinished hotels, no sign of $50 billion spent in Sochi Olympics The most expensive Olympics in history has already kicked off, with USA Olympians taking the slopes, including famed snowboarder Shaun White and skier Hannah Kearney. While the entire NICOLE world’s eyes THEODORE are focused on the talented Olympians, my eyes can’t help but follow the insane amount of money being spent, obvious (and expected) corruption and serious hotel blunders committed by the Russian Olympic Committee. Here is a compiled list of things you might miss while watching the games,

because you are simply aren’t there to really experience the chaos.

Just a couple billion dollars and some corruption Spending for Sochi is estimated at almost $50 billion. Don’t let president Vladimir Putin fool you.

“The overall cost of the Olympics has been announced; it is $6.5 billion,” he said in a televised statement back last April. Well, let me get my calculator out; I think he is $43.5 billion off if I am correct. Not only has this been one of the most expensive Olympics, Putin and his Olympic Committee of political friends have been accused of embezzlement of Olympic funds. He also awarded multi-billion dollar Olympic construction bids to previous “friends” who then forgot to

complete some of the construction but walked away with millions of dollars… I guess there is always next time, right?

Besides the possibly-diseased stray dogs and yellow water, the hotels are great Three of the nine hotels in the mountain complex aren’t completely built, even though Sochi will be housing 100,000 people.

Bruce Arthur, a national sports columnist, reports that light bulbs, chairs, hot water, TV, WiFi and even shower curtains seem to be missing from hotels rooms occupied by the media.

Stacy St. Claire from The Chicago Tribune was told that if her water was restored, “do not use on your face because it contains

something dangerous.”

German photographer Joerg Reuter had encountered windowless rooms, construction workers still sleeping in the rooms they were working on and the occasional stray dog exiting the room next to him.

Mark MacKinnon, an international correspondent for The Globe, tweeted “Ok, so my hotel doesn’t have a lobby yet.”

The United States aren’t the only people who monitor your privacy Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak couldn’t handle the complaints from the media, and said they only received “108 registered complaints.”

“We have surveillance video from the hotels that shows people

turn on the shower, direct the nozzle at the wall and then leave the room for the whole day,” Kozak said, blaming the journalists for the mess. Wait hold on-- there are cameras in the showers? Kozak’s aide later retracted the statement and said “he was referring to something else,” but, how many of us actually believe that?

Westerners may being snobby, and even I can understand what they are going through as I lived in a post-war hotel in Kosovo for three months with questionable water, poor internet and pigeons living next door, but if Russia spent an estimated $50 billion on the Olympics, the proof certainly isn’t in the living conditions for those visiting.

SENIOR, JOURNALISM & PSYCH THEODONC@MIAMIOH.EDU

COMMENTARY

EMILY’S ANTICS

Real world tools from Greek life

A look at Afghanistan’s economy post-2014

As the guys run from frat house to frat house in their khakis and blue blazers and the girls circle around central quad with Longchamps thrown over their shoulder, one thing is for sure: EMILY recruitment ELDRIDGE season is in full swing.

With almost one in four Miami University students affiliated with Greek Life, this time of year is stressful, hectic and sometimes emotional for many. Though Greek Life can often be stereotyped and stigmatized, it is an underrated resource that can help those involved prepare for the workforce.

As a sophomore or first-year, you are worried about all the wrong things: What is “top tier?”; “What fraternities/sororities should we hang out with?”; “Who should I take to formal this year?” Sure, these all seem important at the time, but as you inch closer and closer to graduation, different things are on your mind.

This all came to me when I took a business trip to New York City this past fall. I was with my boss and another co-worker. We attended a four-day workshop that taught consulting skills and a lot of other stuff that isn’t really relevant.

Anyways, being the youngest person in a room of HR executives and professional consultants was very nerve-racking.

There were about 10 round tables in the conference room on the first day. Instinct told me to sit with my co-worker or boss since they were the only people I knew, but that wasn’t what I did. Instead, I took a seat next to Tina, director of HR at Northwestern Mutual and Janeé, head of L&D at Grainger. These were two very successful women and I was nervous.

During sorority recruitment you are put in this same situation. The person looking back at you may not be a powerful executive, but you have to make small talk for the next 20 minutes and actually engage in the conversation.

Being a sorority girl and having developed these social skills over time, I can now get to know a stranger in the time it takes to ride the elevator from the lobby to the 33rd floor. A lot of people may find this difficult. Talking to Tina and Janeé was just like talking to Katie M. the kinesiology major from Toledo who lives in Havighurst.

This also translates into exceptional interviewing skills. I have been told many times that a recruiter knows if he/she would consider hiring you within the first 90 seconds of a conversation. This is all based on the way a person dresses, acts and walks through the door. Oftentimes, sorority girls are criticized for being over the top and way too excited for recruitment or other events. But when applied

Politically, we may have a vague idea of what exactly will happen in Afghanistan after 2014. Economically, however, we can quite accurately predict that Afghanistan will return to its former life of poverty.

Even the riches that supposedly rained on Afghanistan between 2002 and 2013 didn’t ease its agony. Most of the money never reached it. According to estimates, out of each dollar assigned earmarked for that country, only 14 cents reached it.

Yet, it was still a lot of money for a country with a yearly per capita income of less than $300.00. And the money that actually made its way to Afghanistan was either stolen outright or spent on projects that were badly poorly conceived, shoddily constructed or never got off the ground. And only relatives of the political elite or people otherwise close to it got most of the contracts. That wouldn’t be the worst of all scenarios if the newly rich had invested their money in their country. But they didn’t. They preferred to park their money in foreign banks or buy real estate in foreign countries. In short, after a massive inflow of funds, the Afghan government, backed by the international community, has neither built a functioning economy nor created a self-sufficient financial foundation to pay the country’s bills.

However, whatever might happen to Afghanistan’s economy after 2014, it will be inconsequential to 95 percent of Afghanistan’s population.

Nothing will change in their lives.

They were either low-paid salaried government employees of the government or eked out a subsistence living by farming their tiny plots of land before the United States invaded their country. They will continue to be inefficient and low-paid government employees or go on working their land after the U.S.-led international community leaves Afghanistan. This vast majority of Afghans was utterly neglected by both the Afghan authorities and the donor community. It was as if this mainly illiterate and poverty-stricken people didn’t exist. They were considered, it seems, to be a faceless mass with no needs, no wants and no hopes.

to a job interview, these attributes may come in handy. The tone of voice and attitude of a prospective new-hire are going to make a huge impression.

Recruitment allows the men and women involved to perfect this “first impression” that we’ve all been told is so important. If we can shout and cheer at the top of our lungs at 8:30 a.m. after getting two hours of sleep the night before, we can definitely bring energy and eagerness into any workplace.

And lastly, those affiliated with Greek Life are better problemsolvers and are able to get things done and resolve conflict while still remaining cordial and polite. If you are a leader in an organization, you are often called upon to make quick and effective decisions.

But as a leader in a social organization like a sorority or fraternity, there is also the added pressure of making sure the waters remain calm. Essentially, you can’t please everyone, but Greek Life teaches you how to be professional without stepping on anyone’s toes (and if you do, you know how to mend any hard feelings).

It is easy to be patriarchal, demanding or authoritative, but it is another to get things done effectively while managing to maintain a peaceful work environment.

Members of Greek Life learn these skills early on.

This translates into amazing leadership skills. Of the nation’s 50 largest corporations, 43 are headed by fraternity or sorority members, which proves that going Greek really is a great decision.

More statistics on Greek Life in the workforce: - 85 percent of the Fortune 500 key executives are fraternity or sorority members.

- All but two Presidents since 1825 have been fraternity or sorority members.

- 70 percent of the U.S. Presidents’ cabinet members since 1900 have been fraternity or sorority members.

- 76 percent of U.S. Senators are fraternity or sorority members.

- Both women appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court were sorority members.

- Over 85 percent of the student leaders on 730 campuses are members of Greek-letter organizations.

- Since 1910, 85 percent of the Supreme Court Justices have been fraternity or sorority members.

- Nationally, 71 percent of all fraternity and sorority members graduate, while only 50 percent of nonmembers graduate.

SENIOR, STRATEGIC COMM. ELDRIDEG@MIAMIOH.EDU

Nobody seriously bothered to devise a sensible and practicable plan to help them better their lives.

There were several sectors that could have been built up to serve as pillars of Afghanistan’s economic strength, but were not. Here are a few examples of Afghanistan’s economic strength and where help should have been concentrated upon: The country’s cotton yield, once a valuable commodity for foreign and internal markets, has declined to a mere 15 percent of its former harvest. Fruits have always been a mainstay of Afghanistan’s agricultural production.

Planeloads of fresh fruits were flown abroad. The production and exportation of dried fruits was another profitable item and provided reliable jobs for large numbers of people.

To revive these sectors, the growers and producers needed help with accessing improved seeds and saplings to upgrade their products and rebuild their decimated tree stocks.

They needed refrigerated storage centers to prolong the shelf life of their merchandise so that they could sell it gradually at stable prices, avoiding having to rush to the market and dumping their wares at any price to prevent it from rotting before their eyes.

Another way to help the peasants would have been to teach them how to clean, sort, and pack their products professionally, enabling them to sell their goods in richer markets in order to secure higher profits. Instead, Afghan authorities and foreign experts installed generators in some villages.

Most of the affected villagers did not know how to operate and service the machines. Moreover, they lacked the money to buy the diesel to run them.

Helping this large segment of Afghan society would have not been expensive. In the virtually cashless and unimaginably impoverished Afghan countryside, the dollar goes far and much could have been done with less if people with some imagination and goodwill had gone about the task.

Neither has much progress taken place in other sectors of the economy. But not much progress has taken place in most sectors of the economy.

For example, Afghanistan once had a vibrant textile industry, employing thousands of workers. Today, there is no textile manufacturing to speak of.

While billions of tons of limestone await processing, cement factories remain closed or operate marginally and 95 percent of the country’s need for cement is imported.

Most of the country has no electricity. The large power plant that USAID built outside Kabul at a cost of more than $200 million is shut down. Its diesel-operated generators are extremely expensive to run and the Afghan government can’t pay for it.

At the moment, the city of Kabul purchases most of its electricity from Tajikistan and the international community pays for it. Who will cover the cost post-2014 is not clear. What is clear is that the Afghan administration lacks the funds to pay the bill.

In describing this utterly negative situation, I am not trying to imply that nothing positive has been achieved in Afghanistan. Many schools have been opened. Girls are free to go to school and more than a million do.

Kabul University has been partially rebuilt and is back in business. Some roads and bridges have been built and others repaired. Some of what has been done will continue and some may not be sustainable.

However, what I believe must be said is that both the international community and the Afghan government have failed to lift Afghanistan out of its pre-2001 broken condition.

When the rich flow of money becomes a trickle or stops altogether, the warlords will resume their previous fight for resources and the protection of their fiefdoms.

Afghanistan is today and will remain after 2014 a failed state with all the perils that that entails both for the U.S. and the international community.

Nasir Shansab is a former leading Afghan industrialist and is the son of Afghanistan’s once Minister of Agriculture. He is the author of “Silent Trees: A Novel of Afghanistan,” and has appeared recently on Bloomberg TV, Global Television Canda and Voice of Russia.

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GRANDSONS, FROM PAGE 2

He eventually wooed Tobin into joining him in Tennessee to teach a few short writers’ workshops. They successfully piqued his interest.

“I enjoyed the mini courses at Middle Tennessee State,” Tobin said.

“They made me think about wanting to teach writing.”

When Campbell arrived at Miami University in 2004, he renewed his recruitment efforts in earnest, thinking perhaps he was just close enough to Michigan this time to entice Tobin to commute four hours, if not move.

He was.

Tobin came to Miami in 2006 on a one-year Wiepking Distinguished Visiting Professorship, teaching upper-level narrative non-fiction writing courses in the journalism program. When Miami invited him to return the following year as a tenure-track professor, he accepted. Campbell’s persistence had finally paid off.

“I think he like Miami, he liked his experience and he like the students,” Campbell said. “And he got to teach what he was good at, the things he enjoyed. Getting him to teach 101 was a bit of a sell but he gets to teach narrative non-fiction too.”

From Tobin’s perspective, 101 was less of a sell and more of a trick.

“He kind of tricked me into it,” Tobin said. “When he was recruiting me, I told him I could teach narrative non-fiction and magazine writing, and he said ‘Yeah, yeah.’ But then I applied for a full-time position and he told me, ‘You’re going to have teach 101.’”

But eight years later, he harbors little resentment. The two have even gone on to teach a section of the course together, and are currently in

INTERNATIONAL, FROM PAGE 2

The Supreme Court and Gender Have Four Women Justices Changed the High Court?

Dahlia Lithwick Senior Editor at Slate and 2013 National Magazine Award Recipient for legal commentary

Tuesday, February 11, 7:00 pm Pearson Hall 128, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio This lecture is free and open to the public. No tickets required.

For more information, contact Dr. John Forren at forrenjp@MiamiOH.edu The O’Hara Lecture was established with a gift from Lloyd and Mary O’Hara to support lectures on law and politics, covering issues related to civil, criminal or constitutional law, or topics comparing the American legal system to other models.

add to my confidence as a writer.”

According to the 2011 CIRP Freshman Survey of incoming firstyears, 5.2 percent of Miami students do not consider English their native language. As a result, in order to mitigate some of the difficulties of transitioning to American culture, Miami has developed programs such as the English Second Language (ESL) department.

Many international students go through the ESL department to take courses like English 108 and 109, which are designed to ease undergraduates into the new writing culture.

“A good portion of [English 108/109] course content covers what happens in American classrooms, providing opportunities to discuss differences with what students may have had in their past classrooms,” ESL composition coordinator Tony Cimasko said. “Sometimes we will do lessons that are completely focused on American academic culture, and sometimes it comes up in a more informal way, which allows us to discuss it.”

Cimasko said ESL’s English 109 is set up similarly to English 111, which Miami students are required to take through the English department.

“There’s the same amount of rigor, but the standards used to measure may be communicated over a longer time,” Cimasko said.

“We provide more ‘drafts’ than you would find in a native domestic English class.”

Zhu, having taken both English 108 and 109 already, recognized the patience and compassion her ESL teachers expressed.

“Sometimes my paper did not

their fourth semester doing so.

“It’s been purely a pleasure [to teach 101 together],” Tobin said.

“We think a lot alike when it comes to journalism, we have a lot of the same values. There’s no question of disagreement about what should be taught. But we complement each other well. He’s a scholar, he looks at the big picture. I’m a writer and an editor. He helps me look at journalism’s role in society in ways I’ve never thought about.”

Campbell certainly feels his hunch about Tobin’s ability to teach has proven correct.

“He’s one of those rare people, like a lot of the journalism faculty at Miami, who are gifted writers but also gifted teachers,” Campbell said.

When they find themselves in the same classroom, their years of history tend to come out in witty banter and playful teasing that leave their students puzzling over their seemingly odd relationship—a relationship that just became slightly more odd with the timing and locations of their grandsons’ births.

“The first few days of class might not go quite according to the syllabus,” Campbell told his 101 students on their first day, barely containing a grin. “You see, Dr. Tobin and I are both about to become grandfathers.

At the same hospital.”

The two exchanged a knowing look as a ripple of giggles and murmurs moved throughout the lecture hall.

These days, their friendly banter in the classroom centers around which of their grandsons can elicit the most enthusiasm from their students.

“His grandson got a bigger ‘aww’ than my grandson. I resent that,” Campbell told the class after Tobin showed a picture of Benjamin on an overhead projector. deserve a fair grade, but the professors know that you do not understand all of the English things,” she said. “They are nice, they were not always very strict on my grammar.

They understood that I did not know everything for English.”

Nevertheless, Zhu said she still needs more adjustment time when it comes to the American English writing style. To address such, Li proposed a writing seminar for international students, led by faculty members of the English department.

“I don’t think the international students have been given enough opportunities to practice their writing,” Li said. “I would hope that the university could provide a regular seminar, maybe twice a year, to international students. Especially for juniors and seniors, who are preparing to leave the university and enter the job market – they need that experience and insight the most.”

Cimasko, on the other hand, is interested in merging the two types of English courses – domestic and international – into a single curriculum that can accommodate both kinds of students.

“One project that I’ve been working on over the past few years is getting in touch with other professors at the university through workshops and other means, helping faculty to better understand international students, to work with them, and creating lessons that are meant for mixed classrooms,” Cimasko said.

In the meantime, Bechtel believes the campus community can be doing things to help with this adjustment process. “[We can] become aware of and knowledgeable about cross-cultural differences in writing,” she said, “and be empathetic with the students experiencing them.”

10

SPORTS

EDITOR TOM DOWNEY

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014 CHARLIE CLIFFORD CLIFF’S NOTES

MANNING’S LEGACY IN LIMBO AFTER SUPER BOWL

43-8. Not even the Seahawks super fan dressing in the life-sized Hulk get-up saw that coming. The “un-pickable” battle of opposite heavyweight forces was anything but. Conspirator theorists will conclude in the future that Mark Sanchez slipped on an orange No. 18 jersey and ran out onto his home field for one last time this night. The opening snap mirrors the butt-fumble of Thanksgiving night in 2012. The finishing quarter mimics a high school summer passing league exhibition, running through the motions until the final whistle is blown.

As the masses were filtering out of the Uptown watering holes of choice Sunday evening, the conversation of the atrocity that is Super Bowl XLVIII was already over. All the noise now focused on Peyton Manning.

What in the name was that Peyton? The best quarterback ever?

Surely the majority now feels this is not the case.

It is as if the Peyton Manning warship, armed with his unprecedented, record-breaking regular season of 55 touchdowns and 5,477 passing yards is capsized and sinking into the abyss after this mild February night in New Jersey. The dream of adding a second NFL ring to his robotically perfect regular season is swept away like a soft Seattle rain.

Suddenly this mythical creature walked off the artificial Met Life Stadium turf as vulnerable as the rookie (3-13) Indianapolis quarterback in 1998. Now he is old, tired and broken.

Just as critics sharpen their pencils for Monday’s headlines, however, let us tip our caps to the champions and move forward with the fact that Peyton Manning is still the best quarterback ever. Consider what the latest generation of football fans now

values compared to the previous.

The perfect storm of the Madden videogame series combined with fantasy football and around the clock coverage of pigskins flying from coast to coast is changing our perception as fans of what is a great quarterback.

No longer is the gritty, grindem-out, game managing quarterback a recipe for championships in our minds. Value is now measured in terms like rocket arm, precision passer and robotic mind.

No other quarterback influences this change more than Peyton. His ability to do this year after year for 15 full NFL seasons is spectacular.

A small example of this once in a lifetime player comes best in what turned out to be the last playoff victory Manning registered as an Indianapolis Colt. With the Jets leading the Colts 17-6 with seconds remaining in the first half of the 2009 AFC title game, my phone was abuzz with Cliffords all over the country loosing their minds over the Jets being one half away from returning to the big game. They were ready to party like 1969. Broadway Joe would surely be boozing and botching the opening coin toss like it was 1969. Four drives and four consecutive touchdowns later, Manning had the Jets faithful heartbroken, wishing it 1969.

It still is the best performance I have ever seen. It was not fair, it did not seem human, and when Peyton is at his best, it never does.

Looking forward as the dust settles and the No. 18 jersey rises into the rafters of Lucas Oil Stadium for eternity, the fact of the matter is Peyton Manning is a champion. He has a ring. This is not a case of Marino, Kelly or Tarkenton. Do not try to convince yourself of the latter. You saw the best. And man was it fun to watch.

SWIMMING & DIVING

Miami looks to finish season on strong note

BY JORDAN RINARD SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Miami University swimming and diving teams are ready for their season finales, as the men’s team hits the road to take on Ball State University while the women host MidAmerican Conference (MAC) rival Ohio University. The men’s team is looking to snap a two-meet skid and the women are looking to extend their winning streak to nine meets.

Ball State (1-3, 0-1 MAC) is coming off consecutive defeats, after it was convincingly defeated 103-178 by the University at Buffalo at home.

All the Cardinals’ losses this season have been by 48 points or more.

“This is a long standing rivalry that goes back to the early 1970’s,” head coach Pete Lindsay said. “The Cardinals are known as a very strong team in the sprint events and Coach Bob Thomas is one of the best at the sprinting game. Their pool is a late ‘60s design with relatively shallow water in comparison to Miami. We will start into five-foot depth instead of 10, so we have been practicing this week in five feet of water to master the type of starts and entries required. It will be their senior recognition meet, so we expect some good performances from the whole team.

We will have a chance this week to practice our skills in the swimmers’ third events for the MAC meet.

Some have only swum those events once or twice this year, so it is a great opportunity to ready themselves.”

Miami (4-3, 1-2 MAC) has fallen in consecutive meets against MAC foes as it tumbled against the University at Buffalo and was beaten at home by Eastern Michigan University.

Ohio (5-5, 2-2 MAC) snapped a three-meet losing streak with a dominant 197.5-96.5 win over West Virginia University before falling 173-126 to Iowa State University in its final home meet of the season.

The Bobcats travel to Xavier University Friday before meeting up with the RedHawks. OU has dropped its last two decisions against MAC opponents.

The women’s team (8-1, 5-0 MAC) is rolling as it won its eighth straight meet Saturday against the Eagles 176-124. All the RedHawks victories this season have been by 36 points or more.

“This week, we’re focused on building our power,” head coach Mark Davis said. “Like last week, it’s all about doing all the little things right, getting perfect starts and perfect turns. We’ve done a good job of stepping up all year. This week, we’re excited to have people racing against Ohio, because it’s okay for them to be out of their comfort zone… The players did some things differently than they did under Dave [Jennings] but they really did a good job of adapting.”

Junior Emma Craig said the team was focused on being relaxed leading up to the meet.

“We’re working on hitting our paces and our times this week and just having fun,” junior Emma Craig said. “It’s senior night, so we’re trying to have our seniors go out with a bang. Last week, we were more positive and relaxed because we race better when we’re relaxed, so we’ll have to keep it up this week.”

The men’s team takes on the Cardinals 2 p.m. Saturday in Muncie, Ind. while the women’s team hosts the Bobcats at 10 a.m.

SPORTS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

HOCKEY

Struggling RedHawks host Western Michigan

JOE GIERINGER THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami sophomore Riley Barber sprays some ice during Miami’s 5-1 loss to the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Jan. 18. Barber is Miami’s leading scorer with 35 points on 19 assists and 16 points.

BY JOE GIERINGER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Every point matters. It’s a pretty generic phrase; five syllables of coach-speak that mean the boys are showing up for every game, all year long.

For the Miami University men’s hockey team, this saying isn’t just a few trite words brandished in a post-game presser – it is a stark reality. It is the wretched beeping that constitutes a wakeup call from a hotel room phone, and the NCAA Tournament selection committee is the concierge.

The RedHawks are 4-8-1 dating back to a Nov. 16 loss to the University of Wisconsin – a skid the likes of which hasn’t been seen in the better part of a decade. If the season were to end right now, Miami wouldn’t even be close to making the national tournament, a feat they’ve accomplished in the previous eight campaigns. They’ve also dropped out of the Top 20 in the USCHO Poll, which is a rarity for these RedHawks.

Points are at a premium, and head coach Enrico Blasi’s squad knows it. The Brotherhood (10-113) boasts just 14 points in National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) play, only good enough for second to last. All that remains

of the regular season is 10 games.

That gives them five opponents from whom they can hope to swipe a possible 30 points, four of which currently reside in the Top 20. This weekend’s two-game war is with the only team that is not ranked: Western Michigan University.

“They’re very, very good,” sophomore defenseman Matthew Caito said. “They’ve got a lot of speed on offense, defensive corps is very good and they have a solid goaltender. They really like physical play.

It’s going to be a tough battle, and we’re going to engage them.”

Caito would know too, his RedHawks tangled with the Broncos Jan. 10-11, the last series in which the Red and White were ranked.

Western stole two one-goal games from Miami, leaving a bad taste in Caito and company’s mouths.

Blasi’s squads aren’t the kind to get nostalgic, but seeing their old Central Collegiate Hockey Association rival one last time in league play does open up an opportunity for a taste of revenge, especially after a weekend off to think it over.

“Obviously they took care of us pretty good when we were up there,” Blasi said. “Unfortunately we’re not at 100 percent, but I thought the week off was good.

The guys worked hard and we’ve

had a pretty good couple of days here this week.”

Despite their recent slump, the ’Hawks haven’t played terribly.

Five of those games were decided by a single goal, and even though they’ve cooled off recently, junior forward captain Austin Czarnik and sophomore linemate Riley Barber are both still among the top 20 scorers nationally, with 31 and 35, respectively.

Miami also comes into the weekend winners of its game, topping Colorado College 6-1 on the road while simultaneously sparking a stagnant power play. They potted four goals on five man advantages, a mark that hadn’t been reached since Dec. 11, 2009 versus Ohio State University.

For the RedHawks, it’s now or never. Momentum is the name of the game, and it starts with a weekend home stand.

“This is it,” Blasi said. “This is the stretch run. I think the guys know how hard they have to play and how intense the games will be, and hopefully we’ll be ready to go.”

The opening puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7.

Saturday’s game will commence at 7:05 p.m. Both games will take place at the Goggin Ice Center.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

’Hawks fade during second half in loss

BY ZACH MACIASZEK FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

The Miami University men’s basketball team (9-11, 5-4 MAC) was unable to withstand a 15-0 second-half run by Northern Illinois University (10-11, 4-5 MAC) and fell to the Huskies 53-41.

The RedHawks shot just 30 percent from the field and connected on only one of their 15 shots from beyond the 3-point arc.

Freshman forward Joshua Oswald led MU with 10 points. He was the only RedHawk to reach double figures.

Head coach John Cooper said Miami’s offensive ineptitude was due to a multitude of factors.

“We didn’t do a particularly good job offensively,” Cooper said. “We didn’t execute on a lot of our sets. But more importantly we turned the ball over and couldn’t knock down shots and missed a lot of easy opportunities inside the paint.”

The RedHawks’ offense often lives or dies on the ability of senior forward Will Felder to make shots.

The team’s leading scorer was

held to a season-low two points on 1-5 shooting.

Cooper said both Felder and the entire team struggled with the length of the Huskies.

“I thought their size was a factor inside,” Cooper said. “They keyed in on Will and forced him to shoot over them and he could just never quite get going.”

The ’Hawks ended the first half up 27-26. Sophomore guard Willie Moore led all players at the half with nine points and six rebounds.

He would not score for the remainder of the game.

MU jumped out to a 37-28 on a 10-2 run to open the second period. Leading the way for the ’Hawks was Oswald, who scored Miami’s first eight points of the half.

Oswald said the offense was in synch during that stretch.

“The point guards and guards were getting me the ball in good spots,” Oswald said. “I thought the guys did a good job … of finding me when I was open.”

The lead would not last long as the Huskies embarked on a 15-0 run. NIU’s junior guard Aaron

Armstead hit two triples in a row and added a layup. Sophomore guard Travon Baker nailed a three-pointer to give NIU its first lead of the game 39-37 with 12 minutes remaining.

The Huskies scored two more baskets before a layup by sophomore guard Geovonie McKnight ended the barrage. At that point, the damage was done and the Huskies would not relinquish their lead for the rest of the contest.

Cooper said this result represents a step back for the RedHawks.

“I thought it was a step back,” Cooper said. “We seemed to be very lethargic tonight and didn’t have the necessary energy to compete with a team that was playing with a desperate mindset on their home court.”

The RedHawks will need all the energy they can muster when they hit the road to take on Ohio University (16-5, 6-2 MAC).

OU is led by the scoring duo of junior forward Maurice Ndour and senior guard Nick Kellogg, who both average 15 points per game.

Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. Saturday.