The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
VOLUME 139 NO. 39 TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY
FRIDAY, february 10, 2012
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
In 1989, The Miami Student reported that Miami University’s Clawson Hall was having its second annual condom-gram sale. The sale, occurring around Valentine’s Day, was meant to both raise funds and promote the practice of safe sex.
Miami acts to curb illegal note-sharing By Jenn Smola Campus Editor
Miami University is taking precautions against students posting and selling class notes online. At the end of January, Miami’s Office of General Counsel distributed a memo to administrators and faculty with instructions for faculty members to protect their class material and educate their students about the illegality of selling course material. The memo suggests, among other things, that faculty copyright their course material, such as PowerPoint presentations. College students sharing notes is nothing new, Chris Wilson, associate general counsel for Miami, said. “It’s the Internet-based selling of notes that’s the new aspect of this,” Wilson said. According to Wilson, online noteselling made a brief appearance a few years ago but then died out. Now, however, sites like Notehall and Studyblue that give students
money for uploading their class notes are prevalent on college campuses. Wilson said professors would call about their notes being shared online by students. “Last semester was really when we started getting multiple phone calls,” Wilson said. Miami’s solution: professors should visibly copyright class materials. Although no copyright notice is needed for copyright protection, it was suggested so that students would have extra notice that the material is protected. The memo also suggested that professors note on their syllabi and explain to their classes that selling course material is illegal and would not be permitted. “Copyright is a complicated area,” Wilson said. The office of the general counsel was trying to distribute some guidance on the topic, Wilson said. Botany professor David Gorchov did not previously include a copyright notice on his class PowerPoint presentations but has started doing so since seeing the memo.
“I had a student sell, essentially, my notes on one of those websites,” Gorchov said. Until then, Gorchov didn’t know the note-sharing websites even existed. When he read the general counsel office’s suggestions for protecting class material, he decided to follow their suggestions, he said. “I put guidance in the syllabus and highlighted that at the first class meeting,” Gorchov said. “I hadn’t previously because I hadn’t been aware of the issue.” The memo recommends that at a student’s first offense, the faculty member start with a basic conversation with the student, since many students may not realize what they’re doing could violate copyright laws. If the problem were to continue though, it can be a violation of the student code of conduct and the law, Wilson said. “It’s really an educational opportunity,” Wilson said. “We want people to know about this.” Ron Becker, associate professor of communication, does not explicitly copyright his class materials.
When he heard about online notesharing services, he suspected it might become an issue in his large mass communications introductory class, but didn’t worry about it much. “I don’t dwell on it because I don’t
else’s intellectual property,” Gorchov said. Sophomore Abby Pautz has been in classes in which students sell notes to websites and invite their classmates to view them. “I’ve never used them,” Pautz
I put guidance in the syllabus and highlighted [copyright] at the first class meeting. I hadn’t previously because I hadn’t been aware of the issue.” DAVID GORCHOV BOTANY PROFESSOR
feel there’s anything I can do about it personally,” Becker said. But Becker also said he might add copyright information to his syllabus and in lecture, especially because the topic ties in with his class concepts. “I think students should be informed about university policy and the law,” Becker said. Gorchov had similar thoughts. “I think it’s important for everyone to respect everyone
said. “I think it’s incredibly lazy. The entire point was to help students who didn’t do the reading themselves.” Pautz said, in her experience, teachers’ Power Points are often from the textbook. “It’s not an academically honest way to succeed in classes, but I don’t think they can pinpoint who deserves the royalties or effectively monitor students who do sell notes,” Pautz said.
Reichard starts charity, impacts children’s lives By Tom Downey
For The Miami Student
Miami University’s senior goalie Cody Reichard has already accomplished something that most people will never do throughout their life: start his own charity. Swoop’s Stoop, which Reichard began after his sophomore year, gives back to kids who have been affected by life changing illnesses at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital (Children’s). Swoop’s Stoop raised over $16,000 by the end of 2011 and continues to grow. “It was something a lot of pro athletes do, but I’d never seen it done at the college level,” Reichard
willing to give back,” Hall said. “The people who he chooses to bring with him are the best. They are engaging and we never have to worry about them. It is a joy to have them. It’s a great bunch of guys.” One of the players that often visits the hospital is Reichard’s roommate, senior forward and tri-captain Alden Hirschfeld. “It puts a lot of things in perspective for you,” Hirschfeld said. “It is awesome to be able to go down and hang out with them for a day and make them smile and help take their mind off of everything that is going on.” When the team is at home, families are invited to Goggin Ice Center
ANDREW BRAY THE MIAMI STUDENT
SHARING THE LIGHT
The Tour of Light featuring 16 children from Uganda perform at the Gates-Abegglen Theater in the Center for Performing Arts Thursday evening. They are touring the US and made a stop at Miami between shows in Chicago and New York. First-year adviser Sarah Meaney helped bring the group here.
Miami’s first black students faced barriers By Lauren Ceronie Campus Editor CONTRIBUTED BY SWOOP’S STOOP
Senior Miami hockey goalie Cody Reichard (left), 2011 graduate Justin Vaive (center) and current senior Trent Vogelhuber (right) visit with children at Cincinnati Children’s hospital last year as part of Reichard’s Swoop’s Stoop charity. said. “It was a way to give back to a community and a university that has given a lot to me.” Members of the Miami University hockey team often make visits to Children’s to visit the children that the charity tries to help. “It means a lot to me. You go to the hospital and you see some of the things those kids are going through and just how they smile and still have such a positive attitude,” Reichard said. “It puts things in perspective pretty quick. It is a humbling experience.” Lisa Hall, a staffer at Children’s, explained how helpful the team has been with the kids. “Cody’s always willing to help. It’s really nice to see guys his age
to watch one of the hockey games. The families receive free tickets, food and are recognized during the game. “We try to give our guys the chance to give back,” Head Coach Enrico Blasi said. “This is not just a hockey program, we are a program that tries to develop young men for life. What Cody is doing is taking that to the next level.” As a result of his charitable work off the ice, Reichard has been nominated for both the Lowe’s Senior CLASS award and for the Hockey Humanitarian Award. The Lowe’s Senior CLASS
REICHARD, SEE PAGE 5
In observance of Black History Month, The Miami Student is reflecting on what African American students have overcome here. The experience of the first African American students at Miami is fraught with struggles and obstacles. But they – and generations since – were determined to show the university that the color of their skin did not make them inferior people or students. While universities around the country accepted African American students as early as the 1870s, the first mention of an African American student on Miami’s campus was a sentence in the Nov. 1895 Miami Student that spoke only of a, “colored minister now taking work at the university.” Although researchers have searched Miami’s history, the name of this man remains unknown. He may have been taking classes at Miami, but it’s unlikely he received a degree.
Miami’s first full-time African American student was Nellie Craig. She was an Oxford native and enrolled in the Normal School in 1903. The next year, Miami’s second African American student, Lametta Granger, enrolled. The first recorded male African American student at Miami was Earl Kelly who graduated from the Normal School in 1910 with a diploma in manual arts. The first student to receive a Bachelor of Arts from the university was William Hargraves and the first student to receive a Bachelor of Science from the university was Eleanor Reece. Both received their degrees in 1925. While these students were attending Miami, the university prohibited them from living in the residence halls with the other students. In fact, the only African American students allowed to live on campus were the male athletes who were given beds in the basement of Swing Hall. Female students, both African American and white, either lived with their
parents or were housed in university sanctioned “cottages” that were the homes of Oxford residents. In 1945, Miami’s residence halls were integrated when Myldred Boston and Arie Parks became the first female students to live on campus. Their living arrangements, however, were unsuitable. They were given a small room in Oxford College between the smoking lounge and the furnace room. Boston was understandably appalled by the living arrangements, so she contacted the assistant dean of women who gave Boston the names of families in Oxford who she could stay with. Parks stayed in the room but did not return to Miami the next year. Early African American students also faced inequality when it came to social events. The largest barrier they faced was Greek life. At the time, fraternities and sororities didn’t allow black students to become members. They did,
Black History, SEE PAGE 5