Feb 25, 2011 | The Miami Student

The Miami Student VOLUME 138 NO. 42

Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826

Friday, February 25, 2011

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

In 1975, The Miami Student reported the Butler County Board of Elections delayed action for city-wide decriminalization of marijuana. If it appeared on the ballot and was passed by Oxford voters, it still had to be legally worded before appearing on the November ballot.

Clooney, crew to film during Green Beer Day

By Amelia Carpenter Campus Editor

Green Beer Day 2011 will be one unlike any before. George Clooney will be at Miami University filming The Ides of March at the Farmer School of Business (FSB) and Hall Auditorium Feb. 28 through March 4.

“It’s going to be, to say the least, a unique experience,” Oxford Police Department (OPD) Sgt. Jim Squance said about having celebrities present during the famed Miami holiday.

Diana Durr, executive director of the Oxford Visitors and Convention Bureau, said the film company has requested one officer on site for the film crew, but said they would have their own security in full force March 3.

Shoot for the hoop

“They are aware of what Green will be the base camp for filming Beer Day is,” Durr said. “We’ve March 2 through 4, according had multiple conversations about to Durr. it and the filmDurr said the ing schedule is sidewalks will be “It’s going to be, so tight and they open, but people to say the least, a don’t want to watching could do it when (stuunique experience.” potentially block dents) are on the sidewalks. spring break.” “(The film JIM SQUANCE Durr said film- SGT., OXFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT crew) undering would be at stands there’s a FSB Feb. 28 and lot of excitement March 1 with a base camp set up in because of the actors and actresses front of the building. She said the that are well-known (and) most film crew will be across the street of the scenes that take place are from Hall Auditorium at Campus interior scenes, (so they are) not Avenue and Walnut Street March worried too much about crowd 2 to 4. Walnut Street will be closed control,” Durr said. from Campus Avenue to PopThe film crew has contracted to lar Street beginning Wednesday hire off-duty OPD officers March morning and will not open again until late Friday evening. This area See CLOONEY, page 9

w

ASG reviews priority registration

By Matt Levy Senior Staff Writer

Students who have priority registration may soon receive some limits.

Associated Student Government (ASG) is working on a bill that would restrict students with priority registration to only registering ahead of their designated class. In the current system, students with priority registration are able to reserve seats in class sections regardless of their class designation.

“Currently, a second-semester first-year student in the Honors Program can register before a second-semester senior,” said Narmar Doyle, ASG secretary for academic affairs and author of the bill.

According to Doyle, the registration process needs to be reexamined for all programs that have priority registration, including athletes, ROTC members, honors students and students studying abroad.

Doyle said problems are created when seniors who need to take certain classes in order to graduate lose their spots to underclassmen. He used the Honors Program to illustrate his point.

By creating a peer priority program, this bill falls in the vein of recommendation 36 of the Strategic Priorities Task Force report, which aims to increase retention among students and reach a

six-year graduation rate of 85 percent. “(Under peer priority), students in the Honors Program can register before other students of their class,” Doyle said. “Those students have worked hard and do deserve some priority registration, but we need to consider peer priority.”

Some senators expressed concern that the types of classes honors students need to take do not close graduating seniors out of classes. “(First years) will usually sign up for 100-level classes and seniors for 400-level,” senator Daniel Welsh said.

Doyle defended the bill and said there are many instances

when sophomores, juniors and seniors share classes with firstyear students, including Miami Plan classes.

Doyle said he plans to meet with students currently benefiting from priority registration who could be affected by the bill.

“We’re going to have to talk to the honors office and see what they think,” Doyle said. “There should be some perks to that program but they shouldn’t go all the way to that level.”

Senator Nicholas Miller questioned if limiting the reach of priority registration would deter students from joining certain programs, such as honors

wSee REGISTRATION, page 9

Bank robbery occurs uptown At around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, a man armed with a small handgun reportedly robbed First Merchants Bank near the intersection of North College Avenue and West High Street.

According to police reports, the man left the bank on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash.

The suspect is described as a 5-feet-8-inches tall white male 35 to 45 years old with blond hair and a closely-trimmed reddish beard and goatee.

The last aggravated robbery in Oxford occurred Nov. 23 when a male was reportedly robbed at gunpoint at his apartment complex.

The last bank robbery in Oxford was 21 years ago.

Reporting by Hutner Stenback

MICHAEL GRIGGS The Miami Student

Sophomore Orlando Williams aims for the basket during the men’s basketball game against the Kent State University game Feb. 16.

Consulting firm to evaluate Miami University funds

By Sarah Sidlow For The Miami Student

Miami University has hired Accenture, a management consulting firm, to assess the efficiency of many of the university’s services.

In 2010, the Strategic Priorities Task Force (SPT) recommended the university hire a consulting firm to help with the project. A committee was created to locate an appropriate firm, which chose Accenture from a pool of qualified candidates.

The project, titled Strategic Assessment of Support Services (SASS), started Jan. 4 and will continue into April, according to the SPT website.

David Creamer, vice president of finance and business services and SASS steering committee co-chair, said the project came

about due to the expectation that the university will receive a reduction in the next appropriation from the state budget.

The government expects an $8 billion shortfall over the next two years, Creamer said.

Rebecca Luzadis, SASS cochair and associate professor, said Miami is no longer significantly raising tuition as it has in previous years. Because of this, Miami has to find other ways to fund university services.

Accenture will conduct interviews and focus groups and collect quantitative data from 18 areas of the university, including regional campus organizations, police services, enrollment services and the library. The firm will focus more extensively on four specific areas, information

wSee SASS, page 9

Oxford thrift store benefits students, locals

By Lauren Hetzel For The Miami Student

ANDREW BRAY The Miami Student

Oxford’s Family Resource Center offers a variety of gently-used items.

Oxford’s local thrift store isn’t simply a place for students to go to find the perfect touch to round out their ensemble for the next week’s themed social.

The Family Resource Center (FRC) created the thrift store to give every member of the Oxford community a place where they could shop affordably that would also help local residents in need.

The FRC founded the thrift store, located on College Corner Pike, almost two years ago as part of its mission to empower people to achieve sustainable self-sufficiency, according to thrift store Coordinator Rory Uhler.

Miami University junior Casey Moore began volunteering at the thrift store after she learned about the opportunity through Miami’s Office of Community

Engagement and Service.

“I run a register, do a lot of sorting donations, donation bags … organizing and people interacting,” Moore said.

Moore said she sees a number of individuals come in to shop at the thrift store on a regular basis, so they become familiar faces.

Moore also said the store gets a lot of business from Miami students and faculty.

According to Moore, many of the students who go to the store are there to shop for socials and themed parties.

“We have a great selection,” Uhler said. “The problem is we never know ahead of time what the theme parties will be, but (students) come in looking for things all the time.”

The thrift store has an increase in business during the holiday season, when Uhler said students visit the store

looking for Christmas or Valentine’s Day sweaters.

“We have Miami students come in every week normally for something,” Miami junior and FRC Service Guide Ashley Hurd said.

“If it’s not clothing, then they’re looking for dishes and stuff for their apartments.”

Moore said having students spend money locally helps Oxford as a whole.

“When you’re spending money there, it’s going back into the community to help,” Moore said.

All of the profits from the thrift store go directly to FRC programs to help the Oxford community.

According to Uhler, these programs include GED test preparation courses and helping residents pay their rent and utilities among others.

The thrift store accepts a

wSee THRIFT, page 9

2

Campus

Friday

February 25, 2011

Editors Stephen Bell Amelia Carpenter Amanda Seitz campus@miamistudent.net

NEWS Students invest, help alumni BRIEFS

By Amelia Carpenter Campus Editor

EVENTS

$150,000, according to Lane and Biggs.

MUSVF’s investment helped purchase necessary equipment and install what Lane and Biggs estimated to be between three and six prototypes at the RSC to get feedback about the product.

“It’s been great working with everyone (in MUSVF),” Lane said. “When we sent them e-mails, they were very cordial. Other entrepreneurs should approach (MUSVF) if they have a good idea.”

Lane and Biggs said they hope to do a full-scale launch in fall 2011 at Miami and hope

allow students to sign up on machines next to friends.

Junior Emily Easley, president of MUSVF, has been a member since she was a first-year student.

The club is selective and is comprised of 12 students, according to Easley.

MUSVF is similar to an angel investment fund for start-up businesses within the Miami network that was originally started from donations by alumni and a grant from Procter & Gamble. Until five or six years ago, the fund was managed by the university administration, Easley said.

Now, students make the investments through a vigorous process of reviewing business plans, presentations, analyzing financial statements and more, she said. Then, the administration has to approve the recommendation before the investment is made.

The fund has invested in four businesses started

by Miami alumni and does not invest in companies outside the Miami network, Easley said.

There is a five-year exit strategy that gives companies time to repay the initial investment, according to Easley. She said the fund has never invested in current Miami students.

“Since I’ve taken over the fund, (we’ve) started to pursue students,” Easley said, adding some people either don’t know about the fund or think their business wouldn’t get funding.

Markley Visiting Executive Professor Wayne Speer is the faculty adviser for the group and has been involved for more than two years.

The “Building Bridges, Creating Coalition” symposium will be held Friday, Feb. 25 in the Shriver Center. It is the 10th Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality Symposium at Miami University.

The women’s gender and sexuality studies program is teaming up with the Women’s Center and Wright State University women’s studies program to stage the event.

Features of the program include a reading by Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, author of Harlem is Nowhere, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., as well as a screening of the award-winning film The Shape of Water, directed by Kum-Kum Bhavnani. The screening will start at 4:20 p.m.

After the screening, Bhavnani will be available to speak and answer questions about the film.

The symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Typically alumni are the ones investing, but one group of Miami University students recently helped alumni in what seems to be a backward process.

In January 2011, the Miami University Student Venture Fund (MUSVF) invested $25,000 in Jobi Fitness LLC, a manufacturing company of exercise tracking equipment that collects and stores activity online. The company will be debuting its product at the Recreational Sports Center (RSC) in March.

Miami alumni Graham Lane and John Biggs, who graduated in 2009, had the idea for Jobi Fitness in January 2009 during their entrepreneurship course, New Ventures. Their idea was to create a system that digitally tracks a person’s exercise activity and records the data.

Lane said a person wearing a radio frequency identification bracelet is recognized by the machine much like credit card readers can identify the card. “(The system) outputs information to the website,” Lane said. “That’s where (people) will use it.

I can log in and see what I did in the last month, last week, down to I was on the treadmill for (X amount of minutes) at level five.”

Originally, the pair had a group of four men working on Jobi Fitness, but when two went off to MBA programs, Lane and Biggs stayed in Cincinnati to develop the company.

Jobi Fitness has several investors, including MUSVF, that have generated funds of more than

Author to read excerpts from new book

Offices to move in preparation for ASC construction

Women’s Center holds class symposium

Fiction writer Kelcey Parker will be reading from her new book For Sale

By Owner Tuesday, March 1.

The book is a collection of stories about modern women and an evolving American subculture.

For Sale By Owner is Parker’s first book, but her stories have been featured in the Indiana Review, the Bellingham Review and Image, in which she was featured as artist of the month.

Parker earned a Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati and currently directs the creative writing program at the University of Indiana, South Bend.

The reading will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Peabody Hall’s Leonard Theatre.

Admission is free and open to the public.

Miami hosts Women of Color Celebration Miami University’s Women’s Center will present the Women of Color Celebration Wednesday, March 2.

The event will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Shriver Center Multipurpose Room. The Women of Color Celebration is designed to celebrate cultural diversity and the accomplishments of women of color.

This event is meant to connect Black History Month, which is held in February, and National Women’s History Month, which is held in March.

The event will feature Brazilian food and salsa dancing by the Association of Latin and American Students.

Ramona Reyes, human resources specialist at Nationwide Insurance and the first Hispanic member of the Columbus Public Schools Board of Education, will be the keynote speaker.

The Jennie Elder Suel Distinguished Woman of Color award will also be presented at the event.

Tickets are $6 for students and $12 for non-students. Ticket sales end Feb. 25.

TMS

www.miamistudent.net

ONLINE

By Ashley Laughlin For The Miami Student

Miami University’s Armstrong Student Center (ASC), which will begin construction in summer 2011, will be home to numerous services and organizations on Miami’s campus.

In preparation for construction of the student center, Miami’s Physical Facilities Department (PFD) is coordinating a series of departmental and organizational moves out of Gaskill and Rowan halls in the spring. There are approximately 60 individuals being relocated from Gaskill and three from Rowan.

John Seibert, senior project architect and manager for the ASC, said both Gaskill and Rowan halls will be reused to become part of the new ASC project.

According to Seibert, the current occupants of Gaskill and Rowan will have to move to a new location permanently and will not

GRAPHIC CONTRIBUTED BY JOBI FITNESS

Jobi Fitness LLC is recieving investments from MUSVF. to have a smartphone app that shows congestion at the RSC. “If (I’m) sitting in class and wanted to see congestion levels instead of standing in line, (I can) sign up for a treadmill from my phone,” Biggs said, adding eventually the app would

relocate to the ASC. Seibert said several organizations have plans to move. The Information Technology (IT) Services classroom support group was recently moved from Gaskill Hall to the Joyner House.

In early March, an IT Services group will be moving to Hoyt Hall. In May, another IT group will be moving to Laws Hall.

Williams Hall will welcome the photo and video group in May, and in July, the Rowan Hall Art Center will be moved to the renovated south wing of Phillips Hall.

Debra Allison, vice president and chief information officer for IT Services, spoke about the staff and departmental relocations.

“In general, the staff in Gaskill are being dispersed to various places on campus, and their new locations may not be totally settled for all groups yet,” Allison said. “I know that Physical Facilities has had quite a challenge in finding space for the staff in Gaskill.”

Miami seniors compete for national fellowship

By Noëlle Bernard Senior Staff Writer

Competition in the job market is fierce, and applying for similar internships often produces tensions between students. For Miami University seniors Harrison King and Cordelia Moore, applying for the same fellowship position in Washington, D.C. is an act of camaraderie rather than rivalry.

Miami University’s recently introduced Russian, East European and Eurasian studies major has received national attention.

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace selected King and Moore to be finalists, eligible to join the endowment’s Junior Fellows Program (JFP).

According to the Carnegie Endowment, JFP selects eight to 10 qualified seniors from approximately 400 participating colleges to receive one-year fellowships.

According to Karen Dawisha, director of the Havighurst Center, King and Moore are two out of 25 finalists for a $35,000 per year fellowship for the Russian and Eurasian studies position. Throughout the program, Miami is the only university to have more than one finalist.

“It’s an amazing fellowship … (the students will be) in Washington, D.C. in a think tank where they will be doing substantial substitute

policy work on Russia and Russian foreign policy,” Dawisha said. “It will be a major game changer for their career prospects.”

King applied for the fellowship after his experience during his 2008 trip to Russia through the Havighurst Center. His recollection of the trip and meeting a scholar from the Carnegie Endowment persuaded him to apply during fall 2010.

“One of the reasons why I applied is that I feel like I’m lacking,” King said. “I’ve never had an internship like this before. I’ve never had significant work experience like this before, especially not in my field.”

Moore applied with encouragement from the Havighurst Center and at King’s suggestion. However, King and Moore are competing against one another.

“Since we’ve heard back and I’m only being interviewed for Russia, whereas Cordelia is being interviewed for Russia and energy,” King said. “In general there’s only one (Russian and Eurasian position), but sometimes they will hire two for one. There is a possibility that in an ideal world we could both get it.”

According to Moore, JFP is designed to give recent graduates the opportunity to work closely with scholars in Washington, D.C. to

wSee FINALISTS, page 3

wSee ALUMNI, page 3

While construction of the ASC is not set to begin until summer, Seifert said the PFD trucking service needs time to get each group packed, moved and set up before another group can be moved.

“All these moves are not early, but actually just in time as we begin construction this summer,” Seibert said. “The moves have been planned sequentially based on availability of new space and manpower needed to move groups.”

Seibert said organizations and groups located in Shriver Center will not be moved until January 2014 when the ASC is expected to open.

Allison said she is concerned about communication challenges because of the new dispersed locations. According to Seibert, when the ASC opens, its space will be dedicated to student organizations and student use.

“We believe it will provide major benefits on the student experience at Miami,” he said.

Tidal wave

Andrew Bray The Miami Student

A Miami utility crew repairs damage to a leaking water pipe outside Irvin Hall Thursday.

THE MIAMI STUDENT

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2011 ♦ 3

Students to build school in El Salvador

By Dana Shanley For the Miami Student

In collaboration with Nourish International, a group of Miami University students plan to spend their summer in Morazán, El Salvador building a new elementary school.

According to the organization’s website, Nourish International is a non-profit organization that strives to eradicate poverty across the world. Nourish attempts to meet this objective by sending resources into communities that demonstrate a need for development.

Miami’s chapter of Nourish International started in 2003, when cofounders Sama Alkalaf and Ashley Miller were selected by Nourish International’s National Office to begin a chapter, said Miami senior and Project Co-Director Sally Alkalaf.

The Miami chapter is raising money for its trip through ventures, partnerships that Nourish International students establish with community businesses, said Miami senior and Project Co-Director Shawn Ford.

Nourish International has been working with Kona Bistro on select Wednesdays when the owner allows student organizations to tend the bar to raise money for various projects, Alkalaf said.

“We keep all the money we

receive in tips and also get 10 percent of the food sales generated during the shifts we work,” Alkalaf said.

Another successful venture Miami’s Nourish students have participated in is with The Green Door, a jewelry shop in Oxford.

“We receive 50 percent of the profits,” Alkalaf said.

Overall, Miami’s chapter has raised almost $3,000 and intends to raise up to $5,000 through other ventures and fundraising activities in the spring, such as a sponsored bar party at The Wood’s Food and Spirits during which students can purchase a red Solo cup from the organization and receive drink specials at the bar, Alkalaf said. The money raised will be added to the funds to complete the schoolhouse in El Salvador.

“We’re always looking for new ideas to get associated with local businesses,” Ford said.

From May 21 to June 18, Miami students will join students from Brown University to build a schoolhouse for the community in Morazán.

“The area is lacking early onset education,” Alkalaf said. “This project will help alleviate that problem.”

Throughout the project, the students will stay with a host family and work with a local construction company to build the school.

Students will get to interact with the

Wal-Mart run

BY THE NUMBERS The dollar amount the Miami Chapter has raised

3,000

children and their families to generate interest in the project within the community. The schoolhouse will also serve as a location for town meetings and important events, said Alkalaf. Nourish International students will be teaming up with a local organization called Fundación Hermano Mercedes Ruíz (FUNDAHMER), an organization that supports struggling communities in El Salvador and promotes internal improvement of those communities. FUNDAHMER will serve as a go-between for the students and the community in Morazán, according to Alkalaf.

“We get to take a few weekend trips, too,” Ford said. “We have opportunities to explore the area.”

Ford and Alkalaf said they are still looking for students to participate in the project and welcome any interested individuals to contact Sally Alkalaf before the end of March at alkalas2@muohio.edu.

ALLISON BACKOVSKI The Miami Student

Buses provide a test route to Wal-Mart this weekend to see if a permanent route is necessary.

ALUMNI

continued from page 2 “I see that the involvement continues to increase as we see more and more students looking at opportunities to create and start their own businesses,” Speer said.

He attributes this to the entrepreneurship curriculum and the reality of business in the economy.

“They say in an economic downturn more businesses are more successful than businesses that start in other economic times in our economy,” Speer said.

Speer attends meetings every other month, while the students meet each week. Because the group is small, all of the members have a chance to contribute, Easley said.

“Everyone is part of the process and basically understands what’s

FINALISTS continued from page 2

research specific regions and analyze political policies.

“It offers a unique opportunity for undergraduates to do policy research and get published in their area of expertise,” Moore said.

“A lot of programs are focused at graduate students. Here you have a chance to go talk to experts in your field and work for them for a year and get paid to do it at the same time.”

Moore said JFP will give her an opportunity to develop connections with experts in her field of interest and take her knowledge beyond the university walls.

“It’s an opportunity to get to

going on,” she said. “(You) get your hands dirty and get into what the funding process is and how we allocate the capital and what criteria to look for in the business.”

Students interested in joining MUSVF have to apply and be interviewed. Easley said the club brought three new members on board in the fall, which led to an 8 percent acceptance rate.

“It is kind of difficult to get into,” she said. “I definitely encourage people to at least try. It’s such a great experience. I have learned so much, (and in interviews) people love hearing about it.”

Easley said he tells potential employers she manages a fund of $250,000 and invests in different businesses as president of the club.

Easley said she hopes to attract more students with business ideas outside the Farmer School of Business in the future. know people in your field,” Moore said. “When you are a student, you read about these people all the time.

When you are working right under them, then you get a very intimate experience and then you can use that recommendation for the rest of your life.”

Dawisha is proud of her students’ accomplishments and the close networking the Havighurst Center offers students studying Eastern Europe. She considers it a positive reflection on Miami to be the only university with two finalists competing for a position as a Carnegie Endowment Junior Fellow.

“We see this as a huge part of our mission from this bequest by Walter Havighurst,” Dawisha said. “He really wants our students to be there, to get over there, to expose them to this sort of thing.”

4

Community

Friday

February 25, 2011

Editor Bethany Bruner community@miamistudent.net

Rental changes ownership Officers find intoxicated male in churchyard At around 2 a.m. Saturday, Oxford Police Department (OPD) officers on patrol noticed a male laying in the yard of Holy Trinity Church.

According to police reports, a second male was trying to help the male up from the ground, but he was unsuccessful.

The male on the ground, later identified as Jared Cohen, 18, was reportedly wearing a sleeveless shirt, shivering and in and out of consciousness.

After several attempts, the officers reportedly could not get Cohen off the ground.

Officers reportedly noticed the odor of an alcoholic beverage on Cohen’s breath. Cohen also reportedly slurred his speech when he attempted to talk.

According to police reports, the life squad was called and Cohen was transported to McCulloughHyde Memorial Hospital.

Cohen was cited for underage intoxication and disorderly conduct.

Local reports theft at apartment At around 5:20 p.m. Tuesday, a male resident of 219 N. Elm St. apartment E reported a break in to Oxford Police Department officers.

According to police reports, the victim of the robbery told officers he was coming home at approximately 3 a.m. Sunday when he observed two males running from his apartment.

The male reportedly noticed his front door had been kicked in and his Playstation 3 and X-Box had been tampered with.

The male also noticed $250 was missing from the apartment.

Resident says car windows busted At around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, a male reported a shattered window on his parked car.

According to police reports, the male had left his car parked on Bishop Street near Vine Street, and when he returned the driver side window was shattered.

The window reportedly appeared to have been hit by something small, like a BB.

PHILLIPS Acquisition buys Candlewood Apartments

By Leslie Scott Senior Staff Writer

Candlewood Terrace Apartments were bought by a real estate company specializing in student housing called PHILLIPS Acquisition Feb. 16.

According to Alan Kyger, Oxford’s economic development director, Candlewood has been listed for sale for a long period of time.

Robert Phillips, president of PHILLIPS Acquisition, said the company has been looking into the property since August, but negotiations officially started in October.

“We specialize in student housing and we are looking for prestigious universities,” Phillips said. “Miami is a great school with a large population.”

PHILLIPS Acquisition plans to make a few changes to the property.

“We are mostly planning on fixing up the exterior,” Phillips said. “The interior of the properties is fine. We just want to make it more appealing to the eye outside. We also plan on changing the name to Oxford West.”

The firm plans to undergo landscaping renovations by implementing new signs, redoing the asphalt and renovating a few buildings. According to Phillips, the company intends to complete changes by summer 2011.

Candlewood currently has a clubhouse and

study area that PHILLIPS wants to fix up.

“Not only do we plan to clean up the clubhouse, but we also want to add a coffee shop,” Phillips said. “We think it will be a good idea to make this available to students because these apartments are farther off campus.”

According to Phillips, he wants to avoid the “tacky” coffeehouse vibe by creating a really nice environment for students to hang out when they need a break from their apartments.

Junior Jessie Rains thinks the coffee shop sounds like a great idea.

“Sometimes it is a hassle to make it uptown for a quick break,” Rains said. “I would love to have a coffee shop only a few feet away from my apartment door.”

Although the property will undergo some transformations, it will remain fully operational, Phillips said. The company does not foresee any temporary shutdowns while the renovations occur.

All leases are still going to be honored, according to Phillips.

“Many are being transferred from Candlewood to PHILLIPS, but there will be no resigning of leases in place for next year,” Phillips said.

According to Phillips, the company also plans to keep rent the same.

“We are interested in getting people settled in right away,” Phillips said. “Therefore, there is no reason to jack up our rates. That would only shy people away.”

Phillips said he hopes the new Oxford West will create a better reputation within the community. The company wants to take care of its residents and look appealing to others.

PHILLIPS still needs to take care of permits with the city before any work can be done, according to Phillips.

“We want to play by the rules and not upset anyone,” Phillips said. “The biggest thing for people to know is that these buildings will be under new management, they will be professionally run and that we are trying to give the best value around Oxford.

We’re excited to start and want to get off on the right foot.”

PHILLIPS is a national real estate company. Previously-owned properties can be accessed on the company’s website. Candlewood Apartments is listed as the only currently owned and managed property, while all others are listed as previously owned.

PHILLIPS is known for acquiring property, managing and then selling it. It is located in Virginia, but has had properties all over the country in states such as Connecticut, Michigan and Ohio.

SAMANTHA LUDINGTON The Miami Student

High school takes aim at gold LEED certification

By Lauren Karch For The Miami Student

Talawanda High School (THS), the Talwanda School District’s newest building, will also be the district’s greenest building.

“Our new high school will be a LEED-certified school,” Holli Morrish, Talawanda’s coordinator of community development, said. “We hope to achieve LEED gold status.”

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification provides third party verification of environmentallyfriendly measures as defined by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Gold level certification is the second-highest award for green school buildings. At this time, only one school building in Ohio

CORRECTIONS It is the policy of The Miami Student to publish corrections for factual errors found in the newspaper.

In the Feb. 22 issue of The Miami Student, “Building leads to more empty beds” contained a number of misleading statistics and incorrect quotes.

According to Oxford Economic Development Director Alan Kyger, the city ordinance mentioned in the article does not require property owners to include residential housing in uptown buildings. The ordinance states buildings in the uptown district can include housing on the second floor and above, but the first floor is required to be commercial.

In addition, the City of Oxford does not keep track of the number of empty beds in each academic year.

While Kyger does estimate that on-campus housing capacity has decreased, offcampus housing has increased and the number of students enrolled at Miami has risen since 2006, these numbers do not necessarily affect the number of empty beds in the city.

In addition, the number of students who remain on campus due to the sophomore residency requirement was overestimated. According to Kyger, the actual number of students who are now on campus and may have moved off can not be certainly calculated.

In addition, Hawk’s Landing Manager Maureen Mitchell’s name was misspelled and she was never directly contacted for information included in the story.

Bill does not introduce definition of marriage Those who read Senate Bill 5 closely may have received a little shock when they reached Section 3101.01, which contains language defining marriage in the state of Ohio as between one man and one woman.

Language in the bill also states that any same-sex union entered into outside the state would be considered void.

According to Joe Otte, legislative aide to Sen. Keith Faber, the language in the bill is not an addition to the Ohio Revised Code.

The section listed in the bill is existing Ohio law. A small portion of the section regarding collective bargaining benefits will be removed, but the whole section is printed in the legislation as standard practice, Otte said.

“Senate Bill 5 doesn’t change the definition of marriage in any way,” Otte said.

Otte said when reading legislation proposed wording is underlined.

Wording that is struck through in legislation is wording being removed.

Reporting by Bethany Bruner

has achieved gold certification and no other high school has reached that level, according to Thomas Klak, professor of geography at Miami University.

“There are many design features which make our new high school a green school,” Morrish said.

Those design features include geothermal wells for heating and cooling and a conservationconscious plumbing system. The building is a north-south facing building and the windows are designed to capture the best natural light as the sun moves throughout the day. A light-sensitive electrical system will provide only as much electric light as needed, Moorish said.

Klak is involved in the Erik Sustainability Initiative, an initiative to restore an ecological habitat on the non-built portion of the new high school land located south of Oxford near Indian Trace apartments.

The land restoration adds to the LEED points earned by the school.

“The school itself sits on about 50 acres of built land, including the building, parking lots and sports fields,” Klak said.

“There’s about 100 acres of other land that will be used for

agriculture and different types of naturalized habitats.”

Plans are in place to restore some of the acreage, previously used as farmland, to sustain a prairie, forest and wetlands. The restoration process will involve the creation of the prairie, improved levies to control water levels, restoration of a stream corridor and removal of non-native plants, Klak said. The naturalized area will be used for ecology and other science-related classes. Part of the land will be used for agricultural education, with plans for a greenhouse that will be used by both the Butler Tech Future Farmers of America program and the Talawanda district, Klak said.

Community collaboration will play a key role in the use of the new high school land, according to Klak.

“It’s going to be a place that the school district wants the community to use,” he said.

According to Morrish, plans for the indoor and outdoor aspects of THS’s LEED certification began two years ago with a community meeting that involved educators, officials, community members and architects from SHP Leading Designs, the architectural company building the new school.

“It was a really interesting

experience for me,” she said.

“SHP helped assess the goals of the community with the new school.”

Klak said the building of a greener school is in line with the community’s interests.

“There was strong sentiment in Oxford to go for the gold level, which was higher than what most districts would (be) going for,” Klak said.

By cutting reliance on nonsustainable energy, Klak said, the green school will cut longterm costs. He said the district chose the geothermal heating system over other sustainable systems because it was the most cost effective.

“It has the quickest payback,” he said. “The architect said the combination of the new high school’s energy saving initiatives actually reduces energy consumption by about half in comparison with the Bogan Elementary School, which was built in the early 2000s.”

Klak said the Erik Sustainability Initiative has several opportunities for Miami students to get involved in plans for ecological renovation and recommends contacting THS teacher Jeff Winslow to get involved.

United Way of Oxford reaches campaign goal

By Jill Persinger For The Miami Student

With many people’s finances still bruised from the recession, they dug deep for charity in 2010.

In January 2011, the United Way of Oxford and Vicinity met its fall campaign goal of $240,000, according to Executive Director Maureen Kranbuhl.

The campaign was launched Sept. 16, 2010 with a goal $6,000 higher than the previous year.

During the campaign, 164 Miami University faculty and staff members pledged a total of $60,486 to United Way, according to Leadership Co-Chair Sherry Schilling.

“Miami surpassed our giving from last year,” Schilling said.

Miami faculty and staff accounted for 27 percent of total giving, according to Schilling.

“I think it is great that not only are the faculty and staff helping the students, but giving back to the community as a whole,” senior Kelly Albanese said.

The money generated will be used to fund health and human service agencies that serve residents in Oxford and the vicinity, Kranbuhl said.

“We want to assure the public that we are allocating the money to agencies that are effective,” Bryan Hehemann, 2010 campaign co-chair, said.

Hehemann said the process of selecting agencies to fund is carried out carefully.

“United Way has been pretty diligent about the way we select nonprofit agencies,” Hehemann said. “We introduced some rigor in the way we request our information to make the agencies look

at their purpose and strategy.”

The United Way of Oxford currently funds 22 agencies in the area.

The campaign celebration took place Wednesday, Feb. 23 during the chapter’s annual meeting.

Executive directors for various agencies were in attendance to receive their checks.

Goals for the 2011 campaign will not be discussed until the budget committee meeting in March.

In addition to meeting its goal, the United Way of Oxford has developed initiatives to address issues facing the Oxford community.

In 2005, the United Way of Oxford formed an initiative to help the area homeless population, which averages approximately 75 to 100 individuals per year, Kranbuhl said.

Editor Hunter Stenback features@miamistudent.net

Features

Friday

February 25, 2011

5

a lesson in Myaamia Tribe culture

By Stephen Bell Campus Editor

Walking into the Miami Tribe headquarters is sort of a surreal experience. My feelings are mixed. On one hand, I’m thrilled to visit my university’s namesake.

On the other hand, this tribe was forcibly removed so the university could exist.

The tribe’s headquarters is not what I had expected. Located in Miami, Okla., the most noticeable feature is an oversized sign that reads “Casino,” and another advertising cigarettes.

Walking into the front door of the headquarters, the pungent smell of smoke stings my nostrils. As I veer right, I see a small section of slot machines and I’m instantly saddened. While gaming revenue has been a blessing to many Native American communities, it just doesn’t seem right to mix such rich culture with fanny-packed women playing nickel slots.

Unlike the mindless students who visit Cancun and overlook the impoverished conditions to get $30 hair beads, here I would actually have to confront Native American hardships.

My friend, Miami University senior Erin Maher, and a slew of Miami faculty and students joined me on the journey, the most memorable being Bobbe Burke.

Burke is the director of Miami Tribe relations and the person in charge of organizing the trip. Every January, Miami students, including some tribal students, take a trip to the tribe’s headquarters in Oklahoma.

Burke said the experience allows students to learn about the tribe firsthand.

“I think it’s always better to have a firsthand experience than to have people tell you what it’s about,” she said. “Anytime we are engaging in more information about the Miami or any other tribe, I think it’s helping to dispel the stereotypes we have all been raised with in America about how Native Americans are.”

As the trip went on, I discovered the tribe was just as welcoming as the warm Oklahoma weather. The weather and hospitable people made my daily excursions relaxed and enjoyable, allowing my mind to soak up all of the information it could.

One of my group excursions included “story time.”

Upon reading “story time” on my itinerary, I couldn’t help but think of a cloaked man reading stories around a crackling fire. While I knew those assumptions were beyond stereotypical, I was slightly saddened to learn the storytelling would take place indoors.

As it did every night of my three-day visit, the tribe provided a buffet of food.

One thing that struck me about the buffet line was the order in which everyone got their food.

“In the Miami culture, elders get their food first,” Bobbe explained to our group.

“Kids and young adults typically go last.”

While this system disadvantaged me, I liked this cultural rule.

In today’s age of helicopter parenting, kids are usually thrown to the front of a food line only to finish early and complain while their parents hurriedly try to scarf down cornbread.

Story telling In Miami culture, elders are revered and respected for their wisdom, quite a contrast from the general U.S. population in which the elderly are largely discounted or ignored. This is why I was so surprised to meet Mildred Walker.

Mildred is in her mid- to late-90s, and a cherished member of the tribe.

Instead of being penalized for her aging mind, Mildred is praised for her wisdom, something I couldn’t help but appreciate and admire.

Conversation eventually quieted down, and everyone took a place in the crowded room. Storytelling was the one event the tribe forbade anyone to film, which only added to its excitement.

First, George Ironstrack took the floor.

Taking on the role of an actor, George told the story of two brother wolves locked in a battle of wits.

As the story went on, George’s movement drew the listeners further into the narrative. I couldn’t help but imagine myself sitting around a fire centuries in the past.

The story is particularly important because it accompanies publication of Myaamia and Peoria Narrative and Winter Stories, a book of Miami stories compiled

by David Costa with help from Daryl Baldwin, director of the Myaamia Project at Miami. The Myaamia Project, a tribal initiative at Miami, aims to advance the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma’s language and revitalize its culture.

The book took more than 22 years to complete, according to Baldwin.

As the first story came to a close and I was left thinking about the wolf, his brother and how they related to Christian fables I was told as a child. I would drift off to sleep while my mother read stories about men being swallowed by whales and giant floods sweeping over the land.

Stories like this are vital to how groups spread their cultural messages. For the Miami Tribe, this book represents a reclaiming of that culture.

As the storytelling continued, one woman read from an iPad, an image I didn’t expect to see.

On the bus ride home, a professor on the trip remarked “Did you see that woman reading off an iPad?” For some, Native Americans are still widely regarded as the feather-wearing, arrow-slinging hunter-gatherers depicted in Western films. The reality is quite different, as I found when I met the tribe’s chief.

Chief Gamble Erin and I returned to the Miami headquarters to interview Miami Chief Tom Gamble the following day, and this time we were alone.

Complete with a computer and family photos, Gamble’s office looked like any other. The chief wasn’t wearing a headdress and there wasn’t a feather in sight.

Instead, Gamble looked more like a cowboy businessman.

As Erin and I interviewed Gamble, he continued to don his signature smile, but underneath the grin is a man who has seen many hardships.

After assuming the position of chief in March 2008, Gamble has taken on the daily tasks of the tribe, including adversity.

From alcohol abuse to diabetes, Native American communities often see high rates of substance abuse and obesity.

According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11.7 percent of deaths among Native Americans between 2001 and 2005 were alcohol-related, compared to 3.3 percent for the entire United States.

“The reliance on government money plays a role,” Gamble said. “People wait around for checks to come and they do other things.”

Gamble remains optimistic.

With a newly built community center complete with a pool and cafeteria and a local health center which multiple tribes utilize, Gamble said he expects the Miami Tribe’s future to be bright and healthy.

Over the past five years, with help from a Title VI Federal Grant, the community center has been able to provide daily lunchtime meals for approximately 75 to 80 native elders in the community in addition to delivering home meals.

For some members of the Miami community, affording three meals a day can be financially taxing, which makes the meal service even more important.

As for casinos, Gamble reiterated what a positive effect Indian gaming has had with respect to revenue. However, Gamble said the tribe hopes to move away from gaming and into other business ventures.

A newfound respect Ultimately, as I packed up my camera equipment and left Miami, Okla., I felt a sense of accomplishment. I learned more about my university’s namesake and more about the Native American community as a whole.

Being a part of the Miami Tribe, if only for a weekend, left me with a sense of community.

I couldn’t imagine losing my culture, so I can understand the need to band together as members of the Miami Tribe have. While the knowledge I acquired about the Miami Tribe is far from complete, it has encouraged me to learn more about native peoples.

Myaamia Tribe Chief Tom Gamble addresses Miami University faculty, staff and students at the Myaamia Community Center Jan. 28.

PHOTO BY ERIN MAHER The Miami Student

HANNAH MILLER The Miami Student

6

Friday February 25, 2011

Opinion

➤ EDITORIAL

Editors Sam Kay Jessica Sink editorial@miamistudent.net

Exile Island

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

ASG registration bill will help student scheduling A

ssociated Student Government student with priority registration to (ASG) is proposing a new bill take the spot of a graduating senior that would limit the extent of priority is a bit unfair. registration. With the peer priority Although there are some good reaprogram ASG has suggested, stu- sons for the current scheduling prodents with priority scheduling would cedure, it can be altered to become a only be allowed to register ahead of bit more balanced for students. their designated class instead of beUltimately, beyond scheduling ing able to reserve circumstances out of seats early ahead of student control, it is all classes.

Although there are the responsibility of The editorial some good reasons students to review board of The Miand understand their for the current ami Student becourse requirements scheduling proce- and lieves the proposed adequately ASG bill could be plan ahead. dure, it can be a positive change Take advantage altered to become in the process of of advising and bea bit more student scheduling. come familiar with balanced.

For most students, your Degree Audit scheduling slots that Reporting System. are based on credit In addition, Miaccumulation is adequate to get the ami should work to increase initianecessary classes for graduation. tives for better advising.

Even for those students who enter Communication between and Miami University with advanced among advisers is crucial to recredit, the ability to schedule based duce uncertainty and confusion on the credit hours they have acquired among students. should be sufficient because they are It is important that advisers are scheduling earlier anyway. Students knowledgeable about the different with special circumstances, of course, course requirements and be willing would require special consideration, to spend sufficient amounts of time but the potential for a first-year listening to students and their needs.

Rule of thumb Oxford United Way meeting its goal

In tough times and amid a budget crisis, people showed true generosity

Filming on Green Beer Day

Lights, camera, debauchery. Combining two obsessions, Clooney and beer, doesn’t always lead to a great result.

A strong start for spring sports Take me out to the ballgame.

Sub-par thrift store donations

The thrift store provides us with fodder for ugly sweater parties, but the Oxford community has real needs.

Ohio Sunshine Summit

Working to improve campus press freedom across the state.

Armed bank robberies

It’s been 21 years since the last one, now we have to restart the clock. Thanks a lot, Oxford’s new public enemy number one.

George Clooney officially coming

Every girl on campus hopes he will dump Elisabetta Canalis for them or introduce them to Ryan Gosling.

Fits of coughing in the middle of class

Unpleasant for the cougher, even worse for innocent bystanders.

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

EDITORIAL BOARD Erin Fischesser Editor in Chief Thomasina Johnson News Editor Erin Maher Managing Editor Scott Allison Online Editor Sam Kay Editorial Editor Jessica Sink Editorial Editor Stephen Bell Campus Editor

Amelia Carpenter Campus Editor Amanda Seitz Campus Editor Bethany Bruner Community Editor Michael Solomon Sports Editor Hunter Stenback Features Editor Samantha Ludington Photo Editor Hannah Miller Art Director

CHAD STEBBINS The Miami Student

➤ LETTERS

Vagina Monologues doesn’t empower women On behalf of the True Feminists of Miami University, I am responding to the critique of the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute (CBLPI) posters hung in response to the Eve Ensler play The Vagina Monologues. We’d like to explain why we chose to hang them up. We don’t deny that the monologues have been meaningful to many who have seen and participated in them. However, there are many others who have seen them and been humiliated and angered by them. The posters actually said that the CBLPI “offers truly inspirational alternatives” to the monologues and gave the website, www.cblpi.org. They are not a denial that rape, sexual assault or female sexuality are truly important issues for women and everyone in our society. Rather, they state that there are more effective ways of discussing these issues and empowering women. I have personally spoken with many people who have expressed that the plays do not empower them, but instead make them feel as though their female identity has been reduced to a single body part. After seeing the plays myself, I have to agree. Why can we not offer an alternative way to showcase the power that women have and the great things they have done throughout history? Why can we not demand that people show respect for our intellect and stop focusing on our bodies alone? As for alternate sources of discourse, we plan to have a forum next year to discuss these issues.

Activism requires taking risks and speaking up about often very controversial topics in very controversial ways at times. We applaud the Association of Women Students for taking their activism seriously and for raising awareness about issues of rape, sexual assault, et cetera. However, being an activist and “putting yourself out there” comes with a responsibility as well. It requires being prepared to hear criticism. The posters are not an attack on the Association of Women Students or on anyone participating in or seeing the plays.

Activism challenges ideas. Furthermore, The Vagina Monologues are not unique to the Association of Women Students, nor are they unique to Miami University. They have been performed all over the country every February for the last 15 years. Rarely have I ever encountered anyone publicly speaking up against them. These posters give voice to those who identify with the root causes and issues of the monologues, but who are, for fear of social ostracism, afraid to voice their concerns for the manner in which the plays deal with the issues.

Finally, True Feminism is also a nationwide movement with which we chose to align ourselves. This movement embodies the idea that women are equal to yet different from men and should be given the same rights as men without having to behave like men. It is also a feminism that values the dignity and rights of every human person, including the unborn child. It is both prowoman and pro-child.

Christine Barilleaux

barillc@muohio.edu

Senate Bill 5 proposal threatens student futures The Senate Bill 5 proposal in the Ohio State Senate is something college students should consider a threat to their futures and a deterrent to staying in Ohio after graduation. The bill

denies the right of collective bargaining for public employees in Ohio. This includes teachers, firefighters and policemen among others. Any students wishing to stay in Ohio after graduation should consider the threat the bill poses to their future jobs or family lives. The only five states that have eliminated collective bargaining for educators each rank in the bottom six states in regards to standardized test scores. Do we want Ohio to join them?

Logan Dick

dickll@muohio.edu

Rice a bad guest speaker choice for Miami As a graduate of Miami University, I was shocked and saddened to read online in the Miami alumni news that the Anderson Distinguished Award Lecturer in March will be Condoleezza Rice. By writing this piece, I hope to garner a dialogue, a protest or whatever it takes to inform Miami students of her past criminal activity.

As former secretary of state and national security adviser under President George W. Bush, not only did she help authorize and aggressively push for an unlawful and preemptive war on Iraq, but she also was one of the chief architects responsible for the torture that took place in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and other CIA “black sites.”

Read any of the writings of Seymour Hersh, Philippe Sands or Jane Mayer. Or, watch the film American Faust: From Condi to Neo Condi produced by Sebastian Doggart. He is willing to answer any questions from anyone at sebastiandoggart@aol.com. Or, I have oodles of articles to pass on.

It has been well documented that Ms. Rice was one of a half-dozen Bush officials who met as part of the White House “Principals” group led by Dick Cheney and his desire for using the “dark side” methods. Laws and treaties were broken. State-authorized torture devastates our country by corrupting our policies and laws, by rendering treaties irrelevant and by instituting cruelty through implementation of unethical acts.

I actually remember some words spoken at a ceremony the day of my graduation from Miami in 1959. The speaker spoke of how we had now gained knowledge and knowledge is power. He said with this knowledge we can do good or do evil. This was not too many years after World War II and Hitler used his power for evil.

By honoring people who have authorized evil (torture), what are we saying about ourselves, about Miami?

Patricia Fowler Guerrero pattypax@earthlink.net

➤ Write us All letters must be signed in order to be printed.

Please send letters via e-mail to:

editorial@miamistudent.net We reserve the right to edit for length, content and clarity.

Opinion

THE MIAMI STUDENT

➤ LIBERTY AND JUSTICE

Oil money can’t buy democracy Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s hasty departure Jan. 14 from his revolting country seemed more like a James Bond movie plot than a presidential resignation. Ben Ali and his family escaped in four helicopters bound for Malta and then flew to France, where they were denied landing, finally ending up in Ty Saudi Arabia. After his Gilligan departure, it was revealed Ali stashed $160 million in a safe behind the bookcase in his presidential palace in addition to $80 million in a Swiss bank account, according to Swiss authorities.

After such a dramatic exit, I was half expecting Ben Ali to meet up with Dr. Evil and hold the world hostage for an exorbitant amount of money. Yet alas, Ben Ali stayed in Saudi Arabia with Interpol issuing a warrant for his arrest for illegally obtaining and transferring funds abroad.

Soon, the revolution spread to Egypt, and Feb. 11, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stepped down after 30 years of undemocratic rule. Now, several more similar protests have sprung up in Libya, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan and Morocco.

These revolutions across the Arab world are proving that people of these nations prefer true democracy to artificial democracies under an authoritarian leader and wealthy Arab leaders can no longer buy loyalty and democracy. They must earn it.

To understand the situation in the Gulf States and Northern Africa, we must understand the unique forms of government they have. The six “sheikhdoms” of the Gulf region, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emerates (UAE), Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait have informal “social contracts” that give the government legitimacy. The government provides free housing, food subsidies, free education and more in exchange for a political system that allows little or no political participation.

What is the result? Oil rich shahs, deplorable human rights records and no political freedom whatsoever. When their leaders start to neglect their financial responsibilities to the citizenry, the people begin questioning the fairness of the “contract.” People of the Arab world have good reason to be upset.

Compounded by the lack of political rights in these countries is the perception of the rulers in these countries. The Arab leaders are so wealthy they have essentially alienated themselves from their people. An ABC News analysis report estimated Mubarak is worth $70 billion.

The Emir of Kuwait, Sultan of Oman, Emir of Qatar, King of Saudi Arabia and President of the UAE all have net worths more than $1 billion, according to Forbes.

With unemployment rates and lack of economic opportunities in many of these countries, it is understandable their citizens view the leaders of the countries with increasing anger.

King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa of Bahrain literally tried to buy the loyalty of his people. Feb. 11, al-Khalifa announced he would give 1,000 dinar ($2,650) to each Bahraini family ahead of massive planned protests. However, this political bribe was unsuccessful in calming the anger of an entire nation and protests continued as planned.

Citizens of Middle Eastern countries are effectively rejecting their “social contracts” and demanding political participation. Take note that the protesters are not demanding violent revolutions or the imposition of a different authoritarian leader, they simply want a representative democracy. These citizens would prefer a representative democracy to an authoritarian government hiding behind a façade of wealth.

The new or reformed governments likely established in some Arab states in the foreseeable future will hopefully allow more political participation for their people. This may change the dynamic of the region.

Previously, agreements and treaties were negotiated among the autocratic monarchs of the region. In the future, countries will need to negotiate with the representative governments and therefore the people of neighboring countries.

It is exciting that democratically-elected governments are in sight for Arab nations.

The people have been very patient in their wait for representative governments, and I am hopeful they will soon have their wish.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2011 ♦ 7

➤ PERSPECTIVE

Public records should be accessible ERIN FISCHESSER The use of pubic records is common and necessary in the world of journalism. Many journalists rely on public information to bring attention to important issues and inform the public.

At The Miami Student, we attempt to present the most reliable, informative and interesting news for Miami University students and the rest of the university and Oxford community, which often requires the use of public records. The accessibility of these records, however, is often a significant issue for our reporters.

On multiple occasions during my term as editor in chief, editors and reporters have requested specific information from university offices in order to complete stories. In some cases, Miami employees are informative and cooperative, but too often we run into roadblocks in securing documents that should be available to journalists upon request.

The Ohio Sunshine laws require public offices, including public universities, to make various types of information available to journalists upon request.

These records are required to be processed and the items returned to the journalist who requested them within a reasonable period of time. While “reasonable period of time” is not defined outright, seven to 14 business days is typically the generally accepted stipulation.

In one instance, our newspaper made a public records request close to Thanksgiving break.

When the request was made,

our editors were told it would take longer because members of the university would be busy and possibly out of the office because of the Wednesday through Sunday university break. While this may sound like a legitimate excuse on the surface, it does not fall within the confines of the Sunshine laws. Not to mention, it left us with a hole to fill while we waited for the information we needed.

In this case, the university community was not informed about important occurrences in a timely fashion because the student newspaper was denied quick access to public records.

Unfortunately, there are many other causes of concern that are too numerous to list here, but even more disconcerting is the fact that this is not uniquely a Miami problem.

Many student journalists at public universities across the state of Ohio have been denied access to public records and even public meetings that are required to be open under the state’s Sunshine laws. In fact, a 2006 audit found nearly 60 percent of basic public records were unavailable to student journalists on Ohio campuses.

As a result, many student journalists will gather Saturday, Feb. 26 in Athens, Ohio to bring this issue to light and author a call to action.

The Ohio Sunshine Summit, sponsored by the Ohio University chapter of the Society of

Professional Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association, will be used as a forum for student and professional journalists to discuss press freedom and create a policy to present to the Ohio Board of Regents and the University System of Ohio.

The event will certainly prove to be interesting and will hopefully be productive in bringing about reform, but it should not be necessary.

Citizens and journalists in a free society have a right to know what their government and public entities are doing. Not only are there laws that require this, but as citizens of the United States of America we should demand it. Our country was founded upon beliefs for a free and open society with a government held accountable by its citizens and a free press.

While whether or not student newspapers are able to access public records may seem trivial in the grand scheme of things, it is a basic right that is being denied and should be defended.

Besides, this may just be the tip of the iceberg that could have much larger implications.

Miami and other universities in Ohio need to be more compliant with Sunshine laws.

They should have nothing to hide, and they are required to meet journalists’ requests that fall under the law. If we don’t demand it, no one else will hold them accountable.

FISCHESSER is editor in chief for The Miami Student

➤ ESSAY

Legislators take aim at women’s rights under guise of protecting life It is no secret that these are times in which things are changing and shifting all over the world at a rapid pace. In the past year, there have been strides made to restore and ensure the civil rights of Americans as well as people all over the world with the recent overthrow of tyrannical governments in countries like Tunisia and Egypt. While it is important to remain aware of the ways in which the rights of certain groups, like the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning community, whose rights have been unconstitutionally limited for far too long, continue to be affected by legislation and sentiment that seeks to deny civil liberties, it is nonetheless important to maintain an awareness of the way in which groups of people who have “equal rights” are being legislated against as well.

Within the past few months, there has been much talk of anti-abortion legislation on both state and federal levels as officials elected in November begin their new terms. It is understandable to me that the pro-life platform is against abortion on the grounds that it denies a human life without its consent. However, many of the new laws being proposed and unfortunately passed do not only affect what many Republican legislators claim are “government-funded” abortions, they affect the rights of American women.

An amendment recently passed bans all Planned Parenthood centers from receiving federal funding to support any of the services they offer. In an essay published in The Huffington Post, Janine Balekdjian points out “none of the federal money currently given to Planned Parenthood is used for abortions. Instead, it’s used for providing vital health services like birth control, sexually transmitted infections tests and reproductive health exams. Planned Parenthood is sometimes the only provider of such services, particularly in low-income communities.”

By preventing federal funding from going to Planned Parenthood centers, this legislation denies many women access to birth control and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. While this legislation does nothing in terms of preventing abortions from occurring, it in fact makes it much more likely women would experience unwanted pregnancies due to a lack of pregnancy prevention resources.

There is a proposed bill in South Dakota that would term the murder of doctors who perform

abortions as justifiable homicide. There are bills proposed in other states, including Ohio, that would prevent abortions later than 18 days after conception, and one in the House of Representatives called the Protect Life Act that would allow hospitals to refuse to perform emergency abortions in the case of a life-threatening pregnancy.

Essentially, these laws would deny women their rights, and even their lives, in order to protect the life of a life that is not fully formed. Abortion is an issue that should not be taken lightly and every life has its value. However, denying women their rights is not the answer to protecting young lives.

In Georgia, House Republican Rep. Bobby Franklin has submitted a bill that would force police to investigate women who have miscarriages.

This bill would have women who have abortions labeled murderers and women who cannot prove their miscarriage, a generally traumatic and deeply upsetting experience for a woman, as guilty of prenatal murder.

Thankfully, the part of the No Taxpayer Money for Abortion Act, which redefined rape in such a way that would, according to Balekdjian’s article, “(allow) the rape exemption (for abortion) to be applied only in cases of ‘forcible rape,’” was removed. This part of the definition “excluded women who had been drugged, were unconscious, date raped and (statutorily) raped.” Basically, this would have been a government approval of all of these kinds of rape.

It’s not enough to protect the lives of unborn fetuses and call it the protection of human life.

Our legislators need to keep in mind the sanctity of the lives of people who have been born as well. It feels ridiculous to have to say, but it seems necessary given the tenor of anti-female legislation that has been proposed and even passed in recent months.

It doesn’t seem right that our rights would be violated in the name of protecting the lives of others. It doesn’t help that these laws are being largely proposed and voted on by men, who the laws do not affect and who are apparently unable to understand how miscarriages and abortions affect women. To me, this type of legislation is just further proof that gender discrimination is not over and that misogyny is alive and well in America today.

Alice Ladrick

ladricae@muohio.edu

➤ THIS AND THAT

Don’t shut out those who are different Feb. 11, a couple was denied entry into a private event at the Creation Museum in Kentucky for a date night because they were homosexual.

The couple had purchased the tickets online for more than $70 for a date night that included dinner, a speech from the founder Chris of the museum and DeNicola music performances.

Nowhere on the website was there a mention of sexual orientation. The fact that these men were denied only spreads a message of hate and misunderstanding.

The Creation Museum was opened in 2007 and was built as an effort to spread the Christian beliefs of creationism, a literal approach to the creation of the universe from the book of Genesis.

Those who identify themselves as creationists take creation directly from the words in the Bible and use it as a way to combat scientific beliefs that the earth is 4.6 billion years old. It also combats the belief that evolution is a viable scientific explanation to how life changes over time in order to better adapt to the environment. Since the museum takes the Bible literally, it also believes homosexual relations are a sin and marriage is between a man and a woman only.

I don’t have a problem with the fact that the museum exists, not by any means. While I do not agree with what they say, I do not have any problem with them giving their opinion and keeping their exhibit open to the public. That is what makes our country great.

Christianity is supposed to be about acceptance and love for all people regardless of whether they are a sinner or a saint.

However, I do have a problem with the fact that these two men were banned from the event they had tickets to because they identify as homosexual.

Christianity is supposed to be about acceptance and love for all people regardless of whether they are a sinner or a saint. Even if the museum believes homosexuality is wrong, wouldn’t this be the perfect opportunity to reach out to those they may be concerned about?

Those who represented the museum were afraid the couple was only coming to provoke an incident and disrupt the evening.

Not wanting their other guests to be disturbed, they barred the men from the group.

This just continually spreads stereotypes and prejudices against the gay community. These men could have simply been going to hear the point of view and nothing else.

Besides, the website never stated homosexual couples were not allowed. It should not have been assumed that the men were there to cause trouble. They should have been allowed to attend just like all of the other paying customers. I find it unfortunate that there are still people in the world who do not accept others because of their sexual preference.

As a Christian myself, I believe I should be going out to every person I meet and treating them exactly as I would treat Jesus himself if he came down to earth, by welcoming them and doing what I can to help them in life.

Christians are supposed to be servants and examples of love to the world. Leaving these men outside does exactly the opposite. It’s time that people start realizing it doesn’t matter if you disagree with their preferences.

They are human just like you, and you should show them the same amount of love and respect as you do everyone else. Life is too short to shut others out.

Friday

8

February 25, 2011

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Notice

FOR RENT

Live uptown this summer! A variety of Units available. Contact Red Brick at 524.9340 for more info.

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HOUSE FOR RENT 3 Bedroom House, 2 full Baths, 2 car garage, washer/dryer, full kitchen, cable and hi speed internet in every room, large closets, all electric utilities, landlord pays water, sewer, and trash. Less than 5 years old. Call Lou @ (513) 658-2590

For rent Single units available for 11-12. Roommate Matching available for 11-12. 513-523-2015 or www.parkplacerealestate.net for more info

2 BR TOWNHOUSE NOW RENTING for fall 11-12. Great Location one block from campus: 22 E Central. Well maintained. Large spacious rooms. Off-street parking. Call First Financial Bank (513) 867-5576.

For rent Singles available and roommates needed for next year. Contact Red Brick at 524.9340 or www.redbrickoxford.com for more info.

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For Rent 2011-2012. Great Properties available for the 2011-2012 school year. Contact OXRE at 513-523-4532 www.OXRE.com AFFORDABLE CONDO!!! 4 BR Fully Furnished Flat for 4 people or less - Special discount for 11-12 school year. ONLY $1,125/pp/sem (based on 4 people). Summer rentals also available. Call 614-746-2582 or watros@aol.com TODAY! Nice Condo for 2011-12Lrg. 2BR, 2BA condo convien. to metro and north side of campus. 2200.per tenant per sem. or $750.mo. T. 513-255-0433 For rent 4 bedroom duplex available in Northridge in a quiet residential area beginning in May. Perfect for graduate students and professors.

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www.miamistudent.net

THE MIAMI STUDENT

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2011 ♦ 9

CLOONEY

acknowledge Green Beer Day, they’re like ‘Oh, yeah, sure nothing’s going on out of the ordinary,’” Ackerman said. continued from page 1 Miami Director of News and Public Information Claire 2, 3 and 4, according to Squance. Wagner declined to comment The officers will be paid the stan- before publication. dard contract cost of $35 per hour, Squance said OPD would not Squance said. be bringing other departments into “They’ll be doing a little bit of Oxford for Green Beer Day. everything … directing traffic and “Everybody’s kind of strapped helping move vehicles around for money and personnel,” he and whatever they said. “We’re gowant us to do,” ing to be working The film crew Squance said. primarily with doesn’t mind that MUPD and bring Junior Katherine people observe so in extra officers Beck wondered if the celebrities and long as they stay starting at 5 a.m. film crew truly on Green Beer behind the lines understood what Day and addithey have set up. tional officers to Green Beer Day was like at Miami supplement our and the type of prenormal shift all cautions that will be taken in terms through the day and into the early of filming. evening hours.”

“I know that (with security) it’s Squance said OPD was not really tough to get close to the working directly with Oxford Fire set,” Beck said. “It’ll be a crazy Department, Ohio State Highway day. I just wonder how it’s going Patrol, Butler County Sherriff’s to work.”

Department or the Butler County Durr said the film crew doesn’t Emergency Management Agency mind that people observe so long on Green Beer Day although those as they stay behind the lines they departments may be present. have set up. They expect if there “We will have any available is a moment when they need quiet body we’ll have on the road,” he that people observing obey. Durr said. “Believe me, the chief will be said the community is welcome out and people that normally funcaround the base area and across tion as administrators, people that the street near Hall Auditorium. are certified law enforcement offiSenior Colin Ackerman was ex- cers (but) classified as administracited about the filming at Miami. tors, will be out that day.”

“I’m more excited about (Ryan) OPD will have officers in plain Gosling being here,” Ackerman clothes and officers in uniform on said. “It’ll be a lot of fun just to see Green Beer Day. kind of a real movie set and all that “They’re going to be all over stuff. I’m going to try and stop by working the bars, checking for and see what’s what.” underagers, checking to make sure Ackerman questioned the uni- the bars follow all the rules and be versity’s response to the filming out on the street looking for liquor this particular week. violations,” Squance said.

“It seems like to me they Squance wanted to remind stuwere like ‘Hey, can we film on dents a lot of media will be out these days?’ and (the university) on Green Beer Day and everyone knew it was Green Beer Day, should keep in mind their actions but since they don’t technically in public.

The Miami Student is looking for designers.

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

By the slice

ALLISON BACKOVSKI The Miami Student

Brick Street Bar and Grill workers prepare pizza for late-night sales Monday night.

THRIFT

continued from page 1 number of donations, including high quality, gently used clothing, household appliances, small appliances, knick-knacks, books, videos and children’s toys, according to Uhler.

Since prom season is coming up, the store is looking for donations of prom dresses and jewelry, volunteer Marilyn Elvey said.

“We are really trying to get nice dresses and jewelry for the local Talawanda girls for prom

SASS

continued from page 1 technology (IT), human resources, finance and accounting and procurement, Luzadis said.

“It gets more and more expensive to manage (things like) IT and human resources, and the university has allocated more

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and homecoming,” Hurd said.

Elvey is also working to start a jewelry section in the store.

“Right now, the store is mostly clothes,” Hurd said. “We’re just trying to get a variety of things.”

Aside from making donations, students can also support the thrift store by volunteering.

Hurd said although the store does have a few weekly volunteers many of the students who volunteer are there temporarily in order to fulfill part of the family studies and social work major’s introductory class coursework.

“We still really do need a lot of volunteers,” Hurd said.

While students can make a

semester-long commitment, the thrift store staff also encourages students who cannot make a long-term commitment to volunteer just once or twice, Hurd said.

Students interested in volunteering should contact Rory Uhler at the thrift store at (513) 523-2047.

Students can also volunteer through Miami’s Office of Community Engagement and Service.

The FRC thrift store is open Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The thrift store is closed on Sundays.

(of its) budget towards those things but not really stopped to analyze their effectiveness,” Luzadis said. “There may be more cost-effective ways to deliver services in those areas.”

Accenture will only be involved in the data gathering and analysis portions of the SASS project, Luzadis said. Once the data has been collected, Accenture and its partner firm, The Hackett Group, will go through a process called benchmarking, which will provide a comparison between Miami’s data and data from other universities and organizations.

Consultants from Accenture

will then meet with the steering committee to analyze the results, Luzadis said.

“Eventually, Miami will make some decisions,” Luzadis said.

“We would not have spent the money hiring this firm if we didn’t think we would get some good ideas out of this project.”

According to the SPT website, the goal of the project is not to define a new organizational model.

“The goal is to see how we can best accomplish these (needs) in a period where financial resources are likely to be more constrained than they have been in previous years,” Creamer said.

REGISTRATION continued from page 1

and scholars.

Senator Michael Sinko said the bill could render priority registration meaningless for underclassmen already taking upper-level classes since their classmates more than likely are

not trying to schedule the same course load.

“I’m a sophomore taking all 400-level classes,” Sinko said.

“Just having priority registration over other sophomores doesn’t really help me all that much.”

Doyle assured the senate he is open to any ideas and the bill is not yet finalized.

ASG is expected to vote on the bill March 1.

10

Sports

Friday, February 25, 2011

Has March Madness come early?

Editor Michael Solomon sports@miamistudent.net

Rob Johnson

Under Review

I

t’s almost a certifiable disease.

Every March, a preconceived madness takes over the greater part of America as the masses rush to predict the future of college basketball. Much of the working class will stop at nothing to catch the results of games that will determine bragging rights for months to come.

This year, the madness could turn into a full-on epidemic.

We are less than three weeks away from Selection Sunday, and teams are dropping like Carmelo Anthony jersey sales in Denver. Last week, four of the top five teams lost, including the University of Kansas, whose run at number one lasted all of 12 hours.

During the E’twaun Moore show against The Ohio State University Sunday, one of the announcers said there aren’t any great teams this year. While the Buckeyes were still undefeated and chasing their best start to a season in school history just two weeks before this proclamation, this statement rings true.

No team is dominant this year.

This is clearly displayed by the University of Notre Dame and San Diego State University making the top 10. St. John’s University has upset both the University of Pittsburgh and Duke University, and the University of Texas fell to the University of Connecticut in overtime and then again to an unranked University of Nebraska team. Kansas and Ohio State both came up short twice against competitive Big 12 and Big 10 rivals respectively.

So, what does this mean for the NCAA tournament?

Expect upsets early and often.

If I remember correctly, a lucky 14th-seeded school from Athens upended the third seed Georgetown University Hoyas in the first round of the 2010 tournament.

Kansas also fell victim to a monumental upset against the University of Northern Iowa, marking one of the biggest upsets in bracket history.

Don’t be surprised to see a number one or two seed fall in the first few rounds.

Each one of the top eight teams has shown extreme vulnerability so far this season, which could spell trouble against smaller schools drooling for an upset victory.

Look for success and failure by conference.

The Big East Conference is almost unreal this year. In what was supposed to be a down year for the conference, 11 teams currently have above a 0.500 winning percentage and seven of those teams are in the top 25.

While these teams are always on upset alert during conference play, their extremely tough schedules will benefit them in the long run.

Obviously, you can expect the Big 10, Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouse teams to produce in the tournament, but don’t be surprised if a few Final Four dreams are cut down in the Sweet 16.

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) and the Pac-10 are looking extremely weak this year despite hosting a combined four teams in the top 25. The SEC is very shaky and overrated, and the University of Arizona seems to be the only bright spot aside from the University of Oregon’s new floor design in the Pac10. I would not be surprised to see each of these conferences exit the big dance in the first two rounds.

What does this mean for America?

More than likely, you will not be able to pick the perfect bracket and no amount of cowbell will be able to cure you of this year’s outbreak of March Madness.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JIM STEPHAN

Senior pitcher Tyler Melling delivers a pitch against the University of Kentucky Feb. 20. Melling allowed two hits over six innings to earn the win.

BASEBALL

NEXT GAME: 12 p.m. Friday vs. West Virginia at Wilmington, N.C.

’Hawks win one in Charleston

By Alex Butler Senior Staff Writer

As the radar gun consistently skimmed into the upper 90s Sunday, Miami University pitcher Tyler Melling could only watch from the dugout and try to forget when his turn on the mound arrived.

The RedHawks faced one of the top pitchers in the country, University of Kentucky’s Alex Meyer, and it was Melling’s task to oppose the flamethrower.

Meyer’s arm appeared to be a slingshot, pelting pitch after pitch past late RedHawk swings.

The 6-feet-9-inches tall righthander finished with 13 strikeouts, but the ’Hawks came through in the late innings to snatch a 3-1 victory.

“Great pitching effort out of Tyler Melling to beat one of the best pitchers in the country,” Head Coach Dan Simonds said. “That’s

one of the better guys we will face all year. Anytime you are able to do that, manufacture runs and stay in the game, it is good to see. We were ready to fight.”

The RedHawks (1-2) had fallen to Marshall University and the College of Charleston prior to the final battle with the Wildcats (03), wrapping up the College of Charleston Invitational.

Sunday started scoreless until senior Brad Gschwind smacked a single and was moved over to second on a sacrifice play.

Senior Jon Edgington stepped into the batter’s box and laced a baseball through the middle of the infield, prompting Gschwind to dash to home plate and make the score 1-0.

The Wildcats gave their ace a chance at a victory in the fourth inning when a leadoff triple put a runner in scoring position. A wild

pitch by Melling advanced the runner home and tied the game.

Simonds used small ball again in the seventh inning after senior Kyle Weldon was walked in the leadoff spot. A sacrifice play put Weldon at second before senior Ryan Kaup singled through the left side to give the Red and White a 2-1 lead.

Solid defense in the bottom of the inning secured the RedHawks’ lead, and the ’Hawks scored on a wild pitch in the eighth frame to earn the victory.

“I don’t know if satisfied is the right word,” Simonds said. “Two out of three or sweeping is what we were looking to do. I certainly saw some good things. We played very well against the College of Charleston, which was a good team. To bounce back the way we did against Kentucky, that was nice to see.”

What was also nice for the coach

to see from the dugout was the performance of his southpaw starter.

Melling managed just two hits and one earned run in six innings on the mound.

“It’s huge to get that first win,” Melling said. “It’s a big monkey off of your back. Sometimes you go out there and press to get that first one, but when you’re a senior you’ve kind of been through it a couple of times and you just go out there and do your best and let things fall the way they do.”

Meyer was named one of three Louisville Slugger National Players of the Week for the performance.

Senior Sam Dawes earned the save for the RedHawks after pitching two innings of one-hit, scoreless baseball.

Kaup was 2-4 with an RBI for a RedHawks team that won despite a 0.206 team batting average.

Schedule

tennis

women’s basketball

men’s basketball

hockey

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SATURDAY

FRIDAY

Austin Peay 5 p.m.

Louisville, Ky.

Akron 2:30 p.m.

Oxford, Ohio

Bowling Green 11 a.m.

Oxford, Ohio

Lake Superior State 7:05 p.m.

Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

SOFTBALL

NEXT GAME: 5 p.m. Friday vs. Wright State at Louisville, Ky.

RedHawks fall short in championship

By Drew McDonnell Staff Writer

The Miami University softball team opened up its season, competing in the Marriott Invitational in Orlando, Fla. and came out of the weekend with a 3-2 record.

The RedHawks put up a fight throughout the weekend, but fell to the University of Notre Dame 4-1 in the championship game.

“This weekend was exciting to get this group of athletes meshing together,” Head Coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly said. “They were anxious to get out there and face someone other than our staff.

We have some veterans that led this group.”

The first game of the tournament, the Red and White defeated the University of Delaware 10-1.

Freshman Kayla Ledbetter earned her first career RBI when she singled home Jordan McElroy from second base.

In the top of the third, with McElroy on third and Daniela Torres on

second, Ledbetter doubled to right center to once again score McElroy.

Taylor Rice then put down a successful squeeze bunt that allowed Torres to score and make it 3-0 in favor of the RedHawks.

Delaware scored in the third inning to make it 3-1, but Miami did not give the Blue Hens much hope, scoring seven runs by the end of the fifth inning.

With Torres and Ledbetter on base, Rice hit a single that brought home Torres. Ledbetter made it 5-1 when she ran home on a passed ball. Delaware swapped out its pitcher, but couldn’t stop the RedHawks.

Shannon Tillett singled up the middle to score McGivney, Kirstie Fehrenbach singled up the middle to score and Ashley Zappia and McElroy completed Miami’s offense for the game by singling to right field to score Tillett and Fehrenbach.

“We played great defense for not having many chances to practice on dirt, and we also had some pretty

good hitting,” junior pitcher Jessica Simpson said. “I really liked what I saw from some of our freshmen as well. They’re going to have a big impact this year.”

The team later played Notre Dame, and the Fighting Irish took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning.

During the fifth inning, Rice singled up the middle. McGivney singled to left center to send Hernandez to second. Tillett then came up and hit a sharp single through the right side that scored both Hernandez and McGivney and gave the RedHawks a 2-1 lead. Miami did not keep the lead for long as Notre Dame earned two runs in the seventh inning, taking control of the game.

The second day of the tournament was successful for the Red and White as they played the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Simpson pitched her first shutout of the season, while Zappia was able to score the game’s only run.

The ’Hawks continued their busy weekend when they faced University of Central Florida. The

RedHawks were able to squeeze in a final run during the fourth inning for the win.

With three wins and a loss, Miami earned a spot in the championship game against Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish struck first with single runs in each of the first two innings.

The game clincher came in the bottom of the fourth when Notre Dame hit a two-run homer to make it 4-1.

Miami scored its only run in the top of the fifth inning. Fehrenbach led off the frame with a double to left field, and McElroy hit down the right field line to bring her home.

Simpson kept the Irish off of the board the rest of the game, but the RedHawks could not score.

The Red and White will continue their early season Feb. 25 in Louisville, Ky. in the Red and Black Tournament.

Miami’s opponents will include Wright State University, Boston University and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.