April 3, 2012 | The Miami Student

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

VOLUME 139 NO. 51

TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1992, The Miami Student reported that 13 Miami University undergraduate and graduate programs would be terminated following budget cuts as the university prepared for additional reductions in state subsidies. The Student reported this was the first time the university’s budget tightening had gone down to the instructional level.

Miami says no to ‘pink slime’

By Michael Belden and Michelle Rowley For The Miami Student

Miami University students have no reason to worry about pink slime in their food, at least in dining halls and several uptown restaurants.

“Pink slime” is a name for the product that uses ammonia and comes from meat producers attempting to use every last bit of meat on the bone of an animal, according to John Brubacher, manager of purchasing and operations analysis in Miami’s Culinary Support Center (CSC).

“Pink slime is not on campus and has never been on campus,” Brubacher said.

Miami receives its meat from Advance Pierre and Ellenbee Leggett, two Ohio-based companies.

Both companies stated their meat did not have pink slime in letters to Brubacher.

Brubacher said if there was something wrong with the meat in the dining halls, the meat would immediately be recalled.

“If there is any FDA recalls, I get an alert,” Brubacher said. “All products recalled would be out of the serving lines and out of the halls.”

Miami serves an average of 20,000 meals a day.

“We take samples of all of the dishes offered, so in case somebody gets sick we know exactly where it came from,” Brubacher said. “If there is a question regarding a food’s safety, we always air on the side of caution.”

According to Brubacher, pink slime was initially put into meats in the 1990s in response to a health concern over E. coli. Companies did not have to label products that included pink slime because it was already part of the beef.

In March 2012, ABC News reported pink slime was added into many meat products, catching the public’s attention.

“After the ABC [News] reports, people started becoming concerned with pink slime,” Brubacher said.

“Fast food companies like Burger King, McDonald’s and Taco Bell immediately stopped putting pink slime into their meats.”

According to Brubacher, the reason people are worried about pink slime is the process used to produce it involves ammonia.

“People don’t want ammonia in their foods,” Brubacher said.

First-year Andrew Kozlove said food safety is important to him.

“I don’t want to get sick, so food safety is important to me,” Kozlove said. “I think Miami has done a pretty good job with keeping the food safe.”

First-year Tyler Kvach agreed.

“I care about what I eat,” Kvach said. “As long as there isn’t anything that would get me sick in my food, I’m fine with the food here.”

First-year Mike Maude said he saw a report about pink slime on television.

“It looked pretty gross,” Maude said “But I’m not worried about the food safety at Miami; I believe they have it handled pretty well.”

Brubacher said safety is CSC’s number one concern.

Food suppliers in the Oxford community have also been avoiding the pink slime.

The Kroger Company is one business in the growing trend boycotting pink slime, according to James Avant, a public relations representative of Kroger’s Cincinnati/Dayton Division.

“It was definitely the concern that our customers had,” Avant said.

“The product met standards of the United States Department of Agriculture. However, our customers have lost confidence in the product and because of the diminished confidence in the product we decided to no longer contain the lean finely textured beef.”

The topic became an issue with consumer confidence, not necessarily one regarding safety, which was the tipping point to motivate the company to make the decision.

Uptown restaurants Quarter Barrel Brewery & Pub and La Bodega Delicatessen both said their beef does not contain the additive.

“We buy our beef from a local farm and it’s organic,” Assistant Manager of Quarter Barrel Theresa Tilton said. “Our burgers are a little bit more expensive than they would be from another distributor, but there are no additives and no fillers.”

According to La Bodega Owner and Manager Diana DiPaolo, her restaurant never uses meat with the additive. The Miami alum also

pink slime, SEE PAGE 5

Students participate in Antartica research

COLLEEN YATES THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami University seniors Nathan Arnett and Bridgette Rawlins research single-celled organisms called protists from Antarctic lake water samples brought back by Assistant Professor of Microbiology Rachael Morgan-Kiss.

By Kaler Hazen and Jenn Smola Staff Writer and Campus Editor

The Miami University Department of Microbiology has high hopes for samples of Antarctic lake water brought back for analysis by Assistant Professor of Microbiology Rachael Morgan-Kiss.

The primary reason for the trip was to investigate microbe-dominated bodies of water in hopes of shedding light on the activity and ecological role of single-celled organisms called protists.

Students in Morgan-Kiss’ laboratories have been given the opportunity to perform analysis on the samples of lake water from Antarctica over the past several weeks.

Morgan-Kiss said the experience is, “another outlet for students to get real research experience.”

Morgan-Kiss is excited with the work and findings of students who have been working with the samples, according to senior microbiology major Austin Duprey, a student in Morgan-Kiss’ class.

Duprey said working with the samples has been a rewarding opportunity.

“I think it’s pretty neat because we’re working with stuff that’s relatively new,” Duprey said.

According to Morgan-Kiss, using small and relatively isolated Antarctic lakes to study the function of these microbes could help

researchers understand the role similar microbes play in larger, more complex bodies of water.

“These organisms are really, really abundant in all aquatic systems all over the world,” Morgan-Kiss said. “In these other systems, they are a lot more complex than our lakes. It’s been known that these organisms are abundant, but it has been very difficult to understand what they’re doing. When organisms are important on such a huge scale they have a big impact, even though they’re microbes.”

The nature of protists and their role in both large and small ecosystems is complex due to the fact that they are able to play two very different roles within their food web.

According to Morgan-Kiss, protists have the ability not only to carry out photosynthesis and fix carbon, like plants, but also to be predatory organisms despite the fact that they are single-celled.

Morgan-Kiss said Miami is specially suited to the kind of work necessary to determine the roles these organisms play in global ecosystems because of its use of a technology called chlorophyll fluorescence, which analyzes in real time the types of algae living in the Antarctic lakes. This can then be used to make hypothesis about the organism’s role in the carbon cycle.

Morgan-Kiss said although the Antarctic lakes are isolated bodies of water, their location on the globe plays an important role in

determining the role of microorganisms in larger bodies of water. In addition to researching what roles the protists in these icy bodies of water are currently playing, Morgan-Kiss and her fellow researchers are concerned with the effects of climate change on photosynthetic protists.

According to Morgan-Kiss, the main environmental factors key to the daily operations of protists include temperature, lights and nutrient availability; all of which could be impacted by climate change.

“The lakes we’re studying have a higher and higher water flow all the time because of climate change and glacial melting,” Morgan-Kiss said. “We know that every year there’s a trend. This environment that we work in has a huge group of investigators that have been studying the environment for 30-plus years, so there’s a great long-term data set. We know that there’s absolutely more water flow into the lakes and it’s coming from more glacial melt.”

According to Morgan-Kiss, the research students are working on is significant because they are working on independent research projects with samples from external environments that have not been sampled nor cultured very often. “[Students] get to work with novel samples,” Morgan-Kiss said.

“They’re getting both cutting-edge training in new methods but then they’re applying these methods to independent research projects.”

Student Loan Forgiveness Act aims to reduce increasing student debt

By Kaitlin Schroeder Staff Writer

Miami University has seen a 3 percent increase in students taking out loans and a 9 percent increase in studedents filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) compared to two years ago, according to the Director of Financial Aid Brent Shock. All students who file a FAFSA are eligible for a loan.

In addition, The Washington Post reported Sunday Americans 60 and older still owe approximately $36 billion in student loans.

In light of this increasing student loan debt, Representative Hansen Clarke (D-Mich.) introduced the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012 to the United States House of Representatives March 8, hoping to stimulate the economy by decreasing high student loan debt.

The bill’s main feature is a loan repayment plan for federal loans. After 10 years of repaying student loans on

this plan, excess loan debt is excused or “forgiven.”

The repayment plan is called the “10/10” repayment plan because for 10 years the borrower makes monthly payments of 10 percent of their discretionary income, which is savings remaining after taxes and necessities like food and shelter are paid for.

The borrower can also have a monthly payment excused due to an economic hardship and still count that month as a 10/10 payment.

However, the bill caps forgiveness at $45,520 in principal, fees and interest for student loans taken out after the bill is passed. The bill would provide people with immediate student loan debt forgiveness if they have already paid 10 years of payments greater or equal to the “10/10” payments.

Other features include capping federal loan interest rates at 3.4 percent and enabling certain students with private loans to convert them to

federal loans, which, unlike private loans, are eligible for forgiveness.

It also would reduce the amount of payments required for eligibility for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which is a similar plan already enacted for public service employees with loans.

Chair of the Department of Economics in the Farmer School of Business George Davis, said he feels the Student Loan Forgiveness Act could increase the amount of student loans taken out and worsen the amount of student loan debt in the United States.

“There is going to be more people who make poor decisions because the penalty for poor decisions has gone down,” Davis said.

When forming opinions, students should also consider where the money to pay for the loan forgiveness will come from, according to Davis.

“At the federal level, it’s hard to imagine your personal connection to the spending,” Davis said. “If you

have student loans it’s easy to see the benefit side. It’s a little harder to visualize the costs.”

Davis said he thinks people should turn to a different solution for student loan debt.

“Some people made decisions that weren’t the best decisions,” he said. “Some because they weren’t thoughtful; some of them because they didn’t know any better; some of them because of just bad luck.

Hopefully people can turn to other places to try to help them out of that situation.”

Rep. Clarke explained to U.S. News and World Report how the nearly $1 trillion of student loan debt has surpassed credit debt in the U.S. “Because of soaring tuition costs, students often have no choice but to amass significant debt to obtain an education that is widely considered a prerequisite for earning a living wage,” Clarke said.

Shock said he does not think this comparison of student loan and credit

debt gives an accurate perspective.

“I think that’s an unfair comparison between student loan debt and credit card debt, because credit card debt is consumer debt,” Shock said. “Student loan debt I think is better viewed really as an investment in your future … I would say that investing in your education is probably a safer bet than owning a home.”

Before Miami students can finalize their loan, Shock said all students are required to take an entrance interview, which is an online tutorial explaining when the loan has to be paid back, what a loan is and the implications of the decision to take out a loan.

When students leave Miami, they also attend an exit counseling session for loans where they are given a list of loans they have borrowed from Miami and more information about the loan.

“We’re always trying to get the

loans,

SEE PAGE 5

2

CAMPUS

Editors JENN SMOLA ALLISON MCGILLIVRAY

TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012

campus@miamistudent.net

Zoology, botany to become biology major

By Melissa Girgis

For The Miami Student

The botany and zoology majors at Miami University are expected to merge in 2013 to create a new biology major following suggestions from the 2010 Strategic Priorities Task Force Committee.

John Kiss, Botany Department chair, and Douglas Meikle, Zoology Department chair, oversaw the process but said faculty from both departments drove the project by working collaboratively in the drafting and approval of plans.

According to Kiss and Meikle, following examination of all of the departments faculty on the committee realized that compared to other institutions of similar size, Miami had a much wider range of departments.

Recognizing this, faculty looked at undergraduate programs and identified areas that could be consolidated.

By streamlining the curriculum, Miami would be able to use its resources more efficiently, preventing program redundancies and saving money.

“Most other schools that the faculty examined did not have botany and zoology departments,” Kiss said. “Many high school students are interested in majoring in biology.

Even though botany and zoology are biological sciences, students look at our website to see the majors offered and don’t specifically see ‘biology,’ which may be losing us many top students. We have a lot of good students at Miami and we want to continue to attract such students in the future.”

The change involves multiple steps, which require approval from various groups including the College of Arts and Science Curriculum Committee, Miami University Senate, the provost, the council of academic deans and President David Hodge.

Many of the details surrounding the merge are still tentative, but the change is projected to occur in Fall 2013. Even though a biology major is being added, degree programs will still exist for both zoology and botany but the programs will be under the same biology heading.

“It’s mainly a name change,” Meikle said. “There will not be more faculty — we are mostly just reorganizing things. The result will likely be changing or dropping some courses and adding new ones, but we are always making these types of changes as we consider the needs and interests of students, even without consolidation taking place. The biological sciences are constantly evolving.”

Meikle said students in these majors should not be concerned about any changes that may negatively

Biology, SEE PAGE 9

COLLEEN YATES THE MIAMI STUDENT

Spring flowers fill test tubes.The botany and zoology majors are expected to merge in 2013 to create a new biology major.

Spring love is in the air for Miamians University Senate adjusts tenure application guidlines

By Lauren Ceronie Editor-in-Cheif

This is part of a series The Miami Student is running about the University Archives. All information in the following article was obtained from the University Archives with the help of University Archivist Bob Schmidt.

Spring may have come to Miami University early this year but spring love is still in the air. Grassy areas on campus are populated with sunbathing couples and Facebook news feeds are full of little hearts signifying new relationships. Love doesn’t just come to Miami in the spring, however. The university is known for its tradition of the Upham Arch and for its “Miami Mergers” All jokes of girls attending Miami to get their “Mrs. degree” aside, Miami has one of the highest rates of mergers of universities in the United States. The rate of college mergers is 3 percent nationwide but a whopping 14 percent at Miami.

Miami students were known for getting married even before the term “Miami Mergers” was coined.

In fact, the first woman who is

listed as receiving a degree from the university married a Miami alumnus. The tradition continued in 1901, when two couples in the graduating class of 18 were married. In 1913, 12 Mergers appeared.

“Marriage among Miami students has been here to stay for almost 50 years,” claimed the July 1949 issue of The Alumnus.

The high rate of Miami marriages continued and in 2009 Miami set a world record by having 1,087 Miami mergers renew their vows in a special ceremony.

This year, the Miami University Alumni Association reported that 13,615 Miami Mergers were living in every state in the U.S. Today, all mergers receive a Valentine’s Day card from Miami, a tradition that began in 1973.

The first cards sent out to married alumni said, “When two hearts beat as one and both attend Miami, it’s a Miami Merger. May the Tribe increase.”

The saying in the card changed when Miami moved away from the name “Redskins,” however.

Today, the cards say, “On Valentine’s Day we remember a sweet victory held most true for gold

never did shine so bright as the joining of ‘me’ and ‘you.’”

Before Miami couples wed, some stop by the Upham Arch to seal their fate with one of Miami’s traditions.

Legend holds that if you kiss your sweetheart under the Upham Arch lamp at midnight, you’ll be destined to marry.

While the exact date this tradition was founded is unknown, university President emeritus Philip Shriver said the tradition of kissing under Upham Arch was in place when he came to the university in 1965.

Other places on Miami’s campus are also friendly to those in love.

Western Campus’ Kumler Chapel is a popular spot for weddings and even offers deals to Miami Mergers.

Regular couples are allowed to book the chapel for weddings one year in advance while mergers get to snag their wedding spot 13 months ahead of the big day.

For those who have caught the spring love but are not quite ready to tie the knot, take advice from an article in the Feb. 13, 1996 issue of The Miami Student, “If it’s too soon for a kiss under the Upham Arches, you might try a kiss under the golden arches of McDonalds.”

ORL begins evalution of swipe system

By Jenn Smola Campus Editor

After five months of using the new swipe card access system in residence halls, Miami University’s Office of Residence Life (ORL) is now able to evaluate how effective the system has been.

ORL staff was instructed at the beginning of spring semester to start charging residents the standard $7 lockout fee should they need to be let into their rooms. The fee had been suspended fall semester when the new lock system was implemented.

Rob Abowitz, associate director of Residence Life, said only lockout data from the month of January is available.

“At least 223 [residents] asked [a Resident Assistant (RA)] to help them get into their room during the month of January,” Abowitz said.

According to Abowitz, lockout fees this year are charged to a students’ Bursar Account, whereas last

year, students had to pay $7 to an RA on the spot. Since deposits from lockouts were made more sporadically and not monthly last year, Abbowitz said he would not be able to compare this year’s lockout numbers to last year’s until the end of the semester.

While ORL cannot entirely tell whether the new swipe card system has made a substantial difference, Abowitz said January’s lockout numbers surprised him.

“I would’ve predicted it [to be] much lower,” he said.

Abowitz said he was surprised by the numbers since students have so many alternative ways to access their rooms before they have to ask an RA to let them in. Students are able to access their rooms by registering their cell phones and accessing their room by sending a text message, using the online WebCardCenter to activate a link to access their room or by contacting their roommate to remotely open the door with their cell phone, Abowitz said, so asking

an RA is the last resort.

Abowitz said every student living in a residence hall received an email in January alerting them of the various ways they could access their rooms before finding an RA and being charge the lockout fee.

Numbers aside, some RAs have noticed a difference with the new system.

“I don’t think I’ve had to do more than 10 lockouts this entire school year, whereas before I had to do 10 a week,” senior RA Bailey Box said.

Box also said the new access system has made Miami’s campus more secure.

“I do think that [residents] understand the system really well and know how to use it,” Box said. “It also just creates a more secure environment on campus.”

First-year Liz Burby agreed students utilize the system well.

“I think it’s really helpful,” Burby said. “A lot of people know that you can use all of those options [to access the room].”

By Jenn Smola Campus Editor

At Miami University’s Senate meeting Monday, the 2012-2013 school year senate met for elections of the University Senate Executive Committee.

After voting in Finance Department Chair Steve Wyatt as senate chair-elect and History Professor Mary Cayton as a member of the senate’s Executive Committee, the 2011-2012 senate convened for its regular meeting.

During the regular meeting, University Senate approved proposed changes to the promotion and tenure dossier preparation guidelines. The changes incorporate elements of service learning, study abroad , interdisciplinary work and inquiry-based activities that can count toward a faculty member’s promotion and tenure process.

“It allows for formal recognition that these kinds of activities are things that count in the promotion and tenure process, where it’s appropriate,” James Oris, interim associate provost for research and scholarship and dean of the graduate school said.

After some concern from senators that the guidelines for faculty members’ service when applying for tenure was not clear, the senate voted to amend the proposal with a slight language change. The amendment made clear that while service explicitly stated in the promotion and tenure guidelines included service to the profession of the faculty member, the university, students or the community, it was not necessarily limited to those guidelines.

At the end of the meeting, the senate held an executive session for senate committee appointments for next year.

PNC partners with Miami

By Mekenna Sandstrom

For the Miami Student

Miami University announced an agreement with PNC Bank to provide services to students and staff.

According to David Creamer, vice president of finance and business services, a new PNC branch and ATMs will be placed on campus.

PNC is known for working with colleges across the Midwest, including University of Cincinnati and Bowling Green State University.

Creamer said he believes this is why Miami decided on the agreement and because there are students who use different banks on campus.

“There is no PNC branch here in the Oxford area, so students may have these bank accounts back at home,” Creamer said.

Many students choose to use the services provided by Chase and Fifth Third Banks. Each bank has an ATM in Shriver Center.

Sophomore Kate Chapel uses PNC Bank and said she is happy about the new deal.

“I’ve considered switching banks

quite a few times,” Chapel said.

“The closest PNC bank is close to Hamilton up the road and otherwise I have to go to Goggin [Ice Center] to use the ATM there.”

Aside from placing a branch on campus and putting more ATMs in buildings such as Harris and Martin dining halls, PNC will provide students with services such as Virtual Wallet Student. This service is an online banking program that will help teach students the responsibilities of money management.

First-year Sarah Hanline said she found this program accommodating.

“I think me and my ridiculous spending could probably benefit from such a program,” Hanline said.

According to Creamer, the Miami PNC branch will have a customized website that will be hosted

by PNC. The website will allow students to complete account applications and use it for financial educational information.

Simple banking options will also be available via text message and mobile web functions.

Shriver Center will undergo renovations for the branch this summer.

What’s in a name? School of Fine Arts becomes School of Creative Arts

By Emily Ketterer For The Miami Student

Over 500 years ago William Shakespeare’s famous character Juliet proposed the question, “What’s in a name?”

This year, to accompany Miami University’s “Year of the Arts” theme, the School of Fine Arts is changing its name to The School of Creative Arts.

The name change has been in the

works for several years and came up last spring, but did not gain momentum until Miami declared this year the “Year of the Arts.”

James Lentini, dean of the School of Fine Arts, said the change was to open up the school to more partnerships with other divisions.

“For several years we have questioned if the title captures what the division is about,” Lentini said. “We have a vision of interdisciplinary degrees working together.”

The School of Fine Arts consists of 158 fulltime faculty members who teach about 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The school offers 10 undergraduate degrees, seven minors and six graduate degrees. The degrees fall under the departments of Architecture and Interior Design, Art, History of Art and Architecture, Graphic Design, Music and Theater.

The name is set to officially change July 1 following approval

from the Board of Trustees.

Faculty members like East Asian Art History Professor Ann Wicks are cautious of the change.

“Personally, the name change does not affect me greatly but I do think the change of language will keep the school up to date,” Wicks said. “I am just hoping that people will recognize that the term ‘creative’ applies to more than just making things, but also thinking creatively about subjects.”

Abby Beham, a junior architecture major, said she has mixed feelings about the name change.

“I do like fine arts because it is more classic and traditional, but I feel like creative arts is more relevant and applicable to a lot of the majors it involves,” Beham said.

“Creative gives more of a connotation relating to general design while fine arts feels more narrow in its meaning, like it only really applies to art.”

COMMUNITY

Editors CATHERINE UBRY LISA REYMANN

TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012

COMMUNITY@miamistudent.net

3

POLICE Oxford stays young in aging state

BEAT Male student found in possession of weed

Around 12:00 a.m. Friday, Oxford Police Department officers observed a vehicle traveling without a headlight. The officers stopped the vehicle and smelled a strong odor of marijuana. The driver was identified as Miami University sophomore Luke DeSando. DeSando told officers, “they were smoking the marijuana,” referring to the three other passengers.

The officers searched the car and found three pipes with marijuana residue, a digital scale, a butane device, rolling papers, a bag of marijuana and marijuana cigarettes in the passenger glove box. DeSando told officers it was all his even though they all were smoking. DeSando was charged with operating a motor vehicle with one headlight, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of drugs.

Student pulls fire alarm, chase ensues Around 2:00 a.m. Friday, a male pulled the fire alarm at The Woods Bar. The owner held the male until Oxford Police Department (OPD) officers arrived. When they arrived, the male ran to the alley south of the building. The officers told him to stop multiple times and secured him to the ground after a struggle.

The officers identified him as Miami University sophomore Jason Brunn. Brunn had slurred speech, glossy eyes and was transported to OPD then to Butler County Jail. Brunn was charged with inducing panic, obstructing official business and offenses involving underage persons.

By Amelia Wester

For The Miami Student

Ohio as a whole may be aging, but Oxford is staying young thanks to Miami University, according to Dr. Shahla Mehdizadeh, senior research scholar at Scripps Gerontology Center. In contrast to other Ohio communities, the population 65 and older in Oxford is around 11.7 percent while it can be as high as 17 or 18 percent in other communities.

Despite this younger demographic trend, there is a side some people may not be aware of. Underneath the façade of young students lies an aging population of baby boomers.

Locally, the Knolls of Oxford Retirement Home has seen a shift in ages according to Stacey

Brekke,communicationsdirectorfor the Knolls.

The average age of residents entering the Knolls used to be 75, but now it is around 70, Brekke said. This shift closely corresponds to the baby boomers and the culture in which they grew up.

“Baby boomers are used to taking care of themselves,” Brekke said. “A lot move out so that their children won’t have to [take care of them].”

According to Alan Kyger, Oxford economic development director, much of the increase in the senior population in Oxford is due to the establishment of the Knolls, which did not exist 15 years ago. Kyger also attributes the increase in baby boomers to Miami University. Kyger

said he believes the university, “has been a benefit to older citizens who want to benefit by energy provided

by Miami.”

Despite the presence of an older demographic, Kyger said there are no businesses in Oxford that cater specifically to the elderly.

According to Miami first-year Loren Wilson, her gerontology class, “glossed over Oxford specifically except for ways to get involved.”

She said students were not required to memorize specific data regarding Oxford; rather they were encouraged to get involved in the community.

Wilson said the class focused on how to assimilate older people into society and better serve them.

On a statewide scale, Mehdizadeh said many counties have seen an increase in the 65 and over age group because young people are leaving to find jobs. She said this increase in the percentage of elderly people in relation to the total population makes it seem like an “older” place.

In order to remedy young individuals leaving, Butler County has tried to attract employers to the area with the hope that these jobs will attract young people.

“The county has tried to bring employers to the area to create jobs for people who have lost their jobs,” Mehdizadeh said. “This would attract young people and employers so that the entire population doesn’t live on retirement benefits.”

Local hair salons encourage hair donations to charities

By Katie Mark

For The Miami Student

Seventeen Magazine and Pantene Beautiful Lengths are promoting a nationwide recognition for hair donations with the first National Donate Your Hair Day April 27.

Some Oxford salons were not aware of this new event, but were fully aware of the Locks of Love organization.

According to Beth Burch at the SmartStyle Family Hair Salon, the intent of donating hair is to help cancer patients receive wigs at no cost.

“I had not been contacted by anyone yet regarding National Donate Your Hair Day,” Kathy Petro, whose husband owns Oxford’s Hair

By Carmen said. “We’ve participated in something similar that is done at Talawanda High School.”

According to Petro, Hair By Carmen sends a stylist to the

high school for the Pantene Cuta-Thon and they do cuts of just the ponytail.

“The organizer contacts our salon and we’ll have a stylist over there as well as many other salons in town do,” Petro said. “We have cards to give out where we offer a discounted hair cut when they make a future appointment.”

To participate, specific hair lengths are required depending on the organization.

“With Pantene, it’s eight inches versus 10 inches for Locks of Love,” Petro said. “Pantene will take color treated hair whereas Locks of Love won’t.”

Michael Lamb, co-owner of Salon Signature, was aware of National Donate Your Hair Day, but said they participate in Locks of Love.

“Occasionally customers come in and say they’d like to cut their hair when they get it to eight inches,” Lamb said. “Former Miami hockey

player Ryan Jones once came in and did it.”

Men with long hair are also encouraged to donate.

Miami University junior Collin Boucher said he thought every guy should think about doing it.

“I would definitely do Locks of Love,” Boucher said. “We are young and have the opportunity to grow our hair and have fun with it so why not give it a try, especially since it’s for a good cause.”

According to Lamb, because the hair must be a certain length, a single customer might come in once every year or two years to donate hair.

Hair By Carmen receives at least five hair donations per year and at least five to 10 donations on the day of the Pantene Cut-a-Thon.

“We always suggest to people who have at least eight inches of hair and are not familiar with these programs to donate their hair,” Petro said. “We also prefer to leave it

up to the client to send it in.”

According to Petro, it is a very easy process and all the customer needs to do is go to the Locks of Love or Pantene website with an address and then send it in.

For those on-the-fence about participating, little is required in terms of extra costs.

“There’s the cost of the time that’s put into cutting because once you take off eight inches, you put it in a ponytail and you are still going to have to re-wash it and cut it because you want to even it,” Lamb said.

“But the only extra cost to send it off is the postage.”

Miami University sophomore Serena MacDonald said it would be great if salons offered a deal to support the cause.

“Not only would it be a source of positive PR for the salons, but it would also benefit a deserving charity and encourage people to donate,” MacDonald said.

Oxford Police Chief emphasizes student safety, responsible drinking

By Catherine Ubry Community Editor

With the end of the year approaching and Miami students looking to go out more before school ends, Oxford Police Department (OPD) Chief Robert Holzworth said it is his goal to make sure students are safe, especially when alcohol is involved.

“It’s really a continuing goal, not really just my goal,” Holzworth said.

“We want every student that arrives here to leave safely in four years and to drink responsibly and legally.”

Staying undercover as cops is not

the only strategy the chief and fellow officers employ.

“We don’t use all undercover people in bars,” Holzworth said.

“They use uniforms. We want to definitely check the places with liquor permits and we are always actively checking people as well.”

Holzworth also discussed underage arrests.

“Chances are there are going to be students who drink, we just want people to drink responsibly and legally. I hate when people become victims, and education is a huge solution.”

Holzworth said he is currently reading, Getting Wasted: Why Col-

lege Students Drink Too Much and Party So Hard, by Thomas Vander Ven, in order to educate himself further on why students are so compelled to drink.

“It’s a tough thing and what we are doing doesn’t tend to be fully solving the problem so we need to ask ourselves, is there a better solution?”

Holzworth said.

The drinking that occurs is not simply at bars uptown or in residence halls either.

“It’s not all uptown,” Holzworth said. “A lot more underage drinking goes on in private residences as opposed to uptown where fake IDs and

uptown security are impediments to drinking.”

Holzworth said he does not focus on one area in Oxford or on campus either.

OPD Lt. Tom Horvath agreed with Holzworth that education and safety are the most important factors when it comes to drinking in Oxford.

“The biggest thing in my mind is safety,” Horvath said. “What I fear the most is that kids will get in a situation where they’re in in danger of alcohol poisoning or behavior that puts them in the railroad track or something or a house fire or something like that.”

Horvath said he believes it is

their job to create a culture and environment where drinking is not a huge problem in Oxford. Rather Oxford should be about its community, school, family, students and all of the things that bring the community together.

At the end of the day, the safety factor far outweighs any consequences Horvath said.

“We don’t want kids not to call us for fear of getting in trouble,” Horvath said. “We have to work on changing our thought process.

I don’t want someone to die because they are scared of getting a misdemeanor citation.”

Arts center enriches Oxford with history, events and opportunities

By Catherine Ubry Community Editor

The Oxford Community Arts Center is a place community members use for enjoyment and an institution with a charming history dating almost as far back as Miami University itself.

Spencer Mapes, administrative assistant of the arts center, said, “The actual building of the current Oxford Community Arts Center building was built in 1849. It was not originally built as an arts center; it was actually a women’s college and the dorm was all part of Miami. Once Miami grew into a bigger campus they no longer needed it so they didn’t rent it out as dorms and then it kind of fell apart.”

According to Mapes, the building originally served as The Oxford Female Institute until Miami no longer needed the building. Then in 1998 the Oxford Community Arts Group formed and took over the building.

It now serves as the community arts center, a place where citizens of all types take classes, show work and visit galleries and exhibitions, among other things. Miami still leases the building but the employees at

the arts center are responsible for the building.

According to Mapes, the center provides a variety of art for community members.

“We have a monthly exhibit that changes each month,” he said.

“We have a gallery, a ballroom and throughout the building there is art.

There is always art on the walls and in the parlors and galleries that changes monthly.”

Rebekah Powers, portrait artist and yoga teacher at the arts center, has been a longtime resident of Oxford and said she believes the arts center is an incredible asset to the town.

“I used to work in Hawaii as a portrait artist,” Powers said. “I do quick sketches and I love to do events; I have an upcoming one at Hueston Woods. I tutor a child right now and I made that connection through the arts center. I wouldn’t have been able to move back from Hawaii if it wasn’t for the community arts center; I wouldn’t have been able to support myself.”

Powers used to have a studio on the third floor of the arts center and has paintings on exhibit throughout the center. She also teaches an

hour-long yoga class 10:30 a.m. Saturday and Monday. The class is welcome to all levels of yoga with a $10 fee and is based on a drop-in basis.

“As a townsperson for 30 years I’ve seen the center go through transitions,” Powers said. “I can’t say enough about what I think the arts center does to create community.

It’s like a magnet. This is a great town, it’s an energy core and being with the arts center is just a win-win situation for everyone.”

The center also holds more specialized events.

“Once a month we have what we call ‘Second Friday’ where we have an opening for the new gallery with the new art exhibits,” Mapes said.

“The art is created by both local and out-of-town artists. It’s great for the community and it’s free for everyone. We have appetizers and things like that. It’s for all ages and we have live performances that night too.”

Art classes are available for both children and adults.

“Throughout the season we have children’s programs and after school art programs for kids,” Mapes said.

“We have classes for kids from elementary schools like Talawanda where they come in on buses and

our teachers teach kids for an hour and a half every Tuesday and Thursday. We also have adult classes, like life drawing classes, where people can come in and draw models.”

Along with bringing the Oxford community together through art, Mapes said history is another thing the center works diligently to preserve.

“One thing we take pride in is maintaining our history … we don’t

want to renovate or keep too up-todate because we want that history and heritage,” Mapes said. “So like on the third floor we have the old original dorm rooms that were renovated and turned into art studios. We rent all of the rooms out to local artists and they are constantly filled up and in demand.”

arts center SEE PAGE 9

MIKE ZATT THE MIAMI STUDENT

The Oxford Community Arts Center lends Oxford citizen arts opportunities.

4

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Editor BILLY RAFAEL

ARTS@miamistudent.net

TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012

‘Rocky Horror Show’ embraces sexuality

By Julia Munro

For The Miami Student

If you want to have a night filled with torrid romantic flings, very little clothing and lots of leather, you would be better suited to visit Peabody Hall’s Leonard Theater than any nightclub uptown. The Rocky Horror Show opens this weekend presented by Stage Left, during which cast members will be putting on as randy a show as any bar could hope to have.

The Rocky Horror Show is well known for its 1975 film adaptation The Rocky Horror Picture Show. According to the show’s Director, senior Heather Boddy, the story follows a newlywed couple as they become stranded in Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s majestic

and deviant sex castle.

This particular stage performance is set in a present day Amsterdam whorehouse. By doing this, Boddy hopes to shed light on the fact that in America, all sexuality is alienated.

“To many Americans, if someone is sexual or their sexuality is different, they are viewed as alien,” Boddy said. “This show is about embracing sexuality and letting go.”

While casting, the director made sure to choose performers who were comfortable being intimate on stage, wearing underwear and “less-than-underwear” on stage.

“There are no scenes with lessthan-underwear. But, still,” the show’s stage manager, senior Amelia Kinsella, said.

According to Boddy, the film usually plays behind the actors and actresses on stage, providing supplementary sounds and visual stimulation. Audiences are usually encouraged to dress accordingly and directly engage with the action, following certain cues to shout, dance and even cop a feel from their neighbors.

However, both the film and audience participation aspects have been eliminated from this performance and have been replaced with activities and prizes at the intermission. The audience is still highly encouraged to dress up and anticipate interaction with performers.

“If you go, you will get wet,” Boddy said. “There might be some shocked audience members.”

FELICIA JORDAN THE MIAMI STUDENT

Members of Stage Left reherse for The Rocky Horror Show. The show will run 8 p.m. April 5-7 at Leonard Theater in Peabody Hall.

The Rocky Horror Show starts 8 p.m. April 5-7 at Leonard Theater in Peabody Hall. Tickets are

free and can be picked up in advance from the Shriver Center Box Office.

Salsa team aims to dance its way into competition

By Emily Ketterer For The Miami Student

LAUREN OLSON THE MIAMI STUDENT

CHEESING IT UP

The Cheezies seranade guests at their CD release party Thursday at Top Deck. The album, Front and Center, is their first professional CD.

‘Our Town’ focuses on birth, life, death

By Christina Casano

Senior Staff Writer

The stage of the GatesAbegglan Theatre looks backwards. The backs of flats are visible, the seams of the set piece facing out towards the audience. Everything is stripped down to the bare bones, from simple wooden chairs to pipes hanging from a stand to make sound effects. This is the space in which the Miami University Theatre Department will be presenting Thorton Wilder’s Our Town.

Directed by Ann Elizabeth Armstrong, associate professor in the theatre department, Our Town is about the lives of two families and a community in a small New Hampshire town at the turn of the 20th century.

“It is period specific, but it’s still relevant,” senior Kristen LaViscount, the production’s stage manager, said. “To me, it’s about how you can’t get caught up in the little things. We get so caught up in things we have to do that we don’t appreciate being alive.”

Armstrong’s approach follows in that vein.

“Do we imagine our community, or are we actually present within the community?” Armstrong said. “[Our Town] is a lot about how to make sure we know what’s important, that we’re conscious and present in our lives.”

One important aspect of Armstrong’s vision is that she split up the character of the Stage Manager. Originally written as one character, she developed a different idea of the function of the Stage Manager.

“By having the [Stage

Manager] as an ensemble, it shows the community is the story,” Armstrong said.

“A good challenge was working with five other people to make a cohesive person while maintaining individual personalities and making the text fluid,” senior Grace Czerniawski said, a member of the ensemble.

Another challenge of the ensemble is that it changes

way to keep going,” Czerniawski said.

Building off of the conventions Wilder used in the writing of Our Town, Armstrong is focusing on showing all the details.

“Wilder wants us to see the actors on the stage. I want to show the joints, the seams; we show the sound effects being made. We create the world we live in,” Armstrong said. “Having distance be-

It puts death in perspective. No matter what, life will move on, you just have to find a way to keep going.”

Salsa dancing has its energetic and captivating roots in the Cuban Son from the 1920s and Afro-Cuban dance. Though rich in history, it is by no means dated.

Three Miami University students, junior EJ Corporan, junior Alyssa Hopun and senior Melanie Rybar, have tapped into this history and organized Miami University’s first salsa dance team.

The group began in 2010 when the Association of Latin American Studies was asked by the Indian Student Association to perform at its annual Diwali performance. Indian in roots, the show has evolved to include multiple cultural backgrounds.

“The first year’s group consisted of 16 wonderful people,” Rybar said. “EJ was the main choreographer but it was a very collective effort with everyone having a say in the decisions. We nicknamed ourselves ‘DALAS’ which simply stood for ‘Dancing – ALAS.’” This year, the group has evolved to a formal team entitled Mirame, which translates to, “look at me” in Spanish. They have also hired Herman Recalde, a choreographer from Cincinnati.

In January 35 people auditioned to join the fledgling group.

Of the 35, 10 women and five

Welcome springtime with peppy new playlist

By Claire Krieger Senior Staff Writer

GracE Czerniawski

MIAMI UNIVERSITY SENIOR

characters through out the show.

Junior Collin Campana, another member of the ensemble, said constantly switching personas is a challenge.

“We all have five or six roles,” Campana said. “I play everything from an 11-year-old newspaper boy to a 60-year-old undertaker.

We’ll start a scene as the narrator, then in the middle of the speech we have to switch to another character using just a piece of clothing. We built ourselves as an ensemble to create the community that [Armstrong] was looking for.”

The community of Our Town is an important one in that it is something we can relate to, showing the everyday and the distinct moments. According to Campana, the show touches on the continuity of life, focusing on three significant points in the cycle: birth, love and death.

“It puts death in perspective. No matter what, life will move on, you just have to find a

tween us and the audience gives the audience space to reflect and it gives us the ability to create an exchange with the audience.”

Armstrong and the cast have created a pre-show introduction to the play to help emphasize the separation of the audience and performers.

With the message of the play intrinsically connected to community, the Theatre Department encourages groups to see the play.

Tickets for Our Town will have a special group rate for residence halls, student organizations, etc., who would like to come see the show together. Inquire at the Box Office for details.

There will also be a buyone-get-one-free ticket deal for Friday and Saturday night performances.

Our Town will run 8 p.m. April 5 through 7, 12 through 14 and 2 p.m. April 15. All performances are in the Gates-Abegglan Theatre in the Center for Performing Arts.

men remain. The team practices once a week 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Thursdays in Alexander Hall.

“My favorite part about being on the team is the fact that rehearsal is always a highlight of my week,” Rybar said. “Those two hours are a time where I can relax and forget about schoolwork for a while and just laugh, dance and have fun with some of my best friends on this campus.”

The team does not currently compete, but once it has reached a certain skill level it has a long-term goal of entering into competitions.

“There are competitions that we can get involved in if we choose,” Corporan said. “However, right now it is really important for us to gain more recognition on campus and lock down some solid routines before we decide to go and compete.”

Mirame is looking for new members.

“It’s completely free to join, and yes, we are heavily lacking men,” Corporan said. “As for the women, we are auditioning, however the competition is stiff.

We would love for everyone to come out and show us what they have got.”

For more information about the team, contact EJ Corporan at corporej@muohio.edu or Melanie Rybar at rybarma@muohio.edu.

April is now upon us and so is springtime. After a treacherous winter, Oxford has been hit by a wave of warm weather and Miami students are emerging from the shadows. To celebrate this wave of sunshine, here are a few categories of songs to put on your iPod for walking to class or to share with friends.

Celebrate the warm weather with these songs. Their release dates span a few decades, but the one thing they have in common is spreading the message of enjoying the sun, so sing-a-long with the Brady kids while you soak up that Vitamin D. “Here Comes the Sun” The Beatles “Walking On Sunshine” KC and the Sunshine Band “Soak Up the Sun” Sheryl Crow “Sunshine Day” The Brady Bunch One great way to enjoy the spring sunshine is to relax in it. Whether you choose to lay

out, read a book or throw a Frisbee disc with a friend you need some chill tunes to vibe to. These songs are perfect for taking a break from end-ofsemester craziness and getting back in touch with nature.

“Groovin” The Rascals “Flow” Cage the Elephant “Keep Your Head Up” Andy Grammer “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” Jack Johnson Arguably, one of the best parts of spring is that it means that summer is quickly approaching. All of these songs include a building of tempo and intensity. To signify this building towards summer, give these songs a listen to get pumped up for the summer holidays.

“Beautiful Day” U2 “99 Red Balloons” Nena “Cosmic Love” Florence & the Machine “Take A Picture” Filter “We Are Young” fun.

“You Get What You Give” New Radicals “Specks” Matt Pond PA “Om Nashi Me” Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

www.miamistudent.net

TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012 CAMPUS

Summer Sessions

ONLINE OR ON CAMPUS

a c h i e v e

PINK SLIME,

LOANS,

said beef is not used much in her establishment, nor is it entirely organic yet.

Knowing other restaurants in Oxford do not use beef with pink slime, sophomore Sally Stearns said these facts are refreshing. “It makes me hope that even more will join the bandwagon,�

Stearns said. “I think that it is significant because Kroger is such a widely popular grocery store.�

Stearns believes now that Kroger has joined the movement to eliminate pink slime beef, many others will follow suit.

Sophomore Kristin Bell held similar opinions to the change away from the mystery meat additive. “Kroger is an umbrella organization, so even though it may not have the same name in the south, Kroger owns a bunch of different companies that span the country,�

Bell said. “It’s not just the Midwest that’s affected.�

Avant said the Kroger Company has heard only positive feedback from customers since the decision was announced to abandon the line finely textured beef.

message to students that you should only borrow what you need and just to stay on top of what they’ve borrowed so far,� Shock said.

Shock said he thinks there will be high support among young grads for the act but is skeptical that it will make it through Congress. “I just don’t know how far it will go in today’s political climate,�

Shock said. “The big issue is going to be can the United States government afford it.�

Miami graduate student Erica Archer, former director of external relations at the First Miami Student Credit Union, said she thinks the Student Loan Forgiveness Act could be a good thing for borrowers. “I think it would be generally good for students because of the structure for what students can expect to pay,� Archer said.

First Miami Student Credit Union also gives financial education workshops for students. Archer said students need to think long term when taking out loans to help prevent putting themselves in a debt crisis. “If we don’t pay attention that could have a huge effect on lifestyle after college,â€? she said. Â

FROM PAGE 1

2012

b a l a n c e

Work. Play. Learn. t (FU BIFBE PS DBUDI VQ t $SFEJUT USBOTGFS UP ZPVS TDIPPM * t &BSO VQ UP TFNFTUFS IPVST RVBSUFS IPVST BU BOZ PG ,FOU 4UBUF T FJHIU 3FHJPOBM $BNQVTFT t $MBTTFT SVO .BZ o "VHVTU 'PVS TFTTJPOT t 5ISFF mWF BOE FJHIU XFFL TFTTJPOT

FROM PAGE 1

$IFDL PVU DPVSTF PGGFSJOHT DMBTT TDIFEVMFT BOE NPSF BU XXX LFOU FEV *For a list of courses accepted at any Ohio public college or university, visit the Ohio Board of Regents website to view Transfer Assurance Guides (TAG) or Ohio Transfer Module.

www.kent.edu/summer

Kent State University, Kent State and KSU are registered trademarks and may not be used without permission. Kent State University is committed to attaining excellence through the recruitment and retention of a diverse student body and workforce. 12-0680

5

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2012-2013

FIRST YEAR

ROOM SELECTION

2012-2013 Online Room Selection for Heritage Commons & Residence Halls

April 2 - 6 Go to MyCard to choose a randomly selected time.

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6

OPINION

Editors RACHEL SACKS SARAH SHEW

TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012

editorial@miamistudent.net

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Response to Oliviero: Stance of conservatives does not account for women’s choice

PATRICK GEYSER THE MIAMI STUDENT

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

Proposed Student Loan Forgiveness Act does not effectively address massive tuition debt The Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012, introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives in March, would forgive outlying college loan debt of individuals after 10 years. This “forgiveness” would be granted for amounts up to $45,000 and includes stipulations regarding discretionary incomes and interest rate caps.

Though this is a direct attempt to curb educational debt woes experienced by many college graduates and an effort to avoid another dip in the economy as a result of these debts, the proposed act seems to miss the mark.

The Miami Student editorial board believes this act is reactive rather than proactive and deals more with a symptom rather than

the source of debt itself: high college tuition and fees. Though the act would begin to alleviate some of the debt pressure felt by graduates, it seems to postpone dealing with the actual cause of these pressures.

Students, universities and the economy would benefit more from attempts to curb tuition costs and ways to make college more affordable in the first place. This would be the responsibility of the universities, the government and the students, as fiscal responsibility for all three is at the core of the issue.

Students should be responsible with their finances, taking out reasonable loans and best utilizing their funds in order to repay them. Colleges, Miami University included, should allocate more

funds to scholarships instead of flashy gimmick-type investments like iPad lounges or unnecessary grandeur in campus buildings.

There is certainly a fine line between being up-to-date and being wasteful with money.

The federal government should also hold universities accountable in an attempt to make college more affordable, and instead of “forgiving” loans, the government should aid colleges in finding ways to lower tuition.

When one year at a university can cost more than the average American’s yearly income, alleviating debt after a 10-year period seems to be more of a Band-Aid kind of solution. Instead, the insanely high tuition rates that cause this debt need to be restrained.

9,000...

The number of Miami Student readers who will see

Before I start I would like to get something off my chest: I am a woman.

I am a liberal.

And I am a Christian.

But I do not write this letter to quibble with Freeland Oliverio’s religious views or argue about church doctrine. I write this letter to address the fundamental logical flaws in his argument in his editorial.

Mr. Oliverio seems to be under the misconception that Obama’s executive order would require religious institutions to pay for women’s birth control out of their own pockets.

This is false. The compromise that was later proposed after the outcry against the initial plan is that the insurance companies of religious institutions are to pay for women’s birth control. To put it simply, religious institutions are not being required to pay for women’s birth control. At all.

And Mr. Oliverio complains that his religious views are under attack at the suggestion of religious institutions paying for the medical care of the women under their employment. But quite frankly, I and any other pro-life Christian should be outraged that the religious authorities that say they are defending them are violating their religious views.

Because quite frankly, it is the most un-pro-life stance a person can possibly take to single out 50 percent of the population and say they do not have the right to a healthy life. Because that is what denying women access to birth control does; it denies them the right to health and the right to life.

Perhaps Mr. Oliverio is under the misconception that birth control is like Viagra (a medication currently covered under most health insurance plans, I might add): a woman takes it every time she wants to have sex and all it does is help her have better sex. This is false.

Truthfully, denying women access to this health care is like denying men the right to have prostate exams and testicular care. The reason why most women, even

lesbians, take hormonal birth control is because it has medical benefits far beyond merely controlling births. Hormonal birth control is taken to prevent cervical cancer, to regulate the menstrual cycle to prevent unbearable pain, vomiting, anemia and migraines, among other health benefits.

And the truth of the matter is, birth control makes pregnancies safer and healthier, because if a woman’s menstrual cycle is healthy, if the woman herself is healthy, that makes pregnancy, the labor and the infant healthy when a woman chooses to become pregnant.

This reduces the number of stillborn infants; this makes babies healthier and better able to survive and reduces the number of abortions. It is not enough to protest abortions to be pro-life, one must also protect the lives that now live outside the womb, lives with names, family, lovers, friends, memories, emotions and an impact on the society they live in.

The conservative opinion also seems to be of the misconception that sex and pregnancy is a woman’s problem, they forget the sex tango requires two dancers, and that is why women don’t protest the fact that insurance companies pay for prostate, colon and testicular care in men.

Mr. Oliverio says he is defending the Christian faith, just not the Christian faith of the 98 percent of Christian women who use or have used birth control. Mr. Oliverio says the word feminist like it’s a bad thing, but the truth is a feminist is an individual who is crazy enough to believe women are equal to men, that we have the same right to life as any other life.

So I’ll make it as simple as possible for the conservative misogynist base: a man’s religious opinions have no bearing on women’s health.

Marjorie Schinner schinnmk@muohio.edu

Rule of Thumb Donate Your Hair Day Join others across the nation, and donate your hair at Oxford’s salons April 27.

PNC Bank branch A branch will be opened in the Shriver Center.

YOUR AD HERE! To advertise in The Miami Student , please contact Sean Crowe at crowesp2@muohio.edu.

Combined biology major Zoology and botany are merging into one major but not without complaint.

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

EDITORIAL BOARD lauren ceronie Editor in Chief

catherine ubry COMMUNITY Editor

jm rieger News Editor

Lisa ReymaNn COMMUNITY Editor

sarah shew Editorial Editor

allison mcgillivray Campus Editor

rachel sacks Editorial Editor

Jenn Smola Campus Editor

billy rafael Arts and entertainment

brian gallagher Sports Editor

One month left Only four weeks. Where did the time go?

Opening day Get excited for MLB this week!

Weekend performances 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.

Good luck to performers in Stage Left and the theater department!

www.miamistudent.net

TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012 OP ED

7

ORIANA’S OBSERVATION Oriana Pawlyk

They’re climbing in your social media: Better hide your Facebook, hide your Twitter, the employers will find you Applying for a job is stressful as it is.

The unemployment rate, reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, remains at 8.3 percent until the next report for March, due to be released this week.

To add to a graduating senior’s fear, there now comes a new problem with employment: to disclose one’s Facebook password to an employer or potential employer.

Once something’s out on the Internet, it’s out there forever. But when did it become a mandate to go beyond the resume, cover letter and interview to attain a job, or for that matter, to keep one?

Your social life remains outside the office, so why should employers break into your social media?

Where should employers draw the line?

Kimberly Hester, once a teacher’s aide at Frank Squires Elementary School in Cassopolis, Mich., was fired last April for denying the district school access to her Facebook page — a parent, coincidentally Facebook friends with Hester, reported her for a slightly inappropriate picture she posted, which Hester explained was a very “mild” picture, nothing to worry about.

When the Lewis Cass, ISD Superintendent, asked to see her Facebook page, she repeatedly refused and was fired shortly after.

According to The Huffington Post, Hester was quoted saying, “I stand by it, I did nothing wrong.

And I would not, still to this day, let

them in my Facebook. And I don’t think it’s OK for an employer to ask you.”

And now the privacy issue is

Facebook issued a statement saying it would stand by its users and protect their privacy, regardless of the decision in Washington.

But when did it become a mandate to go beyond the resume, cover letter and interview to attain a job, or for that matter, to keep one? ... Where should employers draw the line?

more questionable than ever before with the “Mind Your Own Business On Passwords” amendment, which the U.S. House of Representatives struck down just last week.

With more and more employers requesting Facebook passwords,

Employers shouldn’t have that right regarding a person’s social media pages.

Employees should not be using Facebook, Twitter, etc., at work anyway, so why should those lines cross?

guest ESSAY

ESSAY

Jeff Feiwelly

Carolyn Snively

FEIWELJM@muohio.edu

If you’re not allowed to bring your personal issues or problems to work, why should employers go hunting for that information?

Employees of any type of job should know this is now the real world.

You cannot and should not exhibit your entire life out somewhere on the Internet.

But employers don’t have the right to go searching for any criteria just to have a petty reason to fire you.

Whatever may come up in a Google search is one thing — your past will creep up on you sooner or later — but if you’re the right person for the job, with the correct skill set and personality, that’s all that really matters.

snivelcl@muohio.edu

Racial prejudice infiltrates, aggravates case of American teens need better Trayvon Martin as media coverage increases sexual education programs In February in a small town north of Orlando, Fla., a 17-year old named Trayvon Martin was killed by a single gunshot to the chest.

The one who allegedly pulled the trigger was George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old insurance agent.

Martin was wearing a hoodie and carrying a bag of Skittles and an Arizona Ice Tea. His hoodie and a bag of Skittles have become the uniform of those involved in the movement to seek justice for him.

The initial outrage seemed to have stemmed from a 17-yearold’s death going unpunished.

Then the attention shifted to a “white man murdering a black child” and the fact that the police did not arrest the shooter.

This reignited emotions and thoughts of another Rodney King debacle.

The fact that Zimmerman is of Hispanic descent, a minority in America, should rule out the white vs. black argument, but it hasn’t.

Zimmerman killed Martin with his own handgun while on guard as the self-appointed neighborhood watch captain.

He has a permit to carry the gun. He called 911 before approaching Martin and was advised not to pursue him, but he did anyway.

According to Zimmerman, Martin knocked him to the ground with one punch, breaking his nose.

Keep in mind Martin was 6 foot 3 inches and played football while Zimmerman was roughly 4 inches shorter.

Zimmerman allegedly said Martin was on top of him, beating him, and he had no choice but to defend himself.

An eyewitness claims to have seen a person beating up someone in red while on top of him.

Zimmerman was wearing red.

The police report confirmed Zimmerman had a broken nose and a cut head.

Martin’s girlfriend has said Zimmerman chased Martin down for no reason.

She says she was on the phone with Martin as this unfolded.

Zimmerman also has a history of calling the police a lot while on duty.

This may suggest he was too eager to play cop.

Protests have gone on all over the nation and Capitol Hill has been flooded with people calling for Zimmerman’s arrest, including Trayvon’s parents.

little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said in his most famous speech.

Unfortunately this dream has yet to come true.

Programs such as affirma-

Not only is this a complete double standard, it is ludicrous to put a man who has not yet been convicted of a crime in such danger that he has gone into hiding.

A former NAACP leader, C.L. Martin, has condemned Sharpton and Jackson for attempting to racially divide the country. He has stated that there is a much greater problem with black-on-black crime.

Much of this outcry over racial injustice was sparked by Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, who have motivated a staggering number of people to believe this was racially motivated.

The New Black Panther Party offered an initial $10,000 bounty for Zimmerman’s capture and upped the ante to $1 million.

They then threatened that if the police didn’t handle it they would, inferring that they would injure or even kill Zimmerman.

They also yelled “black power” during the announcements, and no one has condemned those statements.

Imagine the stir it would cause for the Ku Klux Klan to threaten action against a black man who was not arrested for killing a white teenager and yelling “white power.”

Not only is this a complete double standard, it is ludicrous to put a man who has not yet been convicted of a crime in such danger that he has gone into hiding.

A former NAACP leader, C.L. Martin, has condemned Sharpton and Jackson for attempting to racially divide the country.

He has stated that there is a much greater problem with black-on-black crime.

“I have a dream that my four

tive action and this kind of reverse discrimination in trials do not just hurt the white race they hurt ALL races because two wrongs do not make a right.

If Martin Luther King Jr. was alive today I believe he would take the side of C.L. Martin.

He would be saddened by the fact anyone is being judged by the color of their skin.

I stand with him on this argument, people should be judged on the content of their character, regardless of black or white.

This collective effort to pit blacks against whites on the part of Sharpton and Jackson is appalling.

While society tries to move forward, they are stuck in the past.

I do NOT want to see a guilty man walk free and I do not want an innocent man to be jailed.

Most of all I do not want a double standard and a racial divide in this country.

I want a fair trial as every citizen is entitled to.

So I ask you, reader, are the leaders of this movement taking blind handfuls of the bag of Skittles?

Or are they picking out their individual flavors which their ancestors fought so very hard to eliminate?

ESSAYISTS WANTED.

Sex is everywhere in the media — movies, music, TV, fashion — and yet most people are embarrassed to talk about it. The American culture holds the topic of sexuality as taboo and the health of many Americans reflect this.

Improving the health of U.S. teens in particular needs to start with better sexuality education.

The federal government has spent over $1.5 billion on abstinence-onlyuntil-marriage programs over the last 25 years, according to the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS).

These programs that promote abstaining from sex don’t acknowledge that many teenagers will become sexually active and don’t teach about contraception and condom use and make sexually transmitted diseases the main reason to abstain from sex.

Abstinence-only programs might sound effective in theory, but from a public health perspective they aren’t the best approach.

Through the 2010 health care reform, Congress renewed the Title V abstinence-only program for five years. This grants $50 million to states annually for promoting sexual abstinence until marriage SIECUS research shows that students who pledge to remain abstinent until marriage are 33 percent less likely to use contraception and seek treatment for STDs. Also, among teens age 18-19, 41 percent report to know little or nothing about condoms and 75 percent report to know little or nothing about the contraceptive pill.

Therefore, abstinence-only programs that refrain from teaching teens how to use contraception altogether only lead them to practice risky sexual behaviors when they do become sexually active.

U.S. teen pregnancy rates could also be attributed to the ineffectiveness of abstinence-only education.

According to U.S. public health officials in 2009, the teen birth rate was 39 out of every 1,000 girls.

Research shows birth rates are lower when teens use contraception often and correctly, a topic that abstinence-only programs normally don’t address.

Western Europe, for example, has dramatically lower teen pregnancy rates than the United States.

According to World Bank data,

France’s teen birth rate is seven per 1,000 girls, Italy’s is five, and even traditionally Catholic Ireland’s is 16.

Judging from these numbers and the European culture itself (like their acceptance of public displays of affection and the sale of condoms in grocery store check-out lines), it seems like sex is not as taboo in Europe as it is in America.

A personal example I can give is that while passing out free condoms on campus for a class activity, most students were embarrassed to accept them or even acknowledge that we weren’t promoting sex, but the health benefits of having “safer sex.”

We wanted students to realize that even if they won’t personally use them, they should pass them along to someone that could.

My unscientific conclusion is that if the Europeans can be more open about sexuality without being irresponsible, so can we.

One solution to improving sexual health is to implement comprehensive sex education (CSE) into school curriculum. CSE is designed to promote “safer sex.”

It starts in kindergarten and continues through grade 12 and includes medically accurate and age-appropriate information about sexuality topics including human development, relationships, decisionmaking, abstinence, contraception and disease prevention.

This would be more beneficial and effective than abstinence-only programs because teens would be equipped with the proper knowledge about sexuality to make informed decisions based on their personal convictions.

Whether one believes in abstaining from sex until marriage or not, everyone needs to be properly educated about sexuality in order to be as healthy as possible.

We all have our own beliefs and values regarding sex, which are important.

However, we need proper comprehensive sex education in schools so we can make responsible, healthy decisions when we decide the time is right for us personally.

The goal is to practice safer sex and consequently improve overall health and the only way people will know how to do that is through proper education and an accepting culture.

The MiamiStudent is looking for essayists.

Email editorial@miamistudent.net for more information.

8

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TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012 SPORTS

TENNIS,

FROM PAGE 10

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took a 3-0 advantage with Guerrazzi winning her singles match 6-2, 6-1 and Thurman taking the next match, 6-4, 6-0. The Guerrazzi win extended her singles play winning streak to seven matches.

Toledo cut the lead to one with back-to-back wins, but Danesis came through for the ’Hawks in a 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4) victory. Raymond finished off the Rockets with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Lexy Pitt.

“We didn’t necessarily play our best tennis today, but we continued to fight and compete extremely well in the face of adversity,” Assistant Coach Ricky Rosas said.

Miami fought off a tough Eastern Michigan team Saturday at the Chippewa Racquet Club, earning a 6-1 decision over the Eagles (6-12, 2-1).

The Redhawks started things off

9

right with an 8-2 win by Guerrazzi and Honiball, but EMU evened things up in the doubles portion after the Eagles’ Miriam Westerink and Nino Mebuke took an 8-6 decision.

However, the team of Mohan and Raymond saved the point for Miami with an 8-5 victory, giving the RedHawks a 1-0 lead.

Singles play started with a pair of quick Miami wins for a 3-0 advantage. Thurman rebounded from her doubles defeat by defeating Mariya Toncheva 6-1, 6-1. Then, Mohan won 6-3, 6-4 against Daphne Friedrichs.

Danesis clinched the match with a win over Nino Mebuke, 6-4, 7-6 (12-10), while Raymond followed up with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph. Honiball earned the final Miami point, snapping a four-match losing streak and winning in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

After their road trip across the MAC, Miami returns to Oxford next weekend to face Bowling Green State University Friday and Western Michigan University Saturday.

RedHawks set to swing away at The Rutherford

By Joe Gieringer

For The Miami Student

The Miami University men’s golf team has had a week to prepare for the next tournament on their schedule, The Rutherford, held April 7-8 in University Park, Pa. After a week in Florida for two separate tournaments, the RedHawk golfers returned home to a slew of make-up work from multiple classes and a week of practice. Though the team struggled in the later rounds of the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Spring Break Classic March 23-25, Head Coach Zac Zedrick said he is confident the week off will bring nothing but improvement for his team, starting with the qualifying rounds at home.

“Our priority this week is first and foremost to have a really competitive qualifier,” Zedrick said.

“If it’s really competitive at home it’ll help us that much more on the road.”

The team had one-on-one meetings with Zedrick earlier this week, which Zedrick recalled were overall very positive.

“The general theme was to really emphasize all the good things we achieved at an individual and a team level,” Zedrick said.

He did acknowledge however, there is work to be done this week, both in catching up in the classroom and on the course if Miami is to have a great finish at The Rutherford.

“We need to do a little better job taking care of the details,” Zedrick said. “If you’re not sharp and a

BIOLOGY, FROM PAGE 2

impact their progress toward a degree.

Students now have a choice to switch to the new biology major or to continue in their intended major.

“A lot of people see the name zoology and they think that it means zoo; they don’t realize that it is a biological science,” sophomore zoology major Sarah Tirrell said. “The change definitely makes sense. It would probably make things a lot easier since everyone in the biological sciences have to take a lot of the same

little sloppy with school or personal things it’s going to carry over to golf.”

Junior Ben Peacock, coming off of a Mid-American Conference Men’s Golfer of the Week honor from last week, said the team is working a lot on their mindset and focus.

“We just didn’t do the best job of focusing in the practice round [at the FAU Spring Break Classic],” Peacock said. “But we did have a lot of successes … We’ve got some positives we can build off of.”

Junior Brett Tomfohrde echoed Peacock’s thoughts and pointed to his teammates’ improvements, especially freshman Luke Shaughnessy, as another silver lining to come out of the somewhat-disappointing finish to the last tournament.

“One positive to come out is we had a good starting round and second round,” Tomfohrde said. “And another positive was [Shaughnessy’s] play. He’s a real positive kid and I can’t wait to see what he can do the rest of the season.”

As the RedHawks look ahead to the first weekend in April, Coach Zedrick noted the focus would be on climbing the leaderboard, starting with strong first-round play.

“A thing that really resonates with us is to never lose ground,” Zedrick said. “Never lose ground in school; always keep up with everything in school and personal obligations. Never lose ground in the weight room, too. Always try to get a little better.”

Miami starts play at The Rutherford April 7. classes anyway.”

However not all students are pleased with the impending change.

Sophomore botany major Kate Chapel said the fact that Miami was serious enough about botany to have a separate department for it was a big draw for her.

“I don’t like [the change],” Chapel said. “[The botany department] is so much of the reason I came to Miami.”

Chapel said although she has heard a little about the upcoming change from professors, she would have liked to see the departments seek student input.

ARTS CENTER, FROM PAGE 3

Accoring to Mapes, many of those artists also offer art classes such as watercolor classes or still life drawing classes. The artists that rent out the studios on the third floor teach many of the adult and children’s classes.

Mapes said the center also interacts with the university and hopes to create even more interactions between the arts center and Miami students in the future.

Miami senior and President of Stage Left Kendall Persons said the center has been wonderful to work with.

“We do a musical each

semester and two years ago, the 2009 and 2010 shows, we put on at the Oxford Community Arts Center … I was also there a lot last semester because they opened up some space for us to do set construction for our shows,” he said. “It was too cold to build the set outside so I talked to them and they opened up theater space and let us use space to build sets to show our shows. It worked well, they are very good with open communication and they are always great to work with; they’re very flexible.”

10

SPORTS

Editor BRIAN GALLAGHER

sports@miamistudent.net

TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012 jm rieger

The rieger report

College coaches say show me the money

NEXT HOME GAME: 6:30 p.m. wednesday vs. Ohio state

’Hawks ground Rockets

By Tom Downey Staff Writer

Money and luck.

These are the only two factors that separate college athletic programs.

Case-in-point: the recent coaching carousel in men’s college basketball.

After the departure of Ohio University men’s basketball Head Coach John Groce, who was introduced as the head coach at the University of Illinois Thursday, Miami University fans have to wonder what is next for them following the retirement of Charlie Coles in March.

Illinois pursued Groce after being turned down by Butler University’s Brad Stevens and by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Shaka Smart, according to ESPN’s Andy Katz. The Chicago Tribune reported both Stevens and Smart were offered over $2 million per year, whereas Groce signed a five-year contract worth $1.4 million each year, over $1 million more per year than Groce’s $250,000 base salary at Ohio.

In addition, Groce reportedly made between $307,985 and $355,000 this past year through public appearances, a winning conference record and success in the NCAA Tournament, according to The Chicago Tribune, The Associated Press and Katz.

This alone is significantly more than Coles, who had similar success in the NCAA Tournament, made at Miami.

Coles’ base salary at Miami was $180,250 with salary incentives for 20 regular season wins, MidAmerican Conference Tournament success, NCAA Tournament wins and for maintaining an 80 percent or better graduation rate. Whereas Coles would have earned over $15,000 per NCAA Tournament victory, he would have earned just over $2,700 for maintaining a strong graduation rate.

Groce on the other hand earned $40,000 for taking Ohio to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1964, according to Katz.

Fans do not need to look any further than these numbers to realize how backwards college athletics are, especially considering Miami’s emphasis on academics and its corresponding high graduation success rate and academic progress rate numbers.

I would hate to see the discrepancy between athletic and academic success incentives for schools like the University of Kentucky, where Head Coach John Calipari has put two different schools on probation but still became the highest paid coach in

college basketball in 2009 when he signed an eight-year deal worth over $31 million. And that was just the base salary.

Ohio is owed $200,000 by either Groce or Illinois following his departure for an early contract termination, which seems like chump change when you consider that former Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber is owed $3.9 million for being fired with three years remaining on his contract.

Groce also left the Bobcats despite a petition and a Facebook page encouraging him to stay, while the university also scrambled to raise money to retain the 40-year-old coach.

And as the RedHawks continue to search for their next head coach with a signing period looming, coaches like Groce, Weber and former Kansas State University (KSU) Head Coach Frank Martin have already moved on.

Martin, who made just over $1.4 million per year at KSU will reportedly make over $2 million at the University of South Carolina, a school with little basketball tradition, while Weber accepted a $1.5 million base salary at Kansas State to become their next head coach.

It is unlikely Miami will be able to attract a big-name coach following the program’s second 20-loss season in school history, meaning the Red and White will have to hope for luck, if they want to turn the program around. Miami simply does not have the money to compete with these other schools.

But if the RedHawks want to become more than a launching pad for coaches, they must change something, whether that is the facilities, the incentive structure or the athletic budget.

If it wasn’t true already, college athletics has become a business where the only focus is on winning and making money. Schools are striving to become the next Ohio State University, which is one of only 22 Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I) athletic programs that turned a profit in fiscal year 2010.

But the real question is where does this influx of money leave student-athletes at the end of the day, especially when you consider the lack of incentives for a team’s academic performance.

We know where the majority of athletic programs and coaches stand.

The Miami University baseball team (15-12, 3-3 Mid-American Conference (MAC)) took the final two games of their three-game series against the University of Toledo Rockets (12-14, 3-3 MAC), giving them a much needed series victory.

The RedHawks narrowly lost a 7-6 opener Saturday (after being postponed Friday), but bounced back with a 5-3 victory in the doubleheader and closed out the weekend with an 11-3 victory Sunday. The Red and White were led offensively by big games from redshirt senior outfielder Bryce Redeker and freshman outfielder Matt Honchel.

“We learned a lot about ourselves this weekend,” Head Coach Dan Simonds said. “We learned what we need to do to be successful. We’re getting better each game.”

Honchel had the best series of his young career, going an incredible 11-14 over the three games. He scored six times and batted in five runs including the game-winning two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning in the second game.

Honchel’s batting average for the series was an impressive .786 and his four hits in the second game marked

a career high.

“I’m just seeing the ball really well right now,” Honchel said. “A lot of our guys are right now.”

Redeker also had an impressive series, going 5-10 with five RBIs. He also had two home runs during the series after entering the weekend with only one.

Junior first baseman Kevin Bower was 4-13 in the series and was crucial for the ’Hawks, racking up a home run and five RBIs. Redshirt senior pitcher Shawn Marquardt (3-3) got the start in the rubber match pitching his third complete game of the season. Marquardt threw 120 pitches while striking out six batters. He gave up only two earned runs and one walk in the victory.

“It was fun to able to stay out there for all nine,” Marquardt said. “You have a little more room for error with extra runs. It takes a lot of pressure off the pitcher.”

In the opener the Red and White went to the bullpen early after junior starter Mac Thoreson got into trouble, giving up five earned runs in only three innings. The teams were only able to get three innings completed before bad weather rolled in and were forced to pick up the game Saturday with the game tied

THE WIND-UP AND THE PITCH

6-6. The RedHawks would only get two hits in the final six innings, falling 7-6.

In the second game, junior pitcher Brooks Fiala went a solid 6.1 innings, only giving up two earned runs while picking up a no decision. Junior pitcher Brandon Adkins picked up the win thanks to Matt Honchel’s game-winning double in the eighth inning, as the RedHawks closed out the doubleheader with a 5-3 victory.

“We absolutely had to win this game and this series,” Marquardt said. “We are good enough to win every series from here on out.”

The RedHawks take the field again Wednesday when they host the Ohio State University (OSU).

The Buckeyes are 14-11 on the year, with a game scheduled against Michigan State University before visiting Oxford.

“It’ll be a good challenge for our guys,” Simonds said. “It is ‘The’ Ohio State University. Playing OSU is like playing [The University of Mississippi] and those other talented non-conference teams.”

First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 pm. and will be played under the lights at McKie Field.

Fans can listen to the game on www.redhawkradio.com.

JESSI THORNE THE MIAMI STUDENT

Sophomore pitcher Paige Myers throws March 17 against Loyola University Chicago. The RedHawks split their weekend series 2-2 with Northern Illinois University and Western Michigan University.

MU serves up 29 straight MAC wins

By Jordan Rinard For The Miami Student

The Miami University women’s tennis team (9-9, 4-0 Mid-American Conference (MAC)) continued to

assert itself over MAC opponents, notching road wins at the University of Toledo and at Eastern Michigan University (EMU). The wins extended the RedHawks’ winning streak over MAC foes in the regular season

to 29 games.

“Overall, it was a good weekend for the team and we got a little closer to our goal of winning the MAC,” Head Coach Anca Dumitrescu said. “I felt that we got better as the weekend progressed ... we are also playing more aggressive doubles and that will be highly important as we continue to move forward with the season.”

The Red and White took the doubles point and won four singles matches against Toledo for a 5-2 victory in the first matchup, which took place Friday afternoon at the Shadow Hills Tennis Club.

The match, which was played indoors due to inclement weather, started with an 8-4 doubles win by the team of senior Riekie Honiball and freshman Christine Guerrazzi. Senior Stephane Danesis and freshman Alix Thurman followed suit with an 8-6 win to put Miami up 1-0.

Toledo (7-8, 0-2 MAC) was swept in doubles play as sophomores Nimisha Mohan and Christiana Raymond earned an 8-6 victory over Amanda Border and Alexandra Cristello.

The RedHawks quickly

TENNIS, SEE PAGE 9