The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 2014
VOLUME 141 NO. 48
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY On April 22 1994, The Miami Student reported Oxford City Council approved 5-2 a resolution authorizing the city service director to bid for a contract to demolish a water tower. The resolution also stated that the site after demolition would be called Oxford Memorial Park.
Cradle of Coaches welcomes Harbaugh BY TOM DOWNEY SPORTS EDITOR
The Cradle of Coaches has a new member. John Harbaugh, a former Miami football player and the Super Bowl-winning head coach of the Baltimore Ravens was inducted into the Cradle over the weekend. As a defensive back, Harbaugh struggled to make the travel team during his time at Miami, but now has his own statue at the Cradle of Coaches Plaza outside Yager Stadium. “There is nothing like Miami, there is nothing like the Cradle of BEN TAYLOR THE MIAMI STUDENT Coaches,” Harbaugh said. “I don’t Miami unveils the statue of John Harbaugh at the Cradle of Coaches Plaza at Yager Stadium Saturday. think there is a bigger honor in coaching. A lot may not understand that, but once you take a look, you was the driving force behind Har- ‘Of course you do, look at that ring proud of his older brother. under stand it. It means a lot.” baugh’s induction. Sayler said Har- on your finger.’ To get him here “I prided myself for a very long Harbaugh joins legends Earl baugh is the link between the Miami and to have him do this for us and time on being the tallest Harbaugh (Red) Blaik, Weeb Ewbank, Paul greats of the past and the incoming be honored this way, it’s just awe- in the family of all the generations...” Brown, Paul Dietzel, Ara Parseghi- and future recruits. However, Har- some for me. It’s beyond my wildest Jim Harbough said. “So, that all an, Carm Cozza, John Pont and Bo baugh originally turned down the dreams as far as how the weekend changed today when they unveiled Schembechler as Cradle members. statue offer from Sayler twice. has gone.” the statue… I’m just so proud. All members are Miami alumni who “John actually said no the first two Jim Harbaugh, John’s brother and There have been so many proud mowon either a national championship times I asked him to do the statue,” current San Francisco 49ers head ments that John has brought to the (or Super Bowl for NFL coaches) or Sayler said. “That’s the kind of man coach, was a surprise guest at Cra- Harbaugh family.” national coach of the year award. that he is. He just [said], ‘Well, I dle of Coaches dinner Friday night. Jim Harbaugh wasn’t the only Athletic Director David Sayler don’t know if I deserve it.’ [I said], The younger Harbaugh said he was notable guest present. John and
6,000 students dish out dirt on newYik-Yak app
$750,000 grant from the Ohio Board of Regents promises internships, innovation BY ALEXANDRIA MOORE FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT
LAUREN OLSON PHOTO EDITOR
BY KAILA FRISONE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Imagine a world where someone could say whatever he or she wants without anyone knowing who said it. Well, that world is here: Yik Yak created it in the smartphone realm. Yik Yak is an app that allows users to post anonymously and view content posted by others in the user’s geographic area. Recently, the app became popular among several Miami University students but received mixed reactions. “Well, I think people can use it for the wrong reasons and yaks can be particularly cruel,” super senior Joe Gieringer said. “But it can also be used as a forum for off brand or creative humor that you might not want your name attached to on a more mainstream social media site.” Other students are not so pleased with the app, however. Miami’s Social Media Specialist Kelly Bennett said her office and President David Hodge have received several emails the past two weeks urging the university to do something to shut down the app. While there is not much the university can do to shut down the app at this moment, Bennett offers some alternatives. She suggests students use the app to post positive content to overshadow the negative posts that are currently dominating the app. Bennett also believes the app’s popularity will not last long. “I think it will die out over the summer, and I think people will get bored of it,” Bennett said. “It’s just the same thing over and over again.”
Gieringer also said he believes the app is starting to run its course. “Now that it has become more popular at Miami, the feed is starting to become diluted with boring and half-witted responses,” he said. “I feel like the app has peaked.” Senior Julia Engelbrecht said she only looks at the app when she is bored and usually dislikes the posts she sees. She said a majority of the posts poke fun at specific sororities and fraternities or at students not affiliated with a Greek organization. “I think it only continues to support the stereotype of Miami students being stuck up and rude,” she said. Andrew Boehm, Assistant Director of the Office of Admissions, said he is not concerned about prospective students viewing the app when they visit campus. “When students come and see this place first hand and talk to the people here, anything that is an avenue for negative comments about Miami goes by the wayside,” Boehm said. While many negative posts are present on the app, Bennett said it is likely that the same few people repeatedly posting to the app and is not representative of the student body. “Our students are our number one ambassadors and they always do a phenomenal job showing what life is like on this campus,” Boehm said. “With record number of applications coming in year after year, I think they’re doing a pretty good job showing the positive things about Miami as opposed to anything negative.”
Jim’s father Jack, a legendary coach in his own right, was there. Ozzie Newsome, a Hall of Fame tight end and current Ravens general manager was present, along with Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti. A number of Harbaugh’s former coaches and players were also present, much to John’s delight. “I feel overwhelmed and stunned a little bit that people would take the time to come on down,” Harbaugh said. “That it would be something that they would want to be a part of. It means more to me than I could ever express.” In addition to the revealing of the statue, Miami also broke ground on its new Indoor Sports Center. (LINK 1) Sayler said the facility is long overdue, with plans for the facility dating all the way back to 1998. Miami is coming off its worst season in school history, but Sayler said the future, buoyed by the new facility, looks bright. “The future is so bright,” Sayler said. “I fully expect to be in MAC Championship game in three or four years if not sooner. That’s what we’re about and that’s where we are focusing all our efforts.”
After a competitive application process, the Ohio Board of Regents has awarded Miami University a $748,566 grant for in-state internships. This will serve as seed money for several projects, including the construction of a high-tech interactive media headquarters in Cincinnati, the development of an internship-focused mobile app and the creation of 83 undergraduate summer positions among Cincinnati-based companies. These propositions align with the Ohio Board of Regents’ primary stipulation, which called for a plan to foster the state’s economic development and increased networking resources through partnerships between Ohio-based universities and companies. Grants were awarded to universities on the basis of how well their proposals embodied this goal, with Miami’s endowment sitting at the 90th percentile. Universities to receive comparable grants include University of Akron, Bowling Green State University and University of Dayton, among others that received between $100,000 and $550,000. Director of Career Services Michael Goldman attributes Miami’s grant to the planning of a new facility, the Cincinnati Digital Innovation Center, which will be designed specifically for the Miami students who take part in these internships, which will lend them technological resources to match those in San Francisco and Luxembourg. These positions will cover an array of fields, from manufacturing and human resources to finance and computer technology, Heather Christman, Senior Associate Director of Career Services said. “We proposed replicating the San Francisco [Armstrong Interactive Media Studies] AIMS Center, which will mean that Miami students on a residential basis will participate in internships with local companies four days a week, attend class on the fifth day, and then participate in networking opportunities during the week,” Goldman said. As the AIMS Center model shows, the Cincinnati Digital Innovation Center will provide resources for business, engineering,
fine arts, education, arts and science majors, offering a comprehensive interdisciplinary outpost. Students will also have the opportunity to earn credit for these internships, Christman said. To do so, they will be required to file a request through their department. This center will be a cornerstone project of what the Ohio Board of Regents’ grant aimed to achieve. Its establishment will signify a longterm partnership between Miami University and the businesses of Cincinnati as well as an innovative approach to internships. Whitney Riley, the associate director of Development for Corporate and Foundation Relations, described the competitive edge this may offer participating students. “Cincinnati is really growing and strengthening its base from a techno perspective, and we’ll be near new firms starting up that we’ll be able to plug into,” Riley said.
app, and connecting our faculty with state-wide employers … we feel confident that there will be a longterm return,” Goldman said. Goldman explained that among the 18 companies with whom Miami University will be partnering, there is a mutual understanding that these initial 83 positions will likely give way to more positions in the future, which will require skill sets in all disciplines of study. “They are very interested in pursuing talent from all majors, they are ones who look for an inherent skill-set,” Riley said. “They’ll be interested in the history major as the finance major as the comparative religion major. Their personality and their interests.” Riley worked directly with these companies to procure internship positions for Miami undergraduates, pitching the accolades of both the school’s academic data and the quality of the students themselves.
Building long-term relationships with the business ... and connecting our faculty with state-wide employers … we feel confident that there will be a long-term return.” MICHAEL GOLDMAN
DIRECTOR OF CAREER SERVICES
While many universities that receive grants apply them to co-op programs, Miami students primarily choose summer internships, an idea that was incorporated into the design of this new program. Eighty-three positions are now reserved for Miami University students, which will extend through the summer of 2015. Among these employers are high-profile companies like the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Fifth Third Bank, as well as companies like David J. Joseph, whose industry in recycling relies heavily on innovation. All 18 companies are offering these internships with pay, 40 percent of which will be reimbursed through the grant, Christman said. While this goal is a short-term solution, sustainability within these new partnerships is a primary goal in the program Miami is developing, Goldman said. “Building long-term relationships with the business, the mobile
He explained that it was important to enumerate the cross-disciplinary qualities of Miami undergraduates, from the impressive ranking of the Farmer School of Business to the importance of humanity majors in the professional world. “More generally I talked about what President Hodge calls the ‘tshaped’ student, which means not just zeroing in on any one quality, but having breadth and depth in any given subject,” Riley said. The Ohio Board of Regents and Miami University expect interns based out of the Cincinnati Digital Innovation Center to hold the resources necessary to establish their own long-term professional networks, using Ohio-based businesses to build a career over the course of a summer. Applications for these positions are provided directly through each company, a complete list of which can be found in Hoyt Hall’s Career Services department.