The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2014
VOLUME 141 NO. 51
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1972, The Miami Student reported the Oxford Coalition to aid the Bangladesh Emergency Relief Fund announced they had raised over $8,000 of their projected six-month goal of $120,000. One student who contributed explained his motivation, “If I contribute $10 a month I can keep someone alive.”
JALEN WALKER THE MIAMI STUDENT
AND THE LIVING IS EASY
Signs of the changing seasons are springing up across campus. The sun sets over Cook Field, the fountains behind Shriver are back on and flowers are blooming.
Student suffers serious injuries after 3-story fall BY JAMES STEINBAUER SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Wednesday at 4:39 a.m., the Oxford Police Department (OPD) received word that 20-year-old Miami University sophomore Caroline O’Donnell fell from a third-story window at 22 East Walnut St. Neighbor senior Alex Proctor said he observed O’Donnell sitting in the third-story window on his way up to his own apartment. He then witnessed her fall onto the concrete driveway below where the first officer on the scene found her lying conscious and breathing. “She had a bump on her head, some swelling and an abrasion on her elbow,” OPD Sgt. Jon Varley said. Proctor said he did not hear loud music or see anything suggesting a party was taking place, but Varley confirmed O’Donnell had been drinking. “It appears that alcohol was involved,” Varley said. “But the actual fall was an accident.”
KATIE TAYLOR EDITOR IN CHIEF
Senior Alex Proctor points to the place he found sophomore Caroline O’Donnell after falling. After being taken to McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital, O’Donnell was airlifted to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton. As of Thursday evening O’Donnell is still in serious condition said Manager of Media Relations for Miami Valley Hospital Nancy Thickel.
Miami community reflects on FIJI fire, bureau continues arson investigation BY MEKENNA SANDSTROM FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT
Less than a year ago, May 25 2013, flames engulfed the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity house. The structure was severely damaged with a destroyed roof and lost belongings, including clothes, electronics and furniture. Despite the losses and the resulting emotional turmoil, FIJI’s members have maintained a strong bond. “We all came together to work collectively,” Andrew Bell, president of the fraternity, said. “The support we gave each other strengthened us and inspired leadership.” Bell also said recruitment this year held solid, despite the absence of a fraternity house. “We got a really solid pledge class with promising leadership,” Bell said. “The class average is around a 3.3 GPA.” The cause of the fire has still not been determined. Bell said investigators still believe the fire was the result of arson. Representatives from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recently visited the house to analyze the damages from the fire. “They came in and talked to members that had stuff in the room
where the fire started,” Bell said. “Then they took some things back to Washington and they want to resimulate the fire to understand what could have happened.” Since the fire in May, the university and the Interfraternity Council (IFC) have been supporting the fraternity.
about fire,” Johnson said. “But it is not something to mess with.” In order to effectively influence the minds of the fraternity members, Johnson also brought up a house fire that occurred off-campus in 2005. Three Miami University students died in the fire. “I’ve seen too many dead bodies
I’ve seen too many dead bodies in my career, guys. The human life is not replaceable.” MARK JOHNSON
OXFORD FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDER
“We have worked on developing a house improvement fund, which we hope FIJI will utilize for smaller house improvements once they are moved in,” IFC President Sam Crocket said in a statement. “IFC has also worked to connect Fiji with other groups with vacant houses for rental possibilities, which opened the door to the Sigma Chi house.” On Tuesday, FIJI also hosted a fire safety presentation in collaboration with the Oxford Fire Department. Mark Johnson, a responder, discussed the importance of fire safety. “Everyone is naturally curious
in my career, guys,” Johnson said, holding back tears. “The human life is not replaceable.” The Oxford Fire Department wants to remind students of the importance of playing it safe with fire. It is imperative to follow all fire safety guidelines provided by the university, the fire department and the state, he said. The department also acknowledged how unfortunate the FIJI house fire was, but how fortunate it was at the same time. “The bad thing about FIJI is that the house was lost,” Johnson said. “But the good thing is … no one died.”
Junior shows support for victims of sex trafficking BY OLIVIA BRAUDE GREENHAWKS EDITOR
The 13th amendment formally abolished slavery in the United States in 1865. However, an estimated 25 million men and women — boys and girls — are still part of the slave trade as human trafficking victims. Miami University junior Lauren Delk said she became aware of the enormity of this atrocity on a mission trip to Nicaragua where, in an orphanage, she met a sex trafficking victim. Hearing the woman’s story intimately brought Delk into an issue that, for many Americans, is easily kept at a distance. “They’re not random victims, they’re people like me, and in this case, it was a girl just like me — my same age — who just had a very different story than I did,” Delk said. Delk said she was moved by
God to become an activist. After sleepless nights and countless prayers, the answer hit her: bras. Those two years ago, Delk started Supported Girls. The company, still evolving, aims to provide women rescued from sex trafficking with jobs in the manufacturing of bras. Delk said she was inspired by Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes, which donates one pair of shoes to an impoverished child for every pair of shoes that it sells. Delk established Supported Girls with the intention of it being a social enterprise, not a charity. A social enterprise, Delk said, is a business that does good in the world. It is less about “making a dollar” and more about working to enact systemic change,
SEX,
SEE PAGE 4
MEKENNA SANDSTROM THE MIAMI STUDENT
What remains of the fraternity brothers’ burnt belongings lay scattered on the floor of the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity house after the fire May 25, 2013. The Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recently visited the house to continue investigating what they believe to be a case of arson.