The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
VOLUME 140 NO. 03
TUESday, AUGUST 28, 2012
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1950, The Miami Student reported that WMUB, Miami’s student-run FM radio station had received its license from the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC). The station, frequency 88.1, was one of the first collegiate FM stations in the area. It broadcast 7 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 7 to 8 p.m. on Fridays.
After shootings, voters assess firearm issues By Brett Milam Online Editor
Gun rights and gun control are sure to be factored into the debate between Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama as the November election nears, especially in the wake of the Colorado theater, Wisconsin Sikh temple and most recent New York City shootings. College Democrats President Laura Kretz said the shootings might have been preventable if there were stricter background checks for gun owners. “These aren’t accidents,” Kretz said. “These are preventable. The issue is about enforcement.” Kretz said she would like to see President Obama do more on this issue, if he is re-elected. However, both candidates have shied away from making any demonstrative declarations on the issue. In contrast, President of College Republicans Baylor Myers said gun control laws would restrict self-protection. “As outlined in the second amendment of our Constitution, we have the right to bear arms and the College Republicans believe that right is a necessity for selfprotection,” Myers said. To College Republicans, gun laws are ineffective. “Time and experience has shown that gun laws are obsolete — criminals will always have access, but our society must empower good citizens in their efforts for self-protection,” Myers said. Communications Chair of College Democrats Eden Thompson said there should be gun control laws that focus on the gun purchaser. “The focus should be on who guns are given to,” Thompson said. However, Kretz said she believes gun control is far from the most important issue in the
election for college students. “Jobs are the number one issue because the large majority of us will be looking for jobs right after graduating from Miami University,” Kretz said. “I would say to my fellow Miamians that if now is not the ‘right time’ to discuss this issue, then when?” According to the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Cincinnati, over 51 percent of Ohio voters still regard economic considerations as the most important issue in the 2012 election. Notwithstanding, the gun control debate is certainly relevant to the parents of incoming Miami University first years, according to Miami University Police Department (MUPD) Police Chief John McCandless. At Miami University’s orientation, McCandless was asked by parents about the preparedness of the MUPD in the event of an active shooter on campus. According to McCandless, parents ask about active shooters in only one or two of the 14 or 15 orientation sessions each year. McCandless said questions about active shooters become more popular after highly publicized shootings such as the Virginia Tech shooting. “We’re as prepared as you can be in those situations,” McCandless said. The MUPD Web site has a link under Campus Safety about what to do, as a student or member of the faculty or staff, in the event of an active shooter. That link can be found here: http:// www.units.muohio.edu/psf/police/Campus_Safety/ActiveShooter.shtml “If someone specifically asks about an active shooter then we tell them they can go [to the website],” McCandless said.
Student on the Street Should the United States reassess gun policies? “Gun control is a very tricky topic because statistically, areas which have higher rate of gun ownership have a statistically lower rate of crime. However, all illegal guns must at one point start as legally owned guns so the more guns on the street, the more illegal guns you will have.”
Evan Crowell Senior “I think it should [be reassessed] because there is no point to having an assault rifle or weapon inside of a major city. It makes sense when you are outside hunting or in the wilderness or something, but if I’m living in a city block why do I need to have a gun? What purpose does it serve?”
Peter Dougherty Senior “There are areas that are not safe I feel like you should be able to carry a gun if you go through the means to get yourself certified, then you are going to use it appropriately.”
Julia Prus First year “Gun laws should be stricter because obviously guns are getting into the hands of the wrong people. Even if the gun laws were stricter, people can still get things that obviously are illegal so I don’t how much a difference it will make because if somebody wants a gun they can probably get it, but anything that can keep us safer.”
Brian Oddo First year “I think they’re alright where they’re at even with the shooting in the movie theater, it’s just those certain people need to be watched and other than that it’s not that big of a problem.”
Riley Brehm
GUN CONTROL, SEE PAGE 8
First year
University, Oxford police force team up Lecture Series begins with Jerry Springer visit Kaler Hazen
For The Miami Student
LISA GEHRING PHOTOGRAPHER
The Miami University Police Department and Oxford Police Department have formed a partnership to allow both police forces wider jurisdiction.
BY Andrew Yde
For The Miami Student
In an effort to improve both the speed and strength of police responses in the Mile Square area of Oxord, the Oxford Police Department (OPD) and Miami University Police Department (MUPD), have implemented a new mutual jurisdiction agreement. According to Lt. Ben Spilman spokesman for the MUPD, this new agreement will allow MUPD officers to assist with off-campus issues, no matter their severity, both uptown and elsewhere in the Mile Square region of Oxford bounded by Patterson Avenue, Locust Street, Chestnut Street and High Street.
“This is an effort between the city and the university to provide the best possible service to the community,” Spilman said. Before the new jurisdiction agreement, which took nine months to formulate, MUPD personnel were only allowed to assist off campus with explicit request from OPD personnel. Such requests were usually inspired by threat of serious injury or property damage off campus, according to Spilman. “This is innovative as far as cooperation between separate police departments,” Spilman said. According to Sgt. Jon Varley, a 17-year veteran for the OPD, this mutual jurisdiction agreement is
not the first time the separate departments have come together. Before the pact, it was not unusual for MUPD and OPD personnel to share patrol cars on any given day. Nonetheless, OPD maintained sole jurisdiction in the Mile Square region. “They no longer have to call,” Sgt. Varley said. “Anything they see, they can act upon, as if each one of them is just another Oxford officer.” Student body president John Stefanski said he was intrigued by the conjunction of administrative efforts composing the new jurisdiction agreement. Stefanski and Associated
POLICE,
SEE PAGE 8
The Miami University annual Lecture Series kicks off on September 24 with a lecture from ex-Cincinnati mayor and television talk show personality Jerry Springer. The lecture series will ultimately bring five speakers to campus, each of them with a unique perspective on topics ranging from social media and voting to international travel. Other speakers include NPR radio host and guidebook author Rick Steves, business leader and political consultants Becki Donatelli and Sam Graham-Felsen, Peabody Award winner Krista Tippett, and distinguished NASA scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson. According to Howard Kleiman, professor of mass communication, Lecture Series speakers are chosen by the University Lecture Series Committee, which consists of both students and faculty. “Oxford, being as isolated as it is, needs to bring in a variety of things that students can engage with and a strong lecture series is one of those things,” Kleiman said. According to Patricia Newberry, senior lecturer and coordinator of special events and internships, the Lecture Series Committee takes most of the preceding academic year to thoroughly consider all of the possible lecture candidates and come up with a final list of speakers. Possible
candidates are considered based on a number of factors including current events, the diversity of both the speakers and their topics and University lectures from previous years. Other factors are also given consideration, according to Newberry. “We’re also looking at the gender mix and the racial mix,” Newberry said. “We want to make sure we’re reflecting the diversity goals of the university and exposing students to people of all cultures, genders, and political views.” Newberry said audience interaction is intended during the presentations, and a Q&A session is anticipated at the end of each lecture. Newberry said student input is valuable not only in terms of those sitting on the selection committee, but also in gauging the number of tickets that need to be sold. “It’s not all that often we have to turn away hordes of people”, said Newberry. The series opener, featuring Jerry Springer, promises to be of particular interest to the communication department. According to Kleiman, students on the selection committee admired Springer’s breadth of experience and diversity of past occupations, and expect an interesting presentation on human manipulation. According to Newberry, when negotiating with speakers, the Lec-
LECTURE, SEE PAGE 8