The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2013
VOLUME 141 NO. 7
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1972, The Miami Student reported increased prices at local pizzerias resulting from students’ fake food orders costing big bucks. Local business own-
ers said they would no longer tolerate the “practical jokes” having them deliver to broom closets in Symmes and other obscure locations. Manager of the Boar’s Head Gary Martinez said, “We have caught people, and we don’t hesitate to use police action against them.”
Stories of conflict from Syria and Egypt BY CHRISTINA FERRELL FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT
The ongoing battle to establish democracy in Egypt and Syria has held U.S. media attention since 2011. Miami University students and faculty from both nations follow the events intently. Although they are geographically distant from the Middle East, the crises continue to affect their lives. First-year student Edward Khaddam has lived in the U.S. his whole life, but his extended family, still in Syria, have suffered under the dictatorship. “One of my cousins is 24 or 25 and he got arrested at the beginning of the revolution and was tortured for five days straight in the soccer stadium,” Khaddam said. “He used to go to college, but then he left Syria because he was too scared to live there. Just stating your opinions in public can get you put in jail, Khaddam said. “Another one of my cousins got arrested for six years for saying he didn’t like the president and an undercover cop heard him.” Khaddam said. “You have to look deeper than the politics. This is really sectarian. It is political, we want democracy, but it’s gone from that to being religious.” Syrian graduate student Osama Jomaa arrived in the U.S. just days before the beginning of the term, after spending about eight months in Egypt following his graduation from Damascus University in Syria. Jomaa said he believes education will be the key to rebuilding his country.
“The crisis in Syria is unimaginable, believe me,” Jomaa said. “I really want Syrian students to continue with their studies because ultimately the war in Syria will end, but there [will be] a great number of students who are without education, so who is going to build Syria in the aftermath?” In order to learn English well enough to study in the U.S., Jomaa took advantage of MIT OpenCourseWare, a web-based publication of MIT course content. He now works 20 hours per week at Erickson Dining Hall in addition to taking a course load of 10 credit hours. Jomaa communicates two or three times a week with his family via Skype, but cannot and does not plan to visit Syria any time soon. “I find it not very wise for me to return to Syria, at least in the current conditions,” Jomaa said. “Today is not like yesterday; I can’t predict what’s going to happen in the future for Syria, but what I can say is that in the current situation I cannot return, and I have no intentions of returning unless there’s a radical change.” Jomaa wants to spread awareness about the humanitarian and educational crises in Syria here in the U.S. “The thing I would like Americans to know is that these crises in Syria need their support,” Jomaa said. “A lot of Syrian students have been away from school for more than two years and they need support in order to rebuild Syria on just principles.” In nearby Egypt, the political situation has been less violent but no less complex, with roots going
SYRIAN REFUGEES TURKEY: 492,683
SYRIA LEBANON: 748,608
IRAQ: 192,087
JORDAN: 531,908 EGYPT: 124,373 JAKE BRENNAN MANAGING EDITOR
Over two million Syrian refugees have fled the country since Jan. 2012. Nearly one third of these are children. The above graphic lists the numbers of refugees currently registered in each neighboring nation. back as far as the 1970s, according to Egyptian professor of mechanical and manufacturing engineering, Osama Ettouney. “Many of the issues that are arising right now in Egypt started in the 70s. The Muslim Brotherhood came back in the 70s,” Ettouney said. “They hijacked the revolution of 2011.” Ettouney said that since the 70s, the Brotherhood had been working their way back into the government by making deals with officials and doing things for the community.
“So when they hijacked the revolution, people said ‘Well, that’s okay, they have been doing fine in the community. Let’s just give them a chance,’” Ettouney said. “And people started to vote for them, and they got into the government.” The Brotherhood quickly established a divide and conquer strategy, according to Ettouney. “They aligned themselves with all kinds of radical Islamist groups and they started to create a very contentious society. They made divisions
between Muslims and Christians, between men and women, between Islamists and seculars and liberals,” Ettouney said. According to him, it was the young people of Egypt who made the next move. “By March of 2013, the young people decided to have a kind of drive to sign a petition to kick them [the Brotherhood] out of the government and have a new, early election,” Ettouney said. “By May, they had about 15 million signatures.”
Tri Delta chapter returns Festival prepares to dish up diversity to Miami after suspension for the community in Uptown Park BY ALI PREISSING AND VICTORIA SLATER FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT
After a four-year hiatus, the Miami University Delta Delta Delta (Tri Delta) chapter has returned to campus. The sorority was removed from campus in 2009 for a two-year suspension, and has been reinstated this semester. According to senior vice president of Panhellenic Public Relations Katharine Davies, Tri Delta was part of Miami University since 1911. The sorority is one of the largest National Panhellenic Conference chapters, with around 140 chapters existing across the country. As reported in the Miami Student on Feb. 20, 2009, national president of the Tri Delta fraternity Jackye Clark said Miami’s chapter was suspended due to a hazing incident. According to Davies, the sorority served a two-year suspension, and waited an additional two years to return to campus. “The suspension time was shorter, around two years,” Davies said. “Nationals decided to wait four years for the Tri Delta chapter to return to Miami, so that all previous members had graduated. One of the main objectives was starting with a clean, fresh slate.” According to Davies, the current pledge class is already large, with 108 new members after the first round of informal recruitment, which began Sept. 2. During the recruitment process, prospective members had 30-minute interviews with women from the Tri Delta executive office. These interviews lasted until the Sept. 6 when bids were then offered on the following day. Tri Delta gave bids to 118 women and inducted 108 into the sorority. Tri Delta will also be participating with all the other sororities
and fraternities in the spring, which begins Jan. 2 for formal recruitment during the spring, Davies said. Senior president of the Panhellenic Conference Dana Shanley explained that because Tri Delta was new to campus, they had to advertise their recruitment to potentially interested members. “The recruiters sent out emails to all sophomore, junior and senior women on campus not already affiliated with a Greek organization,” Shanley said. “Many of the girls emailed were interested, and recruitment started after that.” According to Tri Delta field consultant Rachel Wilhem, as new members fill the Miami chapter, Tri Delta encourages them to discover their values, purposes and talents. Founded on tradition, Tri Delta works on creating women of strong character with a desire to unselfishly lead and serve others. “Through our tradition and initiatives, we as Tri Delta are working to empower our women to become the best versions of themselves,” she said. “Our members are all uniquely talented, and have so much to give to our chapter, Greek Life and the campus community. They should be proud of that.” With a completely new set of faces in the Tri Delta community the chapter has already received a large amount of support from the Miami community, according to Wilhem. “Our executive office worked closely with Miami University over the past few years to find a great time to return to campus,” she said. “The university has been very supportive of our return, and the Greek community has welcomed us with excitement and open arms. I am excited and honored to help establish the Tri Delta chapter at Miami, and cannot wait to see our women create a chapter identity on campus.”
BY MARISSA STIPEK
FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT
Oxford’s Uptown Park will transform into a lively cultural celebration for the 11th annual Latin American & Caribbean UniDiversity Festival. The festival, which runs from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. today, is free to the public. Anyone in the community can stop by and grab some authentic Latin food, watch live music and dance performances and shop local vendors’ booths. The festival kicks off National Hispanic Heritage month, which runs from mid-September to mid-October. Co-directing the festival is Juanita Tate, director of divisional initiatives at Miami University. Tate said the festival began because of the huge influx of Latinos in Butler county years ago. “We wanted to teach people about the Latino heritage, and help them understand,” Tate said. “It’s a good way to learn about and experience another culture.” Tate has been with the festival all 11 years, working closely with fellow director Jacqueline Rioja Velarde and two teachers from the Talawanda School District, Suzette Shahin and Nadja Hoffmann. Tate said Miami staff and students also help with the planning, which can begin as early as spring break. Further tying Talawanda schools to the festival, this year Superintendent Kelly Spivey will give the festival address. Spivey said that while she has been attending the festival for years, this is her first time
having an active role participating in the program. In her address, she plans to discuss the importance of diversity in the schools, university and community. It is tradition for one of the musical guests to perform at Talawanda Middle School and High School in days prior to the festival. This sneak-peek gets people excited for the festival, while giving those who are unable to make it a glimpse of Latin culture, Tate said. “Talawanda really values diversity,” Spivey said. “We want to create a welcoming environment for everyone.” An inclusive environment is important, as Talawanda School District serves students with about twenty different primary languages. Often times, when professors of other languages or cultures come to teach at Miami, their children attend Talawanda schools, creating a pool of diversity. “We have students who fall into five categories: Asian, Hispanic, multiracial, black or white,” Spivey said. “About 9 percent of those students fall into a category other than white, and 2 percent are Hispanic.” Tate said the event has grown bigger each year it is put on. “We always try to add something new,” Tate said, explaining that could mean different dancers, more bands or new vendors. A local group, the Oxford Gourd and Drum Ensemble (OGADE), will be performing for the first time at this year’s event. Other exciting features include informational booths from Miami organizations and an appearance from Amazon
John, who arrives at the festival with many animals, including alpacas, llamas, spiders and boa constrictors. Occupying one of the booths will be Sigma Lambda Beta and Sigma Lambda Gamma, Miami’s international fraternity and sorority. President of Sigma Lambda Beta, Miami senior Wally Maldonado, said he and senior Marisol Torres, president of Sigma Lambda Gamma, will be MC’s for the event. The organization will also have a table where they will sell Mexican Coca-Cola and handmade bracelets, according to Maldonado. Because Sigma Lambda Beta just returned to Miami’s campus last spring, this is its first year getting involved with the festival. However, Maldonado said he has attended in the past and especially enjoyed the music and food. “There was a long line for the food last year, and it’s going to be from the same vendors this year,” Maldonado said. “It is nice seeing everybody from different backgrounds come together.” Miami celebrates the UniDiversity program throughout the entire fall semester. Other events include the study abroad fair, a quinoa-tasting and cooking competition, a talk about science fiction literature in Latin America and a film festival. People can stop by the Center for American and World Cultures in MacMillan Hall on Miami’s campus to pick up a pamphlet detailing the events, or to learn more about other countries and cultures.