September 23, 2011 | The Miami Student

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

VOLUME 139 NO. 10

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

In 1973, The Miami Student reported that the Oxford City Council had rejected for the second time a resolution to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. The initiative petition called for a $5 fine for “casual possession marijuana in quantities of four ounces or less.”

AR Rahman surprises Oxford

Religion department drops WBC proposal By Sam Kay and Amanda Seitz

For The Miami Student

ANDREW BRAY THE MIAMI STUDENT

AR Rahman signs Miami University junior Charlie Poe’s music score at a recital held for Rahman Thursday in Hall Auditorium.

By Dan Hamlin

For The Miami Student

AR Rahman might not be as well known in the United States as other musical geniuses such as John Williams, Howard Shore or Hans Zimmer, but worldwide, he is in a class of his own. Rahman made a surprise visit to the campus of Miami University Thursday to take some time to listen to performances by the Symphony Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, Choarliers and Collegiate Chorale in preparation for this weekend’s Global Rhythms performances. Word spread around quickly throughout the music department and campus that Rahman would be visiting for a brief amount of time. His visit only lasted around

five hours, but included multiple performances and many pictures. How significant is his appearance at Miami? Charlie Poe, the Miami University Symphony Orchestra president put it simply. “It’s huge,” Poe said. “Somebody that is recognized around the world to come visit Oxford is amazing.” Junior Andrew Moore, a music performance minor, agreed with Poe. “I’m really excited,” Moore said. “I don’t think we have ever had a world renowned composer come to Oxford to listen to his own music.” This is not Rahman’s first visit to Oxford. His ties to Miami are deep, stemming from his friendship

with alumnus and Global Rhythms director Srinivas Krishnan. Former Collegiate Chorale and Men’s Glee Club director Ethan Sperry arranged numerous selections by Rahman for the choral world. Pieces such as “Zikr,” “Jai-Ho” and “Wedding Qawwali” have all been sung at concerts at Miami and elsewhere. This past summer, Miami students had the opportunity to visit and perform in Chennai at Rahman’s KM Conservatory. Senior Sean O’Neill was one of the students who was able to perform at the conservatory. “[Rahman] has a really crazy schedule,” O’Neill said. “Trying to meet with

RAHMAN, SEE PAGE 9

The department of comparative religion has decided to pull plans to invite a member of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) to Miami University’s campus. The department was in the planning stages of bringing WBC member Shirley Phelps-Roper to professor Hillel Gray’s 100-level class on religious extremism, according to Stephen Nimis, comparative religion department chair. The department will instead invite Gray to lecture on his previous WBC research. The department considered having Gray interview Phelps-Roper off-campus for subsequent viewing by his class, but decided against this option. Confusion surrounding the WBC visit swept the Miami community when an article in the Sept. 20 issue of The Miami Student said College of Arts and Science Dean Phyllis Callahan had approved the speaker. Miami officials denied Callahan had approved the department’s proposal to bring WBC to campus. Comparative religion professor Liz Wilson declined to comment on why she told The Miami Student Sept. 19 that the proposal had Callahan’s approval. “They had a proposal, they left with notes and questions,” Callahan said. “The proposal was not accepted.” It is unlikely a stamp of approval from the administration was necessary to bring a WBC member to campus for a classroom visit and public playback of an interview.

Faculty members have the right to bring nearly any guest speaker to class under the principles of academic freedom. The proposal from the comparative religion department was not to seek approval, but to give notice and invite input concerning the plans. “We knew the visit would be controversial and therefore were giving a heads up to the college leadership,” Nimis said via email. The university would only intervene under extreme circumstances, such as a threat to campus security, according to Miami President David Hodge. “We have limited authority to step in and tell someone they can’t do something unless we fear for the safety of others,” Hodge said. Callahan said academic freedom is “at the heart” of a university campus. “We do not restrict faculty members’ ability to invite a guest speaker to their class,” Callahan said. The dean questioned the risk associated with bringing a known hate group to campus. “Because you can do something, should you do it?” Callahan said. “If I have an approval voice, I will not approve it.” The WBC expressed dismay at the comparative religion department’s decision to pull its tentative offer. “It’s just a sad state of affairs, especially in the university forum, for people to be so scared about what the Bible really says that they would pull an offer,” WBC member Steve Drain said. “That’s not an open exchange of ideas at that university.”

Before the invitation was pulled, The Miami Student asked Phelps-Roper whether the group would stage a Miami picket if uninvited. “We’re not going to make a special trip there,” PhelpsRoper said. “We’ll be there if this is what [God] is to have us do.” Hodge said the visit could have provided an interesting learning experience for the Miami community had the proposal moved forward.

Because you can do something, should you do it?” PHYLLIS CALLAHAN

DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE

“It [would have been] a chance for our students to see these people, to put them under the lens of academic inquiry, by no means giving them a venue to stand up and spew their hatred,” Hodge said. Gray’s lecture on his WBC research is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 25. Before the proposal was abandoned, the Comparative Religion Student Association planned to request Associated Student Government (ASG) funding for the WBC visit. At a funding hearing Thursday evening, it instead requested the funds for Gray’s lecture. ASG has given initial approval to the request. See clarification of Sept. 20 article on page 9.

COM 135 exemplifies debate over definition of a humanities course By Ellie Gonso

For The Miami Student

Any excitement incoming students have at freshmen orientation comes to a screeching halt the minute their counselor hands them a single white sheet of paper. Graduation requirements: a daunting, undecipherable, jumbled mess of letters and numbers. Although the Miami University College of Arts and Science degree requirements may appear to be written by a rocket scientist, there may be a disconnect between university division requirements and the Miami Plan. Although the purpose of the Miami Plan is to enhance students’ overall liberal education, there is a question of whether it needs to be reevaluated holistically. The discrepancy is illustrated by one of the most popular courses

on campus, Communications (COM) 135. On Sept. 10, Richard Campbell, director of the journalism department and interim chair of the communications department, submitted a petition to the Office of Liberal Education requesting to delist COM 135, a public speaking course, as a humanities credit under the Miami Plan. Currently, COM 135 is required by 31 different majors to graduate, many outside of the College of Arts and Science. According to Campbell, the course now fills nearly 26 sections a semester and the course is led by mostly visiting faculty members. However, Campbell feels the discrepancy lies in the fact that students outside of the College of Arts and Science can fulfill their one Miami Plan humanities requirement with COM 135.

Campbell’s issue with COM 135 is that, while it is an important course, it does not embody the core elements of a typical humanities class, such as history, literature or religion. However, he views the COM 135 quandary as a small symptom of a much larger problem. “I don’t think it’s right that business and engineering students can fulfill their one humanities requirement with COM 135,” Campbell said. “This is an illustration of what I think is a larger problem in terms of rethinking the entire curriculum.” When the new Global Miami Plan went into effect in the fall of 2010, three credits were extracted from the second foundation, decreasing student’s overall exposure to the humanities. According to John Tassoni, Director of Liberal Education, the Liberal Education Council

(LEC) sent a survey, asking the humanities departments to audit their classes to ensure they still contained core humanities elements.

gives as much exposure to the humanities as possible. COM 135 may be one example of a course that does not embody classic humanities elements.

I don’t think it’s right that business and engineering students can fulfill their one humanities requirement with COM 135.” RICHARD CAMPBELL

DIRECTOR OF JOURNALISM DEPARTMENT

Tassoni said the findings of the survey raised some interesting questions about how courses are categorized. “Because of the tightening of the credits, we wanted to look and see that students are getting the most out of the humanities courses as they can,” he said. Tassoni said it is important to the LEC that every course

Alternatively, students in the College of Arts and Science are required to take nine hours of humanities, a foreign language and potential additions of quantitative literacy and writing requirements. While some may gawk at the additional requirements, Campbell sees them as benefits to students’ overall liberal education.

“What we’re doing in the college is making requirements that we want students to know when they leave here. I want our students to be good writers and have an understanding of quantitative literacy,” Campbell said. But as the College of Arts and Science continues to make changes, some question whether the Miami Plan is at odds with the division’s goals. According to Campbell, some students in the College of Arts and Science graduate well above 128 hours due to the requirements of both the college and the Miami Plan. Junior Brooke Sheehan said she has been swamped with the amount of hours she has to take. “Since I was undecided freshman year, I’ve had to

MIAMI PLAN, SEE PAGE 9


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September 23, 2011 | The Miami Student by The Miami Student - Issuu