October 1, 2013 | The Miami Student

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

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013

VOLUME 141 NO. 10

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1983, The Miami Student reported that an outbreak of measles had spread through several Indiana colleges and threatened to make its way to Miami.

Student health clinic doctor Henry Salzarulo urged students to get vaccinated and avoid spreading the disease while on spring break, saying, “Folks always get together in Florida and swap germs ... ”

Miami mourns a student ‘going places’ BY EMILY CRANE CAMPUS EDITOR

Sean VanDyne was not one for doing things the conventional way. His love for fun and his tireless ambition often took him off the beaten path and made those around him stop and take notice. As Sean’s childhood friend Jon Lee put it, “He knew what he wanted to do and how he was going to do it.” In an elementary school worksheet where Sean wrote of his love for dogs and math, he also declared that he would be a lawyer someday. Though his ambitions shifted over the years, his drive did not, Lee said. VanDyne died last Monday following a car crash that put him in critical condition. He had just started his first year at Miami University as a Farmer School of Business (FSB) Scholar, with a long list of merit scholarships covering the bulk of his tuition and fees. He was studying accountancy with ambitions of becoming an FBI agent someday, according to his parents. But Lee, also a Miami first-year, said Sean’s brief time in the “Renaissance in Italy” art class had led him to wonder if he should pursue a degree in the arts. “He told me one day, ‘I really love this [14th] century Western art class. I think I want to change my major,’” Lee said. The professor for the course, Andrew Casper, said it was rather unusual for a first-year student to be taking this 300-level course, but that Sean had stood out during class discussions.

“I was impressed by his ability to participate in a way that was substantial and meaningful to the class,” Casper said. “That was unusual for a first-year student.” As a part of FSB’s China Business Program, Sean was also taking Mandarin. One of his favorite places to practice was his job at Skyline Chili in Hamilton, where he worked with Lee. “He’d come in here and talk in Chinese to the customers, yelling ‘zain jin!’ as they were leaving,” Lee said, laughing at the memory. “He always wanted other people to have a good time.” Lee said he relentlessly poked fun at his coworkers and kept the work atmosphere light. “You knew it was going to be a good day when you walked in and saw Sean,” another coworker, Hope McClain said. In the two months she worked with Sean, Hope said she had come to recognize him by his bright red Toms shoes. “He had red Toms; it was kinda his thing here,” McClain said. “It was kinda unusual for a guy to wear Toms, but Sean did, and he would always tell us to get them.” Lee agreed with the sentiment. “He always did things his own way,” Lee said. And Sean’s way was helping people no matter what, according to his wife Rachel, also a Miami first-year. “He just really loved to help people,” Rachel said. “You could call him literally at 3 a.m. or 5 a.m. and he’d be there.”

SEAN VANDYNE MIAMI UNIVERSITY FIRST-YEAR

First-year student Sean VanDyne died Tuesday, Sept. 24 in the University of Cincinnati Medical center after a VANDYNE single-vehicle crash Saturday, Sept. 21.The accident also killed University of Cincinnati football player Ben Flick and SEE PAGE 9 injured two others.

Administration fights sexual assault by MU men grow beards calling for a change in attitude, policy to battle breast cancer BY REIS THEBAULT SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Miami University administration has updated its policy regarding sexual assualt in response to the ongoing prevalence of this crime across college campuses. However, according to President David Hodge, there is no easy answer. “This is one of those things where there is no silver bullet, there is no way to go in and say we’ll do this and it’ll be done,” Hodge said. Hodge sent an email Sept. 18 to all students and faculty reminding them of, “our obligation to foster and maintain an environment that is free of harassment, discrimination and sexual violence.” Hodge said there is a multifaceted plan in the works that includes an updated Policy Prohibiting Harassment and Discrimination, an updated Sex-Based Offense Protocol and will garner support and momentum from the “I Am Miami” campaign. The policy changes and expansions come from a portion of the Violence Against Women Act that Congress passed last fall that called for universities to report domestic violence, dating violence and stalking just as they do sexual assault. The act will become effective in March 2014. “We have begun early compliance with that act,” Miami’s general council, Robin Parker, said. “It essentially asks universities to address domestic violence, dating violence and stalking in the same way that we address sexual assault.” According to Miami’s sexual assault response coordinator, Rebecca

Getson, Miami had already been informally, in terms of submitting police reports, responding to domestic violence, dating violence and stalking cases but this was not in writing. “I know when I came on board, one of the things that I was interested in doing was including those kind of pieces as well,” Getson said. “The big thing was actually putting in writing the things we were doing.” The policy side, or the response side, is only half of the issue. There is also the preventative side of sexbased offenses. This is where the “I Am Miami” campaign and bystander intervention education come in. Melissa Auringer is the coordinator of women’s services at the Student Counseling Center and is an advocate for this education. “Bystander intervention is really encouraging students to look out for each other,” Auringer, said. “This idea of what happens to one of us, happens to all of us and we want to be proactive in supporting each other and preventing these things from happening.” Building that sense of community will, administrators hope, foster a truly safe environment. “We will be linking ‘I Am Miami’ with bystander intervention education because, as Miamians and as part of the community, together we can prevent that violence and we can help each other respond to and prevent things like this,” Getson said. This is another step forward for Miami in combatting sexual assault since last year’s infamous “Top Ten Ways to Get Away With Rape” flier rocked the university. At that time, Miami did not have a full time sexual

assault response coordinator. Since then, the university has hired Getson, who is employed full-time, and is pushing initiatives, like “I Am Miami,” that will further educate on how to prevent and respond to sexual assault. “As this has continued to evolve, we have come to understand that we need to be more explicit and more complete in our education around these matters,” Hodge said. The changes in code, the inclusion of domestic violence, dating violence and stalking in the new sex-based offense protocol, according to Parker, are a big part of this evolution. “We have, kind of from soup to nuts, overhauled the way we approach it to be much more intentional about making sure all of the bases are covered,” Parker said. “We were doing it before but I think in a less transparent and prescribed way.” Parker also responded to student concerns that the university was dismissing the issue of sexual assault after the students arrived for their first year. “The ‘I Am Miami’ will be that ongoing information and education campaign,” Parker said. “So for the students that said ‘I just heard about it before I came or when I came and then nothing after,’ the I Am Miami campaign will be that.” These recent initiatives and expansions, administrators believe, will be key to uniting Miami’s campus and, in turn, making it a safer one. “This has to be a comprehensive movement forward in terms of clarifying expectations for everybody,” Hodge said. “And that’s why the ‘I Am Miami’ activities are so important, because they help connect us.”

BEARDS FOR BOOBS THE MIAMI STUDENT

Sophomores Alex Belman and Kenny Ness promote the“Beards for Boobs” event to raise money for the fight against breast cancer.

BY ALI PREISSING

FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

The month-long beard-growing competition commonly known as “No Shave November” is being redefined by Miami University sophomores Alex Belman and Kenny Ness, who will ignore their razors for a purpose other than growing the most impressive scruff; they plan to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. After Belman and Ness combined National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October and “No Shave November,” the campaign they named “Beards for Boobs” was born. Gaining national popularity over the past few years, “No Shave November” is a whole month dedicated to men

growing out their facial hair. Through Belman’s and Ness’ event, men will now raise money for breast cancer for not shaving during November. “Guys who decide to participate grow out beards for the month of November while receiving donations from family and friends in order to raise money and awareness for breast cancer,” Belman said. According to Belman and Ness, the fundraisers inception was held last year and went really well, but they hoped to expand it even more. More students became interested in being a part of “Beards for Boobs” after Belman and Ness presented their idea to their fraternity,

BEARDS

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October 1, 2013 | The Miami Student by The Miami Student - Issuu