October 30, 2012 | The Miami Student

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

TUESday, OCTOBER 30, 2012

VOLUME 140 NO. 20

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

2012 Election Issue TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY

In 1979, The Miami Student reported 300 people had jammed the alley between CJ’s Bar and Mac and Joe’s, throwing beer bottles at police and blocking the alley on Halloween Night. The activity began around 10:30 p.m. that night and lasted until 1:30 the next morning. Police reported two arrests in connection to the disturbance. No injuries or property damage was reported.

Presidential politics in the ‘Miami bubble’ By Emily Glaser Senior Staff Writer

With the election just around the corner, Miami University students have mixed opinions on the most important issues this election, from the economy to women’s rights. Miami students are traditionally conservative compared to other universities, according to past results of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP), a national survey given to incoming firstyears. In 2011, the survey found that nearly 35 percent labeled their political leanings as “conservative” or “far right.” Comparatively, in other highly selective public universities, like the University of South Carolina and the College of William and Mary, 25 percent said they were “conservative” or “far right,” according to CIRP. The numbers are reflected in the membership of College Republicans and College Democrats; the College Republicans signed up 500 interested first-years at the beginning of this semester, while the College Democrats signed up approximately 150, according to presidents of the groups, Baylor Myers and Laura Kretz respectively. Both organizations, however, reported increased membership and excitement this year. “I think we are all very excited because it’s a presidential election year,” Kretz said. “The average student will only experience one presidential election, and this is that year for people.” Myers echoed the sentiment. “Enthusiasm for College Republicans has reached a high point with Paul Ryan’s nomination,” Myers said. In addition to reporting more conservative views than comparable schools, Miami students also report a higher income. Bryan Marshall, professor of political science at Miami, thinks conservativeness and wealth statistics at Miami are linked. “People who report more income tend to affiliate with the Republican

party,” Marshall said. “Traditionally, the Republican party has been viewed in terms of being more supportive of business and in terms of supporting folks that have upper economic status. The Democratic party is viewed as the party of the worker, and folks that aren’t high up on a socioeconomic scale.” The CIRP survey found 20 percent of first-year Miami students reported an estimated family income of more than $250,000 compared to14 percent at other highly selective public universities. The median household income for Americans so far in 2012 is $50,054, according to the United States Census Bureau. Senior Stephanie Babiarz said she is not surprised by the wealth statistic, in fact, she thought more Miami students would report their estimated parental income in the above $200,000 bracket. “I honestly thought it would be a higher percentage than that,” Babiarz said. “My own family’s income is probably in the $200,000 or over bracket, and I don’t consider myself one of the wealthiest kids here.” According to Andrea Bakker, assistant director of institutional research, not much has changed since the last presidential election in 2008. “Miami students generally report a higher income than other highly selective public universities, which is our comparison group,” she said. “Incoming Miami students do report more conservative views than our comparable groups; there has not really been fluctuation in terms of political attitudes.” While the political leaning data has not fluctuated much at Miami, since the 2008 CIRP survey, there is nearly a three percent drop in the number of Miami students who consider themselves “liberal” or “far left.” Marshall does not think the drop is significant, but noted differences between this election year and the 2008 election. “The election in 2008 was historically unique for many reasons,” Marshall said. “The way [Barack Obama] campaigned, going above partisanship, was a message that

really resonated with students and young people.” According to the CIRP survey, politics is still an often discussed topic at Miami. In the survey, 37.2 percent of students said they discussed politics “frequently” while another 49.3 percent reported they discussed politics “occasionally.” Chris Berry, Miami graduate and former College Republicans President, said there was definitely excitement for President Obama on campus in 2008. “The College Republicans have always had a strong presence at Miami, because Miami is traditionally more conservative,” Berry said. “In 2008, it was a little more even [between the College Republicans and College Democrats].” This election year, the novelty of the incumbent president has worn off for some Miami students. Senior Patrick Wolande said he voted for President Obama in 2008, but will vote for Mitt Romney, though he aligns his views most closely with libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, in the upcoming election. “There was excitement for Obama in 2008,” Wolande said. “I believed his message of hope and change. I just haven’t seen the results I thought I was going to.” Wolande said the economy is the most important issue for him, and he is fiscally conservative but socially liberal. Wolande is not alone in his fiscally conservative and socially liberal views. According to the CIRP survey, 58.2 percent of Miami students “agree strongly” or “agree somewhat” that abortion should remain legal. Just over half of students believe marijuana should be legalized. A majority of students, 71.4 percent believe same-sex marriage should be legalized. A majority of students, 53.1 percent, also believe global warming should be a federal priority, according to the CIRP. The Affordable Care Act is not as popular with students, with 55.8 percent saying they disagreed with the statement, “a national health

ARIANNE KREKELER THE MIAMI STUDENT

A poll on miamistudent.net asked readers who they were voting for this election.This is not a scientific poll; it was not limited to Miami students. care plan is needed to cover everybody’s medical costs.” Senior Matt Luedtke also believes green party candidate Jill Stein, most closely matches his beliefs. “I would vote [for] Obama instead because he is a close second, and unlike Jill Stein, has an actual chance at winning the election,” Luedtke said. “But I, like a lot of liberals, have become disenchanted with this administration since 2008.” For Luedtke, social issues like marriage equality, equal pay for women, and universal health care are the most important issues of this election, and he believes the president is better for those issues than Mitt Romney. Social issues define the election for senior Dana Shanley as well, and she has already voted absentee for President Obama. “Women’s issues are huge for

me,” Shanley said. “Women are graduating college and entering the workplace at a higher percentage and higher level than men, why is there still that [pay] discrepancy?” Senior Mike Woeste also voted absentee, but for Mitt Romney. Like Wolande, his defining issue is the economy. “The reason I voted for Mitt Romney is because I believe he is a very strong executive who has the experience, know-how and proper administration that will put the economy back on track,” Woeste said. While Miami may seem partisan based on the CIRP data, 41.3 percent of incoming Miami first-years ranked themselves as middle-of-theroad, in 2011. The percentage was the same for comparable universities.

Look inside for more coverage of the upcoming election. Page 2: A look into the Affordable Care Act and the contraceptive mandate. Students and faculty weigh in on the complicated and often controversial issues surrounding health care and reproductive rights. Page 3: Coverage of local ballot Issue 2, an item that would change the Ohio redistricting process; tax levy Issue 24, regarding the Butler County Public Children Services Agency; and the Ohio House of Representatives race between incumbent Tim Derickson (R) and challenger Suzi Rubin (D). Page 4: A look at the lighthearted side of the election with a review of Capitol Steps, a political satire troupe. Page 6 and 7: A collection of profiles of local voters from the university and the community.

PANDEMONIUM AT YAGER

JM RIEGER THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami University fans and football players storm the field after the RedHawks’ 23-20 win over Ohio University in the “Battle of the Bricks” Saturday.

Note: The Miami Student will not publish an issue Friday Nov. 2, 2012.


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CAMPUS

Editors JENN SMOLA ALLISON MCGILLIVRAY

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012

campus@miamistudent.net

Contraceptive rights debated by Miamians By Allison McGillivray Campus Editor

As political advertisements have taken over media channels, lawns and billboards, Miami University students are reminded that the Nov. 6 presidential election is nigh. One of the issues that has been discussed on the campaign trail is the contraceptive mandate proposed by President Barack Obama’s administration, which would require all new private health insurance plans to cover birth control at no cost to the employee. The contraceptive mandate is part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, which was upheld by the Supreme Court June 28. Miami Comparative Religion Professor John-Charles Duffy said Republicans and Democrats tend to debate the contraceptive mandate in extreme terms in order to sway the votes of the issue’s supporters in the upcoming election. “Conservatives cast this as ‘the Obama administration is making an assault on religious freedom,’” Duffy said. “Liberals cast it as ‘conservatives are waging a war on women.’ It’s framing the issue in those inflamed terms for the issue of rallying their respective bases.” Duffy said he noted during the vice presidential debate Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan alluded to the contraceptive mandate. “He talked about the ‘assault on religious freedom,’ he called it, that the Obama administration is waging and the examples he cited were

the way he felt the administration was trying to take away the religious freedom of Catholic hospitals, Catholic charities, which was very clearly a reference to the contraceptive mandate,” Duffy said. According to Duffy, the contraceptive mandate is not a new concept. “What some journalists have been pointing out is the fact that mandates like the one that the Obama administration had originally wanted or like the compromise that is now being proposed are already in place in many states and have been supported by Republicans in the past,” Duffy said. “Republicans have lined

contraception is against Catholic Church teaching, according to Duffy. “Catholics spearheaded [the movement against the contraceptive mandate] but it was framed as an issue of religious freedom so various other kinds of religious voices joined in on that as well, including groups that really didn’t have a problem with contraception but who were willing to rally behind what they saw as Catholics’ religious freedom,” Duffy said. Senior Colten Kidwell said the contraceptive mandate violates religious freedom. “I think when you tell a religious

This is political theater. This issue that could have been discussed and has been discussed in the past in calmer ways is being inflamed at a particular moment.” john-charles duffy

COMPARATIVE RELGION PROFESSOR

up against the Obama contraceptive mandate because of course, it’s Obama, so it became a useful political tool in the election.” The contraceptive mandate does not require houses of worship to offer contraception coverage to their employees, but does require employers who are affiliated with religious institutions such as hospitals or universities to provide coverage to their employees. Roman Catholic bishops have contended that the contraceptive mandate violates religious freedom because it forces Catholics to provide contraception to others, when

organization to provide something that they don’t want to provide because they are morally against it I think that’s violating religious freedom,” Kidwell said. According to Kidwell, while many Americans believe contraceptives can be important for women’s health, religious organizations and institutions should have the freedom to decide whether or not they want to provide contraception. “Whether or not you would argue that contraceptives are important for women’s health really isn’t the debate here, because it might very well be,” Kidwell said. “But to be

forcing religious organizations and institutions to do something that goes against their moral principles is very dangerous territory and it’s another example of how the ‘Health Care Tax,’ as the Supreme Court has called it, or ObamaCare is endangering those freedoms in creating a government that has gotten too big, too controlling and too dominating.” The Obama administration proposed a compromise in March that would allow a patient who is employed by a religious institution such as a Catholic hospital to receive contraception directly from their insurer rather than their employer. “So it’s this way that you are still getting the coverage but you are sort of bypassing the religious employer, so the religious employer can sort of say that their hands are clean, but you still get the coverage, which is crucial from the administration’s point of view,” Duffy said. Institutions representing Catholic hospitals favored the compromise, but U.S. Catholic bishops rejected it, according to Duffy. “One of their arguments, for example, is that Catholics working in the insurance industry are still sort of going to be tainted by contraceptive services,” Duffy said. “They argued that the only way that insurance companies are going to be able to provide this service is by raising premiums for everyone. So people who don’t believe in contraception will nevertheless be paying for contraception.” Duffy said the reason Catholic bishops have been assertive in opposing the contraceptive mandate is because they want to inform

American Catholics about why the Catholic Church does not support the use of contraception. “I think for the Catholic bishops this has become an occasion to send a message to American Catholics,” Duffy said. “American Catholics are notorious for ignoring the Church’s ban on birth control … it’s an effort on behalf of the Catholic bishops to reinforce the Church’s teachings to a laity that is not convinced that those teachings are all that important.” Associate Professor of English and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Madelyn Detloff said the debate over reproductive rights can be seen as early as the 1910s when contraception advocate Margaret Sanger was indicted in 1914 for providing information on birth control and family planning to women and men. Sanger’s motivation was to prevent the negative side effects multiple pregnancies can have on women, according to Detloff. There are still risks associated with pregnancy today, Detloff said. In 2010, 287,000 women worldwide died due to pregnancy or childbirth complications, according to the World Health Organization. Detloff said some medical risks for pregnancy in the United States include high blood pressure, diabetes, death, serious back injuries and the inability to treat mood disorders in patients who have been diagnosed with them. Senior Justine Furbeck supports the contraceptive mandate because

MANDATE, SEE PAGE 12

Former Times editor Keller speaks at Miami By JM Rieger

Editor at Large

Former New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller spoke Monday to approximately 200 students, faculty and Oxford community members in Miami University’s Farmer School of Business. The event, “My Time at The Times: A conversation with Bill Keller,” consisted of initial remarks from Keller followed by a question and answer (Q&A) session. Keller began the event talking about how his background influenced his career and belief system, and said he believes in three things: luck, doubt and curiosity. He graduated from Pomona College in 1970, but said he has learned much more since graduating. “I supposedly majored in English; in reality, I majored in the campus newspaper with a minor in recreational substances,” Keller said. During the Q&A session, Keller answered questions ranging from The Times’ coverage of the Iraq War to the Jayson Blair scandal to whether or not The Times is a liberal publication. Keller said the Internet and social media have great potential, but also said the media needs to be conscious of the potential downside of the Internet, especially reinforcing audience prejudices and quickly releasing information rather than fact checking it. The Miami chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) organized the event that was intended to excite and inform students about journalism, according to SPJ Treasurer Ariana Williams. “I really enjoyed that he wanted to do something that was really informal,” Williams said. “He stressed to us that he wanted to do a Q&A.” Keller answered questions for more than 45 minutes. “I’m looking forward to a lively Q&A,” Keller said. “When I say

I’m looking forward to it, I’m just being polite. What I really mean is I feel like the guys in the dunking booth. And I see a lot of people out there limbering up their throwing arms.” Miami Journalism Program Coordinator of Special Events and SPJ Advisor, Patti Newberry, said she first emailed Keller about speaking at Miami in the summer of 2011. Newberry booked Keller for Monday’s event in July 2012 following a series of emails. Newberry said Keller was a very generous and accommodating guest and enjoyed his long and thoughtful responses. “Bill Keller in my book is the real deal,” Newberry said. “He is a solid, lifelong journalist, committed to the highest standards of newsgathering.” In addition to speaking with Miami students during his visit, Keller is also reporting on the election for The Times, and the Miami journalism department put together a list of potential sources to help with Keller’s reporting. He returns to New York Wednesday. Keller served as executive editor of The New York Times from 2003 to 2011. Keller now writes an op-ed column for The Times and is a senior writer for The New York Times Magazine. Keller is also a member of the Pomona College Board of Trustees. Previously at The Times, Keller served as a managing editor, a foreign editor, a bureau chief and as a foreign and domestic correspondent. Keller began his journalism career writing for The Portland Oregonian before working for The Dallas Times Herald and the Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report. The event was sponsored by the Diana Stark Journalism Fund, the New York Times Collegiate Readership Program and the Miami University Office of the President and was organized by SPJ.

Happy Halloween!

Send pictures of your most creative Halloween costumes to photo@miamistudent.net for a chance to appear on our website and our Facebook page.

DAMIEN WATSON THE MIAMI STUDENT

PADDLE PARTY

Students splash around during the second annual battleship skirmish at the Rec Center Sunday, Oct. 28. Battleship teams take to canoes in the Rec Center pool to try to sink their competitors.

Miami looks within for ASC director By Catherine Monceaux

For The Miami Student

Miami University has chosen Katie Wilson, currently Miami’s senior director of student engagement for the Office of Student Activities and Leadership, to be the director for the school’s much anticipated Armstrong Student Center (ASC). Miami’s student affairs committee interviewed over 50 applicants in an open process, including applicants outside of Miami. According to Scott Walter, vice president of student affairs, it was Wilson’s substantial background

in student affairs, experience with and knowledge of Miami and her desire to have the position that

My goal is to live up to the vision Miami has for it, for it to be entirely student-centered.” KATIE WILSON

DIRECTOR OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

helped her stand apart from the other applicants. Wilson said the great relationships she has built with students

around campus will be a helpful component to her success. “The hallmark of Miami is that we have such an engaged student body,” Wilson said. “My goal is that the student center reflects that.” Her priorities for her first year as director of the ASC include first and foremost the hiring of a staff that shares her goals for the center. She said she also plans to make sure the ASC is student-centered, and to aid in helping the center to run successfully. Wilson also said she intends to set up a student board, in

Director, SEE PAGE 10


Editors OLIVIA HNAT HANNAH STEIN

COMMUNITY

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012

COMMUNITY@miamistudent.net

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POLICE Campaigns charm young voters

BEAT

By Hannah Stein Community Editor

In recent election cycles the youth vote has been given increasing attention and is becoming increasingly important. “There are a lot of different things [that appeal to the youth voters],” Matthew Henderson, director of communications at the Ohio Republican Party, said. “From a state party level we have lots of different avenues for students to get involved,” he said. “[Such as] Facebook, Twitter and new applications that get them updates on what the campaign is doing from the ground level.” Since Ohio is a swing state and one of the most important states in the election, both candidates have been making appearances at colleges throughout Ohio and holding rallies that appeal to youth voters. “Ohioans are very spoiled in terms

of the opportunities we get in choosing what candidate we want to vote for,” Henderson said. “Perhaps over the last couple of weeks almost every day a candidate or [affiliates] have been here in our state.” Both candidates have been making an effort to appeal to the youth voters and increase youth voter participation during this election. Harvard University did a recent study that showed since 2000 there has been a decrease in youth voters’ enthusiasm levels, Henderson said. However, since 2010 there has been a continuing rise in enthusiasm and both presidential candidates have played a role in this increase, he said. According to The Center For Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), the youth voter turnout (ages 18-24) in the 2008 election was at 48.7 percent, a 1.8 percent increase from 2004. The youth vote is crucial and many

people said they believe this election will have an even higher turnout. “I think it’s important for us to vote because we had such a large turnout in 2008 and we can’t not be active,” Laura Kretz, Miami University College Democrats president, said. “We can’t just be one time voters. We need to have our voice heard.” Since Republican vice president hopeful, Paul Ryan, is a Miami alum and Barack Obama is a young president, both parties have appealed specifically to the youth voters at Miami and have made campus an exciting place for politics, Kretz said. Both College Democrats and College Republicans have been holding voter registration drives throughout the semester and are now trying to get students to the polls. Students also have the ability to volunteer at one of the local Obama or Romney campaign offices. Youth voter participation is so important in this elelction, Kretz said.

“We’re inheriting this country and its problems,” Kretz said. “It’s really the truth. All these issues that we’re discussing now are affecting us. We’re talking about education, health care…there are so many issues that affect us currently not even 20 years from now.” Another crucial issue to youth voters is unemployment, Baylor Myers, chairman of College Republicans, said. “I think especially college students when [they are] pouring time, money and resources into obtaining a degree and then graduating and then finding themselves unemployed is incredibly problematic,” he said. “Your future depends on it, literally.” However, not all efforts to increase youth voter participation have come entirely from the parties themselves. Wednesday Oct. 24, singer Katy Perry held a concert in the battleground state of Nevada to support President Barack Obama.

Issue 2: amending the Ohio redistricting process By Olivia Hnat Community Editor

Issue 2 is a proposed constitutional amendment to Article XI of the Constitution of the State of Ohio. This constitutional amendment changes the redistricting process for state and federal districts in the state. What it Means to Vote Yes. A majority Yes vote on Issue 2 will amend Article XI of the Constitution of the State of Ohio. It will change the redistricting process for state and federal legislative districts. Under the amendment, a 12-person “Ohio citizens redistricting commission” will be formed to redraw the district lines. The commission will be funded by the state. The commission will include four members of the majority party, four members of the minority party and four members not affiliated with either party. The amendment maps out the process of committee selection that is included in the ballot points A-F. Members of the committee cannot be removed by the General Assembly or the executive branch. Commitee meetings will be public record. The commission will use population data from the federal decennial census from the U.S. Census Bureau to redraw lines based on “competitiveness, representational fairness and compactness.” The ballot issue requires a simple majority to amend the Constitution. If passed, it will become law thirty days after the election. The campaign for Vote Yes on Issue 2 is led by Voters First Ohio and the League of Women Voters.

What it Means to Vote No. The current redistricting process is legislated under Article XI of the Constitution of the State of Ohio. The amendment designates members of the General Assembly to draw district lines according to the federal decennial census from the U.S Census Bureau. Every ten years the districts are redrawn by state legislatures in the majority party in the Ohio General Assembly. The majority party redraws districts so each district meets population requirements legislated in Article XI. According to Article XI of the Ohio Constitution, “The governor, auditor of state, secretary of state, one person chosen by the speaker of the House of Representatives and the leader in the Senate of the political party of which the speaker is a member, and one person chosen by the legislative leaders in the two houses of the major political party of which the speaker is not a member shall be the persons responsible for the apportionment of this state for members of the general assembly.” If the ballot issue receives a majority of votes, the Ohio Constitution and redistricting process will not be amended. The campaign for Vote No on Issue 2 is led by Protect Your Vote Ohio.

For more information on Issue 2 and other issues on the ballot, visit the Ohio Secretary of State website, www.sos.state.os.us

The Miami Student published “Candidates debate jobs plan” on the U.S Senate race between Senator Sherrod Brown (D) and Treasurer Josh Mandel (R) Sept. 13. Find the story at http://www. miamistudent.net/community.

TMS www.miamistudent.net

ONLINE

LISA GEHRING THE MIAMI STUDENT

POLITICS ARE NO LAUGHING MATTER

The Capitol Steps presented “Take The Money And Run (For President),” a satiric comedy performance commenting on current political events and the upcoming election. The group performed twice in Hall Auditorium on Sunday.

Issue 24: Renewing a tax levy for Public Children Services Agency In Butler County, all ballots will end with asking voters to vote yes or no on Issue 24, the renewal of a tax levy for funding the Butler County Public Children Services Agency (BCPCSA). The Butler County Public Children Services Agency provides services to abused, neglected

and dependent children. According to the Butler County Board of Elections website, voting yes on this issue would mean that twenty cents for each one hundred dollars, for a period of five years, will go to the BCPCSA. Neither party has taken a stance on this issue.

Candidates for Ohio legislature stress education reform By Freeland Oliverio Senior Staff Writer

The race for Ohio’s 53rd House District seat has been focused primarily on school budget reform and the workforce. State representative and Oxford resident Timothy Derickson (R) is the incumbent, having held the seat on the Ohio State House of Representatives since 2009. Before that, Derickson was a small business owner and farm owner in Butler County. His challenger, Suzi Rubin (D), has been a city council member for the city of Monroe since 2004. She has also worked on several journalistic publications and has worked on the school board for Monroe Local Schools. As the Chairman of Workforce Development Task Force, Derickson said one of the most important aspects of job growth is worker education. “One of the main problems is that employers have jobs to fill, but

lack a workforce that possesses the necessary skills to fill these jobs,” Derickson said. “It’s important to make sure that our workforce has the training and skillset needed to fill the jobs that are needed.” Derickson said he is also concerned about education reform. “I think how we fund our K-12 system needs to be reformed and needs to be constitutional,” Derickson said. As of now the current kindergarten to twelfth grade schooling system is set up so that schools receive funding based on time spent receiving instruction in the classroom. This discourages teachers from using a “blended curriculum,” which means incorporating digital and computerized learning, according to Derickson. “Our education needs flexibility,” Derickson said. “Digital learning should be encouraged and integrated with time spent in the classroom. Schools and teachers need more inclass flexibility with a system that encourages blended learning.”

Challenger Suzi Rubin has also set her sights on reforming Ohio’s school funding. “My main goal for this election is to reform school funding,” Rubin said. “I was involved in the late 90s in getting a new school district for Monroe. I was primarily in charge of putting the new budget together and realized how unconstitutional and unfair school funding was.” Ohio schools have been funded the same way since the 1930s, according to Rubin. The system is set up so that the state collects a portion of sales and property taxes are earmarked towards funding local schools. According to Rubin, this has changed in recent years. “Last year, local schools saw 25 percent of the earmarked amount not returned to them; this year, it was 50 percent,” Rubin said. “That money has remained in Columbus and this needs to stop.” In addition to fixing local school budgets in Ohio, Rubin also seeks to stress the importance of worker’s rights. Last year, Derickson

voted Yes on House Bill 5, a bill that worked to prevent collective bargaining between unions and the government, according to Rubin. “I disagree with Representative Derickson when it comes to workers’ rights,” Rubin said. “Bargaining for wages and working conditions are beneficial to both the government and the workers.” Although Rep. Derickson voted “yes” on the law, the law was repealed by a referendum in November of last year. Representative Derickson is a supporter of Future Farmers of America (FFA) and is as a member of Ohio’s Agriculture/ Natural Resources Committee. Additionally, Rep. Derickson has supported a number of bills that shifting jobs from the public to the private sector. “One of the biggest issues for me is workforce development and trying to fill the gap [in jobs] that employers have recognized,” Derickson said.


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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Editor BILLY RAFAEL

ARTS@miamistudent.net

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012

Politics inspire comedy By Billy Rafael

Arts & Entertainment Editor

In a time when politics is quickly becoming the only thing anyone wants to talk about, Hall Auditorium received a breath of fresh air by hosting the Capitol Steps, a touring political comedy act whose motto is “We put the ‘mock’ in ‘Democracy.” As part of the Miami University Performing Arts Series, five performers took the stage Sunday for both an afternoon and evening show. The group has been going for over thirty years and features more members than performed Sunday allowing them to perform in multiple places at once. Picture a whole string of SNL sketches fused in with Weird Al-style parodies then loaded with more political jokes, puns and insults than you can imagine and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what their show is like. The performance thrived off of its impressions, most notably an Obama who appeared several times throughout the show and presented with a perfected authenticity, nailing every mannerism and dialect. Nothing was left untouched. Every political figure, scandal and gaffe was given attention. They treaded a fine line, making sure to not seem as if they were siding with one political party. What they were doing was truly mocking and they made

sure to equally dish it out. Highlights included Bill Clinton walking onstage to give a single one-liner about Romney’s “binder full of women,” a New York city official who started his bit by telling the piano player to shut up and an Iraqi tourism minister that ended up breaking

I like that they tried to make it accessible to all audiences, but the more you knew about politics the funnier it was.” JAROD GAREL

MIAMI UNIVERSITY SENIOR

character to laugh at himself and skipping straight to his song. The music was corny enough that it was entertaining. They drew from everywhere for their parodies and crafted the words extremely delicately, making it easy to identify what each song originally was. The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, Grease, Fiddler on the Roof, Simon and Garfunkel and Billy Joel were just a few of the inspirations they chose. While some of the cast was more talented vocally than others, all performed with enough comedic integrity to keep the audience enthralled. The group definitely has a specific kind of audience member in mind when crafting the skits.

Truly appreciating their humor required being somewhat up on current events. There were times that the jokes were lost, either too particular or obscure to get noticed or unintelligible due to an impression. The humor catered to the crowd, which consisted of more Oxford residents than Miami students, being just as risqué as it needed to be. Language was kept tame and innuendos were just suggestive enough keep the laughs coming. As they finished their finale, “We Didn’t Start Satire,” they were met with a very sincere ovation from the audience. The cast was sure to give special attention to the lone piano player who accompanied the entire performance from memory. “I thought the writing was extremely clever and the performers were great vehicles for the writing,” senior Jarod Garel said after the evening performance. “I like that they tried to make it accessible to all audiences, but the more you knew about politics the funnier it was.” Whether the audience walked away with a changed political perspective remains unknown, but it’s safe to say that everyone definitely left feeling a little more lighthearted about this election season. More information on upcoming Performing Arts Series shows can be found at http://arts.muohio.edu/performing-arts-series.

Bands prepare for final ‘battle’Thursday Claire Krieger

Senior Staff Writer

Miami University’s chapter of Delta Sigma Pi is currently in the midst of hosting its semi-annual Battle of the Bands competition at Stadium Sports Bar & Grille. The competition features six bands based as close as Oxford and as far as Columbus. The preliminary round of the competition took place over the past two Thursday nights. Three bands were featured per night, each playing for about an hour. The majority of bands playing cover a wide range of eras and genres, and original songs are not unheard of in the competition. The business fraternity has been putting on this competition once a semester for many years. Delta Sigma Pi continues to organize the competition for the publicity the event offers the organization and because of its popularity with Miami students. The contest is the chapter’s biggest fundraiser of the year and all proceeds go to fund the various speakers Delta Sigma Pi brings to Miami and the trips their chapter members take throughout the year. In previous years, many of the competing bands have been veterans of the competition. However, some of the bands’ members

have graduated, which opened the door for some new acts. Bands were recruited through wordof-mouth in various campus organizations and through Delta Sigma Pi’s members’ connections throughout Ohio. “It’s always something I look forward to,” senior Jameson Lowery, lead singer of The Caged Cardinal, one of the competing bands, said. “There is always a good crowd. Everybody kind of forgets who their friends are and who they typically hang out with and just has fun watching whoever is playing.” The Caged Cardinal had their preliminary performance Thursday, but they are no strangers to the competition. Other members of the band are Jeremy Kreamer, Brent Bielinski, and JM Rieger, all Miami seniors. Their set included a huge variety of covers, including artists such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, Coldplay and the Black Keys. Despite the collapse of a snare drum after the first song, the band played on and drummer Rieger rolled with the punches. “We had a little technical difficulty after the first song but we were still able to play the set,” said Rieger. “It was a good show and it was great to see a lot

LAUREN OLSON PHOTO EDITOR

Jameson Lowery of The Caged Cardinal serenades the crowd Thursday. The Caged Cardinal was one of three bands to make it to the final round and will perform again Thursday at Stadium.

of the fans stay until the end of the show.” The Caged Cardinal was the last to perform on the second night of the preliminary round. The night’s opening act was the Flaming Red Hands. They are a 5-piece band whose front-woman, Sharon Attaway, is the Director of Professional Development for the Farmer School of Business and an honorary member of Delta Sigma Pi. Attaway was joined by recent Miami graduate Steven Cross for a set that included many popular hits of the 80s and 90s. They paid homage to Peter Gabriel, Madonna, Deep Blue Something and the Cranberries, among others. The band taking the evening’s middle spot in the lineup was another group of Miami students and alumni called Rev:21. They also paid their dues to 90s and early 2000s music through artists like Matchbox Twenty and Third Eye Blind. They also included some more recent covers of Miranda Lambert and Adele songs. The band that earns the most votes from fans from each night and the third highest from either night will perform in the final round this Thursday. The fan-voted winner of the final round wins a $400 cash prize. The winner from the first night of competition is the Cincinnati-based band The Long Way Home. Two bands from the second night earned spots in the finals. Both Rev:21 and The Caged Cardinal will be battling for a chance to win the money and bragging rights. Delta Sigma Pi is grateful to have this continued partnership with Stadium and hopes to keep the competition alive for many years to come. Senior Lauren Fedders, the vice president of fundraising for Delta Sigma Pi and the organizer of the Battle of the Bands, encourages Miami students to attend the event finals this week. “It’s an awesome thing to do on a Thursday night,” said Fedders. “It’s a pretty unique opportunity to get out there and experience live music.” More event information is available on Facebook. The event page can be found through searching “BATTLE OF THE BANDS,” and information is also accessible through Stadium’s page. The finals will be held 10 p.m. Thursday at Stadium Bar & Grille.

LAUREN OLSON PHOTO EDITOR

O.A.R. CAPS OFF FAMILY WEEKEND

Marc Roberge, lead singer and guitarist of O.A.R., performs onstage in Millett Hall Saturday night as part of Miami’s Family Weekend.

Little known Halloween movies to end the season By Joe Gieringer Staff Writer

Looking for a new movie to add to your list of must-watch Halloween films each year? Then you’re in luck, because I dug through my collection and found three freaky flicks that tend to go unnoticed by the masses. Trick ‘r Treat (2009) This anthology suffered delays and an eventual direct-to-DVD release, effectively squashing any hopes it had of making a name for itself. Trick ‘r Treat tells four separate tales on Halloween night, weaving together these spooky stories with equal parts horror and humor to produce one of the most entertaining and enthralling scary movies of the past ten years. Paying tribute to other Halloween-type films, director Michael Dougherty cleverly crafts stories like The Principal, The School Bus Massacre Revisited, and Surprise Party with vampires, werewolves, serial killers and local legends to great effect. Trick ‘r Treat is the first disc I pop into the laptop each year, and I strongly encourage others to do the same. Frailty (2001) You’ve never seen Matthew McConaughey like this. Bill Paxton’s directorial debut is absolutely astounding, and it kept me glued to my seat throughout my entire first viewing. The film starts with McConaughey walking into a Dallas FBI office one rainy night and introducing himself as Fenton Meeks, going on to tell agent Wesley Doyle that he believes his brother, Adam, is the notorious “God’s Hand” serial killer. He then recounts how his widower father, played by Paxton, had

a revelation one day when Fenton and Adam were children. Through flashbacks, McConaughey reveals the startling stories of how his father employed them as demon slayers after believing that God had tasked them with carrying out this duty. The mood of the film is intense and startlingly believable, which is why Frailty made this list and probably why Moviefone called it the 11th best horror film ever. I won’t spoil it, but the twist at the end is one of the best I’ve ever seen in a movie, scary or otherwise. Session 9 (2001) If you want a film that’s deeply disturbing and on your mind days after you’ve watched it, check out horror master Brad Anderson’s overlooked gem. Session 9 is the terrifying tale of an asbestos removal crew that is working at an abandoned mental hospital (filmed at the old Danvers State Mental Hospital in Massachusetts), which is paralleled by a frightening set of patient audio interviews found in the basement of the facility. As the tapes grow in menace, so do the strange events going on in the hospital until the film reaches its startling climax. Session 9 is scary not because of what you see, but by what you imagine. The haunted setting and tense mood provide the perfect atmosphere for the demonic entity that is plaguing the workers and the final lines and revelation at the end of the film is as chilling as it gets. This relatively unknown freaky feature is on tons of underrated horror lists and is arguably my favorite scary movie. So there you have it, three films to scare the pants off of you and your friends this year.

Hip hop artist aims big with debut studio album By Billy Rafael

Arts & Entertainment Editor

Compton-based rapper Kendrick Lamar has been putting out music since 2002 but only recently started gaining momentum in 2010 with his mixtape Overly Dedicated. Since then he has been busy, putting out an independent album in 2011 and dropping his first studio album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, this month, not to mention appearing on tracks all over the place as a feature. Good kid is a unique ride, clocking in at an impressive 72 minutes for 12 tracks. It tells Lamar’s story growing up in a city known for its gangs and violence. The whole album is interspersed with lowquality recordings of conversations, phone calls and voice mails that are all authentic enough that the listener is left wondering if they’re real or scripted. When the clips are spliced together they tell the story of a gang shooting from both sides, mixed with examples of the Christian influences in Lamar’s childhood. While the whole album has a chilled out vibe to it despite the often serious content, production varies from track to track, allowing for some bass-bumping slower tracks such as “Money Trees” as well as some more in-your-face tracks such as the title track “good kid.” Lamar’s flow is very rhythmic and

comes easily to the point where it’s not clear whether he even needs to think about rapping or if that’s just how he always talks. He has a raspy, higher-pitched voice and is not the best singer but he knows how to play to his strengths and mix things up to keep them interesting. The album is sprinkled nicely with guest artists, including some higher profile names like Dr. Dre and Drake along with some lesser known but on-the-rise artists like Jay Rock, with whom Lamar has collaborated with in the past. Tracks to watch for are “Backseat Freestyle,” produced by the popular Hit-Boy and “Sing About Me/I’m Dying of Thirst,” a twelve-minutelong introspective look at what his legacy would be if he were to die as well as a look forward at what he hopes to achieve through his success, with an interlude in the song overlaid with the recording of the direct aftermath of the shooting. Lamar is not for everyone. He does not confine himself to the mainstream standards set forth by hip hop and chooses to work with what he feels are his best skills. However, if you are a hip hop fan with a little over an hour to spare and an open mind, it’s worth your time to give good kid, m.A.A.d city a listen.


www.miamistudent.net

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012

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ELECTION 2012

Editors Miami STUDENT STAFF

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012

EIC@miamistudent.net

The following profiles were written for The Miami Student by a journalism 201 Honors class. More election information can be found at MUElectionguide at http://muelectionguide2.wordpress.com/

Name: Michael Schnipper Age: 57 Occupation: Self-employed air conditioning repairman; communications officer of Oxford Tea Party Hometown: Oxford, OH Party affiliation: Republican/Tea Party Choice for president: Romney

BY Megan Conley For The Miami Student

Whether residents agree or disagree with his opinions, Michael Schnipper is well known throughout the city of Oxford. Full-time air conditioning repair man. Full-time political activist. Schnipper’s passion for community involvement makes an impact on every facet of his life. A long day of running his own business is nothing new for Schnipper. Neither is sitting down with a fellow community member, discussing life in Oxford and how it can be improved. Self-employed through various endeavors for 31 years, Schnipper now operates Maintenance Services Company, an air conditioning repair company, while serving as the Communications Officer for the Oxford Tea Party. Schnipper, 57, graduated from Miami University in 1981 with a degree in political science. “Mike is a political science major and he can really get deep into the details,” Paul Brady, member of the Board of Zoning Appeals in Oxford, said with a laugh. Although college sparked the flame, the fuel can be traced back to his childhood. While politics were not of the highest importance, it was definitely a topic of the household in West Lafayette, Indiana. “My mother is conservative,” said Schnipper. “My sister is a raging liberal.” Schnipper’s curiosity toward policy began early, as he recalls eavesdropping on the conversations of his father, a corporate climber. “My father played the game to whatever corporate or business advantage there was,” said Schnipper. Before moving to Oxford, Schnipper was an all-American adventure seeker, involved in rodeo and even a member of Bob Mayer’s professional drag racing team. “I rode bare-back for two years and that’s why I’m in PT now,” Schnipper said. Upon attending Miami University, Schnipper began a track of selfemployment that has continued on and off until present day. Taking time off from school after his first year, Schnipper conducted his own business of buying and selling raw

Name:Andrea Christman Age: 19 College major: Individualized Studies Hometown: Oxford, Ohio Party affiliation: Democratic Choice for president: Barack Obama

BY Ellen Quigley

For The Miami Student

Andrea Christman sits at a table in a common room in Peabody Hall engaging in a lively debate with several other Peabody residents about this year’s presidential election. Although there are multiple political parties represented around the table, everyone is in good spirits and appears to be engaging and benefiting from this conversation. Christman stresses the importance of programs set up to assist people in need in this election and Josh DeAmicis, a first-year Peabody resident, questions her point, bringing up the economic impact some of these programs will have. From across the table, Max Verellen, another first-year Peabody

CONTRIBUTED BY ERICA GRIFFITH

Mindy Stephens shows her love of fitness after a muddy race.

CONTRIBUTED BY ARL FREDRICK

Michael Schnipper at an event for Josh Mandel. Schnipper leads the Oxford Tea Party. fur. Through this first experience of self-employment, Schnipper learned the value of fiscal responsibility just in order to pay his bills. A registered Republican, Schnipper places himself just right of the center on the political spectrum. “It is hard to align yourself with people who just want to tax and spend,” Schnipper said. After running for city council unsuccessfully in 1993, Schnipper’s political interest has only grown. “I’ve been involved in politics for so long, it is second nature,” Schnipper said. In April 2011, Schnipper helped begin a tea party in Oxford. The group meets 7 p.m. the third Wednesday of every month at LNCB Bank. “This tea party was a bottoms-up movement,” Larry Rankin, retired Miami accounting professor and recent Oxford Tea Party member, said. “He encourages us to get involved.” A culmination of life lessons influenced Schnipper’s recent motion to limit the Oxford Tea Party to the three core beliefs of the national tea party: fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets, according to the local group’s website. Although Schnipper remains conservative on most fiscal matters, libertarian views surface in regards to social issues. For example, Schnipper is pro-choice and remains confused as to why abortion is even an issue in the upcoming election. “Don’t want one, don’t get one,” Schnipper said. “I think people should have the choice.

Why are you going to keep beating that horse?” On the other hand, Schnipper is against legalizing gay marriage. For reasons such as these, the Oxford Tea Party avoids discussing social issues that could splinter the group and impede their ultimate goal of promoting fiscal responsibility. “We have one gentleman who is Catholic,” said Schnipper. “If he knew my view on abortion, he would probably drop his teeth.” Nevertheless, Schnipper’s primary concern for the upcoming election is lowering the national debt and creating jobs. Schnipper expressed his frustration towards pundits on both sides of the environmental policy spectrum. “There needs to be more interest from the GOP in environmental issues,” said Schnipper. “If anything, it has put me at odds with the GOP.” Through the encouragement of his wife, Schnipper recently joined forces with the Miami College Republicans. Besides partnering with the student organization for their Josh Mandel Kick-Off night on Sept. 6, the Oxford Tea Party united with the students for doorto-door grassroots campaigning around the city. Although Schnipper sees the majority of Oxford as liberal, he finds his hope in the young republicans of Miami University. “In terms of Miami, the staff is still very liberal,” Schnipper said. “The change is in the students.”

resident, interjects that America is not going to survive if it does not take care of its own citizens. This political debate is characteristic of the discussions that take place in the free time of Peabody residents with their resident assistant, Christman. Christman is a sophomore at Miami University and is an enthusiastic supporter of President Barack Obama. Christman is 19 years old and was born and raised in Oxford, Ohio. She engages actively in leadership on campus as both a Summer Orientation Undergraduate Leader and a resident assistant in Peabody Hall. Christman is a very outgoing and blunt person. She describes her motto in life as, “nothing is awkward unless you say it is” and she certainly lives by those words. While many individuals, especially college students, feel uncomfortable discussing politics due to a fear of causing tension with people with contrasting opinions or from a strict lack of knowledge, Christman is 100 percent comfortable sharing her opinions. Most of her time is spent with her residents having vivacious discussions on many top-

ics, with an emphasis on this year’s political election. Christman’s residents appear to be at ease around her. Mark Gamble, a Romney supporter living in Peabody described her leadership style as strict, yet compassionate and another resident, Max Verellen, refered to Christman as “someone [he is]completely comfortable talking to, regardless of the topic.” Christman is just one of many college students that find President Obama more appealing as a leader than his opponent, Republican nominee Mitt Romney. According to a 2012 national survey of college students conducted by the Panetta Institute for Public Policy, 67 percent of college students give President Obama a positive job rating, supporting him for re-election by more than two to one over Mitt Romney. Christman’s mother, Sara Christman, said her daughter cannot wait to get to the polls and vote for the first time. Both mother and daughter are avid Obama supporters, based strongly upon Obama’s viewpoints on social issues. Andrea agrees with Obama largely when it comes

Name: Mindy Stephens Age: 29 Occupation:Associate Director of Fitness and Marketing at Miami University’s REC Center Party Affiliation: Independent Choice for President: Undecided

By Abigail Walters For The Miami Student

Every Tuesday Mindy Stephens rises early to unlock the doors of Miami University’s recreational sports center at 5:30 a.m. Once there, Stephens, associate director of fitness and marketing, instructs a Total Body Tone class, performs a variety of administrative duties and finally concludes her 15hour workday with a 9:00 p.m. Zumba class. While Stephens’ Tuesday schedule leaves little room for surprise, her political views provide ample shock value. Stephens, the product of a conservative household, intends to vote for either a third party or write-in candidate in the upcoming presidential election. “Myself, I’m still thinking,” Stephens said. “I will not vote for Obama, I know that for a fact. I may vote for a third party or write in, but will I vote for Romney? No.” Stephens’ decision to vote for neither Democratic candidate President Barack Obama nor Republican Governor Mitt Romney invites criticism. “I just think the system is never going to change if you just keep voting for those two candidates,” Stephens said. Stephens’ controversial decision may result from her husband, Daniel Stephens’, influence. Stephens and her husband met in high school and have been together ever since. He currently works as the Associate Pastor at Westside Church of Christ in Hamilton, Ohio.

“I value his opinion and he makes a lot of the decision in terms of our life,” Stephens said of her husband. Daniel agreed that Stephens’ political views reflect his own. “I’m not sure Mindy really had any political views when we met,” Stephens said. “Truthfully, she probably doesn’t spend much time thinking about the subject. I must admit that if you asked her what her view is about a particular issue or who she might vote for, it would probably be similar to mine.” Like Stephens, Daniel Stephens intends to vote for a third-party or write-in candidate. Daniel Stephens possesses a strong opinion about the role of government and politicians, and feels that the current two-party system does not provide a platform for the most qualified candidates. “I have always, from a very young age, noticed inconsistencies and contradictions in the adults around me, and was told to just be quiet and do what I was told,” Daniel Stephens said. “That’s the dynamic that exists in American government now and that is why I must support candidates who, if elected, will attempt to change it.” While Daniel Stephens’ passion for politics arguably outweighs his wife’s, Stephens’ passion manifests in fitness. Stephens received her undergraduate and graduate degree in kinesiology from Eastern Kentucky University, and uses her education to plan fitness programming for Miami students and Oxford residents. According to Libby Macht Stephens’ employees and fellow group fitness instructors, living in the moment and boundless energy are two of Stephens’ defining traits. “I’ve enjoyed every second of working for Mindy,” Macht said.

STEPHANIE PACE THE MIAMI STUDENT

Andrea Christman making a new friend at a program put on by Peabody Hall. to social activism and equal rights for all people. Her mother puts a strong emphasis on women’s rights and stated that abortion is an important issue influencing her vote. With these controversial issues weighing so heavily in the minds of the Christman women, it is invaluable, in their opinions, to share these viewpoints

with prospective voters. Despite her slight dissatisfaction with the way the president conducted himself in the debate, Andrea said she would rather follow a leader who was thorough enough to take notes while he listened during a debate than one who simply rushed through the argument of his opponent and addressed only the topics he saw fit.


www.miamistudent.net

Name: Steve Kiplagat Age: 24 Major: Graduate student; master’s degree in statistics Hometown: Formerly from Iten, Kenya Party: Democrat (Unable to vote) Presidential Choice: Barack Obama (Unable to vote)

By Matthew Marol For The Miami Student

As a teenager living in Kenya, Steve Kiplagat was no stranger to American politics. Four years later as a Miami University graduate student, he is arguably more informed than most students. “I have always had an interest in politics,” said Kiplagat. Despite not being able to vote in the upcoming election, he remains eager to follow the voting this November. Born Steve Kipkosgei Kiplagat, he was raised in Iten, a small town of just 4,000 residents in the west, central part of Kenya. After receiving high marks throughout his primary and secondary schooling, he was approached to attend an American university offering international opportunities for foreign students. “I never once doubted my decision to come to the U.S.,” he recalled. With bags packed, a curious and eager Kiplagat departed for St. Law-

STEPHANIE PACE THE MIAMI STUDENT

Alexander Watson

Name: Alexander “Alex” Watson Age: 18 College major or occupation: Economics Hometown: Pataskala, Ohio Party affiliation: Libertarian Choice for president: Romney

By Stephanie Pace For The Miami Student

Alexander “Alex” Watson is not your typical politically ignorant 18 year old. Well informed in politics and far from voting for someone simply because that is whom his parents will vote for, he identifies himself as a Libertarian and plans to vote for Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Alexander, who prefers to go by Alex, is an 18-year-old first-year at Miami University from Pataskala, Ohio. Currently a tentative economics major, Watson’s passion lies in politics. An active member of the

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012 ELECTION 2012

rence University in Canton, NY at the age of 19. This expedition marked his first time traveling outside of his home country. Wasting no time upon arrival, he soon declared a double major in economics and math and made the varsity cross country squad as a freshman. Only months after Kiplagat’s arrival stateside in 2008, the first nonCaucasian president took office in the White House. Many people in Kenya knew of Barack Obama and followed his campaign up until the historic inauguration. However, the entire process of selecting candidates from multiple political parties, as Kiplagat recalls, was at first confusing. “In Kenya, politics are crazy,” said Kiplagat. “As celebrities, they likely fund their campaigns through corruption.” Finding himself surrounded by a majority of democratic voters on the East Coast, Kiplagat described his political encounters as eye opening. “In regards to religion and politics, my household was very conservative,” he explained. He continued to recall a profound liberal experience during which he attended the wedding of a gay couple. Now residing in Oxford, Kiplagat spends his time on a very tight schedule. When he is not pounding out miles of intervals on the trails, he is busy interviewing for jobs and pursuing a master’s degree in statistics. As a previous Division III AllAmerican distance runner, Kip-

lagat now holds one of the fastest 8-kilometer times in school history. “Steve is a wonderful addition to our squad and has fit in well with the team and our training program,” said senior captain Jarrod Eick. Junior cross-country runner David Wing agreed with Eick, saying, “I admire Steve for his talent and aggressiveness during races.” When asked about the youth vote on Miami’s campus, Kiplagat explained that he often senses a pattern between the political identification of parents and the subsequent voting decisions of their children. Even while living on a traditionally conservative campus, he articulated a gradual liberal transformation as an American resident. “I am very interested in politics and have asked Steve about his views on the election during practice,” said first-year Joseph Stewart. To keep updated on the election, Kiplagat tunes into presidential debates and other news channels. Now living in a highly publicized swing state, he finds it hard not to take an interest in campaigning and any resulting controversy. While looking forward to returning home sometime in the future, Kiplagat now sets his sights on obtaining full time employment here in the Midwest. “Steve is a very smart individual and has positioned himself well in his career search,” said senior teammate Brett Wagner.

Miami University College Republicans, Watson dedicates much of his time and focus to ensuring a win for Mitt Romney. Watson is also a member of the Philosophy Club. The Libertarian candidate for President is Gary Johnson and Jim Grey is the candidate for Vice President. Watson believes that this party gets written off as “those crazies” because those who identify with this party are very set in the way they think. There are also members of the party who are very radical, which turns people off to this party before examining what it stands for. “We have a lot of things that will never happen with our government, but we still try to get it done any way.” Watson said. Despite aligning himself with the Libertarian Party, Watson will not be voting for Johnson, but instead is a Romney supporter. Watson, as well as his best friend from home Jared Lucas, feel that third party votes only split a party instead of getting a third party candidate in office. President and founder of the Miami chapter of Young Americans for Liberty Taylor “TJ” Hillard agrees. “I’m a realist so I know that the Libertarian candidate for president, Gary Johnson is not going to win.” Hillard said. Watson is very active in the Miami University chapter of the College Republicans. He has dedicated 9 and a half hours over the course of 3-4 days going door to door in Liberty township collecting information on the voting climate. Outside of organized political groups and clubs, Watson finds ways

to incorporate his love of politics in many of his relationships. Lucas, who is a freshman at Bowling Green State University, said that politics is the main thing that they would talk about. While disagreeing on some of the more controversial issues with religious overtones such as abortion or marriage rights, they always respectfully debated each other and both identified as libertarians. Jakob Gamertsfelder, a friend at Miami, echoes that politics are all that Watson wants to talk about, even in casual settings such as hanging out on weekends or while playing video games. Gamertsfelder will not be voting in the upcoming election, partially due to not registering in time in addition to feeling that neither candidate will help America. Watson became fascinated with politics due to an Advanced Placement course in Government and Politics his senior year of high school. From there, Watson became fascinated with politics, going as far to write a 14 page paper on a proposed tax reform, an issue he feels strongly about. This new information also led to some discussions of politics at home. According to Watson, his parents identify as republicans, but aren’t near as active as he is. They would sometimes get into arguments over certain political issues but politics weren’t something that was discussed in depth or often. When asked if his parents’ opinion shaped his own he replied with “I’m not taking my parents’ opinion for granted, I’m not taking it for anything.”

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CONTRIBUTED BY BAYLOR MYERS

Myers, Chairman of College Republicans, meets Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan.

Name: John Baylor Myers Age: Senior Major: Political Science and History Hometown: Bexley, OH Party: Republican Presidential Choice: Mitt Romney

By Tom Downey Senior staff writer

Miami University senior Baylor Myers is the president of Delta Upsilon and the assistant business manager of The Miami Student. He has a double major in history and political science. He is also the president of Miami University College Republicans. Myers, whose given name is John Baylor Myers, is from Bexley, Ohio and was born on Ohio State University’s campus in 1990. Myers said he’s always been an active student; running and swimming in high school as well as becoming his school’s student council president his senior year. His love for politics started in 2006. “I accidentally turned on CSPAN,” Myers said. “And I was really kind of invigorated by a speech that John McCain was giving on earmarks.” Myers speaks very highly of the former presidential candidate. “I’ve always admired John McCain.” Myers said. “I think he has an incredible personal story. His caliber as an independent politician is very impressive. What he has given to this country, I think it should be an inspiration to everyone. Regardless of the outcome of the 2008 election, he is an incredible person and someone deserving of respect.” College Republicans Vice President and senior Meghan Wadsworth speaks highly of Myers, while making some fun of him. “[He’s] funny and has a great singing voice,” she said laughing. “He keeps it entertaining and he has quite the dynamic personality but I think that is what adds to his leadership. He’s able to have the charisma to get people to want to be involved in things that might

not be as fun as you would hope they would be.” John Longaberger, a firstyear political science major and member of the College Republicans is impressed with Myers’ public speaking ability, which are on display at the College Republicans’ weekly Wednesday night meetings. “[Myers] carries himself well when speaking and can be funny when he wants to be,” Longaberger said. “He’s a really nice guy and is a great representation of the College Republicans. He is very good at getting us involved in the group’s activities.” Myers says his public speaking skills haven’t always been there and attributed them to his high school days. “That developed in high school, probably through my student council work,” Myers said. “I led weekly meetings. I used to be a shy public speaker; I got the classic crowd anxiety or the nerves. But leading those meetings gave me a real sense of leadership and how to conduct yourself in a public setting.” Myers admits he doesn’t have much time these days, but said he does enjoy spending time with his girlfriend, going out and hiking. He also says he is a huge Buckeye football fan. Growing up outside of Columbus and being born on the school’s campus likely had a huge role in that. “I’m not a huge follower of pro sports, but I tend to root for whoever is winning,” Myers said with a smile. When trying to persuade students to vote Republican in 2012, Myers addresses student loyalty. “I tell people, when I speak of Paul Ryan, that if you’re not for Paul Ryan, you’re not really for Miami,” Myers said. “In all honesty, whatever your politics are, if Paul Ryan becomes Vice President, the value of our degree goes straight up.” As far as his future is concerned, Myers isn’t sure what he wants to do when he graduates. He is currently contemplating attending law school. He also mentioned that he had an internship with a political consultant.

GO

VOTE!


8

OPINION

Editors RACHEL SACKS SARAH SHEW

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012

editorial@miamistudent.net

EDITORIAL

The following piece, written by the editorial editors, reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.

Students must acknowledge ability to change government The election cycle is coming to an end, but it is certainly not slowing down. In fact, this week leading up to Nov. 6 is perhaps the most important time to encourage students to think critically about their democratic right to vote. The Miami Student editorial board urges readers to understand how enormous our freedom to vote (or not vote) actually is, and how many people are literally fighting for that right every day. That being said, it is also crucial that as voters we are thoroughly educated. This involves having an understanding of the many facets of each side of an argument. Our generation is often criticized for its apathy when it comes to national and international affairs. We are plugged in, but far too often, we are tuned out. Often it feels as though there is barely enough time in the day to take a breath. As we juggle classes, work, clubs and organizations and personal considerations, it seems we have no time to catch up on the nuances of U.S. involvement abroad, or to understand complicated legislation. But there is always time. If students have time to go out on a Tuesday night, they have time to stay informed about political issues. The change starts with a shift in priorities. This board believes that staying informed must be a daily priority in order for us to become educated contributors to the

political conversation. Go beyond Twitter. Complicated political issues cannot be summarized in 140 characters. Internet resources like Isidewith. com are good springboards for voters to learn about every candidate in the election. The board also encourages voters to truly believe that every vote counts, even though it may often seem futile to vote for third party or “losing” candidates. Vote for what you believe in, even if it means voting for a third party candidate who has no chance of getting into office — your vote today could help change the political system years down the road. We hear so many say they are frustrated with the current political system that forces voters to choose the “lesser of two evils.” We hear people complain about the polarized system and the negativity of the campaigns. Remember that soon, we will be the ones running for office and we will have the power to change that. And while Ohio voters are surely tired of being bombarded by polarized, often negative, campaign ads, we are also reminded of how hotly coveted our votes in this state truly are. Furthermore, the board believes that if someone chooses not to vote, he or she has no right to complain about poor political policy decisions for the next four years. If you want something to change, you must acknowledge your ability to change it.

Rule of Thumb Miami sports Congrats to football, field hockey, cross country and hockey, and good luck to volleyball at the MAC championships! 14

Katie Wilson Congratulations on being named director of the new student center. 1

Hurricane Sandy Be aware of possible blackouts from the Frankenstorm.

Creative costumes Send pictures of your Halloween costumes to photo@miamistudent.net for a chance to appear on our website.

Public vomiting Get control of your bodily functions.

To you! For reading the paper. At least we know you read the thumbs (and probably the Police Beat).

PATRICK GEYSER THE MIAMI STUDENT

LETTERs TO the editor

Student newspaper must stop ‘cheerleading’ This is the first time I have tuned in to the “Miami Stupid” in 43 years. Now, before you get insulted, that was the only name we knew it by when I went to Miami. I note the hugely disproportionate lean to President Obama in this publication. I guess the move to mix professional journalism with political cheerleading is as popular at Miami as elsewhere. I never liked cheerleaders. They were always in my way, finishing up their cheer, as I was trying to get back on the

basketball court after a timeout. I’m aware of the immense popularity of Obama among the young; I have to believe this probably fits well more than 50 percent of Miami students. I know it fits greater than 75 percent of the faculty and administration. But, I boil the choice of the right vote down to one very simple fact. This country is in a desperate business turnaround situation, and there is only one candidate who has the demonstrated experience building businesses as

well as turning them around. You can vote for a business pro, or you can vote for a business amateur. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Forget everything else. That fact is all that matters. The rest of the topical carping is superfluous. You can do the “cool” thing and vote Obama, or you can forget “cool” and vote Romney. Wow, how un-cool of me to say so.

Allan Payne

America should not follow Rome’s example It is perhaps one of the peculiarities of being a mathematician that I should feel inclined to take pen (or keyboard) in hand to write a rebuttal to something with which I agree on the whole, but such is what I mean to do herein. I could not agree more that, at this point in time, America needs to look to the past if it is to avoid the same fate that befell many other prosperous civilizations. However, I find the recent essay on this matter to be lacking in small but ultimately important ways. The article in question was surely omitting details for the sake of space, but the broad strokes in which it sought to paint are more than slightly misleading, and its conclusion was simplistic at the very best. To begin with, let us consider Rome. Of the three examples presented — the Roman “empire,” Byzantium and the Ottoman empire — Rome is by far the most relevant to modern-day America. Indeed, no geopolitical situation in history resembles America’s so much as that of the Roman Republic in the second and first centuries BCE. In this period, Rome was what might be called a republican empire; that is to say, it was a republic, much as America is today, but with similar imperialistic tendencies. Indeed, the great conquests of territory by Rome occurred primarily during the republic rather than under the later empire. In this period, the Roman republic was by far the strongest western power, and it easily rivaled China — the only comparable Eastern power at the time — in size and prosperity. No other power could compete

militarily, as its recent defeats of the various successor kingdoms of the Hellenistic world had proved, yielding hegemony over what was, for the Roman people, almost the extent of the known world. It was ultimately from within that the demise of this great republic would come, and it is the demise of the republic that is relevant for America now, given the importance most of us who live in this country afford to our political system. That is to say, we are a democratic republic rather than a monarchy or empire. Whether or not one can say that the Roman Empire fell in 476 CE, the death of the republic had come nearly five centuries earlier, when the emperor Augustus founded the first imperial dynasty in spite of Rome’s hatred of the idea of kingship. However, the republic had been unraveling for years already by this point, as ideological strife divided its people and increasingly charismatic and ruthless “great men” gained more and more power, weakening the people’s ability to control their government, even through the senate. It is tempting to equate these “great men” to our modernday political candidates, but this would, in my opinion, be a mistake. Whatever their flaws or failings, these candidates are working within the democratic system. With exceptions, those who would be president have rarely sought to usurp the power of the public, and even those whose goals I personally find distasteful seek to accomplish those goals through the proper process. No, a more reasonable equation would be to see the parallels between the large, influential

figures of the Roman republic and today’s business leaders. In this age of mass media and easy communication, it is no longer necessary that one be charismatic to influence large numbers of people. It is enough to have the capital to fund hundreds of radio and Internet and television advertisements, which may or may not be true. It is enough to be able to make sensational claims in public ways so that they attract the eyes and ears of the less informed amongst us. Sadly, a milestone has been reached recently which has granted such individuals even more power over our perceptions. What will unravel our republic is not, as the recent article put it, continued governmental and military spending (although the latter, admittedly, probably could manage it), but rather the increasing influence of powerful individuals with personal interests in our national politics. If we truly wish to avoid going the way of Rome, then we must first put an end to this influence. And, indeed, we may find our other economic and social ills will be easier to combat when the public good is no longer compromised by the ability of wealthy individuals to influence our government’s policies toward their own ends. Certainly it cannot become harder to address these issues if we prove ourselves able to first overcome this one. But only the history books of some future age can say for certain; if we fail, then it seems we are fated to join that list of examples ourselves.

Clayton Collier-Cartaino


www.miamistudent.net

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012 OP ED

ESSAY

9

ESSAY

Reflecting on the construction of reality and Miami’s credit union must relationships through the context of language remain an on campus asset In today’s modern world the ideas of reality and realness are at the forefront of many discussions. With the evolution of technologies and the globalization of much of the world the way in which we obtain information has ultimately changed. Tools like the Internet and television often provide us with multitude of information, which lies outside the normal realm of experience. When that much of the information we obtain is from

when it meets a specific set of requirements. A base set of rules can be derived from use first and then experience, so that a pen must use ink and be handheld and only draws on a certain medium. In these characteristics, meaning becomes the derivative element, as such that the pen is only a pen and has meaning as a pen when it meets these criteria. All reality is then based upon the meanings associated within the language used by both the

Reality is constructed by a person based upon certain cognitive relationships inherent in the language used, as well as on the definitions associated within the context of that language.We see this in the core of the way in which we interpret the linguistics of the English language. external sources, it is pertinent to begin to question the basis of our own realities, as well as the amount of realness. How exactly then do we construct our own realities? We can begin by looking at the use of language and its relationship to ourselves. Here we can use the Whorfian Theory of as a demonstration of this relationship. Within the Whorfian theory, the idea of linguistics plays a large role in the construction of a reality based within the confines of a given set of parameters, mostly dealing with the ideas of language and vernacular. Reality is constructed by a person based upon certain cognitive relationships inherent in the language used, as well as on the definitions associated within the context of that language. We see this in the core of the way in which we interpret the linguistics of the English language. For every word we use in the language there is a directed meaning that is associated with it. For instance a pen is only a pen, and as such called a pen

person and the community. Thus the reality that is constructed is not one of the individual but rather of the language itself. We interpret, translate and then manifest the “meanings” of language into the physical world (or believed physical realm), while physical control and construction reside within our own sphere of control. This manifestation of “reality” is not that of the person, or even the collective, but rather the language; and is then reflected in all the creations of them. Again we can turn to the pen for insight here. A pen, being called a pen since it falls under the set characteristics, is agreed upon by the community for its value. However, the active construction and reaction which is done in real world time is always in response to the terminology and meaning of the pen and not the physical object. Certain modes of conveyance, or drawing, are determined to be better suited for the pen, while others are not. Similarly the pen is modified to

meet new requirements and even the techniques of use revolve around the meaning contained within the pen. Every change and every improvement, along with every act, respond directly to the meaning behind the pen. In getting back to the original question of constructing realities in a modern globalized world, a shift in the way in which interpreted meaning becomes associated with the language itself, primarily through experience. Language is always a diffused element, meaning that it is absorbed and accepted (or questioned) through the experiences we have. From birth we are taught what each word means and what it is associated with it, thus by experiencing it we learn the meaning behind it. For instance if we compare the way a toddler experiences a new element and the way in which a middle age person experiences we see the same cognitive relationships associated with the event, but executed through differing perspectives. First the child often experiences first hand, being shown symbols and told what it is and what constitutes it. Likewise the adult is shown the same thing, a picture of the event or element and then is told who or what it is. In each new experience the reality of the person shifts to accommodate the new experience. So, much like the children we teach, we are continuously constructing realty every day through the new amount of information and experiences that are provided to us. The way in which we experience has changed, but the act of experiencing remains the same, it has simply afforded us a larger viewpoint. Contained within this act is the essence of how we build our own realities based upon the language we choose, both individually and socially, and how they affect one another.

anthony santora

santoraj@muohio.edu

Last weekend, families from all across the country made their way to Oxford, Ohio for Family Weekend. This was a weekend where students led their families on tours of the tree lined Georgian campus, explaining all of the University’s rich history and tradition. Established in 1809, Miami has well over two hundred years’ worth of history and tradition to explain. Still, one can’t help but notice, that in the midst all of that history and tradition, the wheels of progress are spinning. In a few years, there will be a brand new state-of-the-art student center, a grand dining hall, and a revitalized western campus. There’s nothing wrong with progress, but if that progress comes at the expense of our rich history and tradition then perhaps we should reconsider. And as the fate of one our great institutions on campus hangs in the balance, that’s exactly what I ask you to do — reconsider. Founded in 1988 by Randi Thomas, Jeff Carpenter and Mike Thomas, the credit union was founded by students for students. Noticing the lack of a financial institution on campus, these three students went about establishing one of their own. Today some twenty years later, the credit union still lives to serve the student body. And while the credit union lives to serve the student body’s financial needs — offering all of your basic banking amenities and even running financial education seminars — the introduction of PNC on campus has threatened its very existence and this is the progress we must reconsider. Walk into the PNC bank and what do you see? You see group of bankers working for shareholders and board members back east. Walk into the credit union and you see just the opposite, a group of students working for you. The fact that they are an institution run by students like you and I is what makes the credit union an institution worth saving. Here at Miami University

we are blessed with the Farmer School — a business school second to none. And I would argue that the mission of the credit union goes hand in hand with the mission of the business school. Nowhere else on campus do students have the chance to get firsthand experience handling transactions and managing accounts. And, it’s that type of experiential learning that compliments the knowledge gained in the classroom that makes our students so competitive on the job market.

The fact that it is an institution run by students like you and I is what makes the credit union an institution worth saving. But the credit union doesn’t just offer business school students firsthand experience. They also offer College of Arts and Science majors opportunities to gain insight into the world of finance. So, the next time you walk into Shriver, stop and ask yourself which financial institution is giving back more to the community. Is it the institution that pays Miami for its prime real-estate and the right to be the sole ATM on campus or is it the institution that employs students? So, if you have realized by now just how much good the First Miami Student Credit Union does for this campus, go to lower level of the Shriver Center and open up an account with them. Hopefully, enough of you will do this that one of the uniquely Miami traditions doesn’t fall by the way side to big banks and progress – Love and Honor.

Greg dick

dickgr@muohio.edu

ESSAY

A history lesson for Americans: foreign and domestic debt will undermine the country If you follow the Miami Student you probably have read an essay that talked about the inevitable decline of the United States. Due to wording limitations I could not get into much detail why I believe so but now I get the chance to expand on my initial argument. The most important and notable point is the amount of foreign debt that the USA has amassed. The numbers have reached 17 trillion; almost 100 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and has no signs of stopping. When a country has reached that point it is beyond obvious that something has been very wrong for a long period of time. In order to repay that amount, every single person in the country must give up his or her wage for an entire year and all final goods have to be given up for free. Too many social programs have given people too many privileges that they feel entitled to and instead of trying to figure their own way in life they rely on welfare and do not put much effort into changing their status quo. “Pursuit of happiness” does not mean that everybody is entitled to it and wealth redistribution

should take care of that. It is good to have universal healthcare or to support people who are in times of great need due to unforeseen circumstances or force majeure but when a government cannot afford those programs it prioritizes short-term prosperity and sacrifices long-term prosperity, which predetermines the inevitable decline of Americans.

invasions and “spreading democracy.” The U.S. has never had a duty to solve other people’s problems. That’s why I do not favor “American Exceptionalism.” The USA tried to do this but it has caused only internal problems—just think what if all those trillions were spent inside the country on U.S. soil and not abroad. Contrary to popular belief, the

What eludes people is that not the absolute amount of money you possess is what matters, but what you can buy with it-- in this case the more the country goes into a trade deficit the more expensive imported goods will be. Excessive military spending is also a major culprit in this giant debt. Way too much money has been borrowed and spent, and way too many lives have been lost because of unnecessary occupations,

Middle East countries do not hate the U.S., and nuclear Iran is not a threat. The Middle East just wants to be left alone, to be able to figure out its own future. Not to mention that the U.S. has

allies, and that’s why NATO was created—to pool the defense capabilities of the countries together, which provides another opportunity for reduced military spending. However, this will not happen. People have been too scared to believe that and military spending would not go down, only increasing tension between the U.S. and the Middle East, which would require even more funds and even more soldiers. Prioritizing military spending instead of internal economics is again another trait of the declining Empires and nations that were discussed in the previous article. The most important but undoubtedly overlooked issue is the huge trade deficit with other countries such as Japan, China, Germany and France. When a country imports more than it exports it pays for those with its own currency— in this case the U.S. dollar. This causes the markets to be flooded with the dollar decreasing its value. In Bulgaria alone the dollar depreciated about 25 percent for about five years from 2007 to 2012. This means that imports became

more expensive because a cheaper dollar can buy less imported goods, which in the USA’s case make most of the consumer goods. This in turn decreases the purchasing power of Americans. What eludes people is that not the absolute amount of money you posses is what matters, but what you can buy with it—in this case the more the country goes into a trade deficit the more expensive imported goods will be. As all the news proclaiming that manufacturing has been decreasing the only assumption that comes to mind—trade deficit is going to expand in the future and the purchasing power of the dollar will decrease. This is only scratching the surface of the problem. The U.S. people have to be prepared to face even harder times, despite whoever becomes president or whatever policies are implemented. There are way too many factors that have been undermining the country for a very long time and it’s not possible to reverse them that easily.

Teodor Dimitrov

dimitrt@muohio.edu

Happy Halloween! Send pictures of your most creative Halloween costumes to

photo@miamistudent.net

for a chance to appear on our website and our Facebook page.


10

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CAMPUS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012

Miami revamps policies to comply with Athletics keeps reducing Title IX sexual harrassment regulations dependence on MU funds By Katie M. Taylor Senior Staff Writer

Miami University received additional guidance from the federal government aimed to aid universities in complying with Title IX—the law prohibiting sex discrimination and outlining sexual harassment protocol. A ‘Dear Colleague’ letter sent out by the federal government stated, ‘Sexual harassment of students, which includes acts of sexual violence, is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title IX.’ According to Miami’s Title IX coordinator, interim director of Miami’s office of equity and equal opportunity, Kenya Ash, Title IX binds all educational programs receiving financial assistance from the federal government. In April of 2011 the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter was sent to all federally financially assisted colleges and universities in an attempt to provide additional guidance and clarification to the portion of Title IX regarding sexual harassment, Ash said. “The letter explains the university’s responsibilities for example to take immediate and effective steps to end sexual harassment and sexual violence… ” Ash said. “So, what it is essentially is a guideline for universities to follow to ensure that they are in complete compliance with Title IX requirements.” Ash said Miami has taken multiple steps to enhance the university’s adherence to Title IX. “We met for several months after the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter came out to determine what changes or additions to various policies, educational programs, etcetera needed to take place,” Ash said. “They have been revised.” One such revision was an addition to Miami’s policy manual, Ash said. “We added a new definition section to the [sexual harassment] policy to try and make it more user-friendly,” Ash said. “It includes definitions for harassment discrimination, and it also gives examples of the type of conduct that’s prohibited under the policy.” Section 3.6.B of the Miami University Policy and Information Manual of 2012-2013 includes examples

such as the following: ‘Offensive and unwanted conduct includes offensive jokes, offensive pictures and digital images, slurs, epithets, threats, intimidation, stalking and sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, sexual battery and sexual coercion.’ Ash said in addition to the ‘Definitions’ section of Miami’s policy, the university has appointed a deputy Title IX coordinator for athletics— Associate Athletic Director Jennifer Gilbert—along with a deputy Title IX Coordinator for student sexual assault, Dean of Students Susan Mosley-Howard. “We thought that the best thing to help ensure the safety of our students as well as our faculty and staff on campus is to ensure that there are plenty of people who are trained in this area who are aware of the issues

People are being groped all the time and no one bothers to report it.” Alexa kruegEr

MIAMI UNIVERSITY SOPHOMORE

and who can in some way try to assist,” Ash said. Mosley-Howard was unavailable for comment, but Gilbert mentioned another key installment in handling cases of sexual harassment. “They’ve also completed summer training for residence life that included some of these particular issues [of sexual harassment and sexual assault] especially as it relates to the Clery Act…” Gilbert said. “The Clery Act is a federal mandate that specific people in supervisory roles are required to report to authority when they hear an instance of sexual harassment or sexual assault.” According to Ash, educating students, staff and faculty is vital in preventing and handling issues related to Title IX. “One of the key components of the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter is to ensure that our community is educated on these issues…” Ash said. “Since the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter, we now have the new-hire online sexual harassment training that’s required for continued employment, and we are in the process of getting current

OLD MIAMI, NEW MIAMI

employees to take it as well.” President of Women Against Violence and Sexual Assault (WAVES) Robin Lavigna talked about how the organization has been working to increase this education in Miami community as well. “We go around and talk to women about sexual assault and how to reduce the risk of being sexually assaulted,” Lavigna said. “We just kind of raise awareness on campus—we all feel that everyone needs to be more aware.” According to Lavigna, many are surprised to find out that sexual assault occurs every two minutes in America. “I feel like awareness is pretty low [at Miami]… ” Lavigna said. “When I go in to do presentations I have a lot of shocked people when they find out how often sexual assaults occur. Sometimes people don’t even know the definition of sexual assault.” Lavigna said that recent incidents at Miami have begun to move the university in the right direction. According to Ash, this push for awareness is motivated by the need to encourage students, staff and faculty to respond efficiently to incidents of sexual harassment and violence. “Part of that goal is that if people are educated then they will speak out when they’re aware of something,” Ash said. “They will report issues that come to their attention and certainly they will not in any way violate Title IX.” Ash said that in the years she has been at Miami, reporting of issues has improved with this increase of awareness. Sophomore Alexa Krueger said she feels that cases still often go unreported because many people don’t know what’s considered sexual harassment. “I feel like people get sexually harassed like everyday at the bars,” Krueger said. “People are being groped all the time and no one bothers to report it.” Ash said reporting these incidents is gradually catching on. “I think that people are becoming more aware of their reporting responsibility,” Ash said. “I think that maybe people are seeing things that they hadn’t seen before because now they’re educated.”

VALERIE WESTIN THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami families play Cornhole in “Tailgate Town” before the Miami-OU football game Saturday, Oct. 27

By Libby Mueller Senior Staff Writer

From the basketballs bouncing off the floors of gleaming courts to the footballs sailing across the end zones, sports are an important and invigorating part of the college experience at Miami University. In 2010, the Strategic Priorities Task Force (SPTF) recommended the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA) reduce its dependence on funds provided by the university either through increasing its revenues outside of university support or by cutting its budget. The recommendation specifically said ICA should reduce its dependence on university financial support by 3 percent each year until 2015. According to Josh Fenton, senior associate athletic director of administration and finance, Miami receives about 72 percent of its athletic budget from university funds. Research done by the SPTF showed Miami and the rest of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) receive a greater proportion of their athletic budget from university funds. According to the findings, this is because Miami and the MAC participate in Division IA sports, which include costs required by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Fenton said ICA is in a more unique position than other

The one thing that we’ve tried to do is minimize the impact on the student athlete experience.” Josh FEnton

SENIOR ASSOCIATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE

departments on campus to generate its own revenue. “We have multiple areas to generate revenue,” Fenton said. “We have the ability to sell more tickets, the ability to increase our donations and a little bit of ability to increase sponsorship revenue. Then we have some opportunities to increase parking revenue streams, concession revenue streams and licensing and merchandising royalty revenue streams.” Fenton said ICA has been successful in generating revenue outside of the university. “Over the past five years, three of those five have been our highest annual giving years,” Fenton said. “Our ticket revenues for the three primary sports (football, ice hockey and men’s basketball) remain at an all-time high. Over the past 10 years we’ve been able to generate revenue.” He said the goal has been to decrease the percent of subsidy, or university funds, that athletics receives from Miami. Fenton also said ICA is on track to meet the budget reductions recommended by the SPTF by fiscal year 2015. David Creamer, vice president for Finance and Business Services, said the final report of the SPTF called for ICA to reduce its budget, and therefore support from university funds, by $750,000 by fiscal year 2014 and another $750,000 by fiscal year 2015 for a total of $1.5

Miami is committed to the MAC. “Our commitment is to the Mid -American Conference at this time. We are proud members of the MAC with a membership that goes back almost 50 years,” Fenton said. Fenton also said reductions in the athletics budget should not impact the over 500 athletes in the department. “The one thing that we’ve tried to do is minimize the impact on the student athlete experience. We hope to at least have the same level of experience of three to five years ago, or even an enhanced level of experience,” Fenton said. Sophomore Jen Stewart, a skater for Miami, said that she does think Miami provides a great experience for student athletes. She said Miami strives to cultivate a “culture of champions.” “Our coaches and our staff try to develop you as a champion in life, not just in your sport,” Stewart said. Ian Joyce, a swimmer for Miami, also said what makes Miami’s athletic program strong is its focus on the growth of its athletes inside and outside of their sports. “As a whole, it’s a very strong program because it’s a very holistic program,” Joyce said. Both Stewart and Joyce said their athletic experiences at Miami have been incredible. “[Athletics] teach you how to face failures, face challenges and take risks,” Joyce said.

DIRECTOR,

and table tents. An info table at the entryway in King might be helpful too.” Senior Courtney Carothers said she hopes the new facility will serve students’ needs in between their hectic class schedules. “I just hope they keep in mind class schedules so that students can easily get in and out during the ‘in between times’ of classes,” Carothers said. When Wilson starts her role in January of 2013 there will be a centralized point of contact for how the building will operate. “She’ll be able to formulate answers to questions from students about how the building will benefit them,” Walter said. “We want it to be the center point of campus, for students and about students.”

FROM PAGE 2

FALLING FOR FALL

KIM PARENT THE MIAMI STUDENT

First-year Kara Smith and sophomore Hailey Gilman “bob” for donuts (left) and other students paint pumpkins (right) during Met Quad’s Fall Fest Oct. 25

million in reductions. The portion of the ICA budget that comes from student general fees is $15 million for fiscal year 2011-2012, according to the 20112012 Miami University Operating Budget. An individual student this year pays $917 to support ICA out of his or her general fees. Creamer said over time, there may be slower growth of student fees as ICA and other areas on campus reduce their budgets, but for the present, student fees will remain the same and go toward other priorities on campus. Creamer said the report did not dictate how the reductions should occur, but simply indicated the amount. According to Creamer, there were discussions about decreasing the number of sports offerings or withdrawing participation in Division I in order to reduce ICA’s costs long-term, but these possibilities were turned down. Creamer said another committee was formed this fall to look at the athletics budget. “Earlier this fall, [Miami University President David Hodge] formed a committee to look at how to bring about reductions in funding,” Creamer said. The report issued by the SPTF also said if the desired revenue growth was not possible, Miami should seriously reconsider its membership in the MAC. However, Fenton said

addition to mapping out the policies, processes and functions of all aspects of the facility. “My goal is to live up to the vision Miami has for it, for it to be entirely student-centered,” she said. When asked about the pressure of serving as the first director of the ASC, Wilson has no delusions. “I think it’s going to be a challenging position, that’s the word I’d use,” Wilson said. Junior Angela Marco had a few suggestions for how Wilson can answer that question. “I think that English classes should allow for her to come in and talk about it,” Marco said. “I tend to overlook e-mails, posters


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SPORTS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012

FOOTBALL

HOCKEY,

SOCCER,

FIELD HOCKEY,

attendance was 19,326, a season high. Treadwell said after the game he was happy with the fan attendance. The RedHawks took the lead early after Patterson made a 40yard field goal on their opening drive. The Red and White then went up 10-0 after Harwell reeled in a 54-yard pass from Dysert. Harwell finished with a game high eight catches for 138 yards and a score. A Patterson 32-yard field goal put the ’Hawks up 13-0, but Ohio responded with a 75-yard drive capped off with a 5-yard run by junior running back Beau Blankenship. True freshman running back Jamire Westbrook scored from a yard out to give the ’Hawks a 20-7 lead with 12 minutes left in the second quarter. Westbrook was the team’s leading rusher, finishing with 65 yards on 16 carries. However, the Bobcats scored 13 unanswered to tie the game. Dysert threw an ill-advised red zone pick late in the half preventing the RedHawks from extending their lead. Ohio tied the game for the first time with a field goal with 4:41 remaining in the fourth, but the ’Hawks drove down the field to take the lead on Patterson’s game-winning field goal. The RedHawks return to action next weekend, traveling to Buffalo to take on the University at Buffalo. Fans can listen to the game on www.redhawkradio.com.

goals in the third period to come from behind and tally the win. Freshman forward Alex Gacek tied the game just two minutes into the third off a faceoff win from classmate Kevin Morris. The RedHawks then scored twice in just 18 seconds, first off of an unassisted strike from sophomore forward Jimmy Mullin, and then with a breakaway goal by senior forward Curtis McKenzie on the power play. Michigan would not go quietly, however, scoring with 2:05 left in the game to cut Miami’s lead to one. Despite their best efforts off an extra attacker opportunity, Michigan could not get the puck past Williams, who totaled a career-high 37 saves on the night. “Jay did a really good job,” senior captain Steven Spinell said. “He came up with a handful of really good saves and the results showed … you’ve got to give credit to him.” The coaching staff also took a lot of positives away from the weekend. Though Miami could not keep the loss column empty, the team gained valuable experience. “I thought we played as close to 60 minutes as we’ve played all year,” Head Coach Enrico Blasi said of Saturday’s performance. “[It was] a great job on the weekend. I thought we got extremely comfortable in a hostile environment, and in a lot of ways we grew up this weekend.” The RedHawks return to action with a two game road series against the Ferris State Bulldogs in Big Rapids, Mich. Friday. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.

the ball from a long throw-in by freshman midfielder Jess Bronke. Just one minute later, Zakrzewski again put the ball in the back of the net on a rebound, after two shots from three yards out by sophomore midfielder Kelsey Dinges and senior captain Jess Kodiak. However, the goal was immediately waived for an offside penalty. “That’s what we’ve been preaching the last couple of days, to come out and be aggressive,” Kramig said. “Set the tone and tempo for the game right from the beginning and I think our kids did that. I was disappointed that second goal was disallowed … we just had to keep playing, keep firing.” Miami went into the half with a 14-2 advantage on shots and a 4-3 corner kick lead. The second half featured more of the same intensity on both ends of the field. The defensive pressure remained steady from start to finish, with Ohio never able to establish consistent offensive pressure. “The defense won the day for us,” Kramig said. “In soccer you have these bad finishing days so to make a one-goal lead stand up for 80-plus minutes says a lot about our defense.” Sophomore defender Courtney Zanotti was integral in the ’Hawks’ back line, dashing all over the field and keeping the Bobcats out of the attacking third of the field. “The key thing for us was to set the tone, winning every ball in the air and we did,” Zanotti said. “We were always on their back; they didn’t have a chance to turn. Allaround, it was team defense. Our energy picked up and that’s how we got our goal and that’s how we held them to so few shots.” The RedHawks had a seasonhigh 30 shots, holding the ’Cats to just five, while doubling up Ohio in corner kick opportunities 10-5. “I thought it was a tremendous effort by our kids,” Kramig said. “I’m pleased with the level of energy and enthusiasm they brought to the game, the commitment they brought to the game.” As the top seed, Miami now hosts the remainder of the MAC Tournament this weekend. Friday’s game vs. fourth-seeded Kent State will be a rematch of a Sept. 30 game at Kent in which Miami won 4-2 in a frantic, back-andforth affair. “Kent is a good, well-organized team,” Kramig said. “We have a week to prepare and we will be ready.” Kick off Friday is set for 11 a.m. followed by second seeded Central Michigan University taking on the six seed University of Toledo at 2 p.m.

getting two good shots on goal before earning a penalty corner in the 10th minute. Off of the corner, senior back Laura Mastro scored off an assist from senior forward Cathryn Altdoerffer to put Ohio up 1-0. “We knew what was out there for us, and we played nervous,” Mueller said. The RedHawks earned their first penalty corner in the 13th minute, but sophomore goalkeeper Brittany Walker was able to save shots by Miller and sophomore midfielder Ali Froede. In the 23rd minute, Miami capitalized on another penalty corner attempt as freshman midfielder Leni Gross found Froede in front of the net for the equalizer. The RedHawks took control early in the second half, with junior forwards Alyssa Logan and Emily Gruesser recording shots on goal, but Walker saved both. Miami took a 2-1 lead in the 48th minute when Miller scored off a pass from freshman midfielder Bea Dechant. The Bobcats got more aggressive offensively looking to tie the game up, allowing the RedHawks to capitalize in the 62nd minute. Gruesser stole a pass and found sophomore forward Valentina Neira on a breakaway for the 3-1 lead. Miami held on to clinch the win and the MAC Title. “We trusted in each of our teammates, in the coaches and we all could rely on each other,” Mueller said. The RedHawks outshot the Bobcats 12-9 and held a 6-2 advantage in penalty corners. Mueller only made three saves for Miami as the defense held strong after the first goal. Miami will be the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament due to its win over co-champion Kent State University Oct. 6. The tournament begins noon Friday in Oxford as Miami takes on fourth seeded Ohio in a rematch of Saturday’s game. “There are pros and cons of having to play OU two weeks in a row, but I think more good can come from playing them again,” Miller said. “We have a better idea of what we want to do to make things happen.” Kent State and third seeded Central Michigan University play 2:30 p.m. Friday, also a rematch from Saturday. The MAC Championship game will be 1 p.m. Saturday. The MAC Tournament winner will play the winner of the NorPAC Tournament Tuesday for an automatic spot in the NCAA Tournament. “As happy as we are right now, we want more,” Mueller said. “We want to win the championship at home and know we can.”

FROM PAGE 14

FROM PAGE 14

FROM PAGE 14

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MANDATE, FROM PAGE 2

it will allow women to have greater access to birth control. “I think it’s a good thing,” Furbeck said. “Women’s health is an important issue because women want and need access to birth control, not just because they are out there having sex but because birth control helps with different health issues. What somebody chooses to do with their body and their health is their issue. Honestly if someone is sexually active I think they should be using birth control.” Detloff said making contraception more available may lower the abortion rate, as abortion rates tend to be the lowest in countries where contraception is widely available to women. In addition, Detloff said not every person who is employed by a Catholic hospital or university is a Catholic, and not offering him or her contraceptive coverage may violate their religious freedom because they are being denied coverage based on a doctrine they do not follow. “On one hand we have a mandate that we need to offer this [contraception] and the other hand we have what turns out to be a mandate that people need to follow one certain ethical line of reasoning,” Detloff said. A person who has access to contraceptive coverage is not necessarily obligated to use it, Detloff said. However, denying a person coverage may prevent those who wish to use contraceptives from having access to them for financial reasons. Furbeck agreed not providing contraceptive coverage to those employed by religious institutions may violate their religious freedom. “I don’t think [the contraceptive mandate] conflicts with someone’s religious freedom to tell a faithbased charity or institution that it needs to cover birth control for its workers even though Catholics believe birth control is a sin, because if you are employing someone that person is not necessarily a Catholic,” Furbeck said. “In some ways I think it’s an infringement on the religious freedom of your employees to tell them that you are not going to cover birth control because, ‘our religion tells us it’s bad.’” According to Kidwell, if an employee wishes to have contraceptive coverage he or she should work for an employer who wishes to offer contraceptive coverage in their healthcare plan or purchase it for himself or herself. “If I’m not Catholic, and I’m not, if I were an atheist and wanted to buy my contraceptives, then I wouldn’t work for a Catholic

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institution or organization that didn’t offer it,” Kidwell said. “I would go work somewhere else, because in my belief it’s great to use contraceptives. But that’s my choice, and it’s their choice not to offer it and it’s my choice to go work somewhere else.” There is a wide variation of thought on reproductive health issues within feminist thought, however Detloff said she believes most feminists would agree it is up to the woman to decide whether or not she wants to use contraception. “I think most feminists would say it’s the woman herself who gets to make those decisions about her own body and they can be complicated; they can be serious; they can be moral and ethical decisions, and the best person to make those decisions is the person herself,” Detloff said. Furbeck said the Romney campaign has argued that the contraceptive mandate is an attack on religious freedom because they believe they will receive more votes. “Running against an incumbent means Romney’s best strategy lays in devaluing Obama’s record in office,” Furbeck said. “Thus a beneficial move for women’s health turns into a debate over religious freedom.” Kidwell said the Obama campaign is focusing on the contraceptive mandate is sway women voters instead of focusing on issues such as female unemployment. “I think the Obama campaign has made a conscious decision that the best way to win the female vote is to make this an election about contraceptives and women’s health and about abortion and whether you are pro-choice or pro-life and I think these issues are important and it’s certainly a debate we need to have but when 5.5 million women are out of work, I think the first thing we need to talk about is how to get them back to work,” Kidwell said. “I’m not sure why we want to talk about what’s going to be included in their healthcare packages when they don’t even have a job to begin with.” Duffy said he believes the question of whether or not people have access to contraception and whether or not religious institutions are able to have religious freedom are both important issues. However, he said there are other important issues the country should focus on. “This is political theater,” Duffy said. “This issue that could have been discussed and has been discussed in the past in calmer ways is being inflamed at a particular moment for the purposes of the 2012 election, and I think it would behoove everyone to be a little bit cynical about this debate for that reason.”


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14

SPORTS

Editor JM RIEGER

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012 JM RIEGER

THE RIEGER REPORT

BELIEVING IN A CHAMPION

Nothing matters more in sports than a player’s belief in his or her team. Talent, skill and a good game plan help, but the single most important factor is whether a team truly believes it can win. The Miami University football team believed in itself Saturday. Something changed in the way Miami approached Saturday’s game. The RedHawks had nothing to lose, but at the same time, had everything to lose. The Red and White not only had lost six straight games to Ohio University, but Miami had not beaten a ranked opponent in the regular season since 2003. The Bobcats were also the third ranked team the RedHawks faced in 2012. But in reality the differences, especially between the University of Cincinnati and Ohio University, were minimal. Both were ranked 23rd in the country in at least one poll prior to facing Miami. Both have outscored and outgained Miami this season. And both are Miami’s archrivals. Nothing changed statistically for the Red and White Saturday either. The RedHawks were still outgained and had fewer first downs than the Bobcats. But, the Red and White did give up fewer points than it has all year to a Football Bowl Subdivision team while recording a season-high six sacks. The team also had one of its most balanced offensive attacks of the season as well as a season high 19,000-plus fans in attendance at Yager Stadium. However, more than anything, Miami believed it could win Saturday. Miami’s mentality was the difference. Statistically, Ohio is very similar to two teams that blew out the

’Hawks earlier this year: Cincinnati and Boise State University. However, somehow Miami lost by a combined 65 points to those two squads. Sure, poor execution and a rowdy road crowd impacted the RedHawks’ performance, but there is a reason Miami traditionally plays top Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponents closer than top non-conference opponents, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the teams. Miami does not play up to its nonconference opponents. Regardless of who the ’Hawks face out-of-conference, they struggle. The last time Miami had a winning non-conference record was in 2003. It is as if the team is told before the game it has no chance. It is as if the team is simply hoping to not get blown out. It is as if the team knows it is the underdog and feels it has no business being there. Obviously none of this is true, but the point still remains that Miami plays a different game against conference opponents as opposed to non-conference teams. Ironically, the last regular season ranked team the RedHawks beat was No. 20 Bowling Green State University, a MAC school. After winning the “Battle of the Bricks” Saturday, the Red and White are now again in the race for the MAC East title. The key for the ’Hawks the rest of the season has nothing to do with “X”s and “O”s though — this team has all the talent it needs. Rather, the key to this team’s success is whether it will maintain the same mentality it had against Ohio. Too bad there are not any felines remaining on the RedHawks’ 2012 schedule.

SOCCER

MU advances to semis By Win Braswell Senior Staff Writer

Returning to its usual form, the top-seeded Miami University soccer team beat the eighth-seeded Ohio University Bobcats 1-0 in a Mid-American Conference (MAC) Quarterfinal game Sunday. Miami now faces Kent State University Friday in the first of two MAC Tournament semifinal games. The win improves the RedHawks to 17-2-1 (10-0-1 MAC), with a school record 13 game unbeaten streak.

Head Coach Bobby Kramig’s squad again bounced back Sunday, stamping its authority on the match from the opening kickoff. Miami earned the first of its 10 corner kicks opportunities about 10 seconds into the match. The Red and White’s aggressive efforts paid off quickly when in the sixth minute, junior midfielder Kayla Zakrzewski scored her seventh goal of the season, after junior forward Katy Dolesh tapped

SOCCER,

SEE PAGE 11

sports@miamistudent.net

FOOTBALL

Red and White shock No. 23 Bobcats in thriller By Tom Downey Senior Staff Writer

Miami University (4-4) upset No. 23 Ohio University (OU) (7-1) in a 23-20 thriller Saturday, snapping a six game series losing streak. It is the first time since 2003 the RedHawks defeated a ranked opponent in the regular season. OU drove down to the RedHawk 7-yard line with nine seconds left, but the Bobcats elected to run one more play rather than attempt the game-tying field goal. That decision backfired though, as junior defensive lineman Wes Williams sacked Ohio junior quarterback Tyler Tettleton as time expired. “Looking at Tettleton, it didn’t look like he was about to call the kicking team out there,” Williams said. “I just had one thought in my head, ‘I’m going to go get him.’ I looked up at the clock and I saw they didn’t have timeouts left and I was like, ‘If we get a sack here, it’s game over.’” The sack sealed the win for the RedHawks, improving their Mid-American Conference (MAC) record to 3-1 and ending OU’s Bowl Championship Series hopes. “Pandemonium man,” Williams said. “It was crazy. That’s what you play football for.” Freshman kicker Kaleb Patterson gave the ’Hawks the lead on a 31-yard field goal with 1:24 left in the game after sophomore running back Spencer Treadwell busted a 30-yard run to put the RedHawks in field goal position. “We’re very proud of our young true freshman kicker, Kaleb Patterson,” Head Coach Don Treadwell said. “He’s been really steady for us.” Fans stormed the field following the game, undoubtedly the biggest win of the Treadwell era and one of biggest in recent memory. “Certainly a big win for our program,” Treadwell said. “There’s no doubt about that.” The Red and White last beat a ranked team in 2010, defeating Northern Illinois University in the MAC Championship game. The RedHawks defeated No. 20 Bowling Green State University in the regular season in 2003. “It was great,” junior wide receiver Nick Harwell said. “I was so happy I didn’t know how to celebrate. It was really good to beat them. It was exciting. I think

FIELD HOCKEY

RedHawks earn share of MAC title By Kennan Belau For The Miami Student

The Miami University field hockey team (10-9, 4-1 Mid-American Conference (MAC)) earned a share of the MAC regular season title for the second time in three years by defeating Ohio University (OU) 3-1 Saturday.

“We were all just overwhelmed by emotions,” junior goalkeeper Sarah Mueller said. “It was such a great feeling to win the MAC regular season championship on our home field.” Saturday was also senior day for the RedHawks, who honored senior midfielder Olivia Miller and senior back Addie Absher.

“It was great to have a win on Senior Day,” Miller said. “Addie and I both are very grateful for what Miami athletics and the field hockey program have done.” The Bobcats had the majority of the chances early in the game,

FIELD HOCKEY, SEE PAGE 11

BLAKE WILSON THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami University clinched a share of the Mid-American Conference title Saturday with a 3-1 win over Ohio University.The RedHawks face the Bobcats again noon Friday in the MAC Tournament opening round.

LAUREN OLSON THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami University freshman running back Jamire Westbrook celebrates a RedHawk score with sophomore running back Dawan Scott Saturday. I speak for the whole team when I say that.” The RedHawks defense gave up 464 yards, but still had arguably their best game. The 20 points given up were the fewest against a Football Bowl Subdivision team this season. The Bobcats converted only four of 15 third

Pandemonium man. It was crazy. That’s what you play football for.” wes williams

REDSHIRT JUNIOR DEFENSIVE LINEMAN

down attempts. “We were huge on third down today,” junior cornerback Dayonne Nunley said. “We got off the field and got the offense the ball back.” The RedHawks entered the game with six sacks all season,

but sacked Tettleton six times. Redshirt senior defensive lineman Jason Semmes led the team with two. “It is lovely to be back in coverage and see the quarterback go down,” Nunley said. “It’s just a sigh of relief.” Redshirt senior quarterback Zac Dysert led the team on offense once again, completing 21 of 36 passes for 311 yards and one touchdown. “Right now, I can’t say enough about my guys,” Dysert said. “I’m so proud of them and the team. The struggles we’ve been through and how we’ve fought.” The RedHawks were balanced on offense, throwing 36 times and picking up 113 rushing yards on 33 attempts. Nunley tied junior linebacker Chris Wade for a game high 11 tackles and also broke up two passes. The game’s official

FOOTBALL, SEE PAGE 11

HOCKEY

Brotherhood splits series with Maize and Blue atYost By Joe Gieringer Staff Writer

The Miami University men’s hockey team went 1-1 this weekend in Ann Arbor, Mich. After losing 4-2 Friday night, the RedHawks rallied in the third period to come from behind Saturday, securing a 4-3 victory. The RedHawks struck first Friday on the power play just over three minutes into the game, when sophomore forward Jimmy Mullin fed classmate Cody Murphy in the right circle, where he buried his shot past Michigan goaltender Steve Racine for his first goal of the year. At 4:59 in the first frame, freshman goaltender Ryan McKay was injured while making a save, and classmate Jay Williams was called in. Williams made some key saves on a Michigan 5-on-3 power play to keep the Wolverines off the board early, but the Maize and Blue eventually found the back of the net with 2:33 remaining in the first, capitalizing on its third power play of the period. After Michigan took the lead early

second, Miami battled back with a shorthanded score from sophomore forward Austin Czarnik, who notched the equalizer with 8:02 left in the period for his third goal of the year. The Wolverines took control in the third, however, scoring two unanswered to close the door on the RedHawks on home ice. They outshot Miami 35-32, while Miami was not able to capitalize on its slew of scoring chances, including a handful of odd-man rushes in the second half of the game. “We just didn’t execute on our chances,” Czarnik said. “I feel like we dominated a good part of that game down in their zone, they were just able to bury their chances Friday night.” After going down 2-1 halfway through the second period Saturday, Miami took its cue from Michigan’s third period performance the previous night, scoring three unanswered

HOCKEY,

SEE PAGE 11


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