The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
FRIday, NOVEMBER 16, 2012
VOLUME 140 NO. 24 TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
In 1940, The Miami Student reported that 30 students would be selected to be enrolled in an introductory aviation course under the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The class was to be a combination of ground training on campus and flight instruction.
Students may see shift in federal financial aid By Megan Thobe Staff Writer
EMILY CRANE THE MIAMI STUDENT
Sarah Cesler and Kashi “study” in King Library.
A new kind of student: service dog trains at MU By Emily Crane Staff Writer
Since arriving on Miami University’s campus in August, Kashi has been keeping busy: going to class, cheering on the RedHawks at football games, relaxing at Kofenya, enjoying lots of kibble. Yes, kibble. Kashi is an eight-month old bloodhound-lab cross and one of three dogs on campus this semester working for 4Paws, an organization that trains service dogs. Kashi’s journey to Miami began in Xenia, Ohio at the 4Paws headquarters where she was bred. Early on, she moved to a local correctional facility to receive basic obedience training from the inmates. Then, at four months, she was placed with Miami seniors Sarah Cesler and Kelsey Mayrhofer. Senior Kristin McNamara founded a 4Paws chapter at Miami. McNamara, a special education major, had seen 4Paws work with children with special needs, and saw the benefits of service dogs firsthand. So for the past two years she has been working with Jessa Brown, the university coordinator for 4Paws. Last February, 4Paws was approved as a student organization and six months later, after a rigorous application and review process and a brief orientation, Cesler and Mayrohfer brought Kashi to Miami. Now, she goes with them everywhere. “It’s literally like having a child,” Cesler said. “The time commitment is huge.” Cesler, Mayrohfer and Kashi are required to attend biweekly training sessions in Dayton where they learn tricks, practice obedience and begin developing behavior-recognition. But Kashi’s main purpose in being on a college campus is to become socialized and comfortable with situations that she will likely face regularly as a service dog. “We have a long list of things we’re supposed to expose them to,” Cesler said. Kashi will need to be comfortable going anywhere the general public can go: restaurants, malls, movie theaters and especially classrooms. “4Paws gives a lot of service dogs to kids,” Cesler said. “So it’s important to spend a lot of time in the classroom.” So Kashi attends Cesler’s marketing and international studies classes, where she is learning to lie quietly at Cesler’s feet, despite the movements, sounds and smells
of the classroom that beg to be explored. “She’s supposed to just sit there but she doesn’t always obey,” Cesler said. “She can be a really big distraction sometimes, for me and for others.” While professors may have their qualms about this, the dogs and their trainers are protected by state law, according to McNamara, the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act, to be specific. “All the same, we don’t press the issue because we don’t want to cause a bad situation,” McNamara said. “We’ve worked really hard to get here and we want to have a good reputation at the university.” Cesler has tried to maintain good communication with her professors throughout this process. “I let my teachers know ahead of time and if any of them had had a problem with it, I wouldn’t have done it,” Cesler said. The dogs are allowed access to the classrooms and federal law permits them to live with their trainers, regardless of any pet clauses outlined in their lease, according to Cesler. In general, the landlords were receptive to the idea once they were shown the legislation protecting the dogs and the documentation proving they were being trained for service, McNamara said. McNamara’s landlady, Christina Roberts, is highly supportive of the program and is proud to be a part of the work that is being done. “We are happy to support them and happy to have them here,” Roberts said. “The service dogs are usually larger [pets] than what we allow but we are not concerned about them because we understand they go through quite a bit of training.” McNamara said she tries to steer away from even calling the dogs “pets.” “They’re more like a piece of equipment,” McNamara said. This does not mean, however, that trainers are encouraged to remain detached from their dogs, Cesler said. In fact, they are encouraged to bond as this will prepare the dogs to one day bond with the person they will be serving. This makes it much more difficult to part with them at the end of the semester, when they will move on to the next phase of training. “I try not to think about giving her up in a month,” Cesler said, patting
KASHI,
SEE PAGE 5
Although the election results brought back the same president and a still-divided Congress, upcoming changes to the federal budget may affect the way college students finance their education. The American Opportunity Tax Credit, which gives families with college students up to $2,500 of tax credits, may not be available in the 2013 fiscal year. The tax credit is set to expire, but President Barack Obama has requested a permanent extension. According to Brent Shock, the director of Student Financial Assistance at Miami University, if this tax credit is not extended, many Miami students, especially those from middle class families, will feel direct effects. Shock said he does not fully understand how cutting the tax credit might benefit the economy. “I don’t see much value in losing the Opportunity Tax Credit,” Shock said. George Davis, the chair of the economics department at Miami, also said the expiration would have a bigger effect on family finances than
the economy as a whole. “If the Opportunity Tax Credit didn’t pass, I’m not convinced it would have a huge effect on the economy, but it could have a large impact for families,” Davis said. “If many middle class families have $2,500 less to spend that could affect their spending habits and end up impacting the economy.” Another potential change for the 2013 budget is the small but notable increase to the maximum Pell Grant award from $5,550 to $5,635. Obama has called for the increase, but the Pell Grant Program, which helps low-income students pay for college, could face funding shortfalls after 2013. Roughly 16 percent of Miami students receive Pell Grant funds, according to Shock. Junior Brenton Richardson is one of the many students who receive Pell Grant funding. “I couldn’t go to college if it wasn’t for financial aid,” Richardson said. “I take out some personal school loans but most of my school is paid for by scholarships and grants, especially the Pell Grant.” Davis said the increase in Pell Grant funds was most likely
proposed to account for rising costs of college and to account for inflation. “[The Pell grant] increase doesn’t seem like a huge change, but it would probably help students out a lot,” Davis said. “I’d assume that rising prices from inflation would pretty much eat up any increase made by Congress.” Another financial aid program that has the potential to change is the federal subsidized loan plan. The federal subsidized loan option is granted to students in need by the U.S. Department of Education and is repaid with interest after the student’s graduation. Currently these loans are repaid at an interest rate of 3.4 percent. The rate was kept low as a result of a one-year delay on the increase which Congress passed after President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney both publicly supported the decision. After July 1, 2013 the rate is set to jump to 6.8 percent unless Congress takes further action. According to Shock, Congress chose to extend the low interest rate for only one year because they are
FINANCIAL, SEE PAGE 5
Dance Marathon raises record $40K By Jenn Smola Campus Editor
Over 300 dancers filled Withrow Court Saturday for Dance Marathon and raised a record $40,092.39 for the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Students form teams and sign up to participate in the 12-hour dancing marathon, and each participant also has a certain fundraising goal, according to Junior Rachel Novick, member of the Dance Marathon logistics board. Dance Marathon also receives fund-matching from corporations. Dance Marathon, an annual event, raised more this year than it has since the organization started in 2009, according to Dance Marathon President Chelsea Nauman. Nauman said the event went smoothly and there was high enthusiasm from everyone involved. Dance Marathon existed at Miami decades ago, Nauman said, but
A DELICIOUS TREAT
the current members don’t know why it eventually dissolved. Back then, the event was held at Millett Hall, and Nauman said she hopes the event will eventually grow enough to move back. Dance Marathon is on its way to becoming more established and recognized, Nauman said. “Our goal as a committee this year was to make sure we can help grow the organization,” Nauman said. “This year too I think we kind of more set in stone the presence of Dance Marathon on campus.” Novick said Dance Marathon is making positive progress. “It was only Dance Marathon’s fourth year here so we’re definitely still learning and taking advice from people, but we definitely think this year went off a lot better than last year,” she said. “We took advice from people about what they wanted changed and everything flowed really smoothly.”
Several families and children went up on stage at the event to speak about their experiences with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Novick said. “That’s always the most meaningful part—to actually see what your money is going towards, as opposed to just knowing you’re raising money for something,” Novick said. “To actually get the kids up there and see their faces and see why you’re doing what you’re doing.” Seeing that Dance Marathon, whose motto is “For the Kids,” or “FTK,” had surpassed its $40,000 fundraising goal when the event came to a close helped the group feel as though all their hard work had paid off, Novick said. “I just think it’s a really great event, and knowing that you’re helping these children, it makes me want to do it every year,” she said. “I love it.”
KIM PARENT THE MIAMI STUDENT
Sophomore Sarah Charlton enjoys one of the free caramel apples provided by CAC Wednesday. Apples, hot chocolate and apple cider were passed out at various locations throughout campus in celebration of Fall Fest.