The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
VOLUME 139 NO. 26
TUESDAY, November 29, 2011
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1980, The Miami Student reported that Miami University had received a license to start genetic engineering and cloning experiments. The first experi-
ment was going to involve E. coli bacteria. The license came from the National Institutes of Health and experiments have to be approved by Miami’s Institutional Biosafety Committee.
Band hits all the right notes in parade By Hannah Stein Senior Staff Writer
After a long and anticipated wait, Miami University’s 253 marching band members traveled to New York City and introduced Santa in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Thursday morning. Approximately six returning band members joined the band, band director Stephen Lytle said. Liz Zoller, one of the returning members, is in her fifth year at Miami and is currently student teaching. She was in the band all four years, but not this year. “I was really jealous I missed it by just a year and I’m still technically part of the university and I’m so glad I did it because it was so much fun,” Zoller said. “There were several of us and we could all hang out together and talk about our past years in the band. [Lytle] had last year mentioned that he was going to allow graduating seniors to come back and play with us since he felt bad they would miss it by just one year. He pretty much allowed everyone who asked to come.” Each student paid $200 to participate in the trip, and those who couldn’t afford it were covered, Lytle said. The band members’ trip began Tuesday morning when they left Miami at 8 a.m. and spent the next 17 hours on the bus. To pass the time, they watched a lot of movies, sophomore McKenzie Compton said. Arriving in New Jersey around midnight, the students went to bed but woke up again early for a 9 a.m. practice at a local school.
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Miami University’s Marching Band served as the official “Santa” band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Thursday.The band’s 253 members marched the 2.5 mile parade after 17 hours on a bus and a free day in New York on Wednesday.The parade was watched by about 50 million people. After the two hour rehearsal, the students went on a bus tour of New York City. Following rehearsal and the bus tour, the students went on a cruise that went around the Statue of Liberty. The next morning, students had a wakeup call at 2:30 a.m. to be in the city by 4 a.m. for rehearsal. “The rehearsal was mainly for the producer,” field commander Mike Scott said. “They rehearsed camera angles and practiced getting used to what we were doing and then we rehearsed the entrance for Santa. It was a relatively short rehearsal, around 40 minutes.” Although it was early, the students were so excited the hour didn’t matter.
“It was really fun to be in the city that early because no one is up at 4:30 in the morning and it was really fun,” Zoller said. “The adrenaline kicked in and everybody was hyper and running around super excited.” Singer Neil Diamond preceded the band in the parade, so he was close at hand for the early-morning rehearsal. The band opted to serenade him with “When A Man Loves a Woman.” At 5:30 a.m., the band went to breakfast at Hard Rock Café in Times Square and spent the next few hours before the parade exploring. The parade began at 9 a.m., but the marching band didn’t step on until about 10:30 a.m., Scott said.
“It was pretty amazing,” Scott said. “There were three million people in the parade route.” The Macy’s Day Parade averages about 50 million viewers, Lytle said. “It’s almost unbelievable; it’s a lot,” he said. The parade route was a total of two and a half miles, taking approximately an hour and a half to march, and some students found it hard to march that long and keep up the tone quality as well. “A lot of people got winded,” sophomore Steven Angles said. “It was hard to keep up the performance level but I don’t think it declined because we always try to make sure it’s as high as possible. What we did was have
[percussion] cadences to ensure that each piece was the best it could be.” “It was difficult because it’s not just walking two and a half miles and you have to be in parade format and it’s marching so it’s more intense than walking, so it wasn’t really easy but it wasn’t the worst thing ever,” sophomore Olivia Eckler said. “We were going for like an hour and a half so not the worst but not exactly a walk in the park.” The band rotated between three songs during the parade, Lytle said. They played “Fire” by Jimmy Hendrix, “Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That” by Robert Maynard and the Family Band and Miami’s own Fight Song. “We also played ‘Santa
Claus is Coming to Town’ for the parade,” Lytle said. “One woman even called me and said her great uncle wrote that tune and he was from Cincinnati and it was totally coincidence that we chose that song to play.” The chance to play in the parade was a once in a lifetime chance that all the students savored. “It was amazing, it was surreal and it was so fun,” Zoller said. “It was amazing,” Angles said. “It was one of the greatest experiences going through Time Square and performing and opening for Santa. Just the whole experience was amazing.” Once the parade was over, the students were able to take after-the-parade photos with Santa, Zoller said. After a quick nap in the hotel, the students went to see The Rockettes that night. “That was really cool,” Eckler said. On Wednesday, the students had a free day in the city to do whatever they wanted. “Our trips are always really packed and we don’t have a lot of free time,” Eckler said. “But it was really nice to have a free day after all the chaos.” The experience and free time in New York City were moments that each student will take with them for many years following this weekend. “Honestly, it was a really great experience and I’ve never been in New York and I think over half the people in the band had never been in New York and that was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Eckler said.
Disciplinary Board gives students responsibility to decide fate of peers By Lauren Ceronie Campus Editor
Whether it’s for the outfit a friend wore uptown last weekend, for the grade the student sitting next to us got on an exam or a couple for vigorously nuzzling each other in public, we judge our peers. Our judgments are usually fleeting and have no effect on the lives of those around us. But what if they weren’t? What if our judgments were for something much more serious and held much more weight? For the students on Miami University’s Disciplinary Board, these what-ifs are a reality. These students are responsible for deciding whether students facing suspension from the university will indeed be punished. “Honestly, you’re dealing with a student’s academic life here,” said Miami senior and Disciplinary Board member Matt Chacey. “I take this as a dual responsibility, you have a responsibility to the students at large, but at the same time, you have a responsibility to the student in question. Is the student’s interest being served here?” Miami senior and Disciplinary Board member Alaina Morman said she feels the same way about the job. “Disciplining my peers is challenging — the decisions
that are made often impact academic careers, and that’s not something I take lightly,” Morman said. The Disciplinary Board is made up of 10 faculty members, eight undergraduate students and two graduate students. Undergraduate students must be juniors or seniors, are nominated by Associated Student Government and appointed by the president. There are two other hearing boards at Miami — Student Court and the Appeals Board, according to Susan Vaughn, director of ethics and student conflict resolution. Each board deals with different cases; Student Court hears every case, the Disciplinary Board only hears cases where suspension might occur and the Appeals Board hears appeals only. While the bodies may look at different cases, they all have one thing in common — they all use peer review. “Peer review is a wonderful experience,” Vaughn said. “I’ve been here for almost 25 years and peer review has always been a part of Miami. It’s common on college campuses and it shows that students are an important part of the community.” Morman said being a student gives board members a different perspective. “We can more easily put ourselves in the shoes of the
accused to try and figure out where they’re coming from,” Morman said. “I also think having students on the board helps bring about another level of regret or remorse from the accused because the last thing any student wants is to look like a fool in front of people who are on the same level as them.” Chacey said he thinks having students involved is important. “Miami students are involved in almost every major decision at Miami University,” Chacey said. “Whether we’re dealing with the toilet paper in the residence halls or who gets to stay and who has to go, students are involved in every process. My job as a student justice is very important because it’s a student being able to relate to another student. It gives us a chance to give insight to the whole situation.” In fact, the entire Disciplinary board hearing process is student-driven, according to Chacey. The hearing will begin with an opening statement by the student in question, followed by questions from the board. The board will usually ask the student to walk them through the incident, Chacey said. “We assume everyone is telling the truth up front, we have to,” Chacey said. “This is different from the court of law
where people have to swear in and face the penalty of perjury. We have to assume you’re telling us the truth.” Morman said seeing how people act during a hearing is an important part of the process. “Observing students’ reactions and the way they conduct themselves during a hearing is also very interesting to me because body language can often indicate whether they’re taking the hearing seriously and if
sexual assault training, according to Chacey. “I will never forget, one of the first things the trainer did when I first joined,” Chacey said. “I was sitting there and she said ‘OK, Matt, I want you to tell me the greatest sexual experience in your life, right now.’ I was like, uh, you’ve got to be crazy, right? She said, ‘remember that awkwardness. That’s your greatest sexual experience, now think of the worst sexual experience, the
Disciplining my peers is challenging — the decisions that are made often impact academic careers, and that’s not something I take lightly.” AlAINA MORMAN
STUDENT DISCIPLINARY BOARD MEMBER
they feel regret or remorse for their actions,” Morman said. While observing the student in question may help members of the board make decisions, students who sit on Disciplinary Board are given specific training. “The Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution doesn’t place anyone on the Board without making sure that they’re well trained first,” Morman said. The state requires board members to take special
most painful you could ever have and go in front of six people that are complete and utter strangers.’” Chacey said that assault cases he’s sat on the board for are the most difficult. “In general, sexual assault cases are the ones that will just take everything out of you,” Chacey said. “It just drains everyone in there. This is not something that will die with us, it’s something that will always be with that individual.” Even cases that aren’t as
sensitive as sexual assault cases can be difficult, according to Morman. “Some might think that most cases are either black or white in terms of the eventual ruling, but that’s often not the case,” Morman said. “Not only do we review the evidence presented before us, but we also allow the accused a chance to state their defense and argue for their innocence. Sometimes that leaves me torn between decisions.” Chacey said, most of the cases he’s dealt with have not been about alcohol. “Alcohol is more rare (in front of the Disciplinary Board) than you would think,” Chacey said. “Most of the cases I hear have alcohol in them, but we’re not charging them for the alcohol itself. There are a few exceptions, but most of the cases I’ve seen are at least indirectly related to alcohol.” Chacey has sat in on cases that involve academic dishonesty, physical assault and student misconduct. “At the beginning of everyone’s term here, they sign a contract saying we’re allowed to [charge for off-campus incidents] and we do,” Chacey said. While the board sees a variety of cases and incidents, both Chacey and Morman agree on one thing. “It’s not easy.”