The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2013
VOLUME 140 NO. 54
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1951, The Miami Student covered a talk given in Benton Hall by American poet Robert Frost in which he shared tidbits of advice with students in the midst of their college careers. Frost said, “The only thing you need to learn is to bear boredom and injustice,” the boredom being lectures and the injustice being grades.
Miami students recall their firsthand experiences at the Boston Marathon BY CATHERINE MONCEAUX CAMPUS EDITOR
While many Miami University students may have followed the recent Boston Marathon bombing news coverage, four students experienced the tragedy firsthand. Seniors Kristen Figas, Nicholas Kelly and Jeremy Miner, along with junior Adrian Kimmett, members of Miami’s running club, qualified for and ran in this year’s Boston Marathon. According to Figas, Kelly, Miner and herself had finished the race and were a couple blocks away, walking back to their hostel, when the bombs went off. According to the others, Kimmett had remained at the race in order to meet up with her mom. Kimett was unavailable for comment. “Nick and Jeremy had heard a noise and I must have been dazed from the race still or something because I don’t remember hearing it, but I do remember hearing them say, ‘What was that?’” Figas said. “It wasn’t super loud, but we were walking right by the subway, so they thought ‘Oh, maybe that’s a train.’” Kelly said he remembers hearing a loud noise, but attributed it to the subway station.
“We were like two blocks down when we heard a loud bang,” Kelly said. “…It sounded like a gunshot or explosion, but it was one of those times when you think you heard something like that, but it’s never actually a gunshot or an explosion or anything like that.” Miner also said he recalls hearing the explosion. “I remember when we were walking back from the race I heard a loud sound,” Miner said. “I don’t think I heard more than one, but I didn’t really think anything of it until later on. I didn’t really see anyone like running from the area or anything like that.” Figas said after returning to their hostel and showering, runners in the hallway asked if she had heard about the bombings at the finish line. “It was hard to think about it in my head because you go from being so ecstatic and just blissful,” she said. “It’s just an amazing experience because so many people come out to support, and then it was just confusing to even hear that and it’s hard to think about it as the same event. It’s just really, unbelievably sad.” Kelly said, after returning to the hostel, he received a text message from Kimmett, who was
CONTRIBUTED BY KRISTEN FIGAS
Junior Adrian Kimmett and seniors Jeremy Miner, Nicholas Kelly and Kristen Figas ran in this year’s Boston Marathon April 15. None of them suffered injuries as a result of the bombings. still at the finish line looking for her mom. “She was like, ‘Explosions and police,’ and I’m like, ‘Are you ok?’ and then cell service had dropped out at that point, so I never got a text back from her,” he said. “It was kind of scary for a while, but fortunately she showed up at the hotel within like 10 minutes, so she was alright.” According to Figas, they then went to a television room in the
hostel where the news was on and it was packed with marathon runners trying to figure out what was going on. “At that time, they were trying to locate more explosives and there were rumors that they found more under the stands and things like that, so everything was just going haywire,” Figas said. “Everyone was freaking out trying to hook up with their families, but, of course, cell service was out.”
Both Figas and Kelly said experiencing the bombings firsthand has made them think about similar events differently. “It just seems surreal,” Figas said. “All events of this nature, to a certain extent, seem surreal to me. I just can’t imagine that someone would do that and that that could happen. Being
BOSTON, SEE PAGE 10
MU sees 866 percent debt Swimming and diving head coach retires increase over past 10 years after making a splash as MAC champion BY JUSTIN MASKULINSKI STAFF WRITER
JM RIEGER THE MIAMI STUDENT
Miami University debt is financing numerous projects including the $50 million Armstrong Student Center (ASC).
BY JM RIEGER
EDITOR AT LARGE
The following article is part three of a three-part series on education at Miami University. Facility improvements over the last decade have led to record debt levels while Miami University students are often left footing the bill, according to analysis by The Miami Student. Miami’s total debt grew from more than $44 million in 2002 to more than $427 million last year, an 866 percent increase and the fourthhighest debt total in Ohio, while total interest owed grew more than 1,100 percent, before adjusting for inflation. Rising debt levels have funded facility improvements that will eventually cost the university between $600 and $700 million.
Meanwhile, long-term debt increased more than 263 percent during that time and grew nearly 39 percent between 2002 and 2008, compared to 12 percent nationally, according to a report published last year by Bain & Company and Sterling Partners. Rising debt has created a “liquidity crisis” in higher education, as many institutions are now overleveraged by excessive costs, according to the report. Miami’s operating expenses, funded largely by student tuition and fees, increased more than 38 percent between 2002 and 2012, while in-state tuition increased more than 85 percent and out-of-state tuition increased more than 70 percent. Meanwhile, academic spending increased 36 percent while total state support decreased less than 15 percent during that time, from $82 to $70 million. Declining state support and soaring university debt have led to rising
DEBT,
SEE PAGE 10
Miami University Athletics will have some large shoes to fill as women’s swimming and diving Head Coach Dave Jennings announced that he will be retiring. Jennings led the RedHawks to 16 Mid-American Conference (MAC) championships in his 31 years of coaching. “It was a hard decision,” Jennings said. “The main reason was that I am ready to move on and spend time with my family. I feel like I have accomplished a lot of the goals I have set for myself and I’m ready to move on to different things. Coaching, like any other job, takes up lot of your time.” Jennings will retire as a MAC Champion as he coached the ’Hawks to first place just under two months ago. He led the RedHawks to first or second place MAC finishes in 25 of his 31 seasons. “It’s nice to make this decision and go out on my own terms,” Jennings said. “[The MAC Championship] is just icing on the cake.”
Senior Stacie Clagg, who competed in the breaststroke and individual medley, said Jennings did a great job connecting with the athletes. “[Jennings] wasn’t focused on just swimming, he cared about each athlete as a person,” Clagg said. “By the end of my senior year I had done things I never thought I could do.” Senior Bekka Westrick, who qualified for the NCAA championships in the 100 freestyle, said Jennings helped her succeed. “I think [Jennings] helped me build confidence in and out of the pool,” Westrick said. “He just cared about us a lot; he wanted all of us to succeed.” Miami Athletic Director David Sayler had great praise for Jennings. “[Jennings] embodies everything we hope this athletic department to be,” Sayler said. “He is an exemplary employee; he has a lot to be proud of.” Jennings finished his coaching career with a dual meet record of 265-105, a .716 win percentage. The classes of 1986, 1987, 1988, 1999 and 2005 won every MAC Championship they competed in
under Jennings. He coached 104 athletes to individual MAC Champion finishes. Despite being Miami’s winningest single sport coach, Jennings did not say winning was his favorite part of coaching. “Favorite part [of coaching], huh? That’s a hard question,” Jennings said. “I would say working day to day with the student athletes and seeing them develop is my favorite part, it’s a lot of fun.” Sayler said Miami will begin a nationwide search for a replacement in the future. “We have to post the position and have interviews in the next month or month and a half,” Sayler said. “We would consider the assistant coach a candidate, but we will cast an open net.” Sayler said the job opening should be an attractive one due to the program’s success. “[Jennings’] print is all over the program and his presence will be felt, he has left a long lasting legacy,” Sayler said. “We’re going to miss him. He’s a great coach, a great teacher, and more importantly, a great man.”
Students face drug trafficking charges Five young men, including three Miami University students, were arrested in Oxford Thursday on counts of drug trafficking, according to Sgt. Mike Hackney of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office. Over five pounds of marijuana were seized, along with large quantities of molly, hash butter, THC suckers, mushrooms, over $10,000 in cash and a 2008 Mercury Mariner, according to Hackney. Of all five taken to Butler County Jail, four have posted bail, according to Hackney. An 18-year-old Fairfield native, Noah Moore, has posted bond.
Moore was charged with one count posession and one count permitting drug abuse, according to the Butler County Sheriff’s Office. According to the Butler County Sherrif’s office, sophomores Kwasi Yeboah, 19, Evan Gregory, 20, and John Lincoln, 20, have also paid bail. Gregory and Lincoln were charged with one count trafficking each. Yeboah was charged with two counts trafficking and one count posession. The remaining man, Markel Morrison, 28, is an Ohio University student and was charged with one count trafficking and one count posession.
An investigation by the Butler Undercover Regional Narcotics (BURN) task-force lasting over a month led the arrests. When asked whether a tip sparked the investigation, Hackney declined to comment. There may be additional charges and arrests, according to Hackney, who said the group faces a preliminary trial this Thursday. Hackney said there were two Oxford residences from which drugs were trafficked and where seizures occurred: 100 W. Sycamore St. and 521 Lincoln St. Gregory and Lincoln lived at the former address, Yeboah at the latter.