The Miami Student | September 11, 2018

ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

Miami University — Oxford, Ohio

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

Volume 146 No. 2

SEXUAL ASSAULT REPORTED ON FIRST DAY OF FALL SEMESTER CÉILÍ DOYLE NEWS EDITOR

A female Miami University student was sexually assaulted at 10 p.m. on the first day of the school year, Monday, Aug. 27. The staff at Fort Hamilton Hospital in Hamilton, Ohio notified the Miami University Police Department (MUPD) three days later on Thursday, Aug. 30.

The case was then transferred to the Oxford Police Department (OPD), according to an OPD incident report.

The suspect was described in an MUPD Safety Bulletin email sent out to students on Aug. 30 as a “white, college-aged male” with brown hair, brown eyes and a build of “approximately 170 pounds” around 5 feet 10 inches tall.

OPD officer Thomas Sikora reported that he met with McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, Samantha Griffith, to pick up the sexual assault evidence and collection kit for OPD’s evidence room on Saturday, Sept. 1.

Griffith informed the OPD officer that the female student did not wish to speak to any law enforcement agents at this time.

Miami students who wish to report a sexual assault can contact any campus security enforcement, including MUPD (513519-2222), OPD (513-523-4321), the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution (513-529-1417), any academic or student organization advisor as well as athletic coaches.

Additionally, sexual assault survivors can contact Nora McVey (513-431-1111) who is Miami’s campus-based support specialist from Butler County’s office of Women Helping Women. McVey is not a mandatory reporter and can provide survivors with additional support and advice. doyleca3@miamioh.edu @cadoyle_18

REDSHIRT SENIOR QUARTERBACK GUS RAGLAND HANGS HIS HEAD. THE RAIN MATCHED THE REDHAWKS’ MOOD ON SATURDAY AT PAUL BROWN STADIUM. EMILY BRUSTOSKI VIDEO EDITOR

Cincinnati – 21, Miami – 0 BRADY PFISTER STAFF WRITER

Saturday night’s 123rd Battle for the Victory Bell was wet, windy and, for Miami fans, miserable as they watched the Bearcats beat the RedHawks. The loss moved Miami Head Coach Chuck Martin to 0-5 in his career vs. UC. Following a 21-0 Bearcat victory this weekend, the trend of “if only”s against the in-state rival will continue to haunt Miami for at least another year – UC extended their win streak to 13 over the Red & White.

“Both teams had very few chances,” Martin said. “When you get an opportunity to make a big play, a game-changing play, you got to make the game-changing play.”

In a game where neither offense

eclipsed 250 total yards due to staunch defense and rainy conditions, the difference was Miami’s inability to cash in on big plays.

Such game-altering chances happened on four occasions Saturday night.

Each one went the way of the Bearcats.

The first took place on Miami’s third drive of the game. Following a methodical march into Cincinnati territory, Redshirt quarterback Gus Ragland had Redshirt sophomore tight end Andrew Homer wide open down the seam, but overthrew him, potentially as a result of heavy rain.

“We tried to stay aggressive even though the weather was bad,” Martin said. “If you play them on a normal night, I don’t know if the ball slips out of Gus’ hand when Homer’s running wide open down the middle of the

field.”

Following the crucial miss, the ’Hawks failed to return to Bearcat territory for the remainder of the half.

On the other side, Cincinnati Redshirt freshman quarterback Desmond Ridder consistently outran Miami defenders to the perimeter, accumulating exactly 100 yards on the ground on the night.

“We were expecting them to run it a lot tonight,” Miami senior defensive tackle Nate Trawick said.

Martin expected the same.

“I’m sure they didn’t care too much that it was torrential downpour tonight because of what they were going to do – run the ball and play defense,” Martin added.

In the midst of the Cincinnati CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

ARENA

‘Hockey is a game of people, not a game of pucks’ Stanley Cup’s visit to Miami embodies former coach’s values EMILY SIMANSKIS SPORTS EDITOR

MOST FANS WERE THRILLED TO SEE THE STANLEY CUP IN OXFORD ON WEDNESDAY. OTHERS, NOT SO MUCH. BO BRUECK ASST. PHOTO EDITOR

This Issue

They came in Washington Capitals, Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins jerseys. They came from Bowling Green, Ohio, Louisville, Kentucky and Washington D.C. They came to Goggin at 10 a.m. and trickled out around 4 p.m.

“The Stanley Cup is in the building,” the loudspeaker announced.

They cheered at exactly noon.

There are few things that bring over 4,000 people together on a rainy Wednesday in Oxford. Few things that force universal smiles in the Goggin Ice Center lobby, turn heads at Skippers, Mac and Joe’s and CJ’s and elicit cheers on stage at

Brick Street.

But the combination of “The Radio Voice of the Washington Capitals” John Walton, Capitals Director of Goaltending Mitch Korn and the Stanley Cup did the trick.

“This wasn’t about me,” Korn said.

“This was about all the people that have impacted my life. It was so everybody could experience this. It’s awesome.”

Korn was Miami Hockey’s goalie coach from 1981-88 and spent 30 years in Oxford. Got married here, raised a daughter here and when he won the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals on June 8, knew he was spending his allotted 24 hours with the Cup here.

Walton, an alum who called Miami hockey games when Korn coached, knew he had to come back, too.

Smiling strangers shared the day with Korn, Walton and Stanley.

Jim Hodapp, a 30-year Miami Hockey season ticket holder, drove from Cincinnati to see the Stanley Cup. He shook hands with Korn and basked in the Cup’s history for an hour before leaving.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Talawanda reconsiders mascot

The rugby boys are back in town

The committee to rebrand the Talawanda School District met on Monday night.

Past and present rugby players celebrate the 50th anniverary of the MURFC.

page 3

page 9

Childhood ends as summer fades

New year, same story

“Everyone thinks everyone they know will fade into memory...”

“When you don’t score any points, any mistake is going to cost you the game.”

page 10

page 14

Telluride Festival Film on pages 6 & 7

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This Week TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2017 Named the Best College Newspaper (Non-daily) in Ohio by the Society of Professional Journalists.

JACK EVANS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Audrey Davis Kirby Davis Alison Perelman Managing Editors

Kelly Burns Opinion Editor

Tuesday

Wednesday

Ben Finfrock Asst. Opinion Editor

Ben Smith Design Editor

Megan Zahneis Chief Copy Editor

Jugal Jain Photo Editor

Alyssa Melendez Web Designer

Emily Brustoski Video Editor Ceili Doyle Samantha Brunn News Editors

Lindsay Cerio Business Manager

Caroline Creek Asst. News Editor

James Tobin Faculty Adviser

Madeline Mitchell Kate Rigazio Culture Editors

Fred Reeder Business Adviser WDJ Inc. - Bill Dedden Distributor

Emily Simanskis Sports Editor Cartoonist Arthur Newberry

Asst. Photo Editor Bo Brueck

Designers Connor Wells

Photography Staff Erik Craigo G M Akand Sabik Heather McCowan Justin Maschmeyer Kat Holleran Macy Whitaker Colleen Grimm Danielle Nehring

Opinion Columnists Michael Stemmler Paolo Federico­O’Murchu Senior Staff Writers Julia Arwine

Things to do

Matthew Heckert Videography Staff Jack Barteck Rick Das

Website: www.miamistudent.net For advertising information: miamistudent@gmail.com Send us a letter? eic@miamistudent.net The Miami Student is published on Tuesdays during the school year by the students of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

The content of The Miami Student is the sole responsibility of The Miami Student staff. Opinions expressed in The Miami Student are not necessarily those of Miami University, its students or staff.

CORRECTIONS POLICY The Miami Student is committed to providing the Miami University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

9/11 Memorial Run, Millet Flagpole, 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

To remember the 2,977 Americans who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001, join the Miami and Oxford communities in running laps in between your classes.

Pizza-Pick-Me-Up, Armstrong Pavillion A/B, 6 - 9 p.m.

Give yourself a much deserved break and head to the Armstrong Pavilion to make your own pizza. Join MAP for this yummy free event while supplies last. Get there early!

Thursday

Friday

Uptown Concert Series, Uptown Park, 7 - 8:30 p.m.

What better way to spend a relaxing night than listening to live music in Uptown Park? The Wrong Crowd, a jazzy funk band founded by Miami students, will be grooving this week. Bring your lawn blankets and spend the night getting lost in the music.

Art After Dark, Armstrong Pavillion A/B, 9 p.m. - 12 a.m..

Art After Dark is back! Head to this free late-night event for a fun night of arts and crafts, including sculpture, coloring, figure drawing, Chinese calligraphy, pottery painting and more. Features live acoustic music and gourmet popcorn.

FROM THE ARCHIVES “Let us renew our efforts to bring understanding, tolerance, and humanity to a world badly in need of those values.”

—Former Miami President Garland, at 9/11 vigil page 10, September 13, 2001

VIDEO

we need newspaper people VIDEO EDITOR EMILY BRUSTOSKI

Watch a video recap of Miami’s brutal 21-0 loss to University of Cincinnati online at

https://youtu.be/lW6vBQ vau7w

Armstrong room 3018 Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. or email evansjm4@miamioh.edu Looking for: Writers, Photographers, Copy Editors, Page Designers, Illustrators

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2017

Talawanda schools consider mascot change — again BEN DEETER STAFF WRITER The Talawanda School District has formed a committee to examine the use of its logo and mascot, the Brave.

The current logo was developed in 2012, when the district considered several designs and ultimately settled on the red Talawanda “T” overlaying a blue silhouette of a Native American head.

The committee has 16 members, half of whom work for the school district including the superintendent, the athletic director, the health and wellness coordinator and the principal at Talawanda High School. The remaining members are citizens of Oxford that have demonstrated interest in, and are involved with, the mascot issue.

Ed Theroux, superintendent of the Talawanda School District, created the committee at the direction of the school board after the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), a non-profit law firm that

advocates for native people across the country, sent a letter to the school district in June.

In urging Talawanda to change its mascot, the six-page letter shared anecdotes from an alumna of Native descent. It also cited research that proves the negative educational and psychological effects of Native American mascots on students and described the actions of other athletic programs at all levels in abandoning such symbols.

Holli Morrish, director of communications and public relations for the school district, said pressure from outside groups was not the only factor in the committee’s formation.

“In recent months, we’ve had members of the community come to board meetings,” Morrish said. “They’ve taken the opportunity to talk about and present to the board about changing the logo from a Native American. Those comments compelled the board to task Dr. Theroux with putting together a committee to address changing the logo.”

The committee members are not all on the same page regarding changing the logo, however.

Some want to keep it, others want to get rid of it and another group feels neutral about the subject.

Tamise Ironstrack, a committee member and professor in Miami University’s Spanish and Portuguese department, said the committee’s mission has been vague up to this point.

“What I hope is that the discussion becomes about getting rid of the logo and the mascot, but that’s never actually been explicitly stated,” Ironstrack said. “We have no agenda, no action items. It’s all been sort of couched in this idea of exploring how we use logos. But, to me, I think the debate really is about ‘Are we going to get rid of it or not?’”

The committee held its first meeting on Monday evening in the Talawanda High School media center. The meeting was largely administrative, with a focus on laying ground for future meetings. The agenda included introductions from every

member, ground rules for meetings and a decision-making policy.

“We want to ensure we’re moving in a direction that’s beneficial to our students, while also not tearing the community apart,” Theroux said at the meeting.

This is not the first time Talawanda has considered changing its mascot.

In 2010, the Oxford chapter of the NAACP and Oxford Citizens for Peace and Justice united to advocate for changing the mascot and logo. The logo at that time was a profile view of a war-painted, redskinned Native American warrior.

After months of debating and studying the issue, the school board opted to not change the mascot at that time.

Morrish said the board concluded that the original people who consolidated four Butler County schools into Talawanda had chosen the Brave mascot to connect the schools to the history of the region.

The mascot was again considered two years later, and the most recent iteration of it was created as a result. deeterbj@miamioh.edu

Cincinnati – 21, Miami – 0 FROM PAGE 1 rushing attack late in the first have, the second big moment of the night occurred on 2nd-and-4 for the Bearcats at their own 25 when Ridder fumbled behind the line of scrimmage.

Instead of falling on the ball, the ’Hawks defense tried and failed to scoop and score, resulting in a Bearcat recovery at their own nine.

Following a UC punt, the RedHawks started in their own territory and went three and out, squandering another chance to score with the halftime score sitting 7-0 in favor of the Bearcats.

“If you had the opportunity to put points on the board, you had to do it,” Martin said.

Coming out of the halftime locker room, seniors Junior McMullen and Brad Koenig and the rest of the RedHawk defense got a quick stop to give Ragland and co. the ball. Starting at their own 22 yard-line, the Red & White made their way down the field to the Cincinnati 27-yard line.

This would be the site of Miami’s third crucial whiff.

On 2nd and 10 from there point, Redshirt freshman wide receiver Jalen Walker ran a corner route to the front left pile-on. Rolling out, Ragland looked Walker’s way, leading him just slightly, but the ball slipped between Walker’s hands and fell incomplete.

“We got a guy behind them with a chance for a touchdown and don’t connect on the play, which, again, would have tied the game,” Martin said.

The next play, a 15-yard penalty took the RedHawks out of scoring position. It would be the final drive Miami threatened to score.

While Miami’s offense stagnated in the rain, the defense played a stellar game, allowing only 233 total yards, with only 45 yards surrendered through the air.

“We thought it was going to be a low-scoring defensive battle anyways because that’s how they play,” Martin said.

“I don’t know if we put up zero if it’s not a torrential downpour.”

Entering the final quarter of play, Miami looked to get on the board at their own six-yard line. On first down, Ragland threw a slant route that bounced off the hands of Redshirt sophomore receiver Jack Sorenson and into the lap of Cincinnati’s sophomore safety Darrick Forrest.

It would be the fourth and final decisive play.

Forrest returned the interception to the Miami one-yard line, leading to a Bearcat score the next play, making it 14-0 UC. With the rate the RedHawk offense was operating, a two-score lead felt like a four score lead.

EMILY BRUSTOSKI VIDEO EDITOR

“If you had the opportunity to put points on the board, you had to do it.”

— Chuck Martin EMILY BRUSTOSKI VIDEO EDITOR

The ’Cats would tack on another score, putting the Victory Bell officially out of Chuck Martin’s reach for the fifth year in a row.

The RedHawks moved to 0-2 on the season and will travel to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers this week where they will hope to straighten out their offensive woes.

Can Miami fans count on a more productive showing?

“I certainly hope so,” Martin said. pfisterjb@miamioh.edu @brady_pfister SENIOR DEFENSIVE BACK JOSHUA ALLEN AND MIAMI’S DEFENSE ANCHORED THE TEAM ON SATURDAY (TOP). THE OFFENSIVE LINE WAITS FOR SNAP (MIDDLE). SENIOR LINEBACKER JUNIOR MCMULLEN RUNS FOR THE BALL (BOTTOM).

EMILY BRUSTOSKI VIDEO EDITOR

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

Not In Our Town hosts “Rise for Climate” rally TERESA ANIEV

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Residents of Oxford mucked through the cold and rain to rally together in Uptown Park this past Saturday morning, Sept. 8. Their objective was to raise awareness for climate change and to discuss the additive problems climate change poses to communities.

The nationwide event, “Rise for Climate,” was supported in part

by Oxford’s chapter of Not In Our Town (NIOT), an organization that helps create safe communities throughout America. “Rise for Climate” itself has footholds on seven continents and in 95 countries. The Oxford event was one of thousands held around the globe.

Despite the chilly weather on Saturday, about 60 to 70 people came out in support of the environmental mission, weathering the rain and wind.

Carla Blackmar is a member of Oxford’s planning commission as well as a local community activist.

She coordinated the “Rise for Climate” event in Oxford,which featured six guest speakers and an art table for creating posters.

“We march because this is an emergency,” said Blackmar. “We march because the time to do everything possible is now...We march because it turns out that the most ancient mode of transit—walking—is also a celebration of our first amendment rights and a reaffirmation of our power as a civil society.”

The event began small but grew as passers-by joined in to lend their support. One attendee, Hanan Isaacs from Princeton, NJ, was visiting his son Joshua, who attends Miami, when he stumbled upon “Rise for Climate.”

“I came by and saw this beehive of activity, and decided to join in,” said Isaacs. “You know, activism is really the only way to create change.”

Rebecca Howard, one of the speakers, is a candidate for state representative of the Ohio 53rd district. She signed the “No Fossil Fuel Money” pledge in an effort to steer spending away from fossil-fuel-related investments.

“The rich people will survive,” said Howard. “But we’ve gotta support the workers in the fossil fuel industry — the ones that the work

City Council considers upzoning proposal

COMMUNITY MEMBERS GATHER TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE. BO BRUECK ASST. PHOTO EDITOR

is generational for. We’ve gotta help them in their transition.”

The rally reflected the deregulation in environmental policy that the public has seen under the Trump administration, including an 11 percent raise in funding for carbon-heavy tar sands, according

to a report from the Rainforest Action Network.

Max Leveridge, an environmental science graduate student at Miami, was one of the last speakers at the event, focusing on why climate action is needed, now more than ever.

“All humans deserve to have equal opportunities, equal treatment, equal pay.” Leveridge said.

“But you can’t really worry about that if there’s not a planet.” anievtm@miamioh.edu

MU’s Students for Life hosts first campus-wide event: “Understanding & Responding to ‘My Body, My Choice’”

SAMANTHA BRUNN NEWS EDITOR

Oxford City Council heard the first reading of the proposal to rezone a parcel comprised of two areas between W. Spring St. and W. Walnut St. at the latest council meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 4.

The proposal would up-zone the two areas from their current status as General Business (GB) and Residential Office (RO) to Single, Two, or Three Family Mile Square Residential (R3MS).

“We all know if this were to go through it would spell more student housing,” city councilor Glenn Ellerbe said.

The proposal was one of the more contentious items on the agenda, as the meeting was filled with members of the public who wished to speak to the issue.

Representatives from Opus Development Company, the petitioner for the proposal, said this is an opportunity to bring a prime location back to life and to expand the tax base for the community.

“We would like to propose a reactivation of Walnut and Collins,” Ben Angelo, an Opus representative, said. “One’s a dead end and the other is a gravel parking lot — and we want to promote circulation of traffic in the area.”

Bill Snavely, chairman of the planning commission, said that while Opus may have good intentions, their plan does not fit into the vision the planning commission has for Oxford.

“These are sincere developers,” Snavely said. “The commission was impressed with them and they had a lovely plan in many respects… but is it appropriate to suddenly change our vision of our town?”

Snavely expressed concern that Opus had not met their “burden of proof” in showing whether more student housing really is needed in Oxford.

Kelly Ansel, the owner of Whistle Stop, a pet and garden supply store, said she is hopeful council will approve the proposal because her business can no longer afford to exist in the area in question.

“We are no longer successfully sustaining,” Ansel said. “It’s not that we want to leave. The business is not being supported enough by the community.”

Ansel said Opus is the only entity to approach her and her business with a proposal to redevelop the entire area, which is “a multi-million dollar effort.”

Richard Campbell, an Oxford resident and journalism professor at Miami University, spoke in support of Whistle Stop and brought attention to the limited housing prospects Miami faculty have in town.

“Our faculty were driven out of mile square because of free markets,” Campbell said.

Charles Kennick, a senior at Miami, wanted to bring a student perspective to the discussion.

“There have been studies done in classes such as Dr. [David] Prytherch’s that there is enough student housing in the area and an increase in housing will not drop the prices in any way,” Kennick said. “And just because Miami students tend to be wealthier, it does not mean they should be exploited for someone else’s gain.”

In council discussion, various councilors expressed concern over the proposal and said they expect to have more conversations on the issue.

“We should be guided by general welfare, not benefit to the property owner,” councilor David Prytherch said.

The next city council meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 8. brunnsj@miamioh.edu @samantha_brunn

GUEST SPEAKER JOSH BRAHM DISCUSSES HIS POSITION ON BEING A PRO-LIFE ADVOCATE. BO BRUECK ASST. PHOTO EDITOR

CÉILÍ DOYLE NEWS EDITOR

Curious students and community members trickled into the Armstrong Student Center for Miami University Students for Life’s first-ever campus-wide event last Thursday.

The event — a lecture on “Understanding Responding to ‘My Body, My Choice,’” featuring pro-life advocate Josh Brahm — drew the attention of the Miami College Democrats and the student organization FWORD (Feminists Working on Real Democracy), whose members chose to set up tables on Armstrong’s ground floor near the Seal, and passed out condoms and sex education information.

Three MUPD officers were present for the event. Two officers were posted outside the room and one inside the lecture as pro-life supporters, pro-choice advocates and curious bystanders alike peered into Pavilions A and B. Ellie Whitman, president of Students for Life, spoke briefly, calling it her “mission to create a culture of life” at Miami before introducing Brahm to the half-filled pavilion rooms.

“My passion is to have better conversations between pro-life and pro-choice advocates,” Brahm said.

“There’s a lot that both can get from this talk and I hope every pro-choice person here will leave feeling respected.”

Brahm is the founder and president of the Equal Rights Institute, an organization dedicated to training pro-life advocates to “think clearly,

reason honestly, and argue persuasively on the issue of abortion.”

In his lecture, Brahm consistently advocated for pro-life policies, but remained respectful to those in the audience who disagreed with him.

He outlined various “thought experiments,” in which he used analogies to explain how he believed he could still advocate that a survivor of rape should not abort her unborn child.

Brahm focused specifically on the movie “Up” and the scene in which Russell, a young wilderness explorer, ends up on Carl’s porch while the home is airborne due to hundreds of balloons sprouting from the chimney.

In the movie, Russell knocks on Carl’s door and asks to come in — terrified by being hundreds of feet up in the air and hanging off of the ledge of Carl’s porch. At first, Carl, a grumpy, old man, shuts the door in Russell’s face. But moments later, Carl begrudgingly opens the door and lets an enthusiastic Russell in.

“Now, let’s take a moment to discuss: what is Carl’s relationship to Russell?” Brahm asked. “He’s not his grandson. They are not related.

Now, let’s imagine that Pixar decided to take ‘Up’ in a much darker direction,” Brahm said. “Let’s imagine that he knocks at the door and Carl opens up the door and he says, ‘Nope — my property, my choice,’ and kicks [Russell] off. And the house lands later, the police eventually show up and say, ‘We’ve been looking for this missing child, have you seen a boy scout?’ And he says, ‘Yep, but my property, my choice. I kicked him

off.’”

Brahm argued that in that extreme situation, Carl was Russell’s de-facto guardian — or an adult who is in the geographic vicinity of a child who is the only one who can help that child not die by providing basic support: food, shelter, etc.

While Brahm admitted this thought experiment “is not like pregnancy,” he believes it is “analogous in a lot of ways to a woman who is pregnant and a survivor of rape.”

Brahm acknowledged he is a man who cannot experience pregnancy, but he argued that fact does not make his arguments any less valid.

During the Q&A segment of the event, Brahm gave another example, in which a mother going through postpartum depression pushes a car containing a baby into a lake.

“My attitude is not going to be one of judgment, but one of empathy,” Brahm said. “I’m going to jump in the water to save the baby and also help [the mother].”

“You’re not obligated to help people,” Brahm added. “But you are not allowed to kill people.”

While not every member of the audience agreed with him, Brahm consistently offered those who disagreed the opportunity to both challenge and respectfully argue with him. doyleca3@miamioh.edu @cadoyle_18

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

Oxford aquatic center to open in May

THE PARK IS EXPECTED TO SERVE PATRONS OF ALL ABILITIES. PHOTO FROM THE CITY OF OXFORD

MADELINE MITCHELL CULTURE EDITOR

A large white binder has sat upright on a table across from the desk of the director of Oxford Parks and Recreation for 12 years.

When Casey Wooddell became director in 2016, he inherited a project that was killed by the recession.

“OXFORD FAMILY AQUATIC CENTER FEASIBILITY STUDY, OXFORD, OHIO, SEPTEMBER 2006,” the large black letters on the cover screamed.

The binder contains the results of a study conducted 12 years ago to determine whether Oxford needed a new aquatic center.

“The study said ‘yes, we need it,’” Wooddell said. “And then the

Record number of scholarships offered failed to increase enrollment BAYLEE DAVIS

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami University offered a record number of scholarships to the incoming class of 2022, yet a large margin declined the offers.

Upon request, the office of student enrollment services said they do not have exact data regarding numbers of students who were offered scholarships compared to the numbers of students who accepted them.

Brent Shock, associate vice president for student enrollment services said competition in higher education may be partially to blame for the declined offers.

“We offer a certain number of admission spots knowing that a certain percentage of students will not take us up on that offer,” Shock said. “The same is true for scholarships. We know that we always over-offer scholarships — well beyond what our budget would be. We know that it is very competitive field right now in higher education and there is a declining enrollment in Ohio students.”

Despite having a decreased number of accepted scholarships, the class of 2022 still set a university record — 3,954 inbound students make up the largest and most diverse class in Miami’s history.

Shock said despite accepting larger classes each year for the past few years, there has been a declining number of high school students in general across the country.

“I mean that, literally, there are fewer Ohio students moving through the K-12 educational

system right now,” Shock said.

“The population is decreasing in Ohio, and that is true for other parts of the country.”

According to the Western Interstate College of Higher Education, the U.S. is entering into a stagnant period after 15 years of consistent increases in high school graduates.

“Our academic quality is not lagging,” Shock said. “In fact, it has increased over the last few years. We are on par with Ohio State and ahead of Ohio University and Kent State.”

The Common Data Sets of both Miami University and Ohio State include data supporting this.

Shock thinks there is nothing the university could point to that contributed to the decline in student yield.

Shock added that he believes “prestige” is not an issue, since the decline in yield is a trend across the country, not just at Miami.

The admissions office is in the process of putting together what they believe to be improved initiatives to make Miami better-known nationwide.

These efforts include placing regionally-based Miami recruiters in the western states and eastern seaboard, reevaluating current scholarship strategies and guaranteeing certain scholarship amounts to certain students—which is a new concept.

Shock said Miami is hopeful for a better return on scholarship offers in the future. davisba5@miamioh.edu

recession hit in 2008 so we didn’t build it.”

It could have ended there, but revival efforts eventually ensued, headed by the former director, Gail Brahier.

Over a decade since the plan was conceived, Oxford is planning to open the new aquatic center in May. Its name? That’s up to you.

A form on the City of Oxford’s website invites Oxford residents to contribute to the naming of the new water park.

Those who fill out the form will be entered into a drawing to win a free 2019 season pass to the new facility, according to the website.

The questionnaire asks if the word “Oxford” is important in the name, and if attracting out-of-town visi-

tors is important for residents.

“What I’m learning,” Wooddell said, “is that it’s all over the place.”

Wooddell said the new aquatic center plans to serve the Talawanda school district, which is “certainly more than just Oxford.”

The aquatic center will have a little something for everyone, including a zero-depth entry pool, a lazy river, a slide and a convocation pool for older age groups.

“The aquatic center is designed to serve people of all ages, whereas our pool now is really designed to serve just kids,” Wooddell said.

“It’s hard to get teenagers to want to come to a pool that we have now where it’s overrun by little kids, and the same with adults and seniors.”

As far as university students go, Wooddell said the new aquatic center is designed to accommodate them, too, but that Miami students are not the focus.

“If you asked 100 Miami students, maybe 10 of them would know about the Oxford parks,” he said.

The forms will be reviewed by the committee on September 17 and the name of the aquatic center will be released shortly thereafter.

The facility will officially open on May 25, 2019.

Check back on miamistudent. net for further updates and information regarding this story. mitche49@miamioh.edu @m_mitchell21

Counseling Services contracted psychiatry to TriHealth SAMANTHA BRUNN NEWS EDITOR

Student Counseling Services (SCS) has contracted out their psychiatry services to TriHealth in a move to make care more accessible to Miami University students.

Dr. John Ward, director of SCS, said he is excited about the benefits the changes will bring.

“Our traditional model was running uncomfortably long wait times,” Ward said. “The solution was to open access to support.

Students will get in sooner, and more students will have access to psychiatric care.”

The new primary care model is an integrative model that is part of a nationally recognized program.

Christi Traficant, TriHealth

practice manager for Miami Health Services, said the model will improve care in multiple ways, including engaging with primary care earlier before a psychiatric evaluation.

“We are excited to do this in real time, and we have a commitment to this model,” Traficant said.

Under the new model when a student calls in to SCS, they will

now have an initial evaluation within 24-48 hours in the lessbusy times of the year. The wait is expected to be three days at most during high-volume times, such as finals week.

Ward explained the new system will allow for at least four evaluations per day, whereas the old system only had capacity for

PHOTO FROM TRIHEALTH

two to three.

In response to the student concerns that have circulated regarding wait times and copays under the new system, Ward was surprised.

“I’m wondering if they didn’t understand the new shift,” Ward said. “These are a lot of misconceptions, and we don’t want false information to spread.”

Associated Student Government (ASG) president, Meaghan Murtagh, said she is hopeful the new model will be positively received by students.

“Wait times are always driven by rumor,” Murtagh said. “I want people to take advantage of the changes. Miami needs to raise awareness of the resources we now have.”

Murtagh said SCS now employs a therapist that speaks Mandarin to better serve the international student population.

Neither Ward nor Traficant expect students to experience financial hardship due to the change.

“If anything, healthcare prices in general have gone up and these perceived changes may be due to a student’s insurance coverage rather than due to any change Miami made,” Ward said.

Ward said SCS is looking forward to operating under the new model.

“I’m really excited about the shift because it will ultimately give students more support, and that’s what we’re all about,” Ward said. brunnsj@miamioh.edu @samantha_brunn

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Entertainment

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KEELINST@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

Telluride

From Aug. 31 through Sept. 3, a group of film studies co-majors attended the 45th Annual Telluride Film Festival through Miami’s Media, Journalism and Film department and wrote about the festival’s most interesting films and themes.

The future of entertainment is female but so is the past CÉILÍ DOYLE NEWS EDITOR

As the clouds parted across the mountainous terrain of Telluride, Colorado, the sun shone above the grassy alcove surrounding the all-female panel at the Abel Glance Open Air Cinema during the 45th Telluride Film Festival.

The panel was comprised of five women: director Marielle Heller and actress Melissa McCarthy from the film “Can You Forgive Me,” director Karyn Kusama and actress Nicole Kidman from the film “Destroyer” and their moderator, Annette Insdorf. The women gathered to discuss whether or not “stories with female protagonists” are “moving front and center” in the film industry.

Both the directors and actresses offered thoughtful commentary while addressing the importance of telling female stories through film.

Kidman especially emphasized the need for these stories to be told even when it involves uncomfortable material, such as sexual or physical abuse, which, given the rise of the #MeToo movement and the fall of Harvey Weinstein (formerly one of Hollywood’s biggest film producers), proved to be a very compelling conversation.

“Sometimes artistically you’re delving into very, very difficult, uncomfortable places to find truth or magic or authenticity and that requires the director and the actor or the other actor…[to say] ‘Are you okay with this?’” Kidman said.

“I’ve had to do sex scenes and I’ve had to do things where I’ve gone, ‘This is really, really uncomfortable,’ but I feel that it’s important because what we’re trying to achieve is important here and that’s trust and respect.”

While the general mood of the discussion was positive, everything was focused on the future.

In fact, so much of society’s discussions on feminism, the role of women in art and the struggle for equality is grounded in the future becoming female. However, Telluride’s brightest moment was the American debut of “Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy Blanché,” — a film that chose to explore women’s historical roots in the industry.

The documentary tells the story of the film industry’s first female pioneer — a director, filmmaker, producer, screenwriter and actress who started her career at the Gaumont Film Company in 1896.

Over a period of 26 years, Blanché made more than a 1,000 films (of which only a few hundred remain) and managed her own studio, The Solax Company, during the early 20th century after she and her husband moved from France to the States.

Blanché made history — she was the first to develop narrative filmmaking, the first to use a cast of all black actors and the first director to encourage actors to “Be Natural” by hanging a sign above the wall in Solax — but she was left out of its books.

After the industry moved its headquarters to Hollywood, and Wall Street began to recognize how commercially successful movies could be, they effectively snatched the reins Blanché had held when most businessmen considered filmmaking a passing fad.

“Girl” and “Boy Erased” represent a hopeful future for LGBTQ+ film EMMA VOGELMEIER THE MIAMI STUDENT

When I enter a theater to see a film about anything remotely queer, I go in with certain – cynical – expectations of how the film will address the subject matter of the queer experience. My fears stem from the fact that oftentimes these films are one or more of the following things: underfunded and badly produced; exploitative, stereotypical or non complex; focused on how queerness affects those who are not; or full of the usual, depressing tropes of queer cinema.

At the 45th Telluride Film Festival, two recent films with LGBTQ+ subject matter were screened: “Boy Erased,” written and directed by Joel Edgerton and adapted from the memoir by Garrard Conley, and “Girl,” the first feature film from Belgian director Lukas Dhont. “Boy Erased” follows Jared (Lucas Hedges), an 18-year-old gay boy whose devoutly religious parents send him to conversion therapy in the hopes that it will ‘fix’ him. “Girl” follows Lara, (Victor Polster), a 15-year-old trans girl as she begins both hormone therapy and training at an ultra-competitive ballet school.

Neither film is underfunded or badly produced. “Boy Erased” is somewhat lacking in any sort of visual expressiveness; the cinematography is proficient, but doesn’t seem to add to the narrative in the depth that it could have. It makes up for this, however, with its careful and intimate writing.

“Girl,” a Belgian film, is more interesting cinematographically for its long-take, handheld camera work and muted color scheme.

Both films tell true, coming-of-age stories that capture the internalized homophobia that so many young queer kids experience, as well as their hopes, dreams and relationships that are difficult because of the expectations they are confronted with. “Girl” does this by closely focusing on Lara’s emotional and physical journey through hormone therapy and her grueling ballet training — so much so, that it becomes difficult for Lara to

distinguish between her competing goals of achieving the femininity embodied by a professional ballerina, and her own idea of what a “girl” should look like.

Jared’s journey is about reconciling his sexuality and his religious beliefs — for him, one trait does not exist without the other. Additionally, though Jared’s story focuses more on his family’s dynamic after he comes out, it feels justified given how important family is to him. The film is not about how Jared’s queerness affects his parents’ lives, but about how actions born out of love, even when well-intended, can be incredibly harmful. “Girl,” on the other hand, is intended to be free of moral condemnation and outside conflict, which is reflected in Lara’s relationship with her father, who never once undermines her choices. Like Jared’s, her story is completely her own and no one else’s.

Ultimately, both films navigate the queer experience quite well. Neither film ‘buries its gays’ or presents the character as promiscuous or odd. Both films address difficult aspects of the queer experience eloquently and empathetically, while painting a hopeful future for both characters at the end. Arguably, the films have their issues — some may argue the casting of a cisgender actor to play Lara is reinforcing the current issue of trans representation, or that the sympathetic view of Victor Sykes, the director of the conversion therapy program Jared attends, is misguided.

However, I think it’s fantastic to see two filmmakers so invested in queer cinema and activism. Though neither film displays a Hollywood rom-com level of happiness like “Love, Simon,” they aren’t gratuitously sad.

In fact, they are so eloquently written and performed, so empathetic to the characters and community they are representing, that I think these films represent a hopeful future for queer cinema. vogelmea@miamioh.edu

Blanché irrevocably changed the landscape of filmmaking, yet never received the credit she was due. As a result, Pamela B. Green, the director of “Be Natural,” was inspired tell the story of Blanché’s lasting legacy and dedicated ten painstaking years to uncovering the truth behind a woman who changed the world.

The film is an inspiring piece of work that captures the spirit of stories with female protagonists “moving front and center” in film by paying homage to the very woman who pioneered the artform over 100 years ago.

“It took ten years to make this movie,” Green said during the film’s screening at Telluride’s Masons Hall Cinema. “I cried all the time, but, you need to believe you’re doing something to make a change.” doyleca3@miamioh.edu

(FROM LEFT) DIRECTORS ALFONSO CUARON AND JOEL EGERTON, MODERATOR ANNETTE INSDORF AND DIRECTOR MARKUS IMHOOF DISCUSS DRAMATIZING FAMILY STORIES. PHOTO BY JASON RAMACH

An unfinished Orson Welles film feels urgent today JASON RAMACH

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Forty-eight years in the making, plagued by production issues and ownership disputes, Orson Welles’s last film “The Other Side of the Wind” premiered at the 2018 Telluride Film Festival and locks in Welles’s legacy as one of the greats. Experimental and thought-provoking, it shows Welles was far ahead of his time. The film has effective commentary on sexual exploitation in film that is even more prescient today following the #MeToo movement, and the need to remain relevant.

The film follows fictional director Jake Hannaford (John Huston) at a screening party for his film, “The Other Side of the Wind,” which has run into its own production issues after his main actor stormed off set. The film is intercut with scenes from the party to scenes from the fictional film.

Hannaford is from the Classical Hollywood studio system and struggles to keep up with a rapidly changing film industry in the 1970s that is filling cinemas with graphic depictions of sex and violence.

“The Other Side of the Wind” is Hannaford’s attempt to stay relevant, a lastditch effort to not be lost in the history books of once great directors. Hannaford, running out of money and time, uses a private screening to secure funding to finish the film. Facing pressure from journalists and people around him, Hannaford starts

to drink, making inappropriate comments to a high school girl. As the night goes on, the screening is interrupted multiple times by power outages and securing the funding becomes further from reality.

The party scenes are filmed in a documentary style. The camerawork is messy, unprofessional at first glance and a far departure of Welles’s most famous work, “Citizen Kane.” In “Citizen Kane,” Welles emphasized deep focus and expertly choreographed long takes; “The Other Side of the Wind” is cut quickly, with purposefully poor framing that gives it a run-and-gun documentary feel. Upon further evaluation, it is obviously well planned and choreographed.

This style may be jarring for some, especially in the first part of the film, but it’s easy to adjust to as the film goes on.

The film-within-the-film is shot in slow moving surreal style. It’s filled from beginning to end with sexual imagery and is where critiques of the New Hollywood of the 1970s become apparent.

“The Other Side of the Wind” is a film way ahead of its time. If completed earlier, it would have been one of the first mockumentaries. It calls out Hollywood for its, then newfound, obsession with graphic, sexual imagery. It also comments on the misogynistic culture of Hollywood that has recently been brought to light through the #MeToo movement. This makes Orson’s final film even more relevant today, and will be loved by fans of Welles and film lovers alike. ramachjk@miamioh.edu

“THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND” WAS IN DEVELOPMENT FOR NEARLY HALF A CENTURY. PHOTO FROM THE WELLES-KODAR COLLECTION, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

KEELINST@MIAMIOH.EDU

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

FILM LOVERS GATHERED IN MOUNTAINOUS COLORADO FOR THE TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL. PHOTO BY JASON RAMACH

Netflix looms large at the Telluride Film Festival KERRY HEGARTY

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Along with fellow tech giant Amazon, Netflix has radically and permanently altered the landscape of film exhibition in the 21st century.

In 2007 they introduced online video streaming. By 2010, they expanded to international markets in Canada and Latin America. In 2013, they began producing original content (with the TV series “House of Cards”). And by 2016, finally cornered the streaming markets in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The same year, they began production of kid-targeted and non-English language content, solidifying control over the most profitable avenues of production, distribution and exhibition of small-screen format content.

Recently, Netflix has turned its vast financial resources toward market control of foreign and indie film production and distribution — a move that has been stirring up controversy on the art-house and festival circuit over the past few months. However, in an effort to establish its niche, Netflix has taken to promoting less traditional, more diverse modes of storytelling — potentially attracting audiences for films that would normally have limited to no theatrical release.

Both Netflix and Amazon have been attending the major film festivals (Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Telluride) for the past few years. But this year, the decision by Netflix to

pull out of the Cannes Film Festival — due to the festival’s refusal to screen any film in competition that did not have a theatrical release in France — created a high-profile rift between the business of distribution and the art of cinema.

Luckily for myself and the select group of film studies co-majors who took part in my annual workshop at the Telluride Film Festival this year, the two most high-profile Netflix-backed films pulled from Cannes (Orson Welles’ “The Other Side of the Wind” and Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma”) premiered at Telluride instead, and we had the chance to see them on the big screen, with Cuarón and Welles’ collaborators in attendance. (Netflix has promised both of these films will have theatrical releases, though it’s unclear for how long.)

Netflix was also the main festival sponsor at Telluride this year for the first time, which lent the festival a different atmosphere than previous years. Besides the two narrative front-runners, there were other Netflix-produced documentaries and a general program that was more doc-heavy than usual. There were also various fiction films lacking in cinematic vibrancy — Jason Reitman’s The Front Runner, for one, about the Gary Hart affair, whose small-screen aesthetics made it feel a bit like watching the television show Scandal on the big screen.

There are definite pros to the distribution of festival films via online streaming: access to wider audiences, support for more diverse and less commercial storytelling and, of

course, more money for filmmakers. Since Netflix and Amazon don’t have to worry about ticket sales, they have the freedom to acquire riskier films — Spike Lee’s “Chi-Raq” was turned down by every major studio before it was produced by Amazon. Given that distribution in Hollywood has historically been the domain of white males who have sometimes struggled to connect with audiences beyond their own demographic, the disruptive model of Netflix and Amazon offers exciting possibilities for groups historically underrepresented in the industry.

Nonetheless, the cinema as a shared experience and an art form requiring specific screening circumstances to be able to communicate at its highest level of expression, is a reality that online distribution threatens to do away with in its reduction of all acquisitions to the category of “content.”

Cinema is much more than content, though that is an argument I don’t have the space to elaborate on here.

Ideally, the future of cinema would involve online streaming platforms offering a diversity of content aimed at more inclusive audiences, coupled with an effort to protect and preserve the cinematic art form from the market forces that threaten to overrun it. Though this seems reasonable, Netflix chief Ted Sarandos has made statements that seem to suggest the tech giant has an interest in controlling what all of us define as “cinema,” both in America and in the global arena as well. hegartkt@miamioh.edu

Review: “The Nun” supplies cheap jump scares with style SAM KEELING

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

If you’ve seen one schlocky horror movie, you’ve seen them all. This notion isn’t quite true, but the mindset can help you decipher what makes the genre tick. Too many scary movies have featured creepy, ancient settings, doe-eyed female protagonists, daytime exposition and nights of increasingly intense frights, rooms filled with covered furniture that you know the idiot characters will pull off one by one and large, ominous shadows from which supernatural beings can pop to and fro.

We all know what to expect when we go into a horror movie, and a good horror director knows what we’re expecting, too.

An effective scene will play with our expectations about when and where the freaky beast will appear. Throw in a jump scare too early and there won’t be enough tension; too late, and the fear will have already dissipated, the adrenaline grown stale.

James Wan’s excellent “The Conjuring” films have excelled at breathing fresh life into the ghostly possession subgenre, complete with a throwback, gothic aesthetic and chilling vocal soundtracks. But it’s the

wonderful camerawork — slow, winding pans, achingly long shots, uncomfortable angles — that solidified the series as the golden standard for a solid frightfest. While the first spin-offs building the “Conjuring” universe, “Annabelle” and “Annabelle: Creation,” were blasé and dime-a-dozen, Corin Hardy’s “The Nun” is cut from the same cloth as Wan’s originals, making for a visually captivating experience.

“The Nun” takes place in 1952, though aside from a few quick shots of cars and a radio, it might as well take place in the 1700s. A priest (Demián Bichir) is sent by the Vatican to a historic abbey deep in the rural heart of Romania to investigate a nun’s suicide. Even Dracula would find this place unsettling, and the locals avoid the place like the plague. Nearly every inch of the grounds and interior is covered with various crucifixes, many of which also function as gravestones. Quaint!

Alongside a nun-in-training plagued with visions (Taissa Farmiga) and a dashing delivery boy (Jonas Bloquet), the priest heads to the abbey and quickly discovers that something unholy has occurred.

Here’s where “The Nun” disappoints:

it doesn’t make any effort to veer from the well-beaten path of countless horror films before it. Many of the scary set pieces are slight variations on universally accepted phobias. Of course the movie includes creepy snakes. And of course it works. (I hate snakes.)

Surprisingly, the titular creature can be rather lackluster. When viewed from the periphery, as a shadow or figure lurking in the corner, she is shockingly effective. But the larger her presence becomes, the more her allure fades. Like an online catfisher,

the nun ruins everything by meeting faceto-face.

Still, props should be given when due, and Hardy wrung as much pizzazz as he could from this trite story. One scene in particular, where Farmiga and the abbey’s band of surviving nuns must pray in perpetuity to fend off the demon, is visually and musically arresting. Moments like this are what give “The Nun” its legs, even when its most uninteresting aspects try to trip it up. keelinst@miamioh.edu

PROMOTIONAL PHOTO FROM FILM WEBSITE.

8 CULTURE

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

RIGAZIKM@MIAMIOH.EDU

From science to strings: How a dorm room joke got these friends on stage

SEVEN METER SUN’S BAND MEMBERS POSE POST CONCERT. PHOTO BY JUGAL JAIN PHOTO EDITOR

AIMEE LITSON PERFORMS ONE OF SEVEN METER SUN’S ORIGINAL SONGS AT UPTOWN PARK JUGAL JAIN PHOTO EDITOR

ANNA MINTON STAFF WRITER

Well over a year ago, four friends sat in a Scott Hall dorm room kidding around about possible names for their “fake band.”

“We made a joke about some stupid physics problem, like ‘if you are standing in the

shadow of a seven meter sun, how many apples does Johnny have?’” said Nick Hutchinson, the band’s guitarist. “I just kinda wrote down anything that kinda sounded like a band name, and that was how it all started.”

Beyond the name, “it all” came to mean hours of practice and perfection that turned the idea of a “seven meter sun” into a real

LEARNING TO LIVE IN VISTA VERDE JULIA PLANT

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Tears stream down my face as I sit in the terminal at the airport, reflecting on the summer that has come to an end way before I wanted it to. I make awkward eye contact with fellow travelers glancing up at me as I wipe my eyes. But I don’t care that I’m openly crying in public. I’m not ready to leave.

It’s 6 a.m. in Colorado, and I’m facing the fact that I will arrive in Oxford in 24 hours.

I’ve spent the past three months working on an isolated guest ranch in Clark, CO – 45 minutes away from the nearest grocery store.

To say the ranch was completely different from Miami would be an understatement.

Working as a children’s supervisor, I spent every day leading a group of excited child-vacationers through the mountains of the Yampa Valley. We rode horses, hiked, swam, paddle-boarded and taught them how to develop a greater appreciation for the natural world. Despite my role as an instructor, I also learned with them.

Living out west in the middle of nowhere changed me in ways I didn’t expect.

Looking back, I was not myself during the second semester of last year. I threw myself into trying to perfectly balance my majors, multiple extracurriculars and maintaining somewhat of a social life. I was sick for nearly three months (my roommates can attest to this, having bought themselves earplugs for my ceaseless coughing), never allowing my body the chance to catch up on the rest it so desperately needed.

On top of the schoolwork and activities that filled my planner chalk-full, I struggled with comparison. The battle of comparing myself to others isn’t anything new – I’ve dealt with it my entire life. But for some reason, that feeling has always been escalated at Miami — known for its party scene and extremely attractive students. It’s easy to criticize myself for every little detail – from wearing the wrong outfit out to posting the wrong photo on Instagram.

My values were completely twisted. I was forcing myself to live up to the standards that the Miami culture set out for me. I stressed myself out to the max worrying about looking perfect, getting the perfect grades and having the perfect additions to my resumé.

Three months ago, I probably wouldn’t have had the guts to publish my writing like this out of fear of judgment.

In the midst of the semester’s chaos, the thought of my upcoming summer at Vista Verde existed faintly in the back of my mind.

I was nervous because I didn’t know anyone going, and I was almost mad at myself that I was allowing a summer of me working in the middle of nowhere to offset my track to the ideal resumé.

Oh, how quickly my perspective changed after just a few weeks on the ranch. And thank goodness for the wake-up call. Staying off social media and freeing myself from comparison was the best thing I could’ve asked for at the time. After a refreshing restart this past summer, my values have realigned.

My friends on the ranch hailed from all over the country – from Maine to LA. Interacting with such a unique, diverse and kind group of people has put a lot into perspective for me. Not everyone lives in the same way that students at Miami do, and it’s inspring.

Half-way through the summer, during our weekly pool party, seven-year-old guest, Bella, motioned for me to lean down so she could whisper something in my ear: “Don’t tell anyone, but you’re the nicest person I’ve met,” she told me with a giggle.

If Bella had met me in the middle of March this past year, I doubt she’d feel the same way. Living out west, with the most incredible people, away from the semi-toxic life I created for myself in Oxford, has made me a different kind of person. Somene who is happier, nicer. It’s the kind of person I genuinely want to be. plantjq@miamioh.edu

band. A year later, “it all” lead to a performance in the middle of Uptown park on Thursday, September 6th.

Seven Meter Sun is a “self-organized, self-promoted and self-produced alternative rock band,” according to the Office of Student Activities. Band members Andrew Back, Noah Diring, Nick Hutchinson and Aimee Litson are all undergraduate students and claim to have been brought together by what they call “commonality of fanboyism.”

“It was sort of a spontaneous idea,” said Hutchinson. “We all played instruments, and we all sing, so the idea was, ‘why aren’t we in a band?’”

While not all of them are music majors, they have all been heavily influenced by music throughout their lives. Hutchinson was involved throughout high school, while Aimee Litson has played piano and had classical vocal training since she was a child.

“I wouldn’t say I’m an expert at piano,” said Litson. “I just think that our ability to work with different instruments helps us with songwriting.”

The band has recently shed the role of being a “cover band” and has instead focused on original music which was highlighted in Thursday’s concert.

“I just wrote about the thoughts in my head and how I was sort of frustrated with the world,” said Litson about their song “Easy Distance.” “I wanted to talk about how easy it is to look at something in the world and not

care enough to not do something about it.”

Her inspiration for this song came from one of her professors, who spoke about inspiring people to act more on the things that upset them. He inspired both the title and many of the lyrics.

Each member has written their own songs, and each one is almost a different genre of music. Their own unique tastes and personalities shine through in each song, Diring said.

“We all have very different styles,” he said. “Aimee writes songs from a more external point and starts with the message while I try to be more introspective. I start with the music, then the lyrics come from how the music makes me feel.”

Their different styles of writing allow them to work with different genres of music and, Hutchinson hopes, reach a greater audience.

“We just write about anything that comes to mind, and our style is very ungrounded,” Hutchinson said. “We all can write for completely different genres, all have very different tastes in music and our range can evolve and reach more people.”

While they are not on Spotify or Soundcloud, Seven Meter Sun plan to release an EP in the coming months. They plan on switching to entirely original music in the months to come. mintona2@miamioh.edu

‘HOCKEY IS A GAME OF PEOPLE, NOT A GAME OF PUCKS’ FROM FRONT

Miami alumnus Rusty Shuffleton flew alone from D.C. to Dayton at 10 a.m. to be a part of the festivities. He stayed in Goggin’s lobby as long as he could, talking with anyone and everyone, before leaving to catch his 7:30 p.m. flight home.

Familiar faces shared the day, too.

Kyle Burdorf, Jesse Welz and Phil Bowles are campers turned counselors and coaches at Korn’s summer goalie camps.

One skipped class, two skipped work and all three crowded next to Korn for a picture with the trophy.

Mike Norton, Miami’s Director of Hockey, played at Miami under Korn from 1979-82. It was Norton and Korn’s second Stanley Cup party, as they were a part of the New York Islanders’ celebration in 1983. But Norton says this time is special.

“It’s a great thing,” Norton says. “Everybody’s happy. For Mitch and John to do this for the Miami community and the Oxford community is very special. It brings so many people together.”

Hockey fans got a piece of the special trophy.

The faces of Miami RedHawks hockey players in their 20s lit up with the same excitement as the four-year-olds on the Junior RedHawks. The Division I players didn’t touch the Cup, ascribing to the suspicion that if you touch the trophy you won’t win it, but the youth players couldn’t keep their hands off it.

The Oxford community couldn’t get enough, either.

Parents placed babies in the top bowl of the trophy and, five hours later, Mac and Joe’s wings filled it. Snapchat stories, Instagram photos and tweets documented the Cup’s journey down High Street – posing with police cars and passersby.

“This is one of those days you want to

put in a time capsule and you never want to forget,” Walton said.

Korn has always said hockey is a game of people, not pucks. He spent most of his time talking with every visitor he could, often a healthy 10 feet away from the trophy.

Walton spoke with family, old friends and students from all over. Both took pictures and shook hands with whoever asked.

Last Wednesday was about something bigger than the Stanley Cup. “I never expected to win,” Korn said.

“I ain’t never cared about winning. I will tell you when you win, you realize that it’s pretty cool and that you do want to win.

But, given the choice of picking one or the other, I’ll take people over pucks any day.” simansec@miamioh.edu

KORN AND WALTON CARRY THE CUP TO HUNDREDS OF WAITING HOCKEY FANS. PHOTO FROM MIAMI UNIVERSITY.

MITCHE49@MIAMIOH.EDU

CULTURE 9

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

TAKING CENTER STAGE:

THE THRILLS OF A THEATRE MAJOR’S FIRST WEEK DUARD HEADLEY

ASSISTANT CULTURE EDITOR

The hum of cicadas cuts through the late-summer heat as the sun drops lazily below the horizon, marking the end to another blistering day. As the light fades from the sky and students meander back to their houses and dorms, classrooms and laboratories become vacant — all except for the Center for Performing Arts.

In the Center for Performing Arts, students stay late. While the halls are quiet, there’s a tangible feeling of anticipation lingering in the silent corridors. A door opens and a tired student shuffles out. Looking up at the clock and realizing she missed the band practice she’d been hoping to attend, Annie Watson lets out a sigh and heads home.

Every year when the month of August draws to a close, a slew of articles and information appear to mark the start of a new school year. First-year survival guides, advertisements for new clubs, step-by-step scheduling manuals and lessons on how to make new friends flood the internet like clockwork.

And they do so for good reason: starting college is hard.

While the first few days on campus are a battlefield for all incoming students, there’s one group here at Miami who face a particularly brutal beginning: theatre majors.

For Miami’s first-year theatre students, the first week on campus is packed to the brim with orientations, auditions and evaluations. The Miami University Theatre Department wastes no time in throwing firstyears into the thick of things.

On their first Monday, the majors attend the department orientation. It has a casual, upbeat atmosphere that is different from most convocations and general orientations new students are forced to muddle through.

The Theatre Department raucously welcomes first-years into the fold. They’re informed about the various opportunities and events that they can participate in, to the sounds of enthusiastic whooping and cheering from faculty and fellow students alike.

To help them through the process of entering the world of Miami theatre, each incoming student is paired with an upperclassman who can offer advice and guidance. This big-little system serves to further bring the first-years into the theatre fold.

With orientation under their belts, the incoming theatre majors immediately launch into the audition process. Taking place on the first Tuesday and Wednesday, these events require students — the same students still forming their friend group and trying to find the right buildings for a class — to step on stage and pour their heart and soul into a minute-long monologue they’ve likely spent weeks preparing.

After the first-years have made it through auditions, the callback list is posted early the next morning and callbacks are held that night. Filled with plenty of pre-session pep talks and an air of cautious optimism, Thursday callbacks serve an even more scrutinizing evaluation of the student’s theatrical abilities. “[Friends] will ask me what classes I’m taking, and I’ll say auditions or a costume design class, and they won’t understand the

hard, focused work we do in class, and the hard work we do outside of class, how much time these things take up if I was to be cast in a show,” said Rachel Scardina, a junior theatre major. “It takes up all my evenings Monday through Friday and then a weekend day. It’s hard.”

Annie Watson, the student who lingered in the halls of the theatre building late into the night, managed to make it through her first week with a smile.

At the department orientation, she was inspired to audition for Echoes of Miami, an original production conceived by Miami’s assistant professor of theatre, Saffron Henke.

“It was kinda crazy,” Annie said. “I wasn’t actually planning on auditioning for the plays until [the night of orientation], and when I did go in, I knew I had steel band on Tuesday nights, so I had to sign up for a really late time slot on Wednesday.”

At 10:20 p.m. on Wednesday, she dove into her audition with a fully memorized monologue and secured a callback for the following day. She soon found out she was cast in Echoes of Miami — her first-ever college audition process was a success.

Despite her packed first week, Annie said she felt hopeful about the upcoming year.

“I know it’ll be really busy,” she said. “As a theatre major, it’s a lot to take in at first with all the required classes, but I do feel excited, and I’m looking forward to the year.”

Annie isn’t the only theatre first-year to grapple with the challenges of week one.

Coming out of her first Miami audition, first-year Julie Whapham commented on

her experience so far.

“I like being busy,” she said. “There’s a lot going on [in the theatre department]. As long as you manage your time effectively though, you should be okay.”

After callbacks, the cast list goes up on Friday, and to celebrate the conclusion of their busy week, theatre majors new and old gather to send off the week in style. The evening that the cast lists are posted, a department-wide house party is thrown to welcome all the first-years and celebrate the start of a new year.

More so than almost any other major, Miami’s theatre students truly commit themselves to their curriculum. The nature of performance, the rigorous rehearsal schedules and intense auditions require more outof-class time commitment than most other subjects.

Even so, Miami’s theatre students look like they’re having fun.

From the whooping and cheering of their orientation, to the enthusiastic audition performances that rang through the halls late into the night, the theatre students didn’t seem intimidated by the intensity of their lifestyles.

A veteran of many audition cycles and late-night rehearsals, Rachel summed up her feelings for her major simply: “Theatre rules.” headledd@miamioh.edu

50TH RUGBY REUNION: OLD BOYS WEEKEND BO BRUECK

ASST. PHOTO EDITOR

The rain is audible on the turf of Yager Field, and the sky is a shade of grey that would keep most people cooped up inside.

Not rugby players, though. Not Miami University’s Old Boys.

This Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of the Miami University Rugby Football Club’s (MURFC) founding. It was celebrated as it has been every year since 1977 with the Old Boys Weekend.

Miami’s rugby teams, old and young, competed for honor and bragging rights for the 41st time on Saturday. With no trophies or prizes on the line, the games were full of camaraderie and laughter. Alumni squared off with players, some half their age, with smiles and grit.

Alumni not playing in the games stood under tents and roofs shouting at the players for good and bad plays alike. Families and friends talked and laughed as if it hadn’t been years since they last saw one another.

The day was damp and dreary, but the atmosphere was bordering on jubilant. Everyone was happy to be there, and despite its best efforts, the weather wasn’t a bother.

After the games, players and their families convened at Mac and Joe’s for drinks and snacks before a formal dinner in Shriver Center. For the rugby alumni, “formal” meant Hawaiian shirts.

“Doug Edwards is a huge part of why this is even happening tonight,” class of ‘89 alum Ferd Schneider said. “Doug would always wear Hawaiian shirts. That’s about as formal as he got. So this [dinner] being semi-formal, Hawaiian shirts are in play.”

Doug Edwards was one of the founding fathers of the rugby club which began in 1968. He continued to coach the team from 1980 until he passed away in 2002.

PAST AND PRESENT MEMBERS OF MIAMI RUGBY CONGRATULATE EACH OTHER AFTER A GAME BO BRUECK ASST. PHOTO EDITOR

His son, Sean Edwards, is now the president of the MURFC Alumni Association. The father and son’s devotion to the sport and to Miami is the reason the club is one of only four club teams to have been around for 50 years. “[The club] is being held together by alumni that always come back and contribute to keep it alive,” class of ‘74 alum Jim Griffes said. “I actually was assistant coach here for over 20 years. I enjoy seeing the guys I played

A RUGBY HUDDLE AT SATURDAY’S ALUMNI GAME BO BRUECK ASST. PHOTO EDITOR

with and the guys I coached all meet.”

Alumni agree rugby is an incredible experience for all who partake. For some, it’s about more than just the sport; it’s about the community.

“The men that I met and the friendships that I made have been maintained over the past 30 plus years,” Schneider said.

Old Boys Weekend is a time of joy and nostalgia for rugby club alums. Competing and catching up with friends and teammates

after decades away from Miami is something that current and past members always look forward to.

“This is my strongest tie to Miami, the rugby club,” class of ‘83 alum Tom Parker said. “And I’ve made friends from various generations, that I didn’t play with, through coming back for Old Boys.” brueckro@miamioh.edu

TWO MIAMI RUGBY ALUMNI CATCH UP OVER DRINKS BO BRUECK ASST. PHOTO EDITOR

10 OPINION

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

BURNSKL2@MIAMIOH.EDU

How to handle Mega Fair’s mega fail The following reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.

Like the vast majority of student orgs on campus, we at The Miami Student were counting on Mega Fair. Everything was ready. The posters, the sign-up sheet, the friendly faces betraying a slight desperation for new members.

And it was all shot when Mega Fair was canceled due to bad weather. Twice.

Before we go any further, it’s important to note that we in no way blame the students involved in Miami Activities and Programming (MAP) tasked with putting Mega Fair together. They work ridiculously hard to make sure organizations were represented and students had an opportunity to get involved on campus.

Our issue is with the lack of a solid contingency plan when it comes to the scheduling and administration of Mega Fair in the event of bad weather.

The seniors on our staff agreed that we’ve only had fall Mega Fair on the originally scheduled day once in the last four years. Our recollections may be wrong, but the point stands that weather complications are not a new problem for the event.

When the first iteration of Mega Fair was cancelled, anyone who looked at the rain date knew it was destined to fail. The storm that wrecked Mega Fair: Take Two was on the radar a week in advance.

So why was Mega Fair rescheduled for that next Wednesday? Why Wednesdays at all? Why can’t we reschedule for the next day if it has to be postponed?

We’re sure there are financial and technical answers to these questions, but flexibility in the administrative aspects of Mega Fair would only improve the experience.

The decision to postpone Mega Fair on the first week of classes was premature. It rained for what, 15 minutes?

The second attempt overcompensated. Members of student organizations were taking cover under the tables, trying to cover their freshly-printed flyers and just hoping not to be hit by lightning as they stood in an open field surrounded by metal.

When Mega Fair was finally canceled, the information spilled out in a tangle. Emails were sent at different times throughout the evening. Some people didn’t even get the notice until the next morning. Some students, many of whom are not on the Hub, didn’t get any notification at all.

While this is probably the worst instance of bad weather in the last four years of Mega Fair, it’s not the first time weather has caused problems. There should be a better rain plan.

And if the administration doesn’t want to deal with the rain, we suggest a simpler solution: Move it inside.

The indoor space on campus is only increasing with every expansion of Armstrong Student Center. Miami has held Mega Fair in Millett Hall in the past. Why can’t we

do that now?

If Millett is too remote, there’s Armstrong or Shriver Center. They’re centrally located and, more importantly, they aren’t rendered unusable by rain. Even if the appeal of a raucous outdoor fair is lost, at least the event is safe.

Mega Fair is essential for both organizations and individual students. Clubs on campus depend on recruiting new members at the event to grow their numbers and ensure they get funding. But because Mega Fair has been pushed back so many times, those opportunities have passed. Auditions for organizations like Sketched Out have finished and people have lost interest.

The mini-Mega Fairs don’t make up for it. These events are lesser-known, poorly advertised and cater to people who already have an interest in certain organizations. The chance of discovering an organization you didn’t know existed is drastically reduced. And the mini-Mega Fairs are smack in the middle of prime class time.

There needs to be better high-level planning organization for Mega Fair. It is too important to the Miami community for its success to be dictated by the weather.

What it means when summer fades to fall KELLY BURNS

OPINION EDITOR

The line is moving slowly. An inch a minute. A step, and then wait. Photo collages line the walls and people sit in couches and chairs, talking quietly. They laugh, and it seems out of place.

Finally, we reach the front. And we see him.

The boy who may or may not have been my first kiss. The boy who always sided with me in games and childish arguments.

Whose name always sent a thrill through my brain when I heard he was coming over to play. It had been a few years since I’d seen him...six, I think.

Now he was bigger, more muscular.

His hair was shorter and more stylish. He wore a black band T-shirt. And he lay in a coffin.

The first thing I think is that he doesn’t have a mullet anymore. Then I think how odd it is that Randy is gone.

It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t seem real. How can this kid, who was more family than friend for 14 years, be dead? And then I realize that he’s not a kid anymore.

And neither am I. I was supposed to spend this summer, the last summer vacation I’ll ever get, with my best friends. We had parties and trips planned.

But instead, I start out my summer at a funeral.

It’s not often that an actual physical event coincides with a big, intangible shift in your life.

I didn’t know Randy well. Not at the end. All I knew were things I heard. He was on steroids. He was in rehab for drug addiction. He was still so sweet. He was unrecognizable from who he’d been.

Through all of it, I never expected anything to happen. Honestly, I thought he would get clean and live a normal and unremarkable life because that’s what people do.

No one thinks their childhood friends are going to end up in jail or in rehab. Everyone thinks that everyone they know will fade into memory until you see them

away.

I’d always remembered Randy’s family as being close. I knew his parents had divorced, but that happened to a lot of people.

When I think of them, I think of playing on the swings with Randy and his big brother. Or that I always thought his mom was so pretty and nice because she had

“Everyone thinks that everyone they know will fade into memory until you see them in the grocery store 10 years later and stutter out a forced platitude.” in the grocery store 10 years later and stutter out a forced platitude and a, “We should get lunch and catch up some time!”

And now I’m standing in front of Randy’s coffin. The girl he’d loved since middle school, my best friend Hannah, is sobbing, bawling behind me while his mom hugs me because she remembers the kids we were and she doesn’t recognize Hannah.

His mom is hugging me and asking me about Randy.

Why didn’t he ask for help? Everyone loved him so much, so why did no one see it?

Then she asks Hannah how she knew Randy and my heart breaks a little more.

She says, “school,” and the two of us move

long hair and told me how cute I was.

It’s always summer in those memories.

Randy’s older brother is screaming at his mom in the parlor.

“I’m not going to stand here and play Walmart greeter!”

She turns and goes back to Randy’s side.

I remember Randy’s dad. He had a funny mustache and seemed straight out of the ‘70s. He’d laugh with a beer in his hand while the kids played in the pool.

When we stop and say hi to him, he doesn’t know me. And he’s stuttering and slurring and reeks of booze.

So I stand there awkwardly as he hugs Hannah.

We stand together for a minute until she’s ready to leave.

As we walk out the doors, Randy’s friends call after her. They call her Ronnie.

Hannah breaks down again because no one calls her that any more. Randy was really the only one who ever did.

In the car, she tells us about her hair.

Since I’ve known her, it’s been curly and wild. I never even questioned it.

Hannah tells us about how she used to straighten it every day. Then, one day, in middle school, she got a haircut and didn’t have time to straighten it.

Some kids pointed it out, but Randy told her he loved it. He said he didn’t think she should ever straighten it again.

Hannah looks out the window and I can see she’s crying behind her sunglasses.

She’s worn it curly ever since.

It hits me in that moment exactly how extraordinary this is. My best friend, someone I didn’t even meet until I was 17 years old, has stronger connections to my past than even I do.

It’s been four months since that day.

My last summer vacation has officially ended. Hannah and I are still as close as ever, but now, when I see her, I think about how curly her hair is.

I think about how my childhood is pretty much over. Buried in the ground.

But I can still see it when I look at Hannah.

It’s not as bright as it once was. Not as shiny or easy or flawless.

The summer of those memories has started to yellow. The leaves look ready to fall.

But that’s nature. burnskl2@miamioh.edu

Kaepernick, McCain and why America needs to get it together BEN FINFROCK

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Last Sunday, I called my mom on her drive home from Oxford to Columbus.

During our long conversation, she mentioned that she forgot to give me some clothes that we did not bring during move-in weekend.

She inquired how soon I would need the clothes, and I responded that I was not sure. After 20 more minutes of me giving half-responses to her questions and complaining about the work I needed to do, she finally paused and said, “Ben, get your shit together!”

While she does not always use this kind of language, this is not the first time she has given me this message. I am forever grateful for all the times she has pushed me because I know she is one of the few people in my life who will call me out on my shit.

We need these people in our lives because they love us enough to tell us when we need to be doing better. Calling people out when they are wrong shows that we care enough about them to know when they can be doing better.

Recently, as I was watching the news, I wondered to myself if the country has someone who will call us out when we are wrong. In a time where the problems of

the nation are so apparent and visible, it feels as if those who try to bring attention to these problems are instantly silenced by a wave of nationalism.

That is why it was refreshing this week to see an organization like Nike stand behind Colin Kaepernick after he sparked a national debate while kneeling during the national anthem in 2016.

The Nike ad displayed a close-up of Kaepernick’s face with the caption, “Believe in something. Even if it means scarifying everything.”

This ad is, of course, refers to his 2016 protest against police brutality and the fact that Kaepernick has not been picked up by any professional football team since the conclusion of the 2016-2017 NFL season.

While the debate around Kaepernick’s protest will linger for years to come, one thing remains clear to me.

Kaepernick made an attempt to use his profile to shine a light on racial injustice and police brutality, and because we as a nation do not want these problems called out, we chose instead to shout him down and call him unpatriotic.

What we fail to recognize is that dissent is patriotic; dissent is good. We cannot be afraid to draw attention to issues, such as racial injustice, which have plagued this

country for decades. Kaepernick’s protest is not about whether America is a good or bad country. It is about how we can improve this nation and make it better for all of us.

While Kaepernick’s protest remains a controversial example of America being called out for its problems. Another, less controversial, example of recent dissent in American politics occured last week at the funeral of Sen. John McCain.

Throughout his life, McCain worked to protect and better the country he loved.

He was a strong leader who was not afraid to talk about the issues facing the nation.

Given his legacy, it seems only fitting that his funeral, which McCain crafted himself, would display a strong message of unity and criticism of the current state of the country. The most apparent symbol of this criticism was the late senator’s decision not to invite the current president.

The service included speeches from Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, which alluded to the problems with the current president and the issues facing our divided nation. However, one of the strongest speeches did not come from a politician but from the senator’s daughter and co-host of “The View,” Meghan McCain.

In her speech, Meghan McCain said,

“We gather to mourn the passing of American greatness, the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice … My family and I have heard from so many of those Americans who stood in the warmth and light of his fire and found it illuminated what’s best about them … A few have resented that fire for the light it cast upon them for the truth it revealed about their character.”

McCain’s speech honored her father’s legacy, while calling out the current president as a coward for criticizing her father’s military service. Meghan McCain and the other speakers at the service played to the underlying message Sen. McCain wanted to present at his service.

A message that clearly said, “America, you’re better than your current President.”

America is not perfect, and we were not designed to be perfect. However, we have to work hard to become a more perfect union, and we cannot do this if we do not call out the issues facing the country.

We are a great country and we are working to become even greater, but we will never grow if we do not listen to those who love us enough to call us out when we are wrong. finfrobd@miamioh.edu

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

ICEBREAKERS SHOULD BE ABOLISHED

OPINION 11 From Ron Scott: Miami strives for inclusivity and diversity RON SCOTT

GUEST COLUMN

ILLUSTRATION BY CONNOR WELLS

HALEY MILLER

THE MIAMI STUDENT

As the first few weeks of the semester come to an end, I am calling for change. Year after year, we are forced to participate in an ancient ritual designed to torture students.

“Share a fun fact about yourself.”

“Introduce your partner.”

“What did you do over the summer?”

“What’s your favorite movie?”

The dreaded icebreaker.

For some, this is a low-stakes activity, aimed to familiarize students with their professors and vice versa. For me, it is the most stressful moment of every semester.

After 16 exhausting and anxiety-ridden years of first-day icebreakers, I am calling for reform.

Why are we all so eager to break the ice?

The warming of the Earth has broken up enough ice. So much ice has been broken apart that polar bears and penguins are essentially homeless. And when you force me to introduce myself to the class, you are complicit. Ice is important.

But in seriousness, professors, I implore you to stop being so hard on yourself.

Most of your students do not expect you to learn their names and if they do, they will show up to your office hours, so break the ice then. If I had a dollar for every professor that never learned my name, I would have 25 dollars.

A.J. NEWBERRY NEWBERAJ@MIAMIOH.EDU

For context, I have had five professors a semester, and this is my seventh semester at Miami. On average, I expect one professor per semester to learn my name, and even that is sometimes too generous an estimate.

Icebreakers are also useless for students.

The only time I need to know something about my classmates is when they are my partners for a group project (another element of the classroom that needs to be re-examined) and I need to fill out an anonymous survey about their contributions.

If I want to know who my peers are, I will stalk their Facebooks after class.

If I want to know what they did over the summer, I’ll browse their Instagram. If I want to know what organizations they are involved with, I’ll look at the Greek letters adorning their hats and sweatshirts.

Truthfully, I believe icebreakers themselves are benign. But they contrast greatly with the rest of the college classroom environment.

Icebreakers require effort, and my entire college career has taught me that trying hard in class must be avoided.

It takes effort to learn and remember your classmate’s name and then introduce them to the rest of the class.

Even the simpler tasks, like sharing your favorite movie, require mental gymnastics.

Initially, you have to think of your actual favorite movie, which, if you’re like me, is very difficult because you

have a list of 10 movies that you cannot definitively rank. Then, you have to read the room and pick the best one based on the people and environment.

It takes a lot of effort to make two or three first impressions in a class full of hungover young adults on an unbearably humid August day.

I set out to reform, and reform I will.

Listed below are some alternatives to stale icebreakers that address some, but not all of my concerns.

First, the entire class takes the same BuzzFeed quiz, perhaps the one asking which character from Friends you are or which kitchen appliance you are based on your birth order, then shares their results with a partner.

Second, all students log onto astro. cafeastrology.com and read their birth charts in silence for the first class.

Third, students take the Myers-Briggs personality evaluation and then are grouped according to which personality archetype they are.

Fourth, students read the last text they sent aloud to the class. If the point is to get to know each other, why not really get to know each other?

These are but a few alternatives for professors looking to get to know their students. If just one professor stops forcing their students to find a person in the class who has two siblings, then I’ll consider this a success. millerhh@miamioh.edu

Wil Haygood spoke at Miami’s Convocation August 24. Standing at the site of the Freedom Summer Memorial, Wil told us powerful stories about black students at East High School in Columbus, Ohio in 1968 – and how their stories can teach us lessons of inspiration and triumph today.

Wil’s appearance is the first of dozens of events you’ll find at Miami University during this academic year. They will stretch all year long, celebrating the races, genders, nations and cultures represented on all of our campuses. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion unites us as one Miami community, supporting each other and standing strong against racism, bigotry, intolerance and hate. President Crawford, Miami’s administration and I are proud to be part of this community and are committed to fostering inclusive excellence at Miami.

We have made significant progress, but there is work to be done. Our comprehensive campus climate survey, completed last spring, will yield real action this fall. In the coming weeks, President Crawford will appoint a working group to manage that process. You’ll find a summary of results at www.MiamiOH. edu/one-miami-survey. The president also has commissioned a full equity salary study, woven diversity requirements into the job description of every Miami leadership role and ordered expanded bias awareness training for all new students, faculty and staff. We are committed to taking the necessary steps to build an inclusive and diverse culture on our campuses.

We also have much to celebrate: We are recruiting more students of color.

Look at this year’s incoming class – the largest and most diverse class ever at Miami, with 17.6 percent identified as domestic minority and 15.9 percent first-generation college students.

More than 7 percent of the Class of 2022 are international. During the last decade, the diversity of our entire student body has steadily increased, from 8.6 percent domestic minority in 2007 to 14.1 percent in 2017. It will increase again this year. And those students are succeeding; we are closing the “graduation gap” for students of color at a pace among the top universities in the nation.

Miami invests heavily in support services for diverse students. Providing academic and social support for diverse students is a top priority. As an example, we fund the Office of Diversity Affairs, located in the Armstrong Student Center. This office advocates for students.

We encourage all students to attend ODA events and take advantage of ODA services to help build a more inclusive Miami.

As we begin the academic year, let’s deepen our commitment to creating an environment of dignity, tolerance and respect for all. How can you help? Get involved. Find someone from a different country, or culture or background.

Stop and talk, and share some time or a meal with them. Together, we can create a community that supports and values all Miamians.

Find out more at MiamiOH.edu/diversity. scottrb@miamioh.edu

12

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SPORTS 13

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

Korn, Walton and Oxford now part of hockey history FROM PAGE 14

goalies into Vezina Trophy winners for the league’s top goaltender and a Hart Trophy winner for the league’s MVP. Korn has also run his own summer camps for years, developing youth athletes into good hockey players and better people.

He had done it all. But he hadn’t won the Stanley Cup. “I never measure success by winning or losing,” Korn said. “I’ve always measured success on the impact that you’re able to have on others.”

After winning, though, Korn realized it’s pretty cool.

“It was surreal,” Korn said. “I don’t remember a lot about that night on the ice. I see the pictures of raising the Cup. I see the video of raising the Cup. I don’t remember raising the Cup. It’s all a blur.”

Walton remembers the night well. As “The Radio Voice of the Washington Capitals,” he called the game and will be a part of history in an entirely different way. His name won’t get pressed onto the Stanley Cup, but his radio call of Game Five in Vegas will live over the airwaves for years to come.

“It doesn’t run through your head when you’re doing it, but when they’re playing it over the loudspeakers here at the old college rink and hearing my partner over

the air talking as well, you realize that it does live on forever,” Walton said.

Stanley’s day in Oxford will live on forever, as well.

Stanley Cup champions are allowed to have the cup from midnight to midnight. The players, coaches and staff tell the Hockey Hall of Fame where they want the Cup and the HHOF tells them when they can have it. Oxford got lucky the Cup was scheduled to visit during the school year.

One of four Keepers of the Cup, the Stanley Cup’s handlers, Howie Burrow drove from Chicago to Oxford in the middle of the night to set it up for the festivities.

Keepers of the Cup traditionally wear white gloves out of respect for the 126-year-old trophy. Those gloves, Burrow joked, could have been from Dollar Tree.

Burrow still slipped on the gloves to move the Cup from the Goggin lobby to the Steve ‘Coach’ Cady Arena.

When Korn and Walton walked the Cup onto the ice, Miami’s Division I hockey team climbed off the bench and skated from the opposite end of the ice, congregating around the trophy.

After a picture, players sprawled on their stomachs on the ice, eyes squinting and hands by their sides.

History drew them to the trophy,

“I was extremely proud of the tremendous fight to get back into the game late in the second half,” Sirmans said. “We gave up some goals that were all preventable.”

Lipscomb rattled off three shots in eight minutes and finally ended the match in the 98th minute by way of a near-post shot from Redshirt junior Maycie McKay. The Bisons ended the match with an 18-7 shot advantage over the ‘Hawks.

The loss snapped Miami’s three-match unbeaten streak – a mark never reached in the ’Hawks 2017 campaign.

The success of the incom-

with the Stanley Cup throughout the day. Some were Capitals fans, but most were just hockey fans, taking pictures with the Cup and touching the trophy so many hockey legends had held before.

When the clock struck midnight, Burrow whisked the Stanley Cup away from Korn and Walton, likely in those white gloves. He packed the trophy into its case to continue its summer tour.

A poster of Korn now hangs in

but superstition repelled them — if you touch the Cup, you won’t win it.

“Guys watch it growing up,” sophomore forward Phil Knies said.

“It’s one of the greatest trophies in sports, so they’re trying to look at names and teams they recognized or players they watched growing up, players they idolized and teams they were fans of — just trying to make a connection with what was on there.”

Over 4,000 others connected

the Goggin Ice Center lobby, above other Stanley Cup champion and Miami alum Alec Martinez, making Korn part of Miami history.

Korn’s name will be etched onto the Stanley Cup’s highest ring under “Washington Capitals 2017-18,” making him, and a little piece of Oxford, part of hockey history. simansec@miamioh.edu @EmilySimanskis

New year, same story

MUCH IMPROVED SOCCER FALLS TO LIPSCOMB IN OT THRILLER FROM PAGE 14

MIAMI’S DIVISION I HOCKEY TEAM LOOKS AT, BUT DOESN’T TOUCH, THE STANLEY CUP. PHOTO FROM MIAMI UNIVERSITY

FROM PAGE 14

ing freshman class under Sirmans has been impressive. Bogdanovitch leads the team with two goals on 12 shots. Freshman midfielder Jordan King has already tallied four assists on the season. Freshmen Chloe Masys, Kristina DeMarco and Albrecht have netted a goal a piece, as well – freshmen have scored five of the RedHawks’ seven goals.

Miami looks to find strength in its freshmen as they finish non-conference play when they take on Xavier Sunday night. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at the XU Soccer Complex. panzecbj@miamioh.edu @BenPanzeca

However, by correcting a few of these, their chances of winning would have increased.

“This year, I think we’ve come out of the shoot good in terms of mental discipline and toughness,” Martin said, when asked about lack of discipline.

The evidence would suggest otherwise. And this isn’t new.

Last season, the ’Hawks were criticized for late-game mental mishaps and a conservative, “playing not to lose” style.

This season, that attitude and those mishaps have extended to most of the game – Miami has yet to hold a lead in 2018.

Yet, Martin maintains that his team is better than its record shows.

“I still like my team,” Martin said with a pained grin Saturday night. “I’m not wavering on my team. I like this group. I think we have enough talent. I think we have a chance to have a really good football team. We’re not there yet, but we’re not bad. We’re not playing chopped-liver teams either.”

Many fans would agree. This

You know where this is going.

The pass was picked off. Cincinnati returned it to the MU one-yard line and punched it in for a score on the next play. 14-0 UC with 13 minutes to play.

Still time, still hope, but Miami needed a defensive stop.

And it came close to getting one.

The ‘Hawks forced a third-andeight just outside of Cincinnati’s field goal range. All they had to do was prevent a first down to give their offense a chance to make it a one-possession game.

UC freshman quarterback Desmond Ridder threw deep down the right sideline. However, the pass was well underthrown, forcing his receiver to retreat for the ball. All MU senior corner Deondre Daniels had to do to grab a possible interception was turn around. He didn’t. He collided with UC’s receiver to draw the foul.

The Bearcats would ice the game at 21 with a touchdown a few plays later.

One play, or even several, didn’t cost the RedHawks the game.

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is undoubtedly the most talented team Martin has had in his five seasons at Miami. He’s done a great job recruiting and rebuilding the program after it went 0-12 the season before he arrived.

But, with talent, comes higher expectations. It’s been 13 years since the ’Hawks beat the Bearcats and six since they beat Ohio. Fans are antsy for a rivalry win.

“I mean you have two rivals that you haven’t beat in a while,” Martin said. “Obviously, they’re good teams, but we’ve had some close games with them, but I think fans should be fans and get restless and disappointed. That’s what I would be, so trust me, they’re no more frustrated or disappointed than we are.”

Missing opportunities and falling short in big games is a recurring trend. On paper, thanks to the rebuild, the RedHawks have the talent to win. On game day, they just seem to be holding themselves back. vinelca@miamioh.edu @ChrisAVinel

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Sports

14

SIMANSEC@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2018

New year, same story CHRIS VINEL STAFF WRITER

Saturday night’s weather was a perfect representation of how the Miami RedHawks have played this season: sloppy.

With pouring rain at Paul Brown Stadium, the Cincinnati Bearcats physically and mentally beat Miami for four quarters.

The RedHawks never gained momentum in the 21-0 shutout.

“When you don’t score any points, any mistake is going to cost you the game,” Head Coach Chuck Martin said. “So, we had one mistake on defense, one mistake on offense.”

But it wasn’t just two – it was a three-touchdown blowout.

Being disciplined and correcting their self-inflicted mistakes could’ve kept them in the game.

It’s the same story. When Miami football plays big games, discipline disappears.

Martin knew that coming into this season. His MU teams are 5-18 in one-possession games and he’s never beaten Cincinnati or Ohio during his time at Miami.

“Last year, I would definitely say, at times, we were worried about the big picture,” Martin said before the season. “We were worried about the result more than we were worried about grinding through to get to the result.”

He spent the offseason preaching discipline and physical and mental toughness. So far this season, it hasn’t shown.

The first MU offensive snap of the year resulted in a false start against Marshall last week.

Before the offense even snapped the ball against the Bearcats this weekend, the play clock ran out.

THE GAME SLIPPED THROUGH THE FINGERS OF MIAMI AT PAUL BROWN STADIUM ON SATURDAY, JUST AS THE BALL SLIPS THROUGH THE DEFENSE. EMILY BRUSTOSKI VIDEO EDITOR

Both penalties pushed the RedHawks back five yards, putting themselves behind the 8-Ball in both games.

In the loss to Marshall, Miami was flagged eight times, costing it 71 yards. None was bigger than a holding call on its last offensive drive.

Down by seven with three minutes left, the RedHawks took over with good field position at their own 43-yard line.

After a first down incompletion, the ’Hawks were flagged for a holding penalty on second down, pushing them back to their own 33 and effectively kill-

MUCH IMPROVED SOCCER FALLS TO LIPSCOMB IN OT THRILLER

ing their comeback chances by making it second-and-20. The drive and, essentially, the game ended with an incomplete pass on fourth-and-15.

Against UC, it wasn’t the amount of penalties that hurt, but the timing of them. Miami only committed four infractions, including a contest-opening, delay-of-game penalty.

The first MU offensive drive resulted in a three-and-out.

Trailing just 7-0 in the second quarter, the RedHawks finally got a momentum boost when Redshirt senior running back Kenny Young caught a

punt on the MU 47-yard line and returned it well into UC territory. With two-and-a-half minutes left in the second quarter, this was a great opportunity for Miami to tie the game before heading into intermission.

Except the punt return was called back. A block-in-the-back penalty was called on the RedHawks, pushing their offense from near the red-zone to their own 37-yard line. The drive resulted in a punt after three plays totalling minus-eight yards.

The only thing that changed after halftime was Miami’s deficit.

A third-quarter offensive pass interference robbed the RedHawks of a red-zone chance – something they didn’t have once on Saturday night.

The only turnover of the game had to give Miami fans flashbacks to last season’s epic “Battle of the Bell” meltdown.

In the fourth quarter, the RedHawks had their backs near their own end zone. Redshirt senior quarterback Gus Ragland looked to his right and threw a bullet pass into traffic.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

Korn, Walton and Oxford now part of hockey history

BEN PANZECA STAFF WRITER

RedHawks Soccer battled back from a second-half deficit to force overtime against Lipscomb Sunday evening, but were unable to leave Nashville with a victory.

“This one definitely hurts because I think we had the momentum going into overtime,” Head Coach Courtney Sirmans said to Miami Athletics. “I thought we played some great soccer at times that allowed us to get some good opportunities to go forward with numbers.”

First-year coach Sirmans has implemented a new style of play in the young squad, and has preached the importance of possession in training and in matches.

It showed Sunday, as the Red & White held the ball for long stretches and were able to strike first. Freshman forward Lyda Bogdanovitch unleashed a 22-yard strike, finding the upper corner of the net in the 39th minute. It was her second goal of the year.

The lead lasted four minutes, as the Bisons’ Redshirt sophomore forward Selah Gilmore tapped in a dangerous cross the RedHawks didn’t clear.

After the halftime break, in the 51st minute, Lipscomb took the lead on a set piece.

Its lead held for most of the second half, until Miami’s junior midfielder Olivia Winnett laid the ball to freshman midfielder Lauren Albrecht at the top of the box. Albrecht blasted it into the corner of the net for the equalizer and her first collegiate goal.

With the score still at 2-2 at the end of regulation, the teams went to extra time.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

MIAMI ALUM JOHN WALTON (LEFT) AND FORMER MIAMI GOALTENDING COACH MITCH KORN (RIGHT) MAKING HISTORY IN OXFORD LAST WEDNESDAY WITH THE STANLEY CUP. PHOTO FROM MIAMI UNIVERSITY

EMILY SIMANSKIS SPORTS EDITOR

Champions are often asked what they think about when they win – what it feels like to be a part of history.

On the ice at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas after the Washington Capitals won the

Stanley Cup, Mitch Korn and John Walton were thinking about bringing the Cup to Oxford.

“The first thing [Mitch] said to me wasn’t congratulations — it wasn’t even a hug. It was business: ‘We’re going to Oxford,’” Walton said in an interview last Wednesday. “I knew before we even flew home to Wash-

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ington to see everybody back in D.C. that we were going to come here.”

Korn was Miami’s goaltending coach from 1981-88. He developed Alain Chevrier into becoming the first Miami goalie to reach the NHL. He coached two NHL CONTINUED ON PAGE 13

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