The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
TUESDAY, APRIL 15, 2014
VOLUME 141 NO. 46
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1991, The Miami Student reported University Senate approved the installation of condom machines into residence hall bathrooms by a vote of 32-15. Zoology professor Gary Barrett was one of many in support, saying, “This should have been done 10 years ago.” The machines no longer exist and the only place on campus condoms can be found is at Student Health Services.
AMANDA PALISWAT THE MIAMI STUDENT
SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW
Students strut in the Annual Spectrum Pride Parade Friday, April 11. The event occurs every spring in honor of Spectrum Awareness Week.
Students shoot movie, bad guys BY CHRIS CURME COMMUNITY EDITOR
Miami University senior Robert Horn steps out of a stunningly white 2013 Porsche 911 Carrera S and picks up a matte black assault rifle. There is blood on his hands. He begins pulling countless firearms from the back of a BMW and passing them out to his crew. This is First Punch Productions, and the COM 414 students have just called a wrap on the filming of “Aqua.” First Punch Productions operates in conjunction with Capstone Pictures, a separate entity loosely tied to Miami’s department of media, journalism & film, according to publicity director, junior Jessica Ball. “Aqua,” a modern-day film noir, is Horn’s brainchild. The action film follows rival drug-running mobs and the chaos left in their colliding wakes. “I wanted [to follow] a dark character who would come back for revenge,” Horn said. “The film ‘Payback’ was a big inspiration, which also inspired me to read the book, ‘The Hunter,’ which inspired the film.” Miami alumnus A.J. RickertEpstein plays a dark character, appropriately named Hunter. In 2005, Rickert-Epstein moved at age 20 to Los Angeles, where he now works as a cinematographer, director of photography and actor. While acting a lead, he also coaches the ‘Aqua’s director of photography, senior Francesco Filice. “I’ve been coming back [to Oxford] from L.A. pretty regularly to do supplemental instruction with COM 414 as well as a new J-term class this past January,” RickertEpstein said. “[“Aqua’s” script] had a flavor of ‘Payback’ and other ‘80s action movies I grew up with; I love that stuff.” Rickert-Epstein, like all other actors involved, is unpaid save a small stipend to cover travel costs. Michiel Schuitemaker plays Carter Fairfax, “Aqua’s” silver-haired, silver-tongued bad guy. “I turn around businesses for a living,” Schuitemaker said. “So, I guess I’m an actor by profession, but to make money, I do other things.” Indeed, Schuitemaker is a remarkably successful businessperson. It was in one of Schuitemaker’s Porsches that Horn took his joyride. “I think Rob [Horn] did a great
job, as well as everybody else in the crew,” Schuitemaker said. “I think it was really well done, the script is great. Everybody was so professional, right on the money, getting things done.” First Punch Productions hired Rickert-Epstein and Schuitemaker after a casting held in Cincinnati. According to Ball, professors organized these casting calls with Horn. With the exception of one Miami student, all actors in “Aqua,” as with most Capstone Pictures, are professionals. The majority of scenes in “Aqua” were filmed in Eaton, Ohio, according to Ball. “We partnered with the city,” Ball said. “They have an amazing carriage house and let us close off entire streets.” According to Media, Journalism & Film Associate Professor and Capstone Pictures executive producer David Sholle, the City of Eaton was very receptive to their project. “We shot at the 230 bar in town and they just let us use it: they let us break glasses, Sholle said. “I walked down the street to go get some coffee and they said, ‘Oh, you’re on that film? It’s free!’” The bloody final scenes were shot outside of town in the great room of Gina Melling’s beautiful home. Melling, an Eaton High School math teacher, had Horn in class several years ago. She and her husband are Miami alumni and their son is a first-year student. “It’s neat to see everything that goes into it behind the scenes: the prep work, how long it takes to shoot a scene,” Melling said. “It’s been very interesting.” Sholle said Horn is the first in his memory to both write and direct a film. “The script was written by Rob, but several of the other students worked on revising it, contributing to scenes,” Sholle said. “This is about education. It’s about putting students in a situation where they have to be really self-motivated and learn how to work together as a team.” Since 2005, Miami has offered the capstone class once a year. “This year, we did it in the fall and the spring as an experiment,” Sholle said. “I think we’re going to go back to once a year. There are time, weather and scheduling issues
AQUA,
SEE PAGE 3
Drunken antics disturb late-night ASC BY KAILA FRISONE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Several students are taking advantage of the 24-hour availability of the Armstrong Student Center. Whether they use the building to study, grab a late-night meal at Pulley Diner or Emporium, warm up on a cold or rainy night, or spend time with friends, students are giving the center plenty of late-night traffic— at times, under the influence. The building staff is well-aware students may enter the building intoxicated, but Director Katie Wilson said they are prepared to handle the situation. A Miami University Police Department (MUPD) officer is on duty from midnight until 4 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. “The MUPD officer is there to help support the staff in monitoring the building and ensure student safety,” Wilson said. “Students said that having an officer there would increase their sense that the Armstrong Student Center is a safe place to go late at night.” Despite safety precautions, junior Nathan Lutz witnessed a crime at the Armstrong Student Center late February 28. He was working in a study room that overlooks the circulation desk on the first floor when an intoxicated student pretended to be working the desk. A police officer came to his study room to ask if he noticed anything suspicious at the desk because somebody had unplugged the computer and attempted to steal it. Lutz provided the officer with characteristics of the suspect. “The only thing that even attracted my attention (to the front desk) was his two friends on the other side of the desk, who were both clearly
POLL MIAMISTUDENT.NET Do you frequent the Armstrong Student Center after a long night at the bars?
N/A 21% —
YES 25% — NO 54% —
intoxicated and had their hands all over each other,” Lutz said. He later saw the student laughing while overlooking the desk from the second floor. Lutz contacted the police and told an employee standing nearby that this was the man they were looking for. Lutz was later told that the student was arrested for attempted theft, underage intoxication and possession of a fake ID. Wilson said there have been instances of vomiting and vandalism but so far, the late nights at Armstrong have been more or less problem-free. Sophomore Sam Sloane said she frequently studies in Armstrong late at night and notices many intoxicated students heading to Pulley Diner. Executive Manager Tina Rotundo said Pulley Diner’s sales are picking up as the semester progresses. Meanwhile, Emporium, which is now open 24 hours as well, is slower than they anticipated.
“We knew we wouldn’t make any money having it open third shift, but it’s more of a service to take care of our students,” Rotundo said. Wilson said the budget was designed with 24 hour operation in mind. They also prepared for occurrences by having custodial staff available to clean up. Rotundo said they are not encountering many issues with intoxicated students. Wilson recalled a vomit situation near the seal, but the perpetrator was never identified. Wilson said security cameras are located in all of the major areas of the Armstrong Student Center, but she did not use them to attempt identifying the culprit. She said in the case that a student is cited for vomiting, he or she would also be charged for the cleanup costs. She said the center is not experiencing too many cases of disturbances overall, and that the building is meeting a need that students have.
PHILL ARNDT THE MIAMI STUDENT
STEPPING IT UP Kappa Alpha Psi announced the winner of the Panhellenic Step Show in Harry Wilks Theater.