The Miami Student Established 1826
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2015 VOLUME 142 NO. 49
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MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
Alcohol abroad: Fewer students drink to excess while away ALCOHOL
BONNIE MEIBERS SENIOR STAFF WRITER
An ongoing study has uncovered that Miami students are wilder in the United States when they drink underage than when traveling abroad at the legal drinking age. Maura Fawcett is a junior currently studying in Luxembourg through the Miami University John E. Dolibois European Center (MUDEC). She recently sent out three surveys to gather data on study abroad habits and trends, specifically drinking motives. “I want to figure out how students’ drinking behaviors change and what motives fuel the change,” Fawcett said. Fawcett’s anonymous surveys were sent to students studying abroad in semester-long programs. The first was sent out to students before they left for the semester, a second during the trip and a third will be sent once they have returned home. “Based purely on my observations, it seems like students drink on more occasions but fewer drinks
each time,” Fawcett said. Many students, like 20-year-old junior, Savanna Kuertz, agree. Kuertz studied abroad in Paris, France last semester, where the legal drinking age is 18. “I found that my peers and I drank more calmly and less,” she said.
Alcohol is to be enjoyed, rather than consumed for the sole purpose of intoxication. SAVANNA KUERTZ JUNIOR Kuertz feels that many Americans come to college without much expericing drinking alcohol, causing them to go overboard when drinking. In many other cultures, alcohol is served at almost every meal so young adults are more knowledgeable about alcohol and know their limits when they turn the legal drinking age. In Europe, there is a greater appreciation for alco-
hol. In fact, many restaurants have their own brand of beer. Alcohol is consumed because people enjoy the taste, not because they want to feel drunk. “I feel like drinking is an important part of the culture and that alcohol is to be enjoyed rather than consumed for the sole purpose of intoxication,” Kuertz said. It is commonplace to see drunken people in American bars. This is especially true of bars near college campuses because in American culture, alcohol is often consumed with the motive of feeling drunk. In Europe, however, this is not the case. “It is very rare to see a drunk European at a bar, and if you are drunk it makes you clearly stand out, which isn’t always a good thing,” Fawcett said. Fawcett said lower alcohol prices, trying new alcoholic beverages and unfamiliarity with the area are reasons for the need to drink more responsibly abroad. “It’d actually be cheaper to have a beer at dinner than drink water,” said Tre Clifton, a Miami senior
PARIZEK/KOVESDY TICKET WIN STUDENT BODY ELECTION ASG
DEANNA KROKOS SENIOR STAFF WRITER
ABROAD »PAGE 5
Recent incidents and student withdrawals bring to light Miami’s expulsion and suspension rates DISCIPLINE
EMILY WILLIAMS SENIOR STAFF WRITER
First-years William Armour and Samir Lal defaced a bulletin board in Wells Hall with a slew of offensive graffiti last Saturday, April 4. By Wednesday, neither were students at Miami University. The U.S. Department of Education has reported an increase in
March 20, Bucknell University’s radio station (WVBU) aired three students who used racially offensive language. A prisoner at the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, heard their statements and reported them to a prisoner advocacy group who passed the information along to the university. By the following Monday, the three students were expelled. The university’s president, John Brav-
Last year, the university issued two dismissals and 50 suspensions. As of Feb. 28, the university had suspended 29 students and dismissed one during the 2014-15 academic year. racial complaints on college campuses; there were 555 complaints filed in 2009, which increased to 939 in 2014. Students at several universities, including Oklahoma University and Bucknell University in March, were recently expelled over issues of racist speech. On a Friday evening broadcast
M
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY UNIVERSITY
Photos by Phill Arndt and Amanda Wang CAMPUS IN BLOOM Miami burst into color this week as the first signs of spring finally emerged. Warm spring weather will continue this weekend with partly cloudly skies and temperatures in the mid 70s.
EXPLUSIONS »PAGE 5
In 1998,The Miami Student reported that MU’s Student Court found ASG’s funding process illegal after a student senator filed a grievance.The court determined ASG was not explicitly explaining funding decisions.The ASG president called the offense an “honest mistake.” COMMUNITY
STUDENT SPENDING HABITS »PAGE 2
man, addressed the university regarding the incident in an assembly the following day. Although many people have praised the swift responses made by college administrators, Oklahoma University’s president, David Boren, has recently been accused of violating the students’ freedom
of speech. Three days after a video surfaced revealing members of the university’s chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity singing an explicit, racist song on a bus, Boren expelled two of the fraternity members. Those who believe the First Amendment protects speech even if it is considered racist, sexist or otherwise offensive, have argued that Boren, a former senator and governor of the state, was in the wrong when he expelled those students. Unlike those found guilty in the Bucknell and Oklahoma cases, Armour and Lal withdrew from Miami, an action which the university’s Code of Conduct refers to as a “formal administrative procedure,” and requires the student file a withdrawal form in the Oxford Office of the University Registrar. According to Susan Vaughn, the director of Miami’s Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution (OESCR), if a student withdraws from the university with a disciplinary action still pending, a notation is placed on their transcript until the
Student Body Presidential and Vice-Presidential Candidates Joey Parizek and Matthew Kovesdy defeated Kevin Krumpak and Amy Berg last night in the Student Body run-off election. Parizek and Kovesdy secured 51 percent of the 2,734 votes submitted between Wednesday and Thursday, winning by less than 100 total votes. This week, the two candidate teams, after beating out three others in the general election, participated in this year’s annual presidential debate. In the debate, proctored by current Student Body Vice President Natalie Bata, the two teams answered a number of questions regarding their plans and qualifications for their hopeful term in leadership. Each team was asked about their main platform points, and were able to elaborate on why they think their goals for the position are worthwhile and important. Both teams were further asked about the student body president as a position, and the qualities they feel are most important to embody, should they be elected. “I think we have a unique ability to bring a radical change to the overall culture of ASG and cabinet,” said Parizek. “What we’d like to bring to the table is more of a team-oriented and relationshipfocused leadership style.” As a review, their main platform points were addressing dining reform, promoting the creation of a centralized scholarship database and working to make studying abroad more affordable. Now that the elections are over, the question remains how effective these new student leaders will be. “I think the most important thing that a student body president can do is to unite the student body in general,” said current on-campus senator Brandon Fogel. “Policies and ideas are great, but if they don’t have the support of the student body, it’s going to be very challenging for them to have those ideas.”
HEATHER’S GOODIES A TASTE OF HOME »PAGE 3
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