Establish 1826 — Oldest college newspaper west of the alleghenies
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Volume 146 No. 3
Miami University — Oxford, ohio
Jersey Shore’s ‘Vinny’ talks mental health with Miami students
From the Midwest to the Southeast: Irma’s effects felt beyond storm’s path
MENTAL HEALTH
Nina franco
The Miami student
FIVE FLORIDA STATE STUDENTS ARE WEATHERING IRMA IN OXFORD, THANKS TO JUNIOR RYAN MACAVOY, WHO TOOK THEM IN FOR a WEEK. photo: JUGAL JAIN
HURRICANE IRMA
Céilí Doyle
Asst. News Editor
Hurricane Irma has been devastating the Caribbean, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands for the past week and is headed toward further destruction on the U.S. mainland in the coming days. While the storm itself has been downgraded from a Category 5 to a Category 3 hurricane, the southwestern coast of Florida was hit hard. The storm was eventually downgraded to a tropical storm in Tallahassee, but is expected to make landfall throughout the rest of the state as well as Georgia and potentially Alabama. For the majority of Miami students, this storm, while a tragedy, remains a distant one, neither personally affecting them or their families. For senior Ali Martin, alumna MarLyka Williams and junior Ryan MacAvoy, Irma is anything
but a far-flung disaster. “The worst part for my family is that my grandpa has Alzheimer’s,” Martin said. “He’s not stable enough to travel and my grandma refused to leave him, so now they are both stuck in a hurricane shelter in Fort Meyers.” Martin’s family members, who live in Chicago, reached out to the police and fire departments in Fort Meyers, as well as the retirement community where Martin’s grandfather lives, Shell Point, to see if there would be anyone still on-call in the path of the storm to help those who had not evacuated the area. “My parents called the police and they basically told them, ‘We can’t do anything, we have to stay out of that zone,’” Martin said. “And that’s really hard because they might be fine, but also if anything were to happen the police, the firefighters can’t get there.” Williams, who is originally from Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, graduated
from Miami last May and moved to New York to start her career the same week the hurricane devastated her hometown. “On St. Thomas, our only hospital has been destroyed, our only two main post offices have been severely damaged, our two high schools were severely flooded and partially destroyed,” Williams said. Williams’ family and friends remained relatively unscathed from the storm’s destruction. Her family’s home is mostly intact, but there is limited cellular reception on the island, and the power is out for the foreseeable future. One of MacAvoy’s friends from home (he is originally from a suburb outside New York City), Anthony Abbondanza, a junior at Florida State University (FSU), called MacAvoy to ask if MacAvoy would consider letting Abbondanza and four of his fraternity brothers stay with MacAvoy in Oxford. “Anthony is one of my best
About 500 Miami students flocked to Hall Auditorium to hear former Jersey Shore star, Vinny Guadagnino, speak at the second annual Mental Health Forum led by the university’s Associated Student Government (ASG). The forum was held on Thursday, Sept. 7 and was also organized by the Student Counseling Services (SCS), Interfraternity Council (IFC), Panhellenic Association, Miami Ac-
Student runs for Oxford City council CITY COUNCIL
IMMIGRATION
JACK EVANS
EMILY WILLIAMS
MANAGING editor
editor-in-chief
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news p. 2
students meet new career site As Career Fair looms, it’s time to get acquainted with ‘Handshake.’
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about 500 students gathered in hall auditorium to hear guadagnino speak. photo: JUGAL JAIN
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DACA students should not see change
After President Trump’s Sept. 5 decision to dismantle DACA, about 800,000 undocumented immigrants were thrust into uncertainty. However, undocumented Miami students should not expect immediate effects on their education. “In general, and in accordance with the information currently available, DACA students should not expect any aspect of their engagement with Miami University to change,” reads an informational page about the DACA program on Miami’s website. The university admits students regardless of their immigration status and, according to the page, will continue to do so. Last Tuesday, Sep. 5, President Trump formally ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program – an initiative which shielded about 800,000 undocumented immigrants from deportation. Crawford’s response to Trump’s dismantling of
tivities and Programming (MAP) and the Residence Hall Association (RHA). Girls started lining up an hour before the forum, just to get as close as possible to the reality star they grew up watching on MTV. However, Vinny showed a side that opposed the “fist-pumping, mama’s boy” many people fell in love with on-screen during the early 2010’s. Behind-the-scenes, he was struggling with severe stress and anxiety. Vinny wasn’t alone. At the start of the fo-
Miami footbal battled to a 31-10 victory over austin peay at Yager stadium on Saturday. photo: Angelo Gelfuso
’Hawks breeze by Austin Peay in home-opener Football
Brady pfister
the miami student
Miami’s RedHawk football program took the field Saturday at Yager Stadium for the first time this season, and controlled the game from start to finish. Following an underwhelming week one performance against the Thundering Herd of Marshall, a physical run game combined with opportunistic defense and sound special
nEWS p. 3
TAKING THE ‘BOOK’ OUT OF ‘BOOKSTORE’ The Shriver Center remodel focuses on e-books and online ordering.
teams led Chuck Martin’s squad to a 31-10 victory over the Austin Peay Governors (0-2, 0-0 Ohio Valley Conference). From the opening kick, Miami (1-1, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) played the brand of football that Coach Martin has been preaching since his arrival in Oxford -- dominating the line of scrimmage and controlling time of possession. The Red and White held the ball for over 11 minutes longer than the Governors, while taking advantage of athletic re-
ceivers down the field. Redshirt junior quarterback Gus Ragland only completed 11 of 23 passes for 145 yards on the afternoon, yet consistently gave his receivers a chance to make big plays deep. The most frequent recipient was the 6’4’’ matchup nightmare James Gardner. The junior wide receiver hauled in 5 catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns. “He’s always open even if there’s a guy on him,” Ragland
CULTURE p. 4
TRAVEL P. 6
STUDENTS ‘LIGHT UP THE NIGHT’
A WEEK IN THE SMOKY MOUNTAINS
Exercise event combines black lights, neon, kickboxing and Zumba.
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On the trail, a couple tests the strength of their relationship.
OPINION P. 10
Ex-‘SHORE’ star speaks on stress Despite lack of expertise, Vinny related to students’ experiences.
It was just after finals last semester when senior Austin Worrell, 21, decided to run for Oxford City Council. “There was a morning I woke up and thought ‘You know what? Let’s go for it,’” he said. A political science major and business legal studies minor, Worrell will be the first student, at least in recent history, to run for a seat on Oxford city council. The first inklings of Worrell’s Oxford political ambitions cropped up in conversation with friends during his freshman year, and the idea built up steam during his time at Miami. “I think I really analyzed all the questions that were holding me back and realized they were all based purely out of fear and conjecture and assumptions.” Four of the council’s seven seats will be up for election this November, and Worrell is one of nine candidates in the running, including two incumbents: Councilmembers continued on page 2
SPORTS P. 12
THE made-up mailbag All the answers to the sports questions you never asked.