October 21, 2016 | The Miami Student

ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

Volume 145 №14

Miami University — Oxford, Ohio

College political leaders unsure but resolute

ASG SPENDS $2,000 ON GIFTS, MEALS

G.O.P. rejects Trump, Democrats stand behind Clinton

HALF OF BUDGET GOES TO EXEC SALARIES ASG

POLITICS

BONNIE MEIBERS

CEILI DOYLE

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

THE MIAMI STUDENT

At this year’s Republican National Convention, former presidential candidate Ted Cruz told audience members and viewers at home to “vote their conscience.” At the time, this came as a blow to the winning GOP candidate, Donald Trump, as Cruz refused to endorse him, even at the convention celebrating his nomination.

However, many voters on either side of the aisle have taken this advice to heart.

For sophomore Nick Froehlich, who is an executive member of College Democrats and a former Bernie Sanders delegate, voting his conscience means casting his ballot for Hillary Clinton.

In the case of one Miami Republican, Caleb Stidham, that means leaving the presidential ballot blank.

As Froehlich puts it, no one was more for Sanders than him. But he has already cast his vote for Hillary Clinton.

After complaints of worsening on-campus dining halls, the Miami Residence Hall Association and Associated Student Government partnered with Dining Services to restore Bell Tower’s a la carte options. To-go pizza has already made a return and this week the to-go salad bar came back.

In a Residence Hall Association survey, 98.4 percent of students believed that the removal of a la carte options diminished the dining experience.

Since then, RHA, ASG and Dining Services have worked together in an effort to improve dining at Miami.

“I’m so excited to see additional to-go options at Bell,” said James Oaks, ASG secretary of on-campus affairs. “If our petition taught us one thing, it’s that Miami students are much happier with a wider range of a la carte options, and this change provides what people are looking for.”

Every semester Miami University students fork over tens of thousands of dollars in tuition fees — $63 of which go to the Associated Student Government (ASG) Internal Operating Budget.

Currently, ASG has allocated themselves $83,077 of the $1.2 million they have to dole out to all student organizations on campus, according to the 2016-2017 Internal Operating Budget obtained

by The Miami Student.

Within the budget, $980 is built into “Cabinet Gifts” every year, the traditional practice for cabinet members to exchange presents, Berg said. Another line item includes $1,100 budgeted for “Cabinet Dinners.”

In addition, $49,221 of the aforementioned budget (roughly 59.2 percent) goes toward the salaries of the 14 paid members of the Cabinet.

“ASG is not considered a student organization,” Berg said. “We are a governing body of the school. Therefore, since we are not a student organization, we operate under different funding regulations.”

The Residence Hall Association (RHA) operates as a body in a similar fashion to ASG, but their funding is separate from the student government. The H.O.M.E. Office allocates RHA $7,000 to distribute to up to 37 residence halls, including Heritage Commons and Miami Inn. However, none of the Residence Associates or members of the executive board in RHA are paid stipends for their efforts.

“When you have students in power representing other students and those positions of power have financial and personal incentives, you get people that potentially may be doing it for the wrong reasons,” said Bradley Davis, vice president of RHA. Each cabinet member of ASG is given a set stipend for their work. Each member of cabinet does roughly 12-15, or more, hours of work each week dedicated to improving the student experience, Berg said.

Some students around campus were surprised to learn that ASG cabinet members hold paid positions.

“Honestly I had no idea that the cabinet positions are paid for,” sophomore, Olivia White said. “I feel as though elected officials should not be paid because representing our school positively is something we all should want to do.”

BELL TOWER » PAGE 2

ASG BUDGET » PAGE 2

PRESIDENT » PAGE 2

A.J. NEWBERRY THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami’s College Democrats watched the final presidential debate with other Hillary Clinton supporters Wednesday night Uptown at Top Deck bar.

After final debate, 4 students weigh in POLITICS

JACK EVANS JAMES STEINBAUER and EMILY WILLIAMS THE MIAMI STUDENT

On Wednesday night, Oct. 19, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton faced off at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the final presidential debate of 2016. We asked four Miami students what they thought of the candidates’ performances.

Mike, 20, is a conservative Republican. Coming

into this debate, although he knew he wouldn’t be casting a ballot for Hillary Clinton, he wasn’t sure whether or not he would be giving his vote to Donald Trump.

Rachel, 18, identifies as an independent. Like many other Millennials, she is socially liberal but fiscally conservative. Rachel participated in early voting and already cast her ballot for Hillary Clinton.

Charles, 19, is a Democrat. Although he supported Sen. Bernie Sanders

Democrat, G.O.P. and undecided voters still divided during the primary, he is now firmly behind Hillary Clinton.

Will, 20, is conservative.

He’s a religious man and supported several of the candidates in the primaries.

TMS: Have you decided who you will be voting for in the presidential election?

Mike: Yes, I am voting for Trump. I was waiting for

27 credit hours, five majors, one goal: Andrew Higgins’ Miami journey

this debate to fully decide, because in the past two weeks I’ve still been considering it. I just distrust Hillary that much.

Rachel: I actually did early voting when I went home. I voted for Hillary.

Will: Probably Donald Trump. But I really don’t like either of them.

TMS: Did watching this debate influence your vote?

Mike: I knew I wasn’t going to be voting for HillDEBATE » PAGE 2

RHA, ASG restore Bell Tower DINING

JAKE GOLD

THE MIAMI STUDENT

RYAN TERHUNE THE MIAMI STUDENT

PEOPLE

“Where are you from?”

When college students initially meet, that’s usually the first question they ask.

Andrew Higgins can answer that one. He’s from Cleveland.

It’s the next question that makes him hesitate.

“What’s your major?”

The response that the Miami University junior offers depends largely on context.

In a biology lab? In that case, he says he’s a psycholo-

gy major. At Glee Club? He’s studying music composition.

The thing is, both answers are technically correct. So are three others. Higgins has undertaken the seemingly impossible by declaring five majors, too many to even display on his DARS: psychology, biology, neuroscience, premedical studies and music composition, with a piano performance minor to boot.

(Higgins feels compelled to note that two of his majors are, technically speaking, comajors.)

Higgins enrolled in 11 classes, totaling 27 credit

hours, this semester. For comparison, Miami requires students to take a minimum of 12 credit hours, which amounts to about four courses.

The trim, dark-haired Higgins prefers to keep his full slate “on the down-low,” as he puts it. When he has no choice but to deliver the spiel, he knows what he’ll hear next.

“There is this general [reaction of], ‘Oh, okay, cool,’ but also at the same time, ‘What are you doing?’” Higgins said, miming the incredulity of the average student.

CULTURE p. 3

EDITORIAL p. 6

SATIRE p. 6

SPORTS p. 6

AJ GATIO: FROM OXFORD TO NASHVILLE

OPERATING WITHIN THEIR OWN BOUNDS

INSULTING EINSTEIN’S LEGACY

VOLLEYBALL IN 15-MATCH WIN STREAK

One Miami alum puts off his career in teaching to be a songwriter.

ASG is hypocritical in their spending and should be more transparent.

“Albert Einstein shouldn’t be punished for being so smart.”

The team, which has not lost a match since Sept. 2, is home this weekend.

MEGAN ZAHNEIS NEWS EDITOR

“[They’re] not necessarily puzzled, but like, ‘Why?’” It will take Higgins an extra year to graduate, partially because he only recently picked up his fifth and final major in music composition.

When he gets his degree, he’ll be turning his tassel on about 220 credit hours’ worth of work.

That workload means long days. Higgins said he wakes up at 7:40 a.m. and attends classes from 8:30 a.m. to as late as 8:15 p.m., depending on the day. Between volunHIGGINS » PAGE 2

Please recycle this newspaper when finished.

2 NEWS from asg budget »PAGE 1

Some students have echoed their concerns on whether or not ASG is holding itself to a different standard than the student body it governs.

“There is a process where if students believe ASG is not doing their job, I would encourage any student to talk to their senator to ask them hard questions and even challenge them: why did you vote to approve this budget when these [incentives]

from bell tower »PAGE 1

On October 11, ASG passed two resolutions with the intent to further improve Miami’s dining. Both resolutions regarded issues with declining balance — one supported the option to convert swipes to declining balance, while the other supported the option of adding declining balance to all meal plans.

Looking toward the more distant future, Dining Services will be introducing two a la carte sushi locations, as well as bringing bagels to Miami Ice in the Armstrong Student Center, Oaks said.

ASG’s most recent push to im-

from higgins »PAGE 1

teering, an internship, Glee Club and piano practice, he rarely returns to his dorm before midnight.

Then he does homework until 3 a.m., getting 4 hours and 40 minutes of sleep before the cycle starts anew. Sometimes, Higgins said, he forgets to eat dinner.

So why does Higgins put himself through this? Efficiency, he said.

Maximizing his learning is Higgins’ goal in life, one that was inspired by observing a high-school friend who read voraciously. “’He is just learning so much, when I could be as well,” Higgins thought at the time. “But I’m just choosing not to.”

Now he does.

“It’s just cool being able to talk to one person about psych and at the same time [I] could just go to the music building and start talking about music,” Higgins said.

from president »PAGE 1

“Largely thanks to Bernie, Hillary is by and far better than Trump,” Froehlich said.

Sanders, he said, brought a lot of people into College Democrats and got them interested in politics.

Froehlich is one of those people.

He came into Miami as a music major, but after learning more about Sanders and what he stood for, switched his major to political science and has been heavily involved in the political process since.

Maggie Bender, president of College Democrats, said that Froehlich’s case has been mirrored across the nation.

“Bernie Sanders brought so many people into the fold of the Democratic Party that weren’t there before and now are going to be voting for Hillary in the general election,” Bender said.

Froehlich cited the $15 minimum wage, breaking up big banks and support for single-payer health care as Clinton platform items adapted from Sanders’ campaign.

“What really makes it easy to support our current nominee is that we have the most progressive platform in history,” Froehlich said.

Jamaira Helm, the treasurer of College Democrats, said that while Clinton was not her first choice, she will be voting for the Democratic nominee in the presidential election.

“I would still pick Bernie over Hillary,” she said. “But there’s going to be things that you don’t like about any candidate.”

While many members of the executive board of College Democrats were originally in support of Sanders, none of them would describe themselves as “Bernie or bust.”

“We still love Bernie, but we are voting for Hillary,” said Froehlich.

On the other side of the aisle, in College Republicans, co-chair Allie Harris was never in support of Donald Trump. She will be writing

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

are included?” Senate Advisor, Dr. Eric Buller said.

These incentives — included in the line item budget — are not publicized by ASG and have raised questions regarding the way the student government utilizes student fees.

“That’s the way the process works, I’m not in a position to tell you whether those perks are necessary or not,” Buller said. “If you want to question it, you should question it.”

prove Miami dining began publicly on September 28, when they published a petition on Change. org to bring back Bell Tower’s a la carte options. The petition was presented to an administrative dining committee on September 29 with over 1100 signatures from Miami-affiliated individuals.

Since then, Oaks has worked with Dining Services, finally seeing his efforts come into fruition earlier this week with the reintroduction of to-go pizza.

“The ability to grab pizza and salad to-go will give students greater flexibility,” Oaks said. “We appreciate Dining being so receptive to our feedback this year.”

And while planning his weekly schedule can be overwhelming, Higgins says being busy makes him more productive. Less time to procrastinate, his thinking goes, means more time to focus.

For Higgins, who hopes to parlay his studies into a career in psychiatry, it’s about making an impact.

He also volunteers as a trained advocate with the Cincinnatibased empowerment agency Women Helping Women, serves as secretary of Miami’s Stage Left theatre group and pulls a six-hour shift every Friday night at a suicide hotline call center in Hamilton. “[We’ve] got a limited time on this earth, and there is so much to be done and so much a person can really do,” Higgins said. “If you can set yourself up where you can do as much as you can and still be able to do it consistently, that’s really what I strive for among anything else.”

in Republican Ohio governor John Kasich.

She said she doesn’t support Trump’s “hostile” take on everything and that the latest leaked video in which he makes derogatory comments about women sealed the deal for her.

Harris worked at the Republican National Convention and could almost see herself voting for him, but not after that video.

“I can’t justify defending him and voting for him,” she said. “The latest video that came out made me not want to have anything to do with him.”

Harris said she thinks there are members of College Republicans who support him as well as members who would sympathize with her.

The Ohio College Republican Federation, the governing body for all chapters of College Republicans in Ohio, said they will not be supporting Trump.

Harris said Miami’s chapter will be following in their footsteps.

Sophomore Caleb Stidham, who is Republican, arrived at the conclusion that he would not be supporting Trump months ago.

Trump’s polarizing comments on race and gender didn’t play into Stidham’s decision, though.

“It didn’t even have to get to that point for me to consider [his comments dealing with racial groups and gender] because I had such fast policy disagreements,” he said.

And although he won’t be voting for Trump, he will “absolutely” be voting for other Republican candidates on the ballot, like incumbent Ohio senator Rob Portman. This is what Stidham calls “exercising a protest vote.”

“It is very important for young people to exercise our civic duty.

Even if we don’t like either [presidential nominee], there are other races,” Stidham said. “Vote your conscience and vote for who you think will best represent your beliefs, your values and your policy preferences.”

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

from debate »PAGE 1

ary, but I considered someone else. After all the things that she’s done — I think she’s gotten away with so much.

Rachel: I would say the previous debates definitely did. I basically started to hate Donald Trump and everything he said regarding women. I just knew I wasn’t going to vote for someone like that.

Will: I was surprised about how well composed Donald stayed and then he started calling her out on a lot of stuff. I looked up the Clinton Foundation, I was like ‘shit.’

TMS: Mike, as a Trump supporter, were there any moments in his debate performance that you disliked? Did you find any particularly strong?

Mike: I wish he wouldn’t interrupt her so much, but at the same time it’s frustrating because she won’t answer questions. I think he would have been better off if he’d acted more professional in that sense. When it comes to specific policy, he kind of stays away from saying anything too extreme. One thing that stuck out to me was when he asked her since she has been doing this for 30 years why she hasn’t done anything. I think that was a good defense to his lack of political experience.

TMS: Rachel, as a Hillary supporter, were there any moments in her debate performance that you disliked? Did you find any particularly strong?

Rachel: No, I think she did well.

I think that when she was talking about how Donald Trump was demeaning towards women she had a strong speech about it. I remember listening to it and nodding my head and saying, ‘Yes, this is the woman I voted for.’ Also, he kept trying to call her out on her emails of course, but she was very professional about it. I think she owned up to a lot of things.

TMS: When moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump if he was prepared to concede to Hillary Clinton if he were to lose the election, Trump responded, “What I’m saying now is I will tell you at the time. I will keep you in suspense, okay?” This is an unprecedented response for a major party candidate in a presidential election. How did you react to this response?

Mike: I think this whole thing is slightly different because of all of these leaks and things that have shown what Hillary has done. It’s almost like I wouldn’t put it past her. I think he’s saying the election has been rigged, but he’s not necessarily at the ballot, more in the way that the media has portrayed him. It didn’t bother me too much to hear him say it. It’s on character for him.

I think what Trump is trying to capitalize on is how untrustworthy she is. Was it the right decision to say that? Can’t say. It was a very ‘Trump’ way to address the whole thing.

Charles: The comments that he’s making about the election being rigged could be detrimental in the long term. It’s really the only effect he will have left on this country.

You have to accept it, though. People have been accepting it since Washington peacefully left the power to Adams. That is a huge deal. It’s ridiculous that he can say it on the stage.

I’m worried that after he looses, people are going to be outraged and up in arms against Clinton. That might make it hard for her to legislate. And then in future elections people will think their vote doesn’t matter. We already have low voter turnout and it could be even worse after that.

TMS: Since the last debate, when Trump denied that he had ever sexually assaulted women, nine women have come forward, saying

A.J. NEWBERRY THE MIAMI STUDENT

College Democracts held a watch party for the final presidential debate Wednesday evening. that he either groped or kissed them without their consent. Again, in this debate, Trump denied these allegations, saying he didn’t know these women. What was your reaction to his response?

Rachel: I was disgusted. When you have multiple women and proof of him being like that, it’s common sense. I hate how people are trying to throw it under the rug and ignore it. It’s something we should still be talking about.

Mike: I’m sure some stuff like that has happened. I’m sure there’s been some. He used to live a huge party lifestyle. I disagree with that, personally, but in my opinion when it comes to a president I don’t care as much about how they used to be. I care about what they get done.

That’s what matters. I’m against what he did in the past, but most of his policies I tend to agree with.

TMS: Looking at their performances at the last two debates, do you think either of the candidates improved?

Mike: I think Trump did a good job when Hillary tried to call him out. The thing I like about him is he really seems to not lie about stuff.

Obviously he’s not trying to be a politician. He’s saying things with a logical sense to it. When he was a businessman he wasn’t trying to be president. Sometimes your view on what’s right for the country can be different from what you do personally. Everyone’s personal actions aren’t necessarily politically based decisions.

Rachel: I would say both of them improved. They were more professional, both of them. The second debate [my roommate and I] couldn’t stand. We turned it off because of how off-topic and how childish it was — all the bickering. It was a disgrace to see someone running for president acting like that on national television. I think they covered a lot more of the issues this time, and I think the moderator had a lot to do with that, too.

Will: I actually thought that Donald really kept his cool, and I was very surprised by that. And called Hillary out on a lot of stuff. I don’t know how many folks payed attention to the economic parts, but I was like, ‘Damn, wow,’ so I don’t know if this is much of a change but I was surprised with how well I thought Don did and how ‘ehhh’ I thought Hillary did, so very different than the other two debates.

TMS: Many people felt that, although Trump was more composed

at the beginning of the debate, he still lost his composure. Did you see this happen, and did it affect your opinion of him as a candidate?

Mike: It’s funny, I noticed this with the second debate, too. He starts off and his opening monologue is so tame. I do think if he were elected he would be more calm. In these races it’s more personality attacks. I think if he were president he would be more controlled. I think it’s frustrating for him because she won’t answer any of his questions.

I do see him lose some of his composure. Personally I don’t care, because I listen to what he’s saying, but it probably wasn’t the best for moderate voters. I do think she can compose herself more.

Charles: I was pretty concerned in the beginning of the debate. I thought Trump was really steamrolling the moderator and Clinton.

He was talking and talking and talking and nobody was really stopping him. He was on his own soapbox. I was getting concerned because, regardless of whether what he says is right or wrong, people hear him talk and hear him say stuff on a national stage, it makes it valid. It legitimizes what he says and that’s scary, because it could sway undecided voters.

TMS: In your opinion, who won the debate?

Mike: I don’t see one winning over the other because neither of them would answer any questions directly. I feel like they just weren’t answering the questions enough to the point where I could see one person winning.

Rachel: I’d say Hillary. I think last night was her best one. Usually they go off on tangents and get really off topic, and I noticed last night she didn’t do that. She kept her composure whenever Trump would say something demeaning.

Charles: I think Clinton has basically sealed it at this point. It’s just her election to lose — Trump has no chance. For me, her resurgence at the end really was a defining point in the debate. She really pushed and I don’t think he can compete with her 30-plus years of political experience.

Clinton won.

Will: Well shoot. I guess Donald Trump. Only because he kept his composure and didn’t take the bait when they were jabbing him with the sexual assault things. And then I saw it and was like ‘wow, he isn’t going for it,’ and kept going back to previous faults that Hillary had while she was a senator. I didn’t see her recover very well.

TMS ONLINE MIAMISTUDENT.NET

SHUMANDB@MIAMIOH.EDU

CULTURE 3

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

Humans of Oxford

Ayesh Perera: Mainland to Midwest PEOPLE

James Hodges: A Helping Smile PEOPLE

CEILI DOYLE

KELLY BURNS

THE MIAMI STUDENT

THE MIAMI STUDENT

The pews of St. Mary’s are dimly lit by the afternoon sunlight filtered through the stained glass windows.

A lone backpack rests on the floor. A young man stands by the door, glancing up every so often from his phone to the metal handle of the door.

Ayesh Perera is a Catholic Sri Lankan majoring in economics and political science. However, this afternoon he stands still, trying to find solace in a church nearly 9,000 miles away from home.

He is the oldest in his family. His younger sister is in her final year of high school back home, and Ayesh wonders whether or not she will make the same trek to attend college in the U.S. after she graduates. His parents supported his decision to leave home to study over halfway around the globe.

Still, some days he is more homesick than others.

“The fact that I am packed with a lot of work and I am taking a pretty heavy course load in addition to my involvements on campus has kept me busy,” he says. “But I do miss my family a lot.”

The Ohio weather has been the biggest culture shock for the 21-year-old, who is accustomed to monsoons and

His smile. That’s what you’ll probably notice first about him. It’s wide and bright and pulls you in like a magnet.

James Hodges looks like the type of person who would sit with you for hours and help solve all of your problems.

Fitting, because that’s exactly what he wants to do.

Well, maybe not all of your problems, but he does want to help solve

some of the big problems in the world.

James is a member of the Urban Teaching Cohort, working with inner city kids to help figure out what they want to change about their community and how to go about it.

He is also a member of the Miami Ambassadors for Creating Change and the Black Student Action Association. He’s all about helping people.

But why does he care?

James identifies as a part of the lower social class. But he’s also HODGES »PAGE 4

RENEE FARRELL THE MIAMI STUDENT

dry seasons rather than stereotypical Midwestern blizzards and thunderstorms.

Snow doesn’t fall in Sri Lanka and the winters have been brutal to a boy raised in the humid climate of South Asia. Even now, he stands outside, slightly shivering in the 70-degree fall day.

Despite the weather, he dreams of one day applying for U.S. citizenship

and finding a job in the states after graduation. Most likely not in Ohio, though.

As Ayesh stands on the steps outside St. Mary’s church in Oxford, his smile remains infectious no matter how far away he is from home.

“It’s weird how much I am used to Miami now,” he says. “It won’t ever be Sri Lanka, but I have enjoyed my time here up until this point.”

RYA N TERHUNE THE MIAMI STUDENT

‘Every 28 Hours’ looks to start a dialogue THEATRE

MEGAN BOWERS

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Every 28 hours a black person is killed by police or a vigilante.

This statistic helped inspire the “Every 28 Hours” project, which grew out of the Black Lives Matter movement, an activist group that fights against racism.

The “Every 28 Hours Plays” are a collection of 72 one-minute plays that are divided into nine clumps.

The categories of the clumps range from “police” to “mothers,” but all address violence against African Americans in our nation.

“I see it as using the stage to promote dialogue about race, racism, inequities and injustices started in our country,” said Katie Johnson, director of the history clump.

The plays are being put on all over the country within a few weeks of each other with the goal of starting a national conversation.

“The idea is organizing theaters simultaneously and using the theatre as that tool to bring people together,” producer Ann Elizabeth Armstrong said.

Armstrong stressed that this project is not just about the play itself but about the conversations started by it.

The organization requires them to promote community organizations and to host a post-show discussion.

The production has brought people together from Oxford, Hamilton and even Cincinnati. There are professors from several departments including English and Educational Leadership, undergraduate and graduate students and several campus organizations, such as The Walking Theater Project, involved.

Groups from the community have also been invited to contrib-

ute to the post-show discussion, including the Oxford branch of the NAACP and the Oxford Community Relations and Review Board, a group of people that advocate for and assist police in police-community relations.

The post-show discussion calls for the audience to form small groups to talk about what they have seen. Durell Callier and Dominique Hill from Hill L. Waters Performance Collective and Mahauganee Shaw and Stephen Quaye from Student Affairs in Higher Education and Mobilizing Anger Collective will be leading the discussion by asking questions and facilitating those conversations.

“We want to know what people are feeling,” said Armstrong. “These plays have been written straight out of the headlines, and a lot of the context is that urban context understanding of diversity of cultural points of view and the conflicts around race relations.”

The conversation doesn’t stop after that discussion either.

“We’re going to be writing about that and tweeting it so that it’s a conversation that’s not just on the stage one night,” said Johnson.

The cast will have a Snapchat takeover during their day-of-show tech rehearsal and will be using the twitter hashtag #Every28Hours.

“It’ll make some people uncomfortable, and I hope they take the time to think about why it does that,” actor Brenton Sullivan said.

“It’s not supposed to be settling, but informative and honest. And to shake people up some and make them realize the reality of these stories.”

The show’s themes can be interpreted differently depending on each person’s identity and back-

ground coming into it.

“I think that’s important that you go into this performance understanding where you are coming from and how you can be a constructive voice to that dialogue, which in some cases just means listening,” stage manager Jenny Henderson said.

Henderson emphasized that it is important to understand whether you have white privilege or have experienced the very issues the show talks about.

“For me, this is so much more than a staged reading,” actor Anthony Thompson said. “As a black man, I feel like I’m telling stories that might one day save my life or even the lives of those who look like me. And I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of this movement.”

Armstrong has been trying to get the project started here at Miami for a while, but she said that the rapid spate of events that took place with the shootings and lashing out against police is what really captured everyone’s attention and made them want to get involved.

“This is a crucial conversation to be had nationally, but I think it is especially important at Miami because major change starts on a community level,” said Henderson.

The production team is hoping this project will bring light to the other voices on out campus.

“We talk about diversity a lot, but we still don’t have the diversity in the community that we want, and until we have that diversity, it is hard to see a lot of changes,” said Armstrong. “I’m aware this project is definitely about making visible the invisible in our community.”

“Every 28 Hours” will be performed at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22, in Gates-Abegglen Theatre.

AJ Gatio: Chasing the dream from Oxford to Nashville

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY AJ GATIO

MUSIC

ELIZABETH HANSEN ASST. CULTURE EDITOR

When AJ Gatio graduated from Miami in 2014, he wasn’t completely set on becoming a Social Studies teacher. He wanted to be a songwriter.

“I realized I could get into teaching when I’m 30, 32 or 33 and nothing’s happened [with songwriting], but I can’t get my mid-20s back. [I thought], if I’m gonna do this, this is going to be the only time I can do it,” said Gatio.

So, after almost a year of contemplation, Gatio pulled the trigger and moved to Nashville.

“I was scared as hell,” he said. “I didn’t know anyone, I had no connections, my girlfriend and my fam-

ily … everyone’s in Cincinnati, and I was just heading down by myself on this little crazy dream trip.”

Once he left Cincinnati, another obstacle confronted him — Writers’ Rounds.

Writers’ Rounds are a concept unique to Nashville. Three or four people get up on stage and go down the line, each continuing a song.

Playing by himself was something Gatio had never done before.

“I always played with a band,” he said. “So playing me, by myself, acoustic — there’s nothing that’s gonna hide you. I was always super nervous so it took a while to become purely confident in myself as just AJ Gatio versus AJ Gatio and three or four of his friends playing college GATIO »PAGE 4

‘The Accountant’ gets lost in the exposition, forgets the action FILM

JOEY MCCLURE

THE MIAMI STUDENT

I do enjoy well-executed action films because they encompass the three pillars of American cinema — sex (usually), spectacle and violence.

“The Accountant,” directed by Gavin O’Connor, barely hits one of these elements, violence, which is not necessarily a criticism. But the fact the film has maybe 20 minutes of intense action in its two hours is telling of the movie’s priorities.

Written by Bill Dubuque, “The Accountant” is overly obsessed with exposition. The film spends most of its time setting up two plots. The first is about Christian Wolfe (Ben Affleck), a certified public accountant who has mostly overcome his childhood

autism. Wolfe uses his strip mall accounting office as a cover for his consulting services, finding internal embezzlement in crime organizations.

Wolfe’s upbringing is told through a series of flashbacks that show not only his struggle with autism and his prodigious mathematical skills, but also his abusive, militaristic father’s impact on him and his little brother.

The second plot follows Raymond King (J.K. Simmons), the director of financial crimes at the Department of the Treasury. He blackmails Treasury analyst Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) into searching for a man he calls “the accountant,” who has helped criminal organizations around the world find embezzled funds.

Although these plots are interesting separately and seem promising

at first, they never quite connect like I thought they would. In fact, by the time the credits rolled, I didn’t see a reason for the second plot to exist at all.

This is part of the problem with “The Accountant.” It boasts an overly complicated plot for no reward. The film will surprise the audience from time to time because it has a number of twists throughout, but even then, some of them are so remarkably unrealistic that they become laughable.

“What are the chances of this ever happening?” one character asks after an unlikely coincidence.

Wolfe starts, “Statistically speaking the chances are…”

I can answer this question. Zero.

There is a zero percent chance of any of this ever happening.

After the movie has set the stage,

things finally start to happen. To hide him from King’s pursuits, Wolfe’s associate, who is only heard through a computerized voice on the phone, sends him to do a legal assignment to find $61 million of missing funds at a prosthetic manufacturer known as Living Robotics.

Here, Wolfe is introduced to the owner of the company, Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow), and the romantic interest of the film, Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick), an employee that found the accounting error for Living Robotics. Right as Wolfe discovers the truth of Living Robotics’ discrepancy, he and Dana are pursued by hitmen headed by a confident leader (Jon Bernthal).

Even with these confrontations, the film lacks action, and I’m not referring to the genre. I mean acts

taken by a character that push the plot forward. “The Accountant” is so soaked with the idea of developing its characters through exposition or flashbacks that it becomes too soggy to enjoy. When the film ends, not much has happened because it took so much time setting everything up.

“The Accountant” also presents a schizophrenic variety of tones. One moment, Wolfe will be experiencing a dark flashback of his father commanding a martial arts master to beat him and his brother to a bloody pulp, and the next moment, Wolfe will be solving an accounting discrepancy in a montage reminiscent of “A Beautiful Mind.” There is nothing wrong with a film utilizing different moods, but this one is all over the place.

ACCOUNTANT »PAGE 4

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rock music.”

Gatio picked up the guitar while at Miami, but he wrote songs well before he could play them all the way through.

“It was just more of a creative release, an emotional release to get things out of my mind that I wasn’t comfortable telling people or doing,” he said.

In fact, most people did not even know Gatio had an interest in music.

“None of my professors would really even know about this. They would say, ‘Wow that’s really out of left field,’ ‘cause in college it wasn’t something [I did],” said Gatio. “Most people I had classes with didn’t know I did music at all.”

But now, in Nashville, music is all Gatio does.

“Yesterday I had three writing sessions, and then I played at a bar and now I’m playing at a different bar

tonight,” he said. “Usually it’s some combination of running an audio session, songwriting for the publishing house and then playing somewhere.”

Gatio released his first demo, “Music City Mixtape: Vol. 1,” in September to help build a fanbase outside of Nashville. He is always booking shows and playing for fraternities and sororities in the Nashville area, but this week, Gatio is bringing his talents back to Miami.

Adam Findlay, social chair of Chi Psi fraternity at Miami, heard Gatio’s album and saw his potential.

“He’s coming this weekend and doing a country-themed party for us,” Findlay said. “He published some stuff on Facebook and through Spotify, and I think within his first few weeks he went up to like 1,000 hits, so he was blowing up pretty fast and I was just sharing him all over

the place.”

Findlay is now helping him secure an opening spot for a country singer at Brick Street.

“I passed along his information — YouTube account, Spotify, everything like that — to get [owner Mark Weisman] to look at them,” said Findlay. “He’s pretty interested in him, so he’s going to try and have him open up for somebody at Brick, which is pretty cool. Hopefully that leads to another.”

Once Gatio secures his goal of opening for a country singer at Brick, his long-term plan is to get out of Nashville and play on substantial tours.

“That’s the overarching goal, but it also takes time to build up to that,” said Gatio.

Gatio’s booking teaser is on YouTube. His demo is available on both iTunes and Spotify.

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There are some things I like about “The Accountant.”

For one, the script has interesting characters, some more fleshed out than others. Christian Wolfe is an interesting take on the action movie protagonist. His autism impairs his ability to effectively communicate to other people, creating these awkward, comedic moments, especially between himself and Dana Cummings. They ultimately end up bonding over their accounting professions, which I saw as fitting.

Some of the characters aren’t as strong, however. None of the antagonists’ motivations are explained, which bothers me. I couldn’t understand how some of these characters became so wickedly evil.

Another positive element of the film was the performances. Nobody was spectacular, but I thought the film was casted perfectly. Ben Affleck played the autistic protagonist well, and J.K. Simmons always excels in an authoritarian role.

Ultimately, “The Accountant” starts as a promising movie, but it gets lost in explaining its complicated premise through exposition and flashbacks. By the end, the audience will ask, “What’s the point?”

FROM HODGES»PAGE 3

here at Miami, a public ivy.

“Growing up through that struggle and struggling throughout life and me having a chance to do better with myself, it just inspired me,” James says.

But if you press him further as to why exactly he cares so much, he’ll laugh. To him, the answer is as simple as it gets.

“I just don’t like injustice. To me, it’s just common sense,” he says with his ever-constant smile.

“I don’t like doing people wrong.

So it’s just common sense to me to fight against people doing people wrong.”

And unlike a lot of volunteers and organizations, James wants to focus on the people, not just the problem.

“We have more people going to urban communities trying to fix things and there are less people trying to serve people,” he says. “And that’s the only way we can have real change, if we have service.”

By no means does James think that he is going to change the world single-handedly. But he does believe that he can make some impact on problems he sees around him.

“I just feel like I can help change that and maybe not on a macro scale but a micro one, like in my community,” James says. “I can help people to continue their education, or find a job, or help people to get together and fight for something they want.”

And for now, at least, that’s enough.

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5

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

FROM HOCKEY »PAGE 8

Providence, and hopefully that trend continues.”

On special teams, Miami has excelled on the penalty kill as well as with the man advantage.

After allowing one power-play goal in its season opener, the MU penalty kill has successfully killed off 20-straight power plays and is fourth nationally at a kill rate of 95.2 percent. Last season, MU’s 90.9 percent kill rate was the second best in the country.

While not quite as youthful as Miami, Maine enters the game with its fair share of inexperience, as freshmen hold 11 of its 28 roster spots. Freshman forward Mitchell Fossier has already made his presence felt for the Black Bears, leading all Maine skaters with five goals

FROM FIELD HOCKEY »PAGE 8

ing the task at hand and doing what we have to do.”

Last time Ball State and Miami met, the RedHawks shut out the Cardinals 3-0. Similarly, the RedHawks bested the Mountaineers 10-1 in their last meeting.

With only two weeks of regular season play remaining, the RedHawks look to play with a higher level of intensity and with the same communication on and off the field that they’ve had all season.

“It’s hard when you’re down 1-0 or 6-0, or whatever the score is, but I think the positive encouragement from the bench and from our captains always makes a great impact for every player,” sophomore back Avery Sturm said. “Since we all know that it’s going to bring the best out of us,

and three assists through four games.

Offensively, Miami has shared the load so far, as Belpedio and sophomore forward Kiefer Sherwood are tied for the team lead with three points apiece.

The Red and White fed off of the home crowd energy against Ohio State, and expect a similar edge this weekend.

“It was an unreal atmosphere,” freshman forward Carson Meyer said. “The OSU game was the top atmosphere I’ve played in. The crowd got me into it, got the guys into it, especially all of us freshmen. It definitely got me fired up, and I can’t wait to get out there again this weekend.”

The puck drops 7:35 p.m. Friday and 7:05 p.m. Saturday in Steve “Coach” Cady Arena in Oxford.

FROM FOOTBALL»PAGE 8

Luckily, Coach Martin’s emphasis on discipline seems to have finally resonated with his players.

“These are things we are really trying to focus on and give us the

FROM VOLLEYBALL »PAGE 8

ping their first nine games to start the season.

Senior outside hitter Sabrina Mangapora (263 kills) and sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn Goodsell (260 kills) lead the BSU attack.

The Red and White face a tough challenge offensively, as Cardinals’ freshman libero Kate Avila (375 digs) is one of the best defensive specialists in the

we continue to bring that communication level up and keep bringing the positive energy out.”

App State hasn’t played since its losses to Lock Haven University and Saint Francis University two weeks ago.

Ball State is also coming off two losses, its to OU and La Salle University last weekend. The Cardinals play Missouri State on Friday before their Sunday contest with Miami.

“I think they’re both great opponents and I think it’s going to be interesting to play App State since they’re moving into the MAC conference,” Sturm said.

“But I think with these games it is going to be all about us bringing up the intensity level and just playing the game we know how to play. I’m really excited to see what kind of outcome we can bring.”

best chance to win. We were better at that Saturday,” Martin said.

After the ‘Hawks defense powered MU to its first victory last weekend, success against the Falcons will heavily rest upon the efforts of that unit.

“Again, defense we have to

play. They’re explosive on offense.

Tailbacks, receivers, strong-arm quarterback. We’re going to have to really play good on defense,” Martin said.

The matchup is scheduled to kickoff at 12:00 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN3.

league.

For the ’Hawks, sophomore outside hitter Stela Kukoc is coming off of a career weekend in which she recorded 23 kills and a .417 attack percentage. She stepped up on the defensive end as well, averaging two digs per set. Kukoc’s performance earned her Miami Female Athlete of the Week honors.

“It feels great to finally be home again after what feels like forever. We are excited to be back

on our home court with all the amazing support we have here,” Kukoc said.

The RedHawks currently hold a two-game lead over Ohio University in the MAC East standings, and look to clinch the top seed in the conference tournament in the coming weeks. Another weekend sweep would certainly go a long way in helping Miami achieve this goal, as it begins the final month of the regular season in front of its home crowd.

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6 OPINION

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

ASG ‘doesn’t operate under the same rules,’ lacks transparency The following piece, written by the editorial editors, reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.

F

or the 400+ student organizations on campus, budgeting is strict.

If they need money, they need to submit a proposal to the Associated Student Government (ASG).

Nearly everything is allowed if the argument is strong enough and the details in the proposal reflect careful planning.

That is, unless you want to use funds to benefit your club members specifically. That means ASG will not allocate money to fund things like club dinners or to buy gifts specific for the executive board. Things that do not benefit the student body or the part of the student body that the organization is serving, informing or entertaining will not pass a budget proposal. Well, unless you’re ASG. To be fair, ASG is not taking money from other clubs in order to fund its “Cabinet Dinners” and the giving of its “Cabinet Gifts,” (which total $1,105 and $980 respectively). ASG is taking this money from the students.

The issue is that they invest more money in Cabinet Dinners and Cabinet Gifts together than they do in an event as important as the Mental Health Forum — $700 more.

Each student is required to pay $63 in student fees to fund ASG. Miami students are paying for those Cabinet Dinners and Gifts, none of which benefit the student body in any way. They simply give our loyal governors a break from the tough days on their salaried jobs.

Amy Berg claims in an article on ASG budgeting in this issue that ASG is a governing body and therefore doesn’t operate under the same rules as other organizations on campus. That’s easy to

say when your organization makes most of the rules by which all other student organizations must abide.

The reality is that, out of the $1.2 million ASG manages, over $80,000 is set aside for their funding. That’s the most money that any organization is allotted, and upwards of 59 percent of it goes toward paying members of the executive board with yearlong salaries.

And while that statistic is eyeopening, it’s not necessarily the issue. ASG does do work on and off

The skill of accepting a ride: The gift that keeps on taking (rides) LIFE

GRAHAM von CARLOWITZ EDITORIAL EDITOR

I recently arrived at the ambiguous age of 22 and, although I have had my license for almost four years now, accepting rides from others is engrained in my nature. Since I was 16, swindling rides has been my foremost forte, next to maybe the skill of wearing exotic socks. Although it may come off as boastful, I am good at getting rides, damn good at it. All it took, I learned, was pretending to enjoy the music my fellow ride-givers played.

This was right around the time “The Dark Knight” was popular, and seeing as though everyone else was a wannabe Batman, I took the high road and likened myself to the Two-Faced Harvey Dent. The comparison flopped when you compared his chiseled chin with my, uh, regular chin, but the multiple identity facet was spot on.

In the morning, my ride to school would rap along with Lil Wayne and all his disciples while I hurriedly looked up the lyrics on my phone in secret, nodding my head the entire time. By nights, well, that’s when I had to be really flexible, really two-faced.

The trick to securing a ride home is appearing like a guy who would listen to the potential ride-giver’s playlist. So all I really had to do was dress the part, and thanks to a comfortable variety of hand-me-downs from five brothers, I was endowed with all the necessary supplies.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I pulled out the quirky sweaters that my quirky friend Dan would appreciate. One look at the wool piece fitted for a 12-year-old and the two of us zoomed off in his shitty Pontiac to listen to Twenty-One Pilots.

Music for him was mainly background noise. Thus my conversation skills flexed as Dan and I would delve deeply into the extraterrestrial and existential, which largely consisted of talk that I “so badly wanted to try shrooms or ecstasy.” When offered to do so on the weekends, however, I thought only of my ride pattern and, as far as I knew, Fridays weren’t Dan’s days.

“Sorry man, I got family stuff.”

If I actually had family stuff, they would be the ones giving me rides.

But Dan was too distracted by his

weekend plans to think of that, and I was too busy considering ride possibilities.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, a jock/sporty look was required for Austin, my football teammate and longtime ride-giver. In his Jeep Liberty, we’d jam out to heavy rock music and occasionally country, but singing along was never required. Somehow, I got through the weeks without much trouble.

The only issue was keeping my plural personalities separate, but I’d been doing my own laundry for months at that point. I could separate lights from darks in my sleep and segregating the fitting attire was no different.

Fast forward four years and

heart attack. Thus I was relegated to the passenger seat and could only look at the lesser-known neighbors of Starbucks.

At first I couldn’t quite comprehend the reviling title: OWL Cleaners? I’m fine with taking your dog to be cleaned at a vet, but this place didn’t seem to be veterinary-certified. Also, owning an owl is illegal.

Even a taxidermied hooter. Illegal.

With this in mind, I was quick to judge the man walking inside.

What he wore is unimportant and I don’t remember, anyhow.

What was memorable about this lad, though, was his ostensible status as a phony. Just then, I was pretending to enjoy whatever nonsense my brother had on the

The trick to securing a ride home is appearing like a guy who would listen to the potential ridegiver’s playlist.

I’m still in the ride-getting habit.

I wouldn’t say it’s due to laziness, though I must say, not coming up with a more interesting name for “ride-getter” and “ride-giver” is wholly unacceptable. I just don’t feel comfortable straying from what I know, you know?

Last winter, my oldest brother brought me back to my comfort zone — at least for a little.

On our way back from a wrestling meet with my girlfriend (not the wrestler, thank God), my brother Kyle got off at the nearest Starbucks exit.

As he left me in the car, I began to think back on how many times I had to wait for my ride-givers, unsure of how I would occupy myself.

Normally their cars were littered with receipts for prescriptions — always interesting to read — or simply littered with leftover fast food crap, my afternoon snack.

To my growling stomach’s dismay, Kyle is a healthy human and sees fast food for what it truly is: a

radio while wearing his jacket in exchange for a ride. I’m a phony through and through; spotting my despicable counterparts is like first nature at this point.

The man, entirely unsure of what the hell he was doing at an Owl Cleaning store, gave himself away by completing a double-take — twice — with his apprehensive eyes searching the empty parking lot. Yet, when our eyes met, I was struck with a shock of sympathy.

I’ve been there, opening doors under false identities.

But this wary owl-owner gave me hope. Perhaps that was my futureself. Perhaps I could become the kind of person that not only illegally owns an endangered pet, but one who is willing to admit this crime in public for nothing more than a free ride. Perhaps I have a future.

VONCARGH@MIAMIOH.EDU

campus, however below the radar they have been this year.

In fact, the large majority of the money that does not go straight into their pockets goes into managing off-campus affairs, including encouraging civic engagement and health and safety in Oxford.

Arguably their most significant and important event is their Mental Health Forum, which they held on Sept. 15 this year. For the forum this time around, the cost tallied $1,385. So yes, they do hold events and they should get paid for the work they do (the amount of money they should actually get is up for debate).

The issue is that they invest more money in Cabinet Dinners and Cabinet Gifts together than they do in an event as important as the Mental Health Forum — $700 more. That money is for nothing more than getting food with the team and buying presents for each other (what does “Cabinet Gifts” even mean?).

The issue is that they ask all of

the other clubs to do something that they do not. They are not different than other student organizations on campus. They are a governing body in the sense that they have two publicly elected members: their president and vice president. But other organizations, like the Residence Hall Association (RHA), have publicly elected members. And they have no money allotted to them for executive entertainment.

Beyond the election for ASG president and vice president, the student government operates within their own bounds, in a way that makes them inaccessible to students on campus.

They are hypocritical in their spending and we demand that they be more transparent in their budgeting. They don’t need over $2,000 to pay for executive indulgences. What they need to do is allocate that money to organizations that actually need it to make a palpable difference on this campus.

Show some respect for our ‘most beautiful campus’ CAMPUS

EMILY WILLIAMS

MANAGING EDITOR

Early Tuesday morning, Miami horticulturist Bill Zehler got a call from one of the university’s maintenance workers. Someone had defaced the floral “M” outside of Pearson Hall. That “M” is the most photographed flowerbed on Miami’s campus, Zehler said. Most people will stand behind it, to the side or in front.

But others feel the need to get right in the middle of it.

Zehler has worked at Miami for 20 years, designing and maintaining the over 20 flower beds on campus, including the university’s Formal Gardens. Every year, Zehler and a team of horticulturalists plant over 18,000 flora around campus.

Students trampling on the “M” isn’t the only problem Zehler has to deal with, either. It’s just one of many botanic blunders he has to handle on a regular basis.

A couple weeks ago, someone took a dive into a flowerbed in front of Roudebush Hall.

Just this year, he’s had to replace about a dozen of the ornamental cabbage plants around the Sundial after they had been kicked, trampled or pulled out of the ground.

After he put pumpkins in front of Lewis Place, the university president’s residence on Spring Street, someone came by and smashed a pumpkin on the sidewalk. Other pumpkins have been whisked away without a trace.

A lot of students take a shortcut through the back of Lewis Place on their walk Uptown, Zehler said. One fall, the mums placed in the property’s yard went missing.

Zehler followed the trail of trampled petals to the porch of a frat house where the pot of misappropriated mums sat. That happened three more times just that season.

One of the biggest problems he’s encountered is students stealing the red and white tulips are planted around the Sundial in the spring.

One spring, at least four dozen of the tulips — the entire patch of flowers from one corner of the bed — were stolen.

“The thing with tulips is, if everybody took one, we wouldn’t have any,” Zehler said. “We can do

things to keep the deer from eating them, but it’s hard to keep the people from picking them.”

Although it’s never been the same from year to year, Zehler said he’s always dealt with these instances. This year, however, there seems to be more than usual.

“This university is known as one of the most beautiful in the country,” Zehler said. “You would think that people would respect the property.”

Zehler said he knows most peo-

It’s just one of the many botanic blunders that he has to handle on a regular basis.

ple aren’t guilty of this — only a small percentage of students are to blame and the infractions can also vary from accidental trampling to intentional vandalism.

So the next time you’re traipsing across campus after a late night Uptown, think twice before you tumble through the tulips or pickpocket a pumpkin. If you’re standing in front of the “M” and feel the need to “do it for the ‘gram,” think again. The deer population in southwestern Ohio already causes enough horticultural challenges without adding us into the equation.

As for picking the flowers, if you’re really pining for some perennials, I recommend the Oxford Farmer’s Market, where you can get a beautiful bundle of fresh buds for $5 or less—supporting the community, staying frugal and avoiding theft and vandalism all in one fell swoop.

It’s not just about respecting the campus (which you pay big bucks every year to keep pretty, by the way). It’s also about respecting the work of people like Zehler whose work allows us to brag about how our campus is “the most beautiful campus that ever there was.”

WILLI501@MIAMIOH.EDU

write to us! A letter, an essay, anything! Get in touch at: editorial@miamistudent.net

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OPINION 7

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

Sarcastic use of Einstein’s Liberal nice-ism in the election name is insult to his legacy is a bane to political discourse SATIRE

JOEY HART

ASST. EDITORIAL EDITOR

Albert Einstein was born in Germany on March 14, 1879. He was a world renowned physicist who revolutionized the physics world with his theories on special and general relativity and won a Nobel Prize in 1921 for his discovery of the photoelectric effect. He was a pacifist, a United States immigrant and he married his own cousin, but most of us know him as the face of all things science.

So, when someone calls you “Einstein,” that’s a good thing, right? Probably not.

In fact, I’m betting that the last time you heard someone call you or anyone else “Einstein” it was sarcastic, insulting and in reference to something unwise you did or said.

This, friends, is a shame, plain and simple. Albert Einstein undoubtedly contributed greatly to physics as well as the sum total of human knowledge in general during his time on this earth. More than that, the number of people that his image has inspired is incalculable and more than likely immense.

The fact that Einstein’s legacy is tainted with the modern usage of his name as an insult is destructive of what he accomplished and what he stood for (and before you say it, no, he didn’t actually fail math as a child). It’s oxymoronic to the point where the use of the word “Einstein” in discourse is at times confusing and contradictory.

On Urban Dictionary, the second highest rated definition for “Einstein” reads as follows: “1. a really smart guy / 2. A complete idiot.”

How can this madness be justified? We don’t call bad hockey players Gretzkys, we don’t call bad generals Alexanders and we don’t call bad poets Dickinsons.

These people have earned their place in history as people to be respected, not people to be tarnished by sarcasm and dim wit.

There’s no question that language evolves over time. This fact is a natural process of the words that we use and the vernacular that develops and spreads to those who speak any given language. Slang terms become introduced into officially defined words as time passes and certain uses of older words gain new meanings (even MerriamWebster now defines “literally” as “in effect,” so yes, now you can say that last night was literally so

much fun and still be grammatically correct).

However, that evolution is not set in stone or destined. It is a choice that we make as individuals, and it is something that can be stopped if we agree to change our ways.

It is said that the greatest honor to any person in the scientific field is to have his or her name spelled with a lowercase letter (think volt, hertz and pascal). That may very well happen

So, when someone calls you “Einstein,” that’s a good thing, right? Probably not.

to Einstein if we continue this use of his name, though I’m not sure this particular case would be considered an honor.

So what do you do when your friend accidentally puts on socks that don’t match? Luckily, there are myriad other words that can be substituted for “Einstein” that don’t tarnish the memory of a great physicist. You could call them a “dullard,” a “nincompoop” or my personal favorite, an “ignoramus.” Hell, even “dumbass” does the trick.

However, all that I ask is that next time you make fun of someone for not thinking, you do a little thinking yourself and consider that words have consequences. I shudder to think of the day when my children might wake up and know no other meaning for the word “Einstein” than that of an imbecile.

So please, consider the above.

Consider the belief that Albert Einstein shouldn’t be punished for being so smart and synonymous with science that his likeness is used only ironically. Consider how truthful you are being to his legacy when you call someone “Einstein.”

As a great man from history once said, “No legacy is so rich as honesty.” Was this man the great scientist in question, you ask?

Nope! It was Shakespeare. Haha, nice try, Einstein.

HARTJT@MIAMIOH.EDU

POLITICS

KYLE HAYDEN COLUMNIST

From John Zerzan’s “The Nihilist’s Dictionary”: “Nice-ism, n. tendency, more or less socially codified, to approach reality in terms of whether others behave cordially; tyranny of decorum that disallows thinking or acting for oneself; mode of interaction based upon the above absence of critical judgment or autonomy.”

Last week the GOP office of Orange County, North Carolina in Hillsborough was firebombed by a yet-unknown entity. Those who committed the firebombing also apparently spraypainted nearby, “NAZI REPUBLICANS LEAVE TOWN OR ELSE.” Trump tweeted (apparently this is an official form of communication today), “Animals representing Hillary Clinton and Dems in North Carolina just firebombed our office in Orange County because we are winning.”

Clinton responded to the act by saying she hoped anyone involved was OK and that she condemned the “horrific and unacceptable act.”

Then I read in less than 12 hours some Democracts got together and gave a hefty fistful of money they raised through a “GoFundMe” campaign (more than $13,000) to that particular GOP office so they could afford to repair.

Whoever these Democrats are, they were trying to gain some kind of moral ground (as if anything about this election can be said to be based in moral considerations), as if the Trump supporters give a holy damn. They probably thought those Democrats were suckers for getting other people to shell out $13,000 to repair their office.

Anyway, this ridiculous liberal forgiveness has been reproduced a few times in the last 72 hours.

Here is a description of a few images which pique the radical imagination: An image was released a few days ago (top right) of a figure inlayed with the confederate battle flag kicking in the stomach of a figure inlayed with the rainbow flag commonly representative of the LGBTQ community.

Below these figures were the words “TRUMP 2016.” Clearly this is not an official piece of merchandise from the Trump campaign, but nothing surprises me anymore.

Then, someone produced an image of the same figure overlaid with a rainbow flag which, instead of kicking back, was hugging the figure whose form possessed the Confederate battle flag with the subtitle “Forgiveness 2016.”

Then, someone edited the image, adding the word “SNAP” at the neck area of the figure with the battle flag, demonstrating that the LGBTQ community should not forgive. It should take opportune revenge on the dominant group (Trump supporters, apparently signified by the confederate battle flag) that has systemically

oppressed their identities for, I dunno, 150 years or so.

“Bash the Fash” translates to “Bash the facists,” a song by Oi Polloi, an anti-fascist punk band from the United Kingdom.

Then, a fourth, much more provocative image appeared showing a figure in a Nazi officer’s uniform being hugged by a figure I can only describe as a death camp detainee with the subtitle “Forgiveness 1933-1945.”

The distinction these dissenters are trying to make is pretty clear.

Forgiveness is not the correct reponse.

So what’s wrong with liberal niceism?

Trump and his supporters continue to be ruthless. I can’t even enumerate all the detestable trash that’s come out of his mouth and the hatred and violence he’s inspired across the country this year, and I suppose The Student had a pretty good piece a few weeks ago wherein defense of Trump could not be distinguished from defense of a convicted rapist.

The Republicans haven’t been nice! Even before Mr. Trump was declared the candidate for the Republican Party, people were violently attacking those who “did not fit in” at rallies and speeches

by Mr. Trump. I don’t recall any instances of this happening at Clinton rallies or Johnson speeches, or (who are those other people?) Constitution or Prohibition Party speeches.

What angers me about the Democrats who apparently gave $13,000 to that GOP office in North Carolina is the sheer ineptitude of the act.

People who typically recieve support from Democrats — LGBTQ folks, women, disenfranchised voters — received no funds that these Democrats spontaneously raised. Groups that have been heavily scrutinized by sexists and general creeps on the right for a long time, of which these politicians represented by the GOP office in NC, are of no exception.

Zero dollars for trans rights, zero dollars for women’s rights, even when Planned Parenthood has been subject to financial scrutiny, with the threat of divestment in several states, including Ohio before the vote was knocked down by a judge earlier this year. Zero dollars for Democratic representatives who may or may not be financially struggling in their elections in NC. The Republicans will take the money just as easily, however — they and their goons will nod their heads at the nice stickers and posters they made, and then continue the proto-fascist parades and the violent drivel and acts. The creeping authoritarian ilk doesn’t end because you were nice once or twice. These creeps need to be politically defeated. Do not play nice with those on the right seeking to do violence (social or physical) to those it believes inferior, keeping in mind their list is very long.

HAYDENKA@MIAMIOH.EDU

From top: The image of this bumper sticker combination surfaced online from Orlando, FL, showing a Confederate battle flag figure kicking a figure embedded with the rainbow flag, commonly used to signify the identities of the LGBTQ community and its allies.

Then, twitter user “@transadvocate” posted the “Forgive 2016” with the caption “When they go low, we go high.” The “Forgiveness” image was met with many dissentions including one from a subreddit named “FULLCOMMUNISM” which suggests the proper response would be to break the necks of violent Trump supporters and wavers of the Confederate battle flag. Topping off the dissents was the rather provactive satire at the bottom, drawing a shocking comparison to the suggestion that “forgiveness” in this case would be the same as a death camp detainee forgiving a Nazi officer for his crimes against humanity.

read more stories online at miamistudent.net

A.J. NEWBERRY NEWBERAJ@MIAMIOH.EDU

8 SPORTS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016

SPORTS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

LARKIN, BELPEDIO LOOK TO POWER REDHAWKS OVER BLACK BEARS

Field hockey takes on AppalachianSt., Ball State

HOCKEY

BEN BLANCHARD SPORTS EDITOR

FIELD HOCKEY

This weekend, the Miami University ice hockey team takes on the University of Maine in a two-game series at home Friday and Saturday.

The young RedHawks look to improve upon a 1-1-1 record following a series split at No. 15 Providence and an overtime tie at home to No. 19 Ohio State.

This early record against elite opponents is promising for MU’s future, considering the 14 freshmen and six sophomores on the 26-man roster. After the first two weeks of the campaign, Miami is close to being ranked a top-20 team in the country, receiving the third-most votes among unranked programs in the most recent NCAA rankings.

Freshman goaltender Ryan Larkin has been a big part of the Red and White’s early success. In his past two starts, Larkin has saved 43 of 45 shots for a .956 save percentage.

“Larkin’s made a ton of great saves,” junior captain and defenseman Louie Belpedio said. “He’s been critical to winning and tying these past two games.”

The Black Bears will look to build upon their 3-1 record following a split against No. 4 and last year’s NCAA runner-up Quinnipiac last weekend. The three victories are

EMILY SIMANSKIS THE MIAMI STUDENT

The Miami University field hockey team looks to rebound this weekend when it plays Appalachian State at home 4:30 p.m. Friday and away at Ball State 3 p.m.

Sunday in a Mid-American Conference matchup following two tough losses.

The RedHawks look to improve their record of 8-7 overall, 3-1 in the MAC, 3-4 at home and 4-3 away. App. State enters the weekend 1-11 overall, 0-2 away and 1-10 neutral. Ball State is 6-8 overall, 1-2 in the MAC and 1-2 at home.

Miami currently sits second in the MAC with Ohio University just below them, as the teams have identical records in conference play. The RedHawks are looking to stay close to Kent State’s conference leading record of 5-0.

“Last weekend we had a tough weekend, we didn’t come out with the outcomes that we would have hoped,” sophomore back Ashley Laskowitz said. “But I think we’re looking to this weekend positively and looking forward to playing App State and Ball State and takFIELD HOCKEY »PAGE 5

ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT

Sophomore forward Josh Melnick prepares to take a face-off against Ohio State. Last season, Melnick finished third on the team with 25 points on nine goals and 16 assists. His five multi-point games also ranked him third on last year’s squad. already nearly half of Maine’s total from its 8-24-6 campaign in 201516.

“They’re gonna play hard, they’re gonna play fast,” Belpedio said.

“They beat a good team in Quinnipiac last weekend, but we need to

Headlines beyond Oxford: Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict received yet another fine and disciplinary action from the NFL following his alleged targeting of Patriots players, stomping running back LeGarrette Blount and taking out Martellus Bennett at the knees. This fine, $75,000, comes after Burfict was suspended for the first three games of the season for repeated violations of player safety. Many have called for suspension or expulsion for Burfict due to his repeated disciplinary issues.

just focus on ourselves and the rest will take care of itself.”

To defeat Maine, the RedHawks will likely need to generate more scoring chances during even-strength play. Through three games, all six of MU’s goals have

come on the power play.

“Five-on-five, we’re getting our chances,” head coach Enrico Blasi said. “We generated a lot more Saturday night than we did against HOCKEY »PAGE 5

TODAY IN HISTORY

1976

The Cincinnati Reds swept the New York Yankees to win their second-straight World Series. The ‘76 Reds remain the only team in MLB history to sweep an entire postseason.

’Hawks football seeks second straight win at Bowling Green FOOTBALL

tied for third in Mid-American Conference East Division.

“The nice thing is we’re 1-2 in the league and we’re one game out of first. The league is crazy as always.

OU and Akron are 2-1, us and Kent are 1-2,” Martin said.

Last weekend, redshirt sophomore Gus Ragland returned for the first time in six months following a debilitating knee injury. If he gets the start against BGSU, do not expect the knee to hold him back.

“We put together a nice drive before the half. Gus extended that drive with a fourth and five run that just barely got the first down,” Martin said.

BGSU head coach Mike Jinks’ squad enters this matchup led by redshirt freshman quarterback James Morgan, who is coming off of a five-touchdown, 335-yard performance in which he completed 25 of his 38 passes last weekend against Toledo.

COBURN GILLIES

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Following an 18-14 victory over Kent State University at home last Saturday, the Miami University football team looks for its second victory in as many weeks as it battles Bowling Green State University on the road Saturday.

The ‘Hawks notched their first win of the season against the Golden Flashes last Saturday and head coach Chuck Martin believes this bodes well for the confidence of his program.

“Confidence is what really helps because we’ve been in these games.

We’ve had two fourth quarter leads.

We’ve had three other games where in the fourth quarter you have a chance to make a play or two to win a game,” Martin said.

The RedHawks enter this game 1-6 overall, 1-2 in conference and

On a defense ranked 125 out of 128 in the country for total defense, Bowling Green sophomore defensive back Brandon Harris looks to reinvigorate the struggling unit, as he had nine tackles last weekend.

For the RedHawks, Ragland looks to build off of last weekend’s victory, when he threw 10 completions on 21 attempts for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, the ‘Hawks will look to sophomore linebacker Junior McMullen to lead the charge against the Falcons, as he finished with 10 tackles against Kent State.

“They go super fast. So you gotta get lined up and you’ve got to get your chest pieces in the right place very quickly,” Martin said.

Penalties had been an issue all season long for Miami, holding the RedHawks back during their sixgame losing streak to start the year.

FOOTBALL »PAGE 5

BRIANNA NIXON THE MIAMI STUDENT

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Noah Wezensky warms up before last week’s victory over Kent State. Wekensky has thrown for two touchdowns this season.

Volleyball defends 15-match win streak at home against Toledo, Ball St. VOLLEYBALL

KYLE STEINER

THE MIAMI STUDENT

ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT

Senior Paige Hill (14) and sophomore Stela Kukoc (4) defend against OU.

Haunted Harris

Special Dinner Wednesday, October 26, 2016 | 5–8

After back-to-back weekend road trips, the Miami University volleyball team is excited to head back home for a slate of weekend MidAmerican Conference matchups against the University of Toledo and Ball State University.

“The phrase ‘home sweet home’ never sounded so good!” head coach Carolyn Condit said. “After holding off a very tenacious Eastern Michigan squad and proving ourselves as road warriors through two of our longest MAC road trips, we

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look forward to coming home and performing for our fans this week.”

The RedHawks have not lost a game since September 2, as their win streak now stands at 15 games.

That is the third-best mark in school history, putting them three games shy of tying the school record set in 1980. The team has only lost seven sets over the course of its impressive run.

The weekend double header begins 7 p.m. Friday against the instate Rockets. UT stands at 12-8 overall with a 5-3 MAC record after winning consecutive home games last weekend.

Junior outside hitter Saige

Thomas has been critical for the Rockets’ offense, leading the team with 234 kills on the season. Miami also has to watch out for junior middle hitter Rachel Vidourek, who leads all UT players with a .312 attacking percentage. Freshman middle hitter Zoe Birnbrich poses a defensive threat to the ’Hawks, as she is averaging 0.98 blocks per set.

MU then plays at home again 5 p.m. Saturday against the Cardinals. Ball State (8-14 overall, 4-4) currently sits in the middle of the MAC West Division standings. The Cardinals have been 8-5 since dropVOLLEYBALL »PAGE 5