The Miami Student | March 27, 2018

ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018

Volume 146 No. 22

Miami University — Oxford, Ohio

GALE AND MURTAGH TO COMPETE IN RUNOFF ELECTION STUDENT GOV

ANDREW TILBE STAFF WRITER

Juniors James Gale and Meaghan Murtagh have advanced to next week’s runoff election in Miami’s Associated Student Government (ASG) race for Student Body President.

The third presidential candidate in the race, Junior Alex Boster, will not advance to the runoff.

Voting for the runoff election will take place on the Hub on April 2 and 3.

Gale is joined by vice presidential candidate junior Courtney Rose.

Murtagh’s vice presidential candidate is junior Vincent Smith.

Boster was joined by junior Charles Kennick.

All Miami students were able to vote in the primary election on the Hub from 7 a.m. Monday March 12 to 7 p.m. Tuesday March 13. Over 3,000 students voted. Results were announced at the ASG senate meeting at about 7:30 p.m. the evening of March 13.

Gale is an economics and urban and regional planning major. Gale’s related experience includes being vice president of Theta Chi fraternity, serving as an off-campus Senator in ASG and being a member of Mock Trial.

Gale’s vice president is high school English education major Courtney Rose. Rose serves as the Secretary for Diversity and Inclusion in ASG and is the President of the Diversity Affairs Council (DAC).

“I think going into the election, I felt that all three tickets were very qualified for the position. That definitely hasn’t changed going into the runoff,” said Gale. “I respect Meaghan and Vince a lot, and I think it’s going to be a very fun and exciting

ARMED WITH A MEGAPHONE, SENIOR DAVAUGHN GOLDEN RALLIES DEMONSTRATORS TO FIGHT FOR A MORE DIVERSE MIAMI. JUGAL JAIN PHOTO EDITOR

Students speak out against racism at Miami ACTIVISM

AUDREY DAVIS DUARD HEADLEY

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Sparked by an incident that occurred on social media over spring break, nearly 70 students showed up in force at Armstrong Student Center Monday afternoon to protest racist attitudes and promote diversity at Miami.

Last semester, Thomas Wright, a sophomore, used a racial slur in a group message, referring to black students at Miami.

Over spring break, Wright jokingly referenced the incident in a Tinder conversation with another Miami student. Both events came to light after screenshots of Wright’s comments were circulated on social media.

Students gathered around tables littered with markers and blank posters, while others watched from the balcony above.

A few protesters carried their handmade signs, bearing slogans like, “Smash

White Supremacy,” “Action Not Apologies” and “We Pay to Be Disrespected.”

Students took turns speaking through a megaphone. They addressed everyone from their fellow demonstrators, to the onlookers gazing down from the balcony, to Miami’s administration.

The students expressed their opinions through a number of chants. The cafeteria echoed with calls of “Whose space? Our Space!” and “Do black lives matter? Yes!” When a Miami University Police Department (MUPD) officer showed up shortly after the event began, senior Davaughn Golden turned the megaphone toward him and asked, “Why do you show up here at a peaceful protest, but when Thomas Wright speaks up, you’re nowhere?”

Another source of student protesters’ frustration was the disconnect between what the university claims to care about and what they feel it does. Speakers accused the administration of caring “not for black lives, but only for black checks.”

At one point during the protest, while the crowd listened to Golden address the

bystanders in the balcony, an uproar rippled through the crowd. One of the onlookers had posted a snap on Miami’s local snap story that featured the amassed protesters, captioned “who let the zoo out?”

As the crowd shouted in anger at the culprit (who couldn’t quite put his phone away quick enough), his female companion shoved him but smiled as she hid her head behind her hands. The male student shrugged, smirked and walked away.

From that point on, the protesters turned the intended insult into a rallying cry.

“You know what happens when a lion gets let out of the zoo?” junior De’Vante Montgomery said into the megaphone.

“He roars! And we’re about to roar too!”

Under the username @picassocantdraw, Golden tweeted screenshots of both of Wright’s conversations on his account on March 23, which is how the majority of the protesters initially became aware of the incident.

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Miami University awards Congressman John Lewis the first Freedom Summer of ‘64 award

Officials report decline in GBD activities

AWARD GBD

SAMANTHA BRUNN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

AUDREY DAVIS

MANAGING EDITOR

WASHINGTON—Around 100 Miami students, alumni and administrators milled about in room 2203 of the Rayburn House Office Building last Monday, March 19. Chatter filled the space as camera crews stationed themselves in front of an empty podium. Suddenly, the room fell silent as all eyes turned to the door.

“I didn’t think he’d actually show up,” someone whispered among the crowd of students circled around the podium.

Legendary civil rights icon and United States congressman John Lewis entered the room silently. As he raised his eyes to meet the ranks of students, the room burst into applause.

CONGRESSMAN AND ACTIVIST JOHN LEWIS ACCEPTS FREEDOM SUMMER AWARD. PHOTO BY JEFF SABO / MIAMI UNIVERSITY

“... Dr. King and Rosa Parks and others inspired me to get into trouble.”

-John Lewis People have not always been so appreciative of Lewis’ work.

Throughout his tenure as a civil rights activist, Lewis was met with adversity. He was one of the original 13 Freedom Riders, and was arrested over 40 times for his involvement in civil rights marches

Travel

and protests.

As the chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1963-1966, Lewis helped organize the March on Washington and the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer voter registration campaign across the South.

He also helped lead the march from Selma to Montgomery on May 7, 1965, where he was beaten by Alabama state troopers and suffered a fractured skull.

Lewis was elected to Congress in 1987, where he still serves as the Representative for Georgia’s 5th district.

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NEWS P.2

CONFLICT OVER SLUR REIGNITED A screenshot tweeted out over break sparked outrage and protest.

Eight-hundred of Lewis’ fellow student activists trained for the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer on Miami’s own former Western College for Women Campus.

Three of those students were murdered while registering voters.

The lives of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner are commemorated by a stone monument residing on Western Campus.

With the toes of his signature cowboy boots tapping incessantly on the floor,

Miami University students celebrated Green Beer Day (GBD) this year, just as they have for over 65 years. Students were decked out in and consuming all things green on March 15 from sunrise to sunset. But, compared to last year, the festivities were tame.

From 12 a.m. on March 15 to 7 a.m. on March 16, the Oxford Police Department (OPD) cited 63 total offenses compared to 81 during last year’s Green Beer Day. Similarly, Oxford Fire Department (OFD) saw a drop in emergency calls.

Out of the 13 calls to OFD this year, only three were alcohol related, compared to 17 alcohol-related calls out of 32 total in 2017, wrote OFD Chief John Detherage in an email to The Miami Student.

One student was arrested for an OVI around 8 a.m. by the Ohio State Highway Patrol who help patrol Oxford on GBD. Overall, OPD Chief John Jones said it was a fairly mild day.

“I think — I hope — it means that the Green Beer Day tradition is dying,” Jones said. “We always increase our staff and always prepare for the worst, but especially in the mornings, it seems to have died down.”

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CULTURE P.4

EDITORIAL P. 12

LILLY & ME: CAUGHT IN THE SNOW

CITATIONS, EMS RUNS DOWN ON GBD

Lilly runs into some trouble on her first camping trip.

Is Miami’s drinking culture actually changing? We hope so.

SPORTS P.14

HEAR FROM COACH JACK OWENS Rookie head coach leads men’s basketball to coffee-fueled success.

2 NEWS

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018

TALAWANDA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS HOLD WALKOUT IN PROTEST OF PARKLAND VIOLENCE ACTIVISM

CÉILÍ DOYLE NEWS EDITOR

“Why does this matter?”

The question reverberated around the courtyard next to the football field behind Talawanda High School. Over a hundred teenagers and a smattering of teachers and administrators stood in silence.

Despite it being mid-March, the cold wind whipped around the mass of students huddled outside from 10 a.m. to 10:17 a.m. on Wednesday, March 14, to honor the 17 lives taken during the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida last month.

Sophomore Ella Cope repeated her question.

“Why does this matter?”

It matters, Cope said, because all of the students gathered in the courtyard had all sat in a classroom at one point and let their minds wander, wondering if today might be the day it happens at their own school.

“Because although we tell ourselves it could never happen here, there’s nothing stopping it from happening,” she said.

Cope was instrumental in organizing Wednesday’s walkout, but

her message was also championed by seniors Maddy Abowitz, Mazvita Ngorosha and Amily ZhouWang, who read aloud the names and stories of some of the students killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

One 14-year old freshman, Alyssa Alhadeff, played the best soccer game of her life the day before she died, the students read. Another, senior Peter Wang, was posthumously admitted to West Point after helping his fellow classmates escape from the gunman.

“It’s important to remember their names and stories and just remember they [were] people and students — like all of us are,” Abowitz said.

The demographics of Talawanda are split.

There’s a bit of a cultural divide at the high school between the students whose families work for Miami and those who are employed elsewhere, Abowitz said.

The turnout for the walkout surprised Cope and her fellow organizers.

“We didn’t know how many people would show up,” Cope said. “[But] thank you for doing something rather than remaining complicit.”

Talawanda’s principal, Tom York, stood off to the side of the rally. He nodded his head as his students spoke.

RACIST SLUR GROUPME CONTROVERSY RESURFACES ON TINDER RACISM

CÉILÍ DOYLE JACK EVANS

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Since Friday, March 23, a screenshot of Tinder messages between sophomore Thomas Wright and an unknown female circulated among Miami’s social media community.

The screenshot shows Wright boasting about an article written in The Student that chronicled the community backlash following his use of a racial slur in a GroupMe message last November.

Senior Davaughn Golden came across the Tinder message last Wednesday, March 21, and after two days of sitting and stirring, he decided to take action by tweeting to the Miami community.

“I was disappointed because I genuinely believed he was sorry [after the first incident],” Golden said. “I tried to move on and say, ‘Let’s just move past it,’ but then I got upset because the university says there’s ‘nothing we can do,’ and I don’t believe they’re using all of their resources available.”

Golden explained that his response was just one of many posts encouraging the use of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to draw awareness about Wright’s behavior.

Many students, especially those from the African-American community, are frustrated with a university and administration that they believe isn’t doing enough to stop this from happening.

On Friday, Miami responded by tweeting out from the @MiamiOH_Student account that “people who spread hate do not speak for @MiamiUniversity,” and that, while the university values free speech, they “stand with those who call out intolerance.”

“He has expressed views that are objectionable and inconsistent with our values,” dean of students Mike Curme said. “We seek to create a welcoming community for all and reject intolerance, hate and bigotry.”

Wright spoke to the Student from a written statement: “This incident has been very trying, it has consumed a lot of my time trying to defend myself and prove who I am instead of the picture that has been painted. I am not the person who is full of hate.”

Following a protest Monday in the Armstrong Student Center that was spurred by Wright’s Tinder exchange, four black students involved in organizing the demonstration sat down with the Student. They voiced their concerns about diversity and the inclusion of minority students at Miami.

“This happens every year, every year. We’ve been here long enough. We’re juniors and seniors,” junior Aleah Holley said. “We come, we play your political game, we meet with alumni, we’re friendly.”

Holley and other members of the black community believe that the administration uses their minority students only when it’s convenient for them.

So, what should the administration be doing?

“One, before we can even answer that — what is that question based on?” Golden asked. “Is that understanding that there’s a problem and you’re asking us what we think, [or is it asking members of] the administration?”

Overall, Curme appreciated students’ responses to this latest incident.

“I believe [it] is much more reflective of the overall sentiments of the Miami University community.” doyleca3@miamioh.edu evansjm4@miamioh.edu

“I’ve been working in education for the last 39 years,” York said.

“Back when I was at Edgewood [High School in Trenton, OH] during the nineties it wasn’t unusual to see kids driving pickup trucks with rifles in the back on a gun rack.”

“Columbine changed everything,” he added.

Throughout the last 40 years, York has noticed how much students and administrators’ worries and fears while going about their daily lives at school have changed.

“Of all the constituents in schools, kids have the least amount of voice,” York said.

So, when three students approached York in his office to ask about showing support for the victims and survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school a few days after the Parkland shootings, he encouraged them.

“It’s important for them to be able to express themselves,” York said.

As the rally was about to close, Cope thanked her fellow students for participating and standing in solidarity.

“We are tired of living in fear,” Cope shouted to the crowd. “We are your peers. We see you. We hear you, and we have your back.” doyleca3@miamioh.edu

TALAWANDA HIGH STUDENTS GATHER OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL TO REMEMBER THE PARKLAND VICTIMS. DANIELLE NEHRING THE MIAMI STUDENT

Oxford residents host vigil for victims of Parkland shootings ACTIVISM

ERIN GLYNN

THE MIAMI STUDENT

On Wednesday morning, over 1,000 miles away from Parkland, Florida, roughly 50 Oxford residents and Miami students gathered in Uptown Park for a vigil to mark the losses of 17 students killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last month.

The vigil was co-sponsored by the League of Wom-

en Voters of Oxford and the Oxford Citizens for Peace and Justice.

The crowd, most of whom were Oxford residents, gathered on the curb near Uptown Park in the below-freezing weather. Participants greeted each other and aimed their signs towards the passing cars.

Conversation petered out as an organizer announced it was 10 a.m. The bell tower chimed and the group fell silent for 17 minutes, one min-

ute for each life lost.

Some bowed their heads, others looked defiantly out into the street. The silence was disturbed only by Oxford traffic and the occasional sniffle.

Signs with the words “Stand With Students Against Gun Violence” and other messages of resistance were waved.

The silence was broken at precisely 10:17 a.m., when the protesters began to chant “Enough!” Afterward, or-

ganizers made their way through the crowd.

They handed out postcards to send to congressmen, urging lawmakers to “do their jobs and ban assault weapons now.”

They also distributed contact information for the coordinators of various Butler County political activist groups, local and state campaigns. glynnee@miamioh.edu

Miami University awards Congressman John Lewis the first Freedom Summer of ‘64 award CONTINUED FROM FRONT

university President Gregory Crawford stepped to the podium to present Miami’s first Freedom Summer of ‘64 award to Congressman Lewis.

“We are here today to celebrate our past and our commitment to the future,” Crawford said. “[The students who trained at the Western College for Women] were young and idealistic, ready to put themselves in harm’s way in order to fight the scourge of racism in the American South. One of those students was John Lewis … He knew the dangers ahead. And, from that day forward, he has never backed down from those challenges.”

Lewis nodded his head slightly, standing to the side of the podium. Crawford’s toe-tapping slowed as he went on to describe Lewis’ embodiment of those students who graced Western

College for Women’s campus in the summer of 1964.

“Today we honor that determination to stand up, not to stand by, to elevate the lives of others by our words and actions no matter what the cost,” Crawford said, welcoming Lewis to the podium and embracing him as photos were snapped around the room.

“I don’t know what to say, other than thank you,” Lewis said.

Lewis described growing up in Troy, Alabama, where he preached to the chickens in his backyard, some of whom listened “better than some of my friends in Congress,” Lewis said with a smile.

“But Dr. King and Rosa Parks and others inspired me to get in trouble,” Lewis said. “Good trouble. Necessary trouble. And I’ve been getting in trouble ever since.”

“Amen,” a few people in the crowd concurred.

FROM L TO R: JOURNALIST WIL HAYGOOD, CONGRESSMAN JOHN LEWIS, MIAMI PRESIDENT GREGORY CRAWFORD. PHOTO BY JEFF SABO/MIAMI UNIVERSITY

Lewis called on young people and women, especially, to take the next generation forward.

“Students have always played a major role,” Lewis said. “Without students being involved, the civil rights movement wouldn’t have succeeded.”

When young people are criticized for their involvement in protest, Lewis said

he encourages them to persevere, for only they can initiate real change.

“Let’s save a little piece of this real estate we call Earth.

Leave it a little cleaner, a little greener, and little more peaceful for a generation yet unborn,” he said. “That is our calling. That must be our mission.” brunnsj@miamioh.edu @samantha_brunn

w EVENTS THIS WEEK w

Events to catch this week on Miami’s campus and in Oxford

Oxford String Quartet Oxford Community Arts Center Thursday, 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Take a trip to Brazil while listening to the Oxford String Quartet play music from three different generations of Brazilian music at the Oxford Community Arts Center this Thursday evening. Brazilian graduate student Ricardo Palmezano will play percussion and strings. The performance is dedicated to four Brazilian cities: Brasília, Ouro Preto, Ribeirão Preto and Rio de Janeiro.

Myaamiaki Conference MAP Comedy Series ft.

Marcum Conference Center Jen Kober Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Looking for something to do in between classes on Friday? Register for the 8th Biennial Myaamiakia Conference, put on by the Myaamia Center and learn about the tribe. Early on, join Timothy McCoy from the Smithsonian Institute to learn about the Mound Builders, an ancient native population, by using beads made from meteorites.

In the afternoon, spend some time with tribe students Haley and Kara Strass to hear what it’s like to be a part of the Miami Heritage Award Program.

Armstrong Student Center, Wilks Theatre, Friday, 9 p.m.

Jen Kober, a native Louisianian, is known for her honest material and penchant for musical interludes.

MAP has brought the comedian to Miami this Friday, so recover from your first week back from Spring break with some laughs from Kober, who combines stand-up, storytelling and “rock n’ roll comedy” to entertain audiences across the country.

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

3 NEWS

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018

STUDENTS “MARCH FOR OUR LIVES” IN D.C. Hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets of the nation’s capital to protest gun laws in light of Parkland shootings ACTIVISM

SAMANTHA BRUNN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

WASHINGTON — Actions may speak louder than words, but silence can be deafening, whether it’s the silence of the Republican Party on gun control or the silence of somewhere between 500,000 and 800,000 people in the streets of the nation’s capital.

Emma González, Marjory Stoneman Douglas student and one of the faces of the March for Our Lives movement in the wake of the Parkland shooting, spent six minutes and 20 seconds on stage, mostly in silence, on Saturday afternoon in front of a sea of protesters.

González occupied the stage for the same amount of time it took the shooter to claim 17 students’ lives on Wednesday, Feb. 14.

A timer beeped and echoed across the expanse of signs held high, which bore the words “Never again.”

“Fight for your lives before it’s someone else’s job,” González said, leaving the stage as tears streamed down her face.

It was easy to lose count of how many students came up to the stage to share their stories of how gun violence has impacted their lives.

One boy talked about losing his brother to gun violence. A girl recounted a time when she was held at gunpoint at the grocery store.

Naomi, an 11-year-old girl from Alexandria, Virginia, commanded the stage with her speech on the importance of remembering those who are disproportionately the victims of gun violence in this country.

“I am here to acknowledge and represent the African-American girls whose stories don’t make the front page of every national newspaper, whose stories don’t lead on the evening news,” she said.

Samantha Fuentes, another Marjory Stoneman Douglas student who was wounded in the shooting, led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to Nicholas Dworet, one of the students who was shot and killed in front of her.

Nicholas’ 18th birthday would have been on the day of the march.

WASHINGTON, D.C. WAS THE CENTER OF THE MARCH FOR OUR LIVES DEMONSTRATIONS HELD ACROSS THE COUNTRY MARCH 24.

CONTRIBUTED BY SAMANTHA BRUNN

Fuentes was overcome by nerves and vomited behind the lectern on stage before quickly recovering and continuing her speech.

“I just threw up on international television, and it feels great!” Fuentes said.

“Our mission is simple, and our visions are unbeatable. Let’s keep the guns out of the hands of the wrong people and keep them in the hands of the safe and the reasonable.

So, either you can join us or be on the side of history who prioritized their guns over the lives of others.”

Between each speaker or musical performer, the crowd broke out into chants of “Vote them out!” “Enough is enough!” or “Hey, hey, ho, ho, the NRA has got to go!” with smatterings of laughter and applause after each round completed.

Bagged lunches were handed out to the thousands of young students in attendance, many of them carrying their own homemade signs: “My dress code is stricter than our gun

laws.”

“Magazines are for reading.”

“Thoughts and prayers don’t do shit.”

A bright orange price tag hanging from the podium fluttered in the breeze. The price? A dollar and five cents.

“When you take 3,140,167 — the number of students enrolled in Florida schools — and divide by $3,303,355 — the amount of money Marco Rubio has received from the National Rifle Association, it comes out to a dollar and five cents,” Sarah Chadwick, a Marjory Stoneman Douglas student, said. “Is that all we’re worth to these politicians? A dollar and five cents? Was $17.85 all it cost you that day, Mr. Rubio? Well, I say, one life is worth more than all the guns in America.”

Despite the fact that she read the numbers out of order — the NRA dollars are divided by the number of students to amount to one dollar and five cents — there was no confusion about Chadwick’s point.

Many students wore the price tags. Oth-

ers wore targets that read, “Will I be next?”

Martin Luther King Jr.’s granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King, told the crowd about her own dream of “a gun-free world.”

“Spread the word!” King said, leading the audience in a chant. “Have you heard?

All across the nation. We are going to be a great generation.”

Previous generations have failed to end gun violence in this country. But it seems clear today’s generation students are ready to take on the challenge.

Kids could be heard singing along to Lin Manuel Miranda and Ben Platt’s song “Found/Tonight,” written for the march, as it reverberated through the streets.

“And when our children tell their story, they’ll tell the story of tonight — no matter what they tell you — tomorrow there’ll be more of us telling the story of tonight.” brunnsj@miamioh.edu @samantha_brunn

Family, friends mourn death of sophomore Mark Hyams

SOPHOMORE MARK HYAMS DIED UNEXPECTEDLY MARCH 8.

PHOTO FROM SPRING GROVE CEMETERY

MEGAN ZAHNEIS MAGAZINE EDITOR

For Chad Horton and his freshman-year group of friends, Room 321 of Dodds Hall was the designated hangout spot.

Third floor, two doors down from the center flight of stairs, facing onto Maple Street. That was where Mark Hyams lived.

“Everyone would always go to Mark’s room, because he was such a nice host,” Chad said.

“That dude, he loved to share.

“You couldn’t walk into his room without him offering you something. ‘Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat? A drink?’ If you were cold, he’d take the jacket off his back to give to you.”

Mark, a sophomore psychology major, died suddenly on March 8. He would do much more for a friend than offer up a snack.

He’d wake up in the middle of the night for his freshman-year roommate and close friend, Alex Perez, who battled frequent anxiety and insomnia.

“If I woke up in the middle of the night, he would wake up too, even though he had class at like 8 in the morning,” Alex said. “He’d wake up too and make sure I was OK.” Mark would try to make his friends laugh — and usually, he’d succeed. Chad remembers him as a “goofball” who was ever-willing to poke fun at himself.

Mark’s Dodds Hall neighbor, Mike Hill, laughs when he thinks of his first meeting with Mark.

The two met on move-in day, and later that night, Mark wanted to invite his new neighbor to get dinner.

But there was one problem — Mark had forgotten to get Mike’s cell-phone number. So he looked Mike and his roommate up in Miami’s online student directory and sent them an email asking if they wanted to eat together.

Chad remembers that Mark liked to make latenight runs to nearby MacCracken Market, just before the store closed, and buy a round of snacks. That was always good for a laugh.

“We would just be sitting around, hanging out, and Mark would just leave all of a sudden and he’d come back, he’d have a lollipop for you and a bag of chips for someone else,” Chad said. “He was always giving gifts and being funny. He would buy the most random things for people.”

Often, in Mark’s room, the friends played video games — Mark was an Overwatch fan — but even though Mark was hosting, he rarely picked up a controller himself. He was more content to watch his friends play and chat with them.

Most of all, though, Mark would listen.

“He would pretty much drop everything, look you in the eye, and give you feedback on the situation,” Mike said.

Whether it was comforting Alex over a low test grade or coaching Mike through relationship issues, Mark listened.

That was what Alex, Mike and Chad told Mark’s mother, Joan Schmitz, at Mark’s visitation on March 11.

Joan wasn’t surprised. Mark, she said, had been like that since he was a boy.

“He’d come home from school and tell you who was there, who wasn’t there, who got in trouble, who did this, who did that,” she said. “He sincerely listened to people. I’m hearing over and over again … that he always was thinking of other people, that he was so kind, that he was always taking care of somebody.”

That compassion, Joan said, showed in how Mark spent his time outside of school. As a student at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Mark volunteered every week at the Bethany House, a shelter for women and children. He traveled to Guatemala on a mission trip with classmates, and started his Miami career by participating in the Community DIVE (Diverse Immersion & Volunteer Experience) program through the Office of Community Engagement & Service.

When going through Mark’s possessions, Joan and her husband, Guy Schmitz, found a business card for Butler County Big Brothers Big Sisters in Mark’s wallet. Joan and Guy later found out that Mark had recently approached county officials about becoming a Big Brother.

“What I remember most about Mark is that, honestly, he cared,” Alex said.

Joan said that that was just like Mark’s father, Alan Hyams, who died of cancer when Mark was 3 years old. Father and son shared an introverted, caring nature that Joan thought sparked Mark’s interest in psychology.

But as of late, Mark had been developing his own

sense of self.

“Where he was at college, he was becoming less shy and was able to show more of his true personality that had been latent — even from me — for so long because he was such a quiet, kind of reserved kid,” Joan said.

At the time he died, Joan was just starting to feel her son was finding his footing. He’d told her several times how much he liked his friends. He was trying out a computer science class this semester and contemplating adding a computer science minor, if he liked it. He had just worked his first shift as a bouncer at Brick Street.

Then, Joan said, “he ran out of time.”

Chad got the call from Alex, Mark’s roommate, on a Thursday morning around 8 a.m. “‘Something terrible happened. Mark’s passed away,’” Alex told him.

“No one really knew how to put those words together,” Chad said.

While a toxicology report is forthcoming, police told Joan that Mark, a Type 1 diabetic for over 12 years, had likely died of a diabetic episode.

Mark had lived 20 years, one month and one day.

“I’ve known since he was 2 years old that he was an old soul,” Joan said, “and I think that old souls don’t need a lot of time on earth. I think that Mark did what

“If you were cold, he’d take the jacket off his back to give to you.” he needed to do, and it was his time.”

Joan treasures an essay Mark wrote during his senior year of high school, after a childhood friend died in a car accident. The friend’s parents hosted a scholarship contest in their son’s memory. Mark entered, writing a “letter to my future self” about the lessons his friend had taught him.

“Life is too precious to stay to [your]self, so strive to always spread kindness and empathy towards others,” Mark wrote in his letter. “I hope that one day, wherever you are, you stop to reflect on which relationships you choose to start and which ones you may have passed. I hope that you come to realize the importance of everyone in your life, before the clock runs out of time.”

Mike Hill knows that he, for one, already has.

“Every day, I think about Mark,” Mike said, “and I think it’s going to be that way for a while.”

Mark Hyams died March 8 in Oxford. Memorial services were held in West Chester, Ohio, on March 11. In lieu of flowers, Mark’s family requested donations be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. zahneime@miamioh.edu

4 CULTURE

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018

RIGAZIKM@MIAMIOH.EDU

Lilly and Me: A snowstorm in Shenandoah LILLY & ME

DEVON SHUMAN EDITOR-AT-LARGE

The most disappointing aspect of my spring break backpacking trip was not that it got cut short.

It wasn’t the winter storm that hit the east coast with more bluster and fury than expected, leaving us with a thick layer of ice on our tent and a backcountry trail erased by a fresh coat of snow. It wasn’t that we were forced to bail and, to get back to our car, had to embark on a frosty six-mile trudge along the frozen tundra that once was Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive. It wasn’t the embarrassing call to the National Park Emergency Service to inform them that we had been stranded in the park and needed the code to the exit gate in order to get out. It wasn’t even the fact that what was planned as a four-day, 31-mile introductory trek for Lilly ended up sending us back to Miami on Tuesday night, leaving us cooped up in an eerily empty Oxford for the remainder of the week.

No, the worst part of my spring break was that — despite never having taken her on a hike longer than five miles before, despite buying her her own backpack and forcing her to haul her own weight up and down mountains, despite being an experienced backpacker myself for more years than she’s been on the planet — I still got my ass kicked by my dog out on that trail.

As I’ve touched on in my previous columns, Lilly is — to put it lightly — an exasperating well of endless energy. I’ve tried everything I can think of to try and tire her out. I’ve taken her on arduous hikes along Oxford’s trails, let her off the leash so she can zoom through the trees to her heart’s content, allowed her to chase other pups at the dog park for hours, made her sit through an afternoon marathon of “The Big Bang Theory” on TBS — but even though those things all exhaust me, nothing will seem to put her to sleep.

Granted, once she’s inside, Lilly’s able to neglect her perpetual zoomies and curl up on the couch. But as long as she’s out in the fresh air, the wind whipping her floppy ears around, it doesn’t matter how long she’s already been at it — she’s always nose to the ground, pulling her leash taut, dragging me to whatever destination is next on her itinerary.

Which is partly why I was so excited for this spring break.

Ever since I first thought about adopting a dog, part of the appeal was the prospect of a loyal hiking companion. Having grown up exploring the forested mountain country

DEVON SHUMAN THE MIAMI STUDENT

of northern New England, I’ve always felt at home in the woods. I get my best rest when I’m snuggled in a sleeping bag on the uneven floor of a tent, the howl of the winds and distant hooting of owls lulling me to sleep.

Whenever I’m feeling lost amid the chaotic schedule of college life, I crave the simplicity of the trail, when the only items on the to-do list are to wake up, brew some instant coffee, break down camp and start hiking again.

The only thing that could make that all bet-

ter, in my opinion, was a furry friend to walk alongside me.

I knew Lilly would love camping as much as I do. The fact that it was going to tire her out was only an added bonus. Backpacking is not just walking; it’s grueling work. Lugging heavy packs over uneven terrain eight hours a day makes one want to collapse the moment they reach camp. Thinking of all the times Lilly had maniacally continued to tug on the leash after two-hour jaunts along Ox-

ford’s trails, I developed a borderline sadistic joy imagining how much this trek would sap her energy, how much the trail would finally make her little muscles ache and force her to sleep when we stopped for the day. I might have even cackled like a Bond villain when I ordered her a doggy backpack so she could carry her own weight.

When we reached camp at the end of the first day, a 10-mile haul that brought us up and over the highest point in the park, I helped Lilly take her backpack off, unclipped her from her leash … and proceeded to watch, slack-jawed, as she took off and started sprinting in broad circles, becoming a blur of black fur whizzing around our spot for the night. I, the experienced outdoorsman I think I am, was itching to get my sleeping pad out and rest for a moment. Lilly, the newbie, was ready for 10 more miles.

Twelve hours later, we woke to the clickclick-clack of hail hitting the frozen sides of our tent. It wasn’t completely unexpected, but following the previous day of clear skies and 50-degree weather, waking up amidst a winter storm of this magnitude was surprising to say the least. My roommate punched the inside of the tent, causing a crack and thud as a sheet of the ice that had been glued to the fly broke off and hit the frozen ground.

As the two of us shivered and slipped into our damp socks inside the tent while miserably discussing our options moving forward, Lilly squeezed under the fly so she could roll around in the newfound winter wonderland outside. I realized that, this being her first trip, she probably had no idea this wasn’t part of the schedule. She was loving and appreciating every moment of the blizzard as if this was simply what a camping trip looks like. One day of sun and warmth, one day stranded in the park fighting sub-zero temperatures. She had no idea that this weather was going to force us to embark for home early.

And even if she did, I don’t think she would have let that ruin the fun.

So no, getting the trip cut short didn’t ruin it, as you might be thinking. If anything, it made it more exhilarating. Why embark on an adventure if you’re not going to embrace every curveball mother nature throws your way? I’m glad Lilly was there to experience it, and I’m glad she had so much fun amidst what others might have seen as a misfortune. I’m glad that she enjoys backpacking as much as I do.

I’m just mad she was so much better at it than me. shumandb@miamioh.edu

Jake Davis: Going wherever the road takes him PEOPLE

MAYA FENTER

THE MIAMI STUDENT

A mom, dad and daughter slide into the backseat of Jake Davis’s silver Infiniti, parked in the small circular drive in front of MIA Uptown. Their bag of leftovers fills the sedan with the smell of Italian food.

“Hey guys, how’s your night going?” Jake asks.

He asks this of all of his passengers when they first get in. He does it to be polite and to make conversation, but also to gauge whether or not they’re up for socializing. Some passengers like to talk, others are just trying to get from one place to the next.

The family starts laughing.

“Oh, you know,” the mother begins, “we had a nice dinner, had a trip to the emergency room…”

“Wait, what?” Jake asks.

Before dinner, their son tried drinking from a broken bottle, a stunt that landed him in the emergency room to get stitches.

“And he’s still going out tonight,” the mother added.

“He’s a hockey player,” the father said, chuckling. “He’ll be fine.”

Jake dropped them off at the Hampton Inn and said goodnight.

But for Jake, the night is just beginning. *** It’s a Saturday night. Jake has an open can of Mountain Dew resting in his cup holder — a small dose of caffeine for the long hours ahead of him.

He begins driving at 5 or 6 p.m. every day.

On weekday nights, he’ll stop around 10 or 11 p.m., when students have finished their evening trips to Walmart and Kroger.

But on the weekends, it’s possible to be out until 4 a.m.

It’s 45 degrees outside according to the thermometer inside Jake’s car, but his passengers say it feels much colder. Even though March has just begun, there’s a chill in the air from the last traces of winter.

Jake can’t complain, though. The colder the weather, the less inclined people are to walk and the more people call for an Uber.

He’s been driving for just over an hour. In that time, he’s picked up about a dozen passengers.

A mom and her daughter from the Comfort Inn to MIA. The mom was visiting from Chi-

cago for Delta Gamma’s mom’s weekend.

A father to pick up his son from his house, and then both of them back to Buffalo Wild Wings. Both of them are from Oklahoma and members of the Myaamia tribe.

A student from Level 27 Apartments to No. 5 for dinner. He’s originally from China, but he and Jake share a love for Boston.

A guy and girl from New Bar to Richard Hall. It was hard to tell if they had known each other before or if they just met that night in a drunken encounter.

front of his dorm room in Emerson Hall. His RA found him and claimed that he couldn’t wake him up.

Jake woke up to a police officer asking if he was okay. He received a violation for underage drinking and was suspended.

That summer, he was arrested several times for underage drinking. The judge gave Jake a choice: He could either go to jail for 60 days or go to a court-ordered rehab facility in Florida.

“I was like, ‘Is that a choice? I’m going to

He doesn’t know if he will ever achieve that goal — he knows how unrealistic it sounds — but it gives him something to work toward.

A girl in a flowy, pale pink blouse and dark jeans. She was carrying a red reusable shopping bag full of bottles that clinked together when she shifted her weight in the backseat.

The map of Mile Square on Jake’s phone is highlighted in red. This marks the surge zone, an area where it’s busier than normal and the demand for Uber drivers is greater than the supply.

He’ll get paid double the normal rate, sometimes more.

Most nights, driving an Uber pays around $17 per hour. On weekend nights, he gets paid up to $30 per hour.

His day job, on the other hand, hasn’t paid him in two months.

During the day, he works as a salesperson for Aflac, selling insurance to businesses door-to-door. He only gets paid in commission — 40 percent for each person’s premium. The unpredictability of his pay is as frustrating as it is inconvenient.

He got the job after he graduated from Miami’s Hamilton campus in the spring of 2017 with a degree in small business management.

At 27 years old, Jake is older than most recent college graduates.

On the first night of his freshman year in the fall of 2009, he passed out drunk in

Florida,’” Jake said.

He spent 65 days in rehab before moving to a halfway house. He stayed in Florida for two more years to work at Wyndham, a resort chain, before moving back to Ohio in 2011 because he wasn’t satisfied with what he was doing. He didn’t feel like he was progressing at all.

He picked up various construction jobs and other temporary gigs, and went back to Miami for a few semesters to earn his Associate’s Degree in Psychology.

In 2013, he applied to the Professional Golf Association Apprentice Program to pursue some type of career in golf. To become a part of the program, he had to pass a golf player ability test. Jake had played golf through his teenage years and spent the summer practicing. You don’t have to be a pro, but you have to be good.

Jake was working at the Oxford Country Club when he passed the player ability test in 2015. With this new official apprentice status, he began looking for promotions within the country club and related jobs elsewhere, but every position required a bachelor’s degree. *** Jake began driving for Uber in mid-February. For the most part, it’s easy — all he real-

ly has to do is drive and talk to people, two things he enjoys doing.

Still, there have been some bumps in the road.

In the busy streets of Uptown Oxford, it can be hard to tell who is a waiting passenger and who is loitering.

“Uber?” Jake calls out his rolled-down window at passersby. They’ll give him confused stares before shaking their heads. When it’s dark out, it’s especially hard to tell who his passenger is supposed to be.

He’s gotten stopped by the police twice.

Once, outside of New Bar, he pulled into a spot for taxis only to pick up a passenger. A police officer tapped on Jake’s window and gave him a $25 parking ticket.

The other time, Jake was driving passengers around Hamilton when his car was mistakenly identified as a stolen vehicle. The officer made Jake get out of his car and sit in the back of the police cruiser. *** After a long night of driving, Jake cleans out the back seat of his car. Pretzel crumbs.

Loose sequins. A push pin. He’s especially confused about how that got there.

“I don’t know who was doing arts and crafts in my car,” he said with a chuckle.

To top it all off, he found some vomit caked onto the outside of one of his back doors. He suspects it was one of the girls in a group of six that squeezed into his sedan. *** Jake has lived in Oxford for nearly his entire life.

Well into his 20s, he thought he’d have moved elsewhere by now — a bigger city, back to Florida or at least Cincinnati.

Oxford is small. Too small for his big dream.

Jake’s wants to build golf courses one day.

He calls it his “Everest Goal.” A goal that at first sounds like an impossible feat, but seems more attainable when you list out the steps it will take to get there.

He doesn’t know if he will ever achieve that goal — he knows how unrealistic it sounds — but it gives him something to work towards.

“You think you’re going to do something, and then something happens and you’re in the opposite direction, and then before you know it, it’s five years later and you’re doing completely different things.” fentermc@miamioh.edu

MITCHE49@MIAMIOH.EDU

CULTURE 5

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018

Faculty to discuss religious beliefs in week-long event RELIGION

DUARD HEADLEY STAFF WRITER

They both stand in front of an amassed congregation, trying their best to impart what they believe to be vital information into the minds of people whose levels of interest in what they’re saying vary greatly. There seems to be more than a few similarities between preachers and professors.

One key difference, however, is that while religious figures may freely speak their minds to their congregations, professors must leave their opinions at the doors of their classrooms for the sake of objectivity and to satisfy university policy.

But, although university faculty must check their personal beliefs while they teach, those beliefs and opinions are just as vital to who they are as the beliefs of any non-faculty.

With this in mind, several Miami professors are seeking to create a space where they may engage in open conversation with students and other faculty about their personal beliefs, specifically regarding Christianity.

The result of their efforts is the upcoming week long event aptly named “Faculty Who Believe.”

Over the course of several days, various Miami professors will hold discussions about how their religious beliefs shape them, not as professors, but as people with

lives outside of the classroom.

The discussions will be held from 12-12:45 p.m. on March 26-29 in Armstrong 1066 (with the exception of Monday’s talk, which was in Armstrong 2080), and a gathering will be held to celebrate Good Friday on March 30 at the Sesquicentennial Chapel across from Armstrong.

Topics will range from the specifics of Christianity to why people convert, to a general panel that will be open for questions.

Speakers include Tim Cameron, professor and chair of mechanical and manufacturing engineering at Miami, Elizabeth Troy, an entrepreneurship instructor, and Bryan Smucker, associate professor of statistics.

Dennis Dudley, faculty adviser to Miami’s InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and organizer of the event, said that he wanted to give faculty an outlet to express themselves.

“Sometimes in academia, Christianity is viewed very negatively,” Dudley said. “People sometimes think that faith disqualifies you as an academic. We want to change that perspective and show people that people of faith are often those who strive to learn the most.”

The faculty set to speak at the event come from a variety of backgrounds and specialize in an array of subjects, from engineering to education.

“We’re really trying to humanize professors and show people that outside of the classroom,

they have lives and motivations,” said Bryan Smucker, Associate Professor of Statistics at Miami. “That they’re complex too.”

Smucker is slated to speak on Thursday as part of the event.

According to Dudley, “Faculty Who Believe” is the most cooperative event regarding Christianity that Miami has ever seen.

Alongside the independent groups of religious faculty who came together to organize the event, “Faculty Who Believe” is also being sponsored by several more formal organizations.

These sponsors include Oxford-based Bridge Church, Miami’s Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Cru, Faith and Fitness, and the Oxford branch of the Navigators.

Through this cooperation, the faculty participating hope to open a conversation with their fellow Miamians and challenge the perceptions of what it means to be a religious faculty member.

“There are several things we hope to achieve,” said Tim Cameron, Professor and Chair of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at Miami. “We do want to show people that through our beliefs, there is hope for this world. Hope, joy and peace.

But we also want to challenge stereotypes ... A truthful representation of Christianity is most important.”

The goal of “Faculty Who Believe” is to break down the walls between professors and students, and enable all who are in-

BETH TROY WILL SPEAK AT WEDNESDAY’S “FACULTY WHO BELIEVE” EVENT DUARD HEADLEY THE MIAMI STUDENT

terested to engage in a conversation free from the constraints of the classroom.

headledd@miamioh.edu

SEX IN COLLEGE: ‘A BIG FUCKING DEAL’

ILLUSTRATION: CONNOR WELLS

RELATIONSHIPS

KIRBY DAVIS

MANAGING EDITOR

Even at the height of the #MeToo movement this past winter, it was difficult to talk about ambiguously consensual sex — the kind that’s technically consensual, but doesn’t totally feel that way.

It’s sex you have with someone because you’ve been hanging out with them for a while, not because you’re ready. Sex you feel like you should want to have, but don’t. Sex you have anyway, because staying, or saying yes, is easy. Leaving, or saying no, is harder.

“I just went along with it,” one of my friends said of the first, and only, time she hooked up with a guy she’d been hanging out with last semester. “It wasn’t that I felt violated, or that I was being forced to do something . . . it just felt like it would be such a big fucking deal for me to be like, ‘no.’”

They met the week before finals last semester. For a month afterward, they hung out on the weekends and did “everything but” sex. She’d pretend to be asleep or make an excuse to leave before he could suggest it.

One night, though, six weeks after they’d started hanging out, he wanted to have sex. She didn’t, but worried that he was getting frustrated with waiting. And since they’d been hanging out for so long,

shouldn’t she want to by now?

She waited until he fell asleep afterward and crept out of his room around 4 a.m. She trekked from his frat house to her best friend’s couch and slept. She never heard from him again.

I can do it, she had told herself that night. I can be the girl who has casual sex.

But she couldn’t — not without feeling the encroaching sting of Catholic guilt.

More than that, though, she was disgusted that she’d hooked up with him because she’d felt like she should, not because she really wanted to.

“It was almost like an expectation at that point,” she said. “He expected that that’s what we were gonna do, ‘cause we had almost done it a couple times and I just didn’t want to ... it’s not like if I would’ve said no he would’ve forced me or anything, but it’s just like, that’s what we were gonna do.”

Two stories centered on ambiguous consent blew up last semester, and were met with such widespread vitriol that #MeToo spurned and treated them like uninvited guests at a “Real Housewives” dinner party.

One, the New Yorker’s fictional “Cat Person,” culminates in sex that the 20-year-old female protagonist realizes she wants no part of but doesn’t stop or leave right away.

The other, published by babe.net, de-

tails a real young woman’s date with actor and comedian Aziz Ansari. At his apartment after dinner, he pushes her into various sexual acts while she does everything from implying she doesn’t want to, to straight-up saying “no.” But she doesn’t leave right away, either.

Because these women don’t remove themselves the moment they become uncomfortable, many felt it was unfair of them to question the sexual encounters’ consensual nature. These stories had no place in the #MeToo movement, they argued, because it is meant to shed light on criminal, unambiguously wrong behavior.

But even though there was nothing physically preventing these women from leaving, that doesn’t mean there was nothing in their way.

“People now consider being in a relationship more serious than having sex,” one of my other friends told me, when I asked what she thought was different about the way we date now versus the way our parents did in the 1980s and 1990s.

The umbrella term “hookup culture,” favored by media outlets when describing millennial relationships, tends to imply that everyone is hooking up with one another all the time.

That’s not true.

What has changed, though, is, like my friend said, our collective attitude toward sex. Not only do we, generally, not take it

as seriously as the generation before us, but it’s become an expectation because of how casual we’ve made it. To say “yes” is to adhere to that expectation. To say “no” is to create conflict that can feel unnecessary, and isn’t always taken well.

Once I went home with a guy, and after he’d led me to his house and his room and up onto his bunk bed, I sobered up and realized I didn’t actually want to be there. I told him one of my friends was texting me about some emergency Uptown, so I needed to go meet her immediately (alone).

But when I was halfway back Uptown, I realized he was jogging to catch up with me on the opposite side of the street. He followed my friends and I into a bar, after I met them outside, and finally left when I explained, numerous times, that I would rather stay with my friends than go home with him (again).

The word “no,” today, or anything like it, isn’t taken literally in sexual situations.

It’s not even taken seriously. Usually, you need an excuse — you’re on your period, you don’t do casual sex, you pulled a muscle in your vagina earlier and can’t, etc. And even those, however ridiculous, don’t always work.

The problem is not just the fact that saying “yes” is easier now. It’s that saying “no” isn’t always enough. daviskn3@miamioh.edu

Travel

6

SHUMANDB@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018

Experiencing ‘Dead Season’ in Northern Michigan

PHOTO BY JACK EVANS

EMILY WILLIAMS

a first edition of Edna Ferber’s 1924 novel “So Big” or a fantastically bizarre version If you look up Good Old Books online, of “Winnie the Pooh” translated entirely you’ll find that the Leland, Michigan, into Latin or the couple’s mint-condition used and rare bookstore is only open from collection of the “Rivers of America” semid-May to mid-October. But if, on a cold ries.

If you’re really getting along, she might winter afternoon, you walk up to a grayeven reach into her desk to find a tiny blue, bi-level home with an “OLD, RARE green volume of Edgar Allan Poe’s poems.

BOOKS” sign posted in the yard, you’ll If she does, then she’ll tell you to come find a note signed by George and Mary closer, tipping the book so you can see Ball. the pages’ edges which, at first, seem to be “We live here,” the handwritten note will say. The rest of the message will pro- stained. But, with a knowing smile, Mary vide you with a phone number and an in- will slightly spread the pages to reveal an vitation: Call and, if someone is home, the impossibly intricate fore-edge painting of books are yours to browse. a city skyline.

There might not be a better time, really, You’ll spend far too much money on to be welcomed into the Balls’ basement. good, old books.

Mary will apologize, because she’ll still be There won’t be any other customers in preparing for the warm tourism months, the store during your visit because Leland re-alphabetizing the fiction wall and sort- — along with every other small coastal ing through the haphazardly piled stacks town in northern Michigan — is “Ethan crowding the nook where books about Frome” Starkfield-level quiet, at least ungardening, the state of Michigan and “Hot til early April.

Countries” are shelved.

In Glen Arbor, another nearby coastMary won’t mind when you take two al town, the town’s population swells to hours to painstakingly look at the spine of about 5,000 every summer. But, as temevery volume you can get your hands on, peratures drop and the stream of tourists and she’ll listen patiently as you gush over dries up, just about 900 stalwarts are left EDITOR-AT-LARGE

to stick out the winter months together.

It’s the kind of time when shops that promise warm-weather tourists old fashioned candies and kitschy signs are locked up with craft paper covering their windows and hand-drawn signs posted on their doors that say, “Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentine’s Day, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Closed for the season, reopening April 6.”

Local restaurants — the few which remain open — entice locals to venture out from their heated homes by offering buyone-get-one-free burger nights or halfprice burritos.

Resort complexes sit empty, except for utility vehicles passing through to finish the road-repairing, renovating and deep-cleaning necessary to prepare for the tourists who will trickle back in as temperatures peek into the 60s and the snow finally melts.

By 11 p.m., the local taverns sit nearly empty, except for a cook, one waiter, a bartender and a few locals asking for another round.

It’s dead season in northern Michigan.

The 33-degree temperatures, limited

Setting sights on Boston (again) KIRBY DAVIS

Stepping into Anne Frank’s home KELLY BURNS

MANAGING EDITOR

The first time I visited Boston, I was dead-set on attending Northeastern University, and the universe seemed to be telling me this was a good idea. It was August, a balmy 80 degrees, and my assigned tour guide was, objectively, the hottest one (I say “objectively” because our group somehow ended up three times as big as everyone else’s, and entirely female).

I told my dad after the school tour, strolling down sunny, perfectly manicured Newbury Street, that I wanted to move there right away and never leave.

“That’s great,” he said, “But please realize it’s not always going to be like this.”

He pointed out that once November hit and the city froze over, it wouldn’t be much different from New York, Chicago or even Cleveland. It would be a blistery, miserable — albeit intellectual and history-seeped — hellscape just like our hometown in northeastern Ohio.

Obviously, I didn’t choose to attend Northeastern (I changed my mind after meeting with my current advisor last spring — he and the Dwight Schrute bobblehead in his office sold me on Miami). But last week, three years after initially visiting, I was back in Boston — this time for a grad school tour.

As my dad promised, it

dining options and boarded-up shops are a small price to pay, though, for the quiet.

The North and South Manitou Islands — which, according to legend, were two bear cubs that the Great Spirit Manitou immortalized as landforms — are, quite literally, hibernating. Ferries won’t stir the water on the islands’ coastlines until May. Local homages to history feel suspended in time rather than commodified for family activities. The lighthouses that dot the coast close their doors, in their disuse becoming even more the vestiges of the past that they are.

The coastline sounds quiet, feels quiet, looks quiet, even — like someone has taken a mallet to the edge of Lake Michigan, breaking the water’s edge into frozen shards before backing away slowly to let the pieces leisurely melt away.

Nothing moves too quickly. Some things don’t move at all.

Perhaps most importantly, though, there’s no one — except for Mary, of course — to interrupt you on a winter afternoon as you browse through shelves and shelves of good, old books. willi501@miamioh.edu

THE MIAMI STUDENT

PHOTO BY KIRBY DAVIS

was freezing. But, besides the temperature, it was still pretty much exactly how I remembered it: smaller and cleaner than New York, older and prettier than Chicago.

When I visited Boston three years ago, I did my best not to love it too much, because I didn’t know if I’d be able to move there the following summer. I had to do the same thing last week, because I have no idea whether I’ll be accepted to grad school there or not.

“It’s going to be so nice to have this as your quad!” my mom squealed, gesturing to Boston Common after we finished our tour. I reminded her then (and several more times that afternoon) that there’s only about a onethird chance that will be the case.

I’m also actively trying not to romanticize the city too much, because if someone told me things like this

about Cleveland, I’d scoff.

But Cleveland is hard to love, even after suburb-hopping south of it for 21 years. It’s easy to love Boston, especially if you’re only visiting for three days at a time.

I should also note that I’d downloaded Tinder the day before arriving in Boston, to see which of my high school classmates were still single (terrifyingly few of them, for the record). I kept it for a few days, to browse Boston’s young-ish male population which was, as expected, impeccable.

I did match and start a conversation with someone in their second year at Harvard Medical School, so if this is the last column of mine you see in the paper, it’s because I’ve dropped out and gone to live with him in Brookline. daviskn3@miamioh.edu

Step. Wait. Step. Wait.

Each footstep is careful, deliberate. I roll my foot down slowly, so the floor won’t creak. No noise.

Not a sound.

The people around me crowd the small space, flowing like a river through the hiding place of Anne Frank. It’s quiet and reflective, though not as somber as I had anticipated.

There are no furniture, replicas or display cases on the ground. But there are pictures on the walls — portraits of the Franks, van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer, and pictures of what each room looked like before everything was thrown out.

And there are still cut-out pages plastered on the walls — magazine articles and personal photos that Anne put up in an effort to make the annex feel more like home. For a moment, I wonder how they’ve lasted this long. Then I remember that it’s only been 56 years since the Franks went into hiding. The glue is barely older than my parents.

The pictured furniture looks modern, like a normal house. And I catch a thought as it zips through my head.

“It wouldn’t be so bad to live here.”

It’s more crowded now than it was back then. The rooms are wellkept and quaint. Then I’m hit with a wall of guilt. No. No it wouldn’t be nice to live here, to have to stay still during the day, not talking, not even breathing too loudly. For years.

I stand there, trying not to step too heavily, to not let the old wooden floor creak.

Now, all that would happen is a noise. It would fade out quickly and no one would even notice it. But back then, not even a full lifetime ago, the moment after the creak of the wood would have been filled with panic. Sheer, blinding, overpowering fear.

That footfall could undo everything. Every precisely thought-out regulation, every day of absolute silence. Everything.

We walk through this house, if we’re lucky enough to be here in person. Or we read Anne’s diary, or anything about war and life in the past. And we think we’re so much better. We could do it. We could survive like the Franks. Or maybe it’s just me.

But once that cloak of guilt settles over me, I see the room through a new lens. The walls seem closer.

The room is not even the size of my bedroom in Oxford, and it served as a kitchen and bedroom for two people.

There were three families living in this tiny space. They couldn’t run water during the day. They couldn’t go outside. So it makes Anne’s optimism for her situation, and for humanity as a whole, that much more admirable. We can read her diary and think, “What an amazing girl,” but when you see where she wrote it, it’s on another level. Even after years in this dim and dingy annex, she was still whole.

And I know I couldn’t do it. I would break.

I take another step, finally reaching the exit of the Franks’ hiding place and home. When my foot falls, the wood creaks. burnskl2@miamioh.edu

SHUMANDB@MIAMIOH.EDU

7

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018

Christianity and conversations on the beach MADDIE TOOLE

THE MIAMI STUDENT

I debated back and forth for a couple of weeks about my spring break plans, but I eventually decided that being beachside was more favorable than snowed in.

So, I traveled to Panama City Beach for a week of sunshine.

But I am neither a drinker nor a heavy partier. When I heard that Cru was taking a group of students to PCB for a conference, I knew that this trip down south with 23 other Miami Christians would provide some G-rated fun.

Rather than lying on the beach all week, we devoted our entire break to spreading our beliefs to other spring breakers.

Big Break is a conference put on by Cru, and Miami’s branch takes a group every year. Hundreds of college students from across the nation travel to PCB for a week to share their beliefs about God, Christianity and the Bible with spring breakers on the beach.

I had no idea what to expect out of this experience and knew only a few people who were going. So, when I traveled to Panama City Beach with a car full of mostly strangers, I was more than a little nervous.

But my anxiety sprang from more than reservations of the unknown. I knew I was going to step out of my comfort zone every day during this trip.

Each day, we trekked to a different location to spread our beliefs. We approached random strangers walking on the beach, families eating ice cream at the mall and high school and college students spending their week lounging in the sun.

I am not typically a person who would march up to a stranger and strike up a conversation.

Even worse, starting a spiritual conversation is a bit trickier than complimenting someone’s swimsuit or commenting on the weather.

PHOTO BY JOHN RICE

On the second day of mission work, I was with two of my friends, approaching people at the mall and beginning to talk to them about their faith. We decided to chat with an elderly couple.

The husband was wearing an Air Force hat and sitting in a wheelchair while his wife sat across from him on a bench.

Initially, we asked the couple how they viewed their lives now.

With some thought, they both decided that they were happy, but tired. Next, we asked what they thought would make the world a better place.

The man, in a voice barely above a whisper, said, “More religion. And more people like you girls.”

We all learned a lot about different types of people and their views on spirituality, religion and God. While a few people were closed off, the majority appreciated our efforts to make conversation and were open to hearing our ideas.

No, this was not a typical

spring break. We gave up an entire week of relaxation to reconnect with God. No booze, no drugs and no sex. One might ask, how could that be fun? It was fun — good, clean fun; Cru-style, with daily ice cream runs, worship on the beach and late-night testimonials.

Good travel is marked by its company. My entourage was the coolest group of people ever. I traveled with an aspiring photographer, “the man of many rejections” and a girl with an unmatchable sweet tooth. But one thing remained the same among us all — we genuinely love our God. I have never experienced a sense of community as strong as I did on this trip. We shared our most personal thoughts and experiences with each other and bonded over our spiritual journeys. Our personal relationships in Christ grew through prayer, worship and outreach, but we also grew in our relationships with each other.

The last two nights of the convention, a man named Roger Hershey spoke to everyone in the ballroom about continuing mission work within our college campuses and throughout the world. His personal connection to Miami made his message even stronger to the Redhawks in the crowd. He worked for Miami Cru for 17 years, ministering and leading college students in their spiritual journeys. He explained that Miami University has been one of the best universities in the country for sending students into ministry.

Our work is not done. We have big shoes to fill and more places to go. I feel called to reach more people, travel to new destinations and utilize the ministering skills I developed throughout this trip. Mission work is crucial to any belief system, and I believe we have just dipped our feet in the water — now we are ready to dive in. toolemb@miamioh.edu

Older and Wiser in Washington, D.C.

“PERFECT LOVERS” BY FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES. PHOTO BY ERIN GLYNN

ERIN GLYNN STAFF WRITER

I walk up the escalator into the center of the National Mall and sigh.

Washington, D.C., has been my favorite city since I was nine.

The clean limestone of the monuments and government buildings has always felt comforting.

It seems so orderly, so commanding, and it showcases the very best of American intentions.

On my first trip, when I was in fourth grade, I thought nothing could be more perfect than this city. Ten years later, I’m back for a conference over spring break and I notice both new parts of the District to appreciate and its undeniable flaws.

At nine, I was in awe of the massive government buildings and never dared to imagine myself working inside. Now, all my time studying at Miami is spent in pursuit of that. I study global

politics and East Asian language and culture, a decision that was probably shaped by my trip to D.C. long before college and certainly shaped my reasons for visiting now.

Washington is a city striving to impress. And I am easily impressed.

I love the diversity of the tourists and residents. I hear German as I pass the map of the monuments and Mandarin bubbling up from the entrance of the metro. I love to walk along Embassy Row and see the various flags and quirks of each of the buildings.

I had grown a little weary of the classic Smithsonian stops like the Air and Space museum, so this time, after a quick walk around the National Mall, I head toward the Freer and Sackler galleries, which feature Asian and Middle Eastern art. Sackler offers an exhibit titled “Encoun-

tering the Buddha” in which you can immerse yourself in a room filled with Tibetan artifacts and the heavy sounds of chanting monks. It’s intimidating and spiritual and exactly what I need, but not something I would have appreciated properly before. It’s hard for a fourth grader to get excited about dark, inanimate artifacts, but now, after studying East Asian culture and art history, the meaning resonates with me.

Afterward, I make my way to the Folger Shakespeare Library, which houses gorgeous collections of the works of the Bard, as well as paintings and esoteric knickknacks from the era. It’s a little isolated and, in fact, is completely empty when I walk in. The employees are extremely passionate and friendly, however, and one woman insists on taking me on a solo tour.

I see stained glass windows featuring the most famous characters from the works of Shakespeare but nothing to label them, so I have to guess who they are.

I see a bracelet that contains a lock of hair from a famous Elizabethan actor.

Then the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The Hirshhorn groups pieces from their collection thematically rather than chronologically. I see art from the 80s protesting AIDS and capitalism alongside pop art from the 60s. I stumble upon “Perfect Lovers” by Felix Gonzalez-Torres and try not to cry.

Unlike on my previous trip, this time I notice the homelessness in the District and the signs of gentrification. I walk out past the Capitol building and the manicured lawns of the Smithsonian museums and find tents pitched in parks. There are people shivering on curbs outside the State Department. The feeling of righteousness and order I had always associated with D.C. seems more like a facade for tourists now. Washington, perhaps obviously, suffers from the same issues that plague the rest of America’s cities.

I end my visit with a late-night walk along “the wall.” The Vietnam Memorial is breathtaking and provokes reflection, quite literally.

I wonder who I’ll be the next time I’m in the city. glynnee@miamioh.edu

PHOTO BY ERIN GLYNN

8 FYI

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Education Day USA to be celebrated in Oxford MADDIE TOOLE

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

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G M Akand Sabik Heather McCowan Justin Maschmeyer Kat Holleran Macy Whitaker Colleen Grimm Danielle Nehring Matthew Heckert

Every year the President of the United States proclaims a day in spring to be dedicated to the importance of education, known as Education Day USA, and Oxford will participate for the first time this year.

Education Day USA is a holiday that sparks the age-old conversation about separation of church and state. After campaigning by members of Chabad, Oxford City Council proclaimed March 27 as Education Day USA for 2018.

Education Day USA is the only nationally proclaimed holiday that follows the Hebrew calendar.

The Hebrew calendar follows the moon phases and determines the dates of all Jewish holidays, meaning that Education Day USA falls on a different calendar date each year.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter gifted the day to Rabbi Schneerson for his 75th birthday. Among the Jewish community, Rabbi Schneerson is revered as one of the most influential rabbis of the last century, especially in the realm of education.

The holiday is devoted to recognizing the importance of education in the lives of citizens. Rabbi Schneerson was constantly advocating for improvement of education. He started an educational program for senior citizens in retirement homes and worked towards establishing a program for incarcerated people.

Rabbi Yossi Greenberg, a member of Chabad at Miami, promotes Education Day USA and its principles.

“The Rabbi always said that there should be no wasting time in this life,” Rabbi Greenberg said.

“You are given life, you must learn.”

Rabbi Schneerson campaigned for a moment of silence at the beginning of each school day in which

students could choose to think about whatever they wanted, instead of introducing prayer into public school systems. Rabbi Greenberg believes that this moment of silence would be beneficial to child development.

“We all know that we live in a country where there is an absolute separation of church and state, which is very important,” Rabbi Greenberg said. “However, we pulled back on prayer and we left a void in children’s minds.”

Freshman Hailey Kingsbury, a Speech Pathology and Audiology major with a minor in Comparative Religion, believes that moments of silence are a very important ritual.

“My high school had a moment of silence each morning before the pledge of allegiance was recited, and it was a practice I really valued,” Kingsbury said.

In regards to how students spent their moment of silence, Kingsbury said, “It is up to the individual to decide how they wish to use their time.”

City Council member Edna Southard proposes that the separation of church and state is crucial to the way our society functions.

“I deeply believe in a separation of church and state,” Southard said. “Nevertheless, we can all learn from each other, and religion has a place in teaching us values.”

Southard also hopes that proclaiming Education Day USA will cause the community to focus more intently on education. The purpose of the holiday is to bring attention to Oxford’s school systems and encourage citizens to become more involved in the education of the community’s youth.

“Education is not about a one-time thing,” Southard said. “It’s ongoing all your life and it opens people’s minds. I hope that that’s what the meaning of this day is.” toolemb@miamioh.edu

Videography Staff Emily Brustoski Jack Barteck

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

Baseball takes first MAC series over EMU CHRIS VINEL STAFF WRITER

The Miami baseball team (13-7, 2-1 MAC) kicked off conference play with a series win at Eastern Michigan (6-15, 1-2 MAC) this weekend. The RedHawks took the first two games before dropping the series finale.

The series marked the first time the ‘Hawks won their opening MAC series since 2015.

Continuing Miami’s recent trend of dramatic endings, Friday’s series opener wasn’t lacking flair as the RedHawks tied the game in the ninth inning before winning 4-3 in the 11th.

The Eagles threatened early, scoring one run after loading the bases with only one out in the bottom of the third.

Miami’s sophomore starter, Spencer Mraz, struggled with his command and lasted just 1.1 innings. He faced eight batters and allowed four of them to reach base (one hit, three walks).

Senior shortstop Adrian Carlos Texidor knotted the game at one with an RBI single in the top of the third.

Eastern Michigan retook the lead two innings later, when a two-run single made it 3-1.

The score remained 3-1 until the top of the ninth when Redshirt sophomore left fielder Kyle Winkler ripped a tworun single up the middle to tie the game at three and send the game to extra innings.

In the top of the 11th, junior outfielder Dallas Hall scored on a sacrifice bunt to give Miami its first lead of the contest.

Junior reliever Andy Almquist pitched a scoreless bottom half of the eleventh to put a bow on a 4-3 Miami win.

Junior Shane Smith (W, 1-1) tossed two scoreless innings in relief to earn his first win of the

season.

Game Two was scoreless through its first three innings before an RBI single by Redshirt senior first baseman Ross Haffey put Miami up 1-0 in the top of the fourth.

The RedHawks extended their lead an inning later on a two-run double by Winkler.

Eastern Michigan finally cracked the scoreboard on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth, making it 3-1.

Almquist came on in the ninth and slammed the door on the Eagles, earning his second save in as many days and securing a 3-1 MU victory and the MAC series win.

Junior Zach Spears (W, 2-2) earned the win after pitching seven shutout innings.

The Eagles struck first in the series finale, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Neither run was the result of a hit, with the scoring plays being a hit-by-pitch and a walk, respectively.

The Eagles tacked on two more runs an inning later to push their lead to four. The first run scored on an RBI double, while the second was the product of an RBI single.

That was all the scoring this game produced, as Eastern Michigan blanked the RedHawks and claimed a 4-0 shutout win to close the series.

Junior starter Bailey Martin (L, 1-3) was handed the loss, after allowing all four of the Eagles’ runs in his 3.2 innings of work.

Miami heads to Lexington Tuesday to take on the Kentucky Wildcats (17-7, 2-4 SEC).

The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch and will be broadcast on ESPN3. vinelca@miamioh.edu @ChrisAVinel

Kiefer Sherwood goes pro, senior ‘Hawks leave Miami

JUNIOR FORWARD KIEFER SHERWOOD CELEBRATES A GOAL AT THE ‘STEVE’ COACH CADY ARENA EARLIER THIS SEASON. SHERWOOD NOW PLAYS PROFESSIONALLY IN THE AHL. ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT

FROM NHL -- PAGE 14

the Monsters — it was his first professional goal off only his second shot of the night.

“I have goals and ambitions for myself,” Sherwood said. “I’m moving to make them more of a reality, and will continue working hard.”

The only other RedHawks who are no longer on campus are three former seniors -- defenseman and this season’s captain Louie Belpedio, defenseman Scott Dornbrock and forward and assistant captain Conor Lemirande are continuing their careers in the AHL. Belpedio, 22, signed an Am-

ateur Tryout Agreement (ATO) with the Iowa Wild, the AHL affiliate for the NHL’s Minnesota Wild. Belpedio was drafted 80th overall by Minnesota in 2014.

Belpedio’s sharp shot and play-making ability led him to post career-highs in goals (nine), assists (21) and points (30) this past season. His season ranks him fifth in Miami’s history for goals by a defenseman, eighth in scoring and ninth in assists.

Dornbrock, 24, also signed an ATO with the San Antonio Rampage, the AHL affiliate for the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.

The Rampage will welcome Dornbrock as a dependable blue-liner and positive presence

on and off the ice.

Lemirande, 24, signed a standard professional contract with the South Carolina Stingrays.

The Stingrays are part of the ECHL, a minor league below the AHL, and are affiliated with the NHL’s Washington Capitals. Though not a high-scoring forward, at 6’6” Lemirande was a dependable forward for the RedHawks and likely will be as a professional.

Keep checking miamistudent.net to stay up to date with all of Miami hockey’s post-season news. simansec@miamioh.edu @emilysimanskis

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ASG ELECTIONS UPDATE

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runoff.”

Murtagh is a marketing major in the Farmer School of Business. Previously a District 1 Senator, Murtagh currently serves as the Secretary for Advancement and Alumni Affairs in ASG. Murtagh’s vice president is Vincent Smith, a kinesiology major. While Smith has not previously served in ASG, his leadership experience includes being the Vice President of Academics and Parent Coordinator for his fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi. “No matter who wins the next one, we’re all friends, and it’s going to stay that way,” said Murtagh. “I’m excited for the next leg of the journey.”

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SUMMER @ SINCLAIR GET AHEAD. TAKE YOUR GEN ED CLASSES IN THE SUMMER! Make the most of your summer: take classes at Sinclair Community College. Check out available courses and ask your advisor how Sinclair courses can transfer back to Miami University. Take 4-week, 8-week or 12-week classes at one of our convenient locations or online.

LEARN MORE WWW.SINCLAIR.EDU/SUMMER Summer Registration Begins March 26 Visit www.sinclair.edu/dates for a complete list of all Summer 2018 term dates.

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JACK OWENS — FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACH, FIRST-TIME COFFEE DRINKER FROM PAGE 14

hour days in the first few weeks. This paid off when they snagged six recruits before the start of last season.

Once he had the players, Owens knew he needed to instill a winning culture at Miami — something the program had lacked during its seven-year postseason drought.

Owens demands a certain level of play each and every workout, practice and game, even though it might make his players less sociable than they might want to be.

“Just making a commitment to each other and taking a winning approach to each and every game is definitely something that [my staff and I] harp on everyday,” Owens said.

His staff has bought into his impressive work ethic.

Ryne Smith knows Owens better than most. He played under Owens at Purdue and was the first assistant coach Owens hired at Miami.

“His expectations are very high everyday,” Smith said. “He never takes a day off. He’s the hardest worker I’ve probably ever been around in terms of preparation and he wants to put [his

players] in the best position possible to be successful on and off the court.”

Owens’ preparation is constantly watching film. He not only rewatches game film, but records and analyzes practices as well. Even though he was only one week into the offseason, he broke down two games on film while flying back from a recruiting trip last Wednesday.

As recently as two weeks ago, Owens stayed up all night gameplanning before heading to Buies Creek, North Carolina to play Campbell in the College Basketball Invitational. The RedHawks lost in a 97-87 shootout, but Owens is proud of the direction his team is headed in.

Despite his success and workaholic tendencies, Owens doesn’t like to talk about himself. The words come easy for him when he’s talking about his team. When talking about himself, there’s a slight hesitation.

“I’m a reserved guy,” Owens said. “If we’re sitting in a room, I probably won’t say too many words to you.”

But Owens hasn’t needed to be outspoken. His team’s play speaks for itself.

Other coaches, including Missouri’s Cuonzo Martin and Owens’ mentor Matt Painter of Purdue, have called Owens to commend him on the program he’s building at Miami. Though, Owens’ personal favorite phone call came from former NBA and current Florida State head coach

Leonard Hamilton.

“It was cool to hear from

someone of [Hamilton’s] caliber — who I’ve met, but didn’t really know — reach out and say he took notice of what we’re doing here at Miami,” Owens said. “That was pretty cool.”

But Owens isn’t satisfied. He probably won’t ever be.

There’s always more basketball to be played and film to be watched, and that’s what he lives

for. The season has only been over for a week and a half, but Owens has spent most of his “offseason” the same way he’ll spent most of the next month and a half — recruiting and working to get Miami back to loftier heights. vinelca@miamioh.edu @ChrisAVinel

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“The Other Threat to Our Democracy”

Ira Shapiro

Author of Broken: Can the Senate Save Itself and the Country?

Tuesday, March 27 ■ 7 pm Armstrong Student Center, Room 3056A Miami University ■ Oxford, Ohio Reception will follow.

Ira Shapiro is the President of Ira Shapiro Global Strategies, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in international trade, U.S.-Japan relations, and American politics, which he founded in 2014. He brings to the firm 40 years of experience in senior staff positions in the U.S. Senate, the Clinton administration, and private law practice. He was integral in the negotiation of NAFTA and, with the rank of ambassador, took the lead in trade relations with Japan and Canada in the 1990’s.

He is the author of a new book for 2018, Broken: Can the Senate Save Itself and the Country? He also wrote the critically acclaimed book, The Last Great Senate: Courage and Statesmanship in Times of Crisis, published in 2012.

Eligibility Questions?

Email: canidonate@givingblood.org Bring a friend & save more lives!

MiamiOH.edu/politicalscience

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TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018

Can music continue our emotional education?

JACOB BRUGGEMAN THE MIAMI STUDENT

A few days before we left for break, Miami University’s Symphony Orchestra put on “The Two Titans,” a powerful concert presenting both Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan.” As I looked around me in Hall Auditorium during that concert, I saw hundreds concentrating on Beethoven’s abrupt harmonic shifts and Mahler’s magnificent symphonic form.

Not everyone was enraptured — in fact, I spotted several slumped heads sleeping through the heavenly performance.

But on the whole, the audience seemed alert to the shifts in the music, attentive to the impressive concentration of the many up on the stage and appreciative of the clear, sonorous sounds Miami’s Symphony Orchestra was producing.

In other words, the concert required engagement of its listeners. Listening to it, no matter one’s exposure to classical music (with the exception of those sleepyheads), was an experience of emotional and perhaps even technical education. Today, this kind of engagement with music is on the decline. It is prevented by “shuffle” functions and disregarded by many people as “time consuming.”

These observations got me wondering: In an age dominated by iTunes and Spotify, can one-at-a-time streamed songs suck in and enthrall listeners as deafening concerts, live symphonies and vinyl jam sessions once did? Can today’s most popular music move us to tears and point us to truths about human life?

Spoiler alert: the answer to both questions, of course, is yes. Yet undeniably,

modern music, the means with which it is listened and the extent to which it moves listeners are qualitatively different than they were in years past. Most important, I fear that listeners turn to music today only as a pastime, not as a path to greater understanding of oneself and humanity — a potential source of emotional education.

In “Love Actually,” the love-it-orhate-it rom-com classic, there’s a scene in which Joni Mitchell’s magnificent music guts you as a viewer. Come time to open Christmas presents, Karen (Emma Thompson) opens a present from Harry (Alan Rickman) and reveals a Joni Mitchell box set instead of a necklace purchased by Harry, confirming for Karen that he’s cheating. After opening it, Harry tells Karen, “To continue your emotional education.” Engaging with music in such a way allows for, as Beethoven said, it to be a “higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.”

This explicit engagement with music as a means for education, here dramatized in a fictitious affair, is in danger of disappearing.

Beethoven, Mahler and Joni Mitchell, however, are certainly not the only artists to entreat their patrons to an extended, through-the-ears sensual and emotional education. Many kinds of music demand deep thought post-jam deliberation from their listeners.

Making the drive from Cincinnati to Cleveland a few days into spring break, I listened to several old albums: Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” and “The Final Cut,” The Doors’ “L.A. Woman” and Led Zeppelin’s “Led Zeppelin VI,” among others. Listening to these albums, start

ILLUSTRATION: ARTHUR NEWBERRY

to finish and in order, cleared up certain themes and communicated them to me, the listener, in a way that can’t be done by picking one or two songs out of these albums and throwing them into loose playlists like “1980s Smash Hits.”

Newer artists, too, face this barrier to deep listening. Indeed, the Alabama Shakes, Childish Gambino/Donald Glover and Florence + the Machine — only a small selection of today’s top artists — tackle timeless topics like love and identity, yet their popularity ensures that

Students speak out against racism at Miami FROM FRONT

After the protest, Golden and juniors Aleah Holley and Imani Steele, who helped organize the demonstration, sat down with The Miami Student.

“The day Davaughn’s tweet was tweeted out, the only Miami University account that said something was the Office of Student Life,” Steele said. “I know President Crawford is seeing these tweets because we’re mentioning him, and it’s being retweeted and liked, and he’s tweeting about John Lewis and the Freedom Summer.”

Golden, Steele and Holley have all previously met with Miami administrators and invited them to speak on panels. They’ve also held forums and planned events around diversity training and intercultural education.

“Administration told us [Wright] was remorseful, and yet here we are,” Holley said.

“He’s using racism as edgy, as a pickup line, as his brand of who he is.”

Steele said they want a serious response from the administration that addresses racism at Miami. The others agreed.

The group listed a few demands they want the administration to address: a successful Climate Survey, better minority recruitment efforts and rehabilitation programs after racist incidents.

“These are the things we’ve asked for,” Golden said. “Now it’s time to hold them accountable.”

“People are like, ‘You know, Thomas isn’t what Miami is.’ Really?” Holley said. “Prove to me that’s not what Miami is.”

“I think a prime example of that is the student who put [“who let the zoo out”] on his

Snapchat,” Steele said. “And that was just someone who got caught.”

“These people in the middle who hear Thomas’ joke and know that’s wrong but don’t say nothin’ to Thomas, that’s where I want to affect,” Golden said.

Earlier in the day, Golden stood by the Seal and talked to tour groups walking by.

“And what did I have on? What Thomas Wright said [in the groupchat.]” Golden said, pointing to his white sweatshirt with the N-word handwritten in black Sharpie.

“Some of them might not come here now,” Golden said. “If 20 students don’t come here, so I can stop one Thomas Wright, I’ll take that chance.”

All three added they aren’t just protesting.

They’re also the ones who are doing behindthe-scenes work and helping to make Miami a more inclusive place.

“I think a lot of times we forget we’re customers here, receiving a service,” Holley said.

“Every time I wear Miami something, I am your brand and I’m a hell of a good one for you: black woman, young, from the city, went to D.C. and interned. Yes, Miami has a lot to offer us, but we got a lot to offer you.”

There’s a disconnect between having the Code of Love and Honor and actually implementing it, Holley said.

“Love. That’s beautiful, and maybe it’s meant to create a culture, but I’m not seeing it,” Holley said. “At this point, I feel like you don’t understand my dignity and my humanity.”

Golden took out his phone with photos of children in Cuba and Jamaica proudly displaying Miami shirts.

“I take Miami wherever I go,” Golden said.

“These are just random people I gave Miami shirts. This is what I do. I take the brand wherever I go, and now to have to attack the same brand might be tragic.”

Steele and Holley both said that organizing protests and dealing with everything is exhausting.

“And yet, how many hours do we devote to this campus, endlessly? I think, though, the thing about black women is we just keep on pushing,” Holley said. “I don’t have time to think about it. A lot of white allies say ‘Oh my gosh, this is so much. How do you guys do it?’ Baby girl, I do not have time for the tears.

I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. We gotta keep on pushing.”

At the same time, Holley added, it’s also energizing to be a part of protests.

“Everything we do comes from us needing to love each other,” Holley said. “I can guarantee you [the Office of Diversity Affairs] is gonna be a whole lotta different now. A whole lotta love.”

“We thrive off that energy,” Steele said.

“Just knowing that if the university don’t got us, we got us.”

“Every time,” Golden said. “That’s it right there. If the university don’t got us, we got us — historically, now and in the future. There’s nothing you can do to stop that.”

When talking about the timeline for more activism, Golden winked.

“It’ll be closer than you think. Change is coming.”

For more on the tweet that sparked the student response, turn to the bottom-left story on Page 2.

MU Hockey’s Brekke and Petraglia won’t return FROM HOCKEY — PAGE 14

top-10 five times during his tenure.

Brekke leaves Miami with 19 years of coaching experience.

Nick Petraglia leaves Miami with eight seasons of coaching experience after spending the past 14 years as part of the hockey program.

Petraglia graduated from Miami in 2004 after playing four years as the RedHawks’ goaltender under Blasi. Petraglia was a volunteer coach for three years before becoming the Director of Hockey Operations in 2007. Prior to the 2010-11 season, Petraglia was named assistant coach and began working with the ’Hawks offense, power play units and goaltenders. Petraglia also served as the co-recruiting coordinator, was the team’s academic liaison and worked with the program’s alumni board.

Petraglia has coached numerous goalies to break and set Miami hockey records, and coached several goaltenders into the national rankings.

Brekke and Petraglia were both a part of Miami hockey’s Frozen Four and NCAA National Championship game appearances during the 2008-09 season. Both coaches helped the program win the now defunct Central Collegiate Hockey Association conference championship in 2011 and 2013.

The coaching change announcement

HEAD COACH ENRICO BLASI TALKS TO HIS TEAM AT STEVE ‘COACH’ CADY ARENA EARLIER THIS SEASON. COACHES BREKKE AND PETRAGLIA ARE NOT PICTURED. ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT

comes after the RedHawks finished this season 12-20-5 with a 6-14-4 National Collegiate Hockey Conference record, good for last in the conference. The ’Hawks haven’t finished above .500 since the 2014-2015 season.

Brekke and Petraglia will pursue other opportunities and a national search to fill the coaching staff has already begun, according to a Miami Hockey media release.

Coach Blasi is signed through the 20222023 season, after signing a 10-year contract extension in 2013.

Keep checking miamistudent.net for updates and comments from the athletic department. simansec@miamioh.edu @emilysimanskis

particular songs will overshadow others.

(This, of course, is not a new phenomenon, but the record once ensured that listeners had to grapple with the unpopular or unrecognized songs in an album).

Furthermore, the modern music industry incentivizes the production of “smash hit” singles, many of which are divorced from deep themes and produced as money makers.

Medium aside, there’s a more important difference between today’s and yesterday’s.

OFFICIALS REPORT DECLINE IN GBD ACTIVITIES FROM FRONT

There were only nine this year compared to 33 in 2017. Seven of last year’s citations were handed out during an enforcement detail that happened two days before GBD. “It’s really reflective of the students’ behavior and the personable accountability that they have,” Jones said. “For the most part, in most situations we encountered yesterday, we were not met with belligerent students. Most people were cooperative — not everybody, but most people.”

Jones added that the intensity of any given GBD is weather dependent. This year, house parties started to ramp up around 2:00 p.m. as the sun came out, leading to 21 noise violations.

“We did start to see our officers be more proactive out there and addressing issues such as noise, litter and those types of violations,” Jones said.

Throughout the day, OPD stayed active on Twitter and other social media sites, updating followers on notable citations and other strange incidents. In one tweet, @OxfordOhioPD shared a photo of officers interacting with students outside a house party.

“They started blaring the COPS theme song on loud speaker as Officers were riding by. They wanted our attention, and they got it!...in the form of a civil citation for Noise Restrictions. Several Officers were out & about on bike patrol today,” read OPD’s caption.

Jones said the police department has intentionally worked to increase their social media presence in the last few years.

“We kind of took it to a new level this year for Green Beer Day,” he said. “It is challenging to stay up to do some of those things because the people who are posting those social media posts are also trying to work or trying to handle a party, but there’s more emphasis placed on it.”

Shortly after OPD’s house party citation tweet, they retweeted a photo from a group of party-goers, posing with Lieutenant Lara Fenning.

“Social media creates the more positive vibes so that when we do show up, maybe some of those students have heard about some of the things we’ve done,” Jones said. “We’re not there to make everybody miserable. As long as they’re cooperative with us, we’re generally friendly back.”

davisa10@miamioh.edu

A house ad?

Good grief, Charlie Brown.

12 OPINION

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018

DAVISKN3@MIAMIOH.EDU

Calmer GBD could indicate change in Miami drinking culture

The following reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.

We planned to run several Green Beer Day-related stories following the March 15 festivities.

We sent a reporter on a ride-along with the Oxford Police Department (OPD), preemptively requested police records for that day, as well as several previous Green Beer Days, talked to city officials and then waited for stories to present themselves. They didn’t.

Green Beer Day went on, but with

EMS calls down by half from last year, and underage alcohol violation arrests down by two-thirds (though the drop was somewhat inflated due to OPD’s special task force last year to catch those kinds of violations).

The holiday was still a headache for police, residents, the fire department and professors, of course, but the number of violations and emergency runs was notably lower.

And on a three-hour ride-along, around the time the bars opened at 5:30 a.m., our reporter observed nothing you couldn’t witness on a normal Friday or Saturday night in Oxford. OPD Chief John Jones told another reporter that the day was “fairly mild” in terms of crime, and that the tradition might even be “dying.”

So we scrapped our handful of Green Beer Day story ideas and consolidated them into one news feature. We realized Green Beer Day probably wouldn’t be an annual controversy without accompanying media coverage, and we hope that,

maybe, this year might be an indication that Miami’s drinking culture is actually changing.

The Miami community rallied for change in our collective drinking habits last year, following the alcohol-related death of an 18-year-old student just before spring semester began and a single weekend in February that saw 21 students hospitalized for alcohol-related complications. The Associated Student Government and the Residence Hall Association hosted a huge informational forum, and President Crawford addressed the student body.

Then last March, the OPD cracked down on Green Beer Day. They cited 33 underage alcohol violations, and passed out five citations for fake IDs. But the 24-hour party raged, and 17 alcohol- or drug-related emergency runs were made by the fire department. So, nothing really changed.

But real change takes time — more than a few weeks, or even months.

Green Beer Day is a tradition and a

part of student life for many Miamians.

There’s no reason people shouldn’t be able to celebrate it safely. Hopefully, eventually, no Miami student’s Green Beer Day will end with getting arrested, calling an ambulance for their friend or having one called for themselves.

The statistics and anecdotes (or lack thereof) that came out of this year’s Green Beer Day point toward the kind of cultural change that we all called for last year. People were, generally, more cooperative with police, engaged in less criminal behavior (statistically, at least) and professors recorded impressive attendance numbers considering the festivities Uptown.

It would be premature — and naïve — to assume this means Miami’s drinking culture is actually shifting. But, again, real change does not occur instantaneously, or even over the course of one or two semesters, and we hope this relatively uneventful Green Beer Day indicates that change is imminent.

The best way to support the anti-gun violence movement? Vote.

BEN FINFROCK

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Adults have failed us.

They have refused to take action to stop the killing of thousands. Their cowardice and failure to find solutions to America’s gun violence epidemic have placed us all in danger.

Now we, America’s youth, must fight to find a solution to save our lives.

Adults may say we are just children, acting out of fear and lack of information. They may say we don’t have any real power. But what they don’t understand is that this is our country, and while only some of us are already participating in elections, soon we will all be registered to vote. We cannot live with the fear that the schools we attend, the bars where we hang out and the movie theaters where we escape will become crime scenes.

That is why I chose to participate in the March for Our Lives in Columbus on Saturday. The only way we’ll find a solution to gun violence is if the youth of this country comes together and refuses to accept a future of fear

and violence.

Hundreds of people gathered downtown to show support for the students of Parkland and demand tougher gun laws.

I arrived on the cold streets of Columbus with my mom, and we carried our sign listing the names of some of the major mass shootings, such as Aurora, Newtown, Pulse Nightclub and Las Vegas. The back of our poster said, “Not One More!” People around us were unified in the message that we need to pass common sense gun laws to protect our lives and the lives of the next generation.

In the wake of the shooting at their high school, the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas decided to stand up and fight for public safety and common sense gun laws.

They organized school walkouts and a march on Washington because, as student and activist David Hogg told Good Morning America, “We are going to start a revolution.”

In the weeks following the shooting in Parkland, Florida, students, teachers and administrators across the country have organized school walkouts. The Women’s March

Youth EMPOWER group even planned a national school walkout on March 14, which lasted for 17 minutes in honor of each of the Parkland victims. Another walkout is currently being planned on Twitter through the hashtag #NationalSchoolWalkout. This walkout is calling for high school students to leave school on Friday, April 20 — the 19th anniversary of the Columbine shooting.

Everyone should support these walkouts, including college students. In fact, many universities, including Miami, are supporting students who want to peacefully protest gun violence by walking out. On Feb. 24, Miami tweeted a quote from Michael S. Kabbaz, senior vice president for enrollment management and student success: “If you incur school discipline for walking out, you can report it to us and know we have your back.”

While the walkouts are sending an important message, the largest effort that these activists planned was the March for Our Lives.

It took place on March 24 in Washington, DC, to call for school safety and gun control.

This march gained national attention after

celebrities such as Amal and George Clooney announced they would be attending. Oprah Winfrey matched the Clooneys’ donation and tweeted, “These inspiring young people remind me of the Freedom Riders of the 60s who also said we’ve had ENOUGH and our voices will be heard.”

I hoped that this movement would gain the same kind of national attention that the Women’s March did in January 2017.

This hope became a reality, as more than 800 “sibling marches” took place across the world, from Los Angeles to Paris to Boston.

While March for Our Lives was an inspiring symbol for the movement to end gun violence, the movement must continue through action and legislation from our leaders. Students and parents need to show their support for this movement in any way they can. This includes writing or calling elected officials, donating to the movement, posting messages of support on social media and, most importantly, voting. finfrobd@miamioh.edu

Happiness: Fickle, but worth striving for CÉILÍ DOYLE NEWS EDITOR

At the beginning of this year, a wise professor told my class that we need to prioritize physical health and mental wellness above all else, and the best way to achieve that is to subscribe to a systematic planner.

I scoffed.

“Schedule time to eat, sleep and relax. It’s really that simple, because you won’t be able to accomplish everything you want to do,” he said.

I thought I could do it all, despite my 18 credit hours, pre-existing anxiety and self-imposed pressure to take on far too many responsibilities.

At first, I kept the overwhelming monster at bay with unhealthy distractions — whether it was trying to solve my friends’ problems or attempting to find the answers to my own in others and casual relationships.

I became self-destructive as a result.

I absorbed my friends’ pain as my own, made a fool of myself in front of my ex-boyfriend and, per usual, drank a little too much when I went out.

I began to feel the overwhelming monster wrap its tentacles around my chest when the fourteenth phone call between myself and my parents in a the span of two weeks ended in tears and clenched fists in late October.

Nevertheless, I pushed it aside, convinced that if I buried my head in my work I could forget about my personal problems.

So, I made empty-handed promises to myself about taking a break from boys, booze and the baggage that came with both.

I threw myself into journalism. I wrote in-depth stories that consumed my life throughout the day, but I found myself struggling to sleep at night.

After each late night, the caffeine I forced myself to ingest in order to stay awake refused to wear off, and the melatonin I took to ease my racing mind forced my subconscious’ hand.

My dreams began to take a turn from producing bizarre anecdotes to generating vivid, anxiety-inducing images. Without proper sleep, nutrition and exercise, my body did what it could to salvage my sanity by processing my stress through every REM cycle it could get its hands on.

By Christmastime, I was exhausted. I went home upset, frustrated and on the defensive — expecting another fight with my parents about my future, freedom and their expectations for both.

And two weeks before spring break, my parents and I got into the ultimate blowout fight that left me utterly drained. I had no fight left, no more lines to draw in the sand and nothing left to give.

As a result, while fighting the urge to cry and clutching a Miami MAP teddy bear I hadn’t even made, in a

bed that wasn’t even my own (in my friend’s house!) I conceded to the overwhelming monster.

I didn’t go to class that week until 11:40 a.m. on Wednesday. I got into another fight with my best friend and in less than a week before break, in one fell swoop of self-sabotage, drunkenly kissed one of my close friends and hooked up with my ex.

If nothing else, I certainly know how to make an exit.

About a month ago, in the midst of this mess, I started reading a book of essays by Tim Kreider, “We Learn Nothing.”

I knew I was searching for something to guide me.

What I didn’t understand was that no one was going to tell me what to do or how to move forward but myself.

“A couple of years ago I realized something kind of embarrassing,” Kreider writes in the essay “How They Tried to Fuck Me Over (But I Showed Them!)”

“Anger feels good,” he continues. “Although we may consciously experience it as upsetting, somatically it’s a lot like the initial rush of an opiate, a tingling warmth you feel on the insides of your elbows and wrists, in the back of your knees.”

I started to think, What if the reason I’m so upset all of the time is because I’m purposefully choosing not to let go? What if being angrier is just easier?

I came across Kreider’s book by chance, listening to NPR one day as he was promoting his second book of essays, “I Wrote This Because I Love You.” I found this interview particularly illuminating, especially the section in which NPR host Scott Simon presses Kreider on a sentence he wrote: “Like a lot of unhappy people, I had formed a half-conscious assumption that unhappiness was a function of intelligence.”

“Do you still feel that way?” Simon asks.

“I think that’s an adolescent notion,” Kreider responds.“You know, you tend to believe that whatever is dark or misanthropic or pessimistic is necessarily truer than anything affirmative.”

Unhappiness and anger have driven me throughout

the majority of my adolescence and into the beginning of my twenties. I’ve used the great divide between myself and my parents as fodder to stay driven, and as my achievements have grown, so has the work needed to keep up my anger and resentment.

Instead of taking active steps to forgive and move forward, I’ve often dug deeper into my side of the trenches, only popping out every so often for a Christmas Day ceasefire.

But I am tired of living an unhappy, stressed out, anxious and angry existence. It’s exhausting to be that upset all the time, and it’s certainly not healthy — physiologically or mentally.

It’s taken me nearly the entirety of spring break at home, a solid six days of eight to 10 hours of sleep, for me to start to feel more like myself again and to begin to realize that, actually, there are things in my control.

I can control how much I sleep, eat (and even exercise) on a regular basis. In fact, not only can I control that, but I need to prioritize it.

And, as far as I’m concerned, no boy is ever going to be able to fix my problems for me.

I’m not going to find a magical, bad-feelings-begone boyfriend, and by seeking out the solution to my problems in other people, I only end up hurting myself.

My life, I imagine, will only continue to get busier and more complicated. My responsibilities will only increase. However, I hope I’ve learned that kicking the overwhelming monster down the road and allowing him to fester inside me for months at time is no way to feel better.

Happiness is fickle and, as Kreider says, how you feel about it “depends on what day you ask.” But learning that you can’t do it all makes being content on a consistent basis a much more achievable goal, and it’s something worth striving for. doyleca3@miamioh.edu

WE’RE RUNNING OUT OF OUR OWN PERSONAL STORIES TO SHARE. PLEASE TELL US SOME OF YOURS. email daviskn@miamioh.edu

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018

DAVISKN3@MIAMIOH.EDU

OPINION 13

A.J. NEWBERRY NEWBERAJ@MIAMIOH.EDU @AJNWBRRY

THE PITFALLS OF PLATONIC BED-SHARING

ILLUSTRATION: NINA WILLIS

KIRBY DAVIS

OPINION EDITOR

There’s a chapter in Lena Dunham’s memoir, “Not That Kind of Girl,” dedicated to platonic bed-sharing. It’s called “Platonic Bed-Sharing: A Great Idea (For People Who Hate Themselves).”

She concludes with a list of people it’s okay to share a bed with, like “Your best friend,” “An empty bag of pita chips” and “The love of your life.”

It’s not okay, according to Dunham, to share your bed with “Anyone who tells you that they ‘just can’t be alone right now,’ [or] anyone who doesn’t make you feel like sharing a bed is the coziest and most sensual activity they could possibly be undertaking (unless, of course, it is one of the aforementioned relatives).”

If not, “You’re better off alone.”

I read that my senior year of high school.

I vowed that, if the opportunity arose in college to platonically share a bed with someone, I’d keep that closing sentence in mind.

It did. I didn’t.

Mid-September freshman year, a few of my friends and I were hanging out in Chris’ room, because he had a balcony and a fully stocked mini fridge. It got late.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if we all just slept here?” Chris said.

“We can call it Spoon Squad,” Ethan snickered.

So we all slept in Chris’ room, somehow squeezing onto his loft bed — him and Emma at one end, Ethan and I at the other. No one actually knew how to spoon, though, so Emma and I waited patiently while the boys studied the WikiHow page on their phones.

After that it was the floppy-haired art major with whom I shared a wall, because we were both lonely after breakups. It seemed like a good idea until I’d actually climbed

into his bed and realized it was not the same as sleeping next to my six-foot-four ex-boyfriend, and that despite being my neighbor, he was virtually a stranger.

I did not spend the night.

Sophomore year, even after re-reading “Not That Kind of Girl,” (I didn’t bring my personal Torah scroll to school, but I brought that memoir, which is kind of the same thing for me), I continued to disregard Dunham’s advice.

This time, it was with a hipster whose sweatpants were too small for me and who smelled vaguely like my Uncle Cole. He also happened to be a dick to women, despite sporting a feminist laptop sticker and getting his news exclusively from Reductress. I ignored all of this until I couldn’t, and realized: I was better off alone.

But even then, after having that revelation, crying all the way home like “Speak Now”-era Taylor Swift and sinking into an untouchable depression, because I felt, as Dunham wrote she did, that it was “distance passing for connection” and that I was “becoming a teddy bear with breasts,” I did not learn my lesson.

So, last fall, when one of my closest guy friends told me he was going to spend the night and asked where he should do that, I did not point to the living room couch.

I didn’t even take him up on his offer of sleeping “at the foot of the bed like a dog.” I don’t remember telling him to sleep beside me, but when I woke up, he was there, snoring.

We’d both spent the previous night drinking so much we vomited. He was over at my apartment with a few of our friends, and I recall curling up on my bathroom floor thinking that if I just stayed there long enough, everyone would leave. He didn’t.

He was just being a good friend, I reminded myself when I woke up panicked at 5 a.m.

I didn’t remember exactly what I’d told him, but I was in a bad place last fall, and I did

recall drunkenly crying to him about all the reasons why. I wouldn’t have left me alone, either.

But then it happened again — the completely platonic bed-sharing — and another time.

Since I was a kid, I’ve fallen asleep to a TV show playing quietly in my room. I need to focus on something other than my own racing thoughts to relax that much, and last fall, that show was “Broad City.”

I don’t remember much about the second time we platonically shared a bed, because we were almost as drunk as the first time. But I do remember, at one point, realizing he was occupying the space my laptop and “Broad City” were supposed to. He offered to turn it on, but I said no. There wasn’t room.

I have platonically and non-platonically shared my bed with a handful of guys. The reason Dunham advises against the former is because it’s almost never something done for fun, but something that feels like a solution to your problems. And that solution is almost always temporary.

While, as one of my friends put it when explaining why she’d slept with her ex-boyfriend, “it’s just nice to sleep next to someone once in a while,” that’s not worth feeling like, again, “a teddy bear with breasts.” It’s not worth wondering why you’re not good enough to non-platonically sleep with. He will get up in the morning and leave, and your problems will not follow him.

I didn’t sleep more easily with that guy next to me. In that case, again, he was just trying to be a good friend, and we were both drunk and tired and sad, but I was not used to having another person in my bed. And, in hindsight, we both agree it was a dumb thing to do.

The next night, with Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer trilling about weed and cracking crude jokes beside me, I slept fine. daviskn3@miamioh.edu

Sports

14

SIMANSEC@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2018

JACK OWENS — ­ FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACH, FIRST-TIME COFFEE DRINKER

FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACH JACK OWENS IS BOTH RESERVED WHEN FIST BUMPING HIS TEAM (LEFT) AND HEATED WHEN ADVOCATING FOR HIS PROGRAM (RIGHT). MATT HECKERT THE MIAMI STUDENT

Basketball “junkie” Owens has changed the culture at Miami, and it’s working MEN’S BASKETBALL

CHRIS VINEL STAFF WRITER

Jack Owens didn’t drink coffee before this year. He doesn’t sleep much these days — not since he was named Miami men’s basketball head coach.

“I think ‘junkie’ is the right word for him,” MU Director of Basketball Operations Ryne Smith said. “He’s always looking for an edge to get our team better and to help our coaching staff, so

he’s always watching film.”

Basketball has been a way of life for Owens since he was five years old. During his playing career, he was a point guard for Indianapolis’ George Washington High School and then three different colleges.

Now, he watches an insane amount of film. This year, Owens’ first season as head basketball coach, he led the program to its first postseason tournament since 2011.

“I don’t have hobbies,” Owens said. “Outside of church and

MU Hockey’s Brekke and Petraglia won’t return HOCKEY

EMILY SIMANSKIS SPORTS EDITOR

Miami hockey recently announced associate head coach Brent Brekke and assistant head coach Nick Petraglia will not be behind the bench with head coach Enrico Blasi next season.

“I want to thank Brent and Nick for their tireless efforts,” Blasi said in a tweet on March 17. “I wish them the best of luck as they continue their careers and pursue other opportunities.”

After a collegiate career at Western Michigan University, Brent Brekke coached for nine years at Cornell University before becoming Miami’s assistant coach during the summer of 2008. Brekke became Miami’s associate head coach during the 2010-11 season and coached Miami’s defense into the national rankings.

During Brekke’s first five seasons, his defense ranked in the top-10 in the country including a No. 1 nationally ranked defense during the 2009-10 season. His penalty kill unit has ranked in the CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

family, it’s basketball, and I’m consumed with it as much as possible.”

From the outside, the team’s progression looked effortless, as newcomers like Nike Sibande — who was later named Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year — and Darrian Ringo took a team that went 11-21 last season to the College Basketball Invitational Tournament just one year later.

But, this “effortless” turnaround was the result of 17-hour workdays and all-night game-

planning by Owens and his staff.

Miami Athletic Director David Sayler could sense this dedication during his first interaction with Owens. They initially met at a Denny’s in West Lafayette to talk about the RedHawks’ head coaching vacancy. Sayler remembers that Owens ordered oatmeal, but didn’t touch it. He was only interested in talking basketball and coaching philosophy.

“He was very well-organized and meticulous,” Sayler said. “I think he left hungry, but it was a

good meeting.”

Since Owens was hired, in the weeks after that first meeting, he has expected his players and staff to mimic his dedication.

Still, it’s likely that Owens’ dedication can’t be matched.

Inheriting a program that hadn’t recorded a winning season in almost a decade, Owens hit the ground running when he arrived in Oxford. He and his staff started recruiting right away, repeatedly working 17CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

Kiefer Sherwood goes pro, senior ’Hawks leave Miami HOCKEY

EMILY SIMANSKIS SPORTS EDITOR

Miami hockey will miss the quiet tenacity and leadership of junior forward Kiefer Sherwood next year, a player who took it upon himself to skate suicide drills after a tough loss.

Sherwood inked a two-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks last week and has since reported to the Ducks’ American Hockey League affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.

“You always have to be ready on and off the ice,” Sherwood said to me on Friday. “Going to college, I owe a lot to Miami and the college and the coaching staff for challenging me to grow.

It was a great opportunity to go to Miami, and one I am truly thankful for.”

Sherwood, who turns 23 on Saturday, was an assistant captain for the RedHawks this season and recorded 30 points (9g, 21a) in 36 games.

The Columbus-native turned down offers last spring from various NHL teams after recording a collegiate career-high 38

points (14g, 24a) in 36 games.

Now, he feels the timing to move up was right.

“I know I’m ready for the next chapter and the next step and to be pushed,” Sherwood said. “I’m going to find a way to get my degree, but in terms of hockey, I’m always ready for a new challenge.”

Sherwood rose to his first challenge on Saturday, when San Diego played the Cleveland Monsters. He wasted no time and scored the overtime winning goal in a 4-3 victory over CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

RedHawks’, Duffy’s historic season ends in WNIT WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

BEN PANZECA

THE MIAMI STUDENT

On March 15, the RedHawks’ remarkable season came to an end with a 69-56 loss against Duquesne University in the first round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. Miami finished the year 21-11 in front of a home crowd at Millett Hall, and kept up with the Dukes for three quarters before slipping behind in the fourth.

“Overall, thrilled for the first season,” head coach Megan Duffy said. “This one’s going to hurt for a little bit, but I’m proud of our seniors -- the four who stuck together and bought into what we were doing.”

Junior guard Chassidy Omogrosso led the way for Duquesne, scoring 31 points and nabbing three steals, showing why she earned First Team All-Conference honors in the Atlantic-10 this season.

In the loss, sophomore forward Savannah Kluesner posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

The ‘Hawks exceeded expectations this year, as they broke the 20-win mark and

reached postseason play for the first time since 2011-12. Head coach Megan Duffy and an entirely new coaching staff led the 10-win turnaround, the highest of any first-year coach in the country.

The RedHawks lose four seniors in forwards Kayla Brown, Molly McDonagh and Megan Galloway, as well as guard Jazz Smith.

Brown started every game for the RedHawks, and was one of their opponents’ most difficult matchups, given her height and versatility. She averaged 7.4 points per game and had the second-highest assist total.

McDonagh was the team’s vocal leader -- she was often heard talking with her teammates on the court, and encouraging them when she was on the bench. She was one of the team’s strongest defenders, and made countless hustle plays throughout the season. McDonagh led the team with 66 offensive boards on the year.

Galloway gave the Red and White invaluable stability in the paint, especially on the offensive end. She was efficient, shooting a team-high 58 percent from the field.

IN TRADE & TRADE UP

SOPHOMORE FORWARD SAVANNAH KLUESNER JUMPS OFF AGAINST DUQUESNE AT MILLETT HALL. MACY WHITAKER THE MIAMI STUDENT

Smith was unable to play for the entirety of the season due to injury, but was a valuable senior leader this year.

The ‘Hawks will be returning four of their five starters for next season, including two All-MAC honored players, sopho-

more guard Lauren Dickerson and junior forward Kendall McCoy. Check back next week for more on Coach Duffy and her record-breaking year.

March 26–March 30 • Shriver Center Trade in your old laptop or iPad to receive credit toward the purchase of an updated model Some exclusions apply. See store for details.

MiamiOH.edu/Campus-Store

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