The Miami Student | December 3, 2019

ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

Volume 148 No. 11

Miami University — Oxford, Ohio

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019

Mike Smith, Bill Snavely chosen as Oxford’s mayor and vice mayor TIM CARLIN

ASST. NEWS EDITOR

DESIGN EDITOR CONNOR WELLS

RACHEL BERRY NEWS EDITOR

More Miami University students have reported being sexually assaulted in the last three months than in any other semester in recent history.

The number of students reporting sexual assaults and choosing to follow through with the university’s complaint process through Miami’s community standards office has also increased this semester.

Since the beginning of the school year, Miami and Oxford police have received 40 sexual

assault reports.

During the 2018-2019 school year, students reported 41 total sexual assaults: 28 in the fall and 13 in the spring. These numbers include incidents that happened on campus and in Oxford, as well as assaults reported last year that occurred in previous semesters.

But the 40 assaults that were reported this semester do not include the number of incidents that were ruled to be unfounded, meaning the Miami University Police Department (MUPD) couldn’t find enough evidence to go forward with an investigation or found that the assault did not happen the way it was described in the initial report.

Lori Minges, Clery Act coordinator for MUPD, said that the 13 assaults reported from the 2018-2019 spring semester aren’t finalized because MUPD doesn’t analyze all of their Clery data until the end of the year. The Clery Act requires that universities disclose on-campus crimes and implement safety policies.

Of the 40 assaults reported this semester, seven were through the Oxford Police Department (OPD), and the rest were through MUPD. Students received safety bulletins for five of them.

Safety reports are only sent out for crimes

Mike Smith, who has served on Oxford City Council since 2013, was chosen as the city’s next mayor during the Nov. 25 council meeting. Smith will serve in the role until 2021, when his second term on council will end.

The roles of mayor and vice mayor are determined by councilors in a closeddoor meeting after each election cycle.

In 2017, Smith was one of two incumbents running for re-election. He was also serving a two-year term as Oxford’s vice mayor. In the 2017 election, Smith ran against eight other candidates for four open seats on council. At The Miami Student’s 2017 City Council candidate debate, Smith said that affordable housing was the biggest issue facing Oxford at the time.

Smith still has the same concerns about housing a little over two years later.

“We’d like to look at affordable housing inside the city,” Smith said. “Specifically maybe addressing some of our homeless issues if we can.”

Smith, a Miami University alumnus and seventh generation Oxford resident, said he had been considering a bid for mayor, and he was open with his co-councilors about his mayoral ambitions.

“I had a lot of support, and a lot of people asked me if I would take on the role,” Smith said. “I felt I was ready, so I did some polling within our group, and I went for it.”

Bill Snavely, who was sworn in with Jason Bracken and Glenn Ellerbe at last week’s meeting, was chosen to be Oxford’s vice mayor.

Snavely said he did not want to be mayor this term and that he’s looking forward to serving the city in his new role.

Snavely served 12 years on council beginning in the 1980s, spending six of those years as the city’s mayor. In the

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CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

107-year-old Miami alumna reflects on her college years ALEX COX

THE MIAMI STUDENT Back when ice cream cones cost a dime and Oxford had a movie theatre — when the seal didn’t exist and the library was in Alumni Hall, a girl from a small town in Ohio moved to Oxford to attend Miami University and enroll in the brand-new two-year teaching certificate program. Coming from a graduating high school class of just five, Miami seemed like a dream to Fearn Gerber (then Fearn Winkle) in 1930.

As a young girl, Fearn split her time between school and helping on the family farm. Although she enjoyed driving the horses and riding on the running board of her father’s Model T to deliver milk (35 cents for a week’s supply) to the other families in town, nothing compared to her love for reading and learning.

She went to a high school with only three faculty members and nothing in the way of a library, but she read everything she could get her hands on. Most of the time, she was limited to textbooks, a book of Bible stories and the

day-old Cincinnati Post that was mailed to her house. Still, her love for learning grew, encouraged by her father.

When she graduated from Mowrystown High School, she had dreams of becoming a business woman. Her parents were only one of two families in Mowrystown that sent their kids to college, but Fearn’s father thought education was incredibly important.

Fearn’s older brother encouraged her to look at the teaching certificate program at Miami.

Her initial application was rejected; the university said that the cohort was full. Later, though, a space opened up, and they provided her a spot in the class and a room in East Hall.

“It was a wonderful experience for a little farm girl,” Fearn said. “Miami was a beautiful place to me … I felt like I grew up when I got there.”

While juggling all of her classes, Fearn paid her way through school by working odd jobs for the university. She briefly washed silverware, graded papers for a psychology professor and proclaimed herself as one of the fastest servers CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

FEARN'S LOVE FOR EDUCATION HAS STUCK WITH HER LONG AFTER HER TIME AT MIAMI ENDED. NEWS EDITOR RACHEL BERRY

This Issue NEWS

CULTURE

Armstrong is gonna be open 24/7 for finals, folks

Building bowls and crafting cups anyone can be an artist

page 5

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SPORTS

MAC Championship it's happening

OPINION

I'm not crying, you're crying Our multimedia editor doesn't realize he's graduating

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DECEMBER

4 WESTERN DINING COMMONS 11:00AM–3:00PM

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This Week

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NEWS 3

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019

Sexual assault reports increase this semester FROM FRONT

that might pose a danger to students. For sexual assaults, this typically means a student reported it right after the assault happened.

After a report is filed, Title IX Coordinator Gabby Dralle will reach out to students and present them with options. They can choose whether they would like to file a formal complaint, which

people will be found guilty, as many of the cases are still being heard.

“It’s what we want to see because we know it’s not like it’s not happening; if we got zero reports, that wouldn’t mean zero sexual assaults were happening,” James said. “Whenever I see the reporting numbers go up, it makes me feel slightly gratified that something good is happening.”

Dralle said she doesn’t have any way of know-

“What I’ve noticed in my little over a year that I’ve been here is that the students care about this issue; it is talked about, so I think that definitely plays into it.”

- Gabby Dralle

signifies they would like to proceed with the investigation process. They can also be referred to resources such as Women Helping Women or to Student Counseling Services.

If a student chooses to file a complaint, the university’s investigator, Wesley Highley, will look into the incident. He will decide if there is reasonable cause to move forward with a disciplinary hearing.

This semester, 62.5 percent more students chose to file a complaint compared to the last fiscal year. Director of Community Standards Ann James said it’s too early to see how many more

ing for certain what caused the increase, but she suspects campus culture has played a role.

“I would think that there is new energy on campus that has played into [reporting],” she said.

“What I’ve noticed in my little over a year that I’ve been here is that the students care about this issue; it is talked about, so I think that definitely plays into it.”

She said she’s seen more students this year self-reporting instead of coming in because of a report from a mandatory reporter such as an RA or professor. She has also seen students who came in because a friend went through the process.

Dralle makes an effort to make herself available to students within a couple of days of initial contact.

“I’ve done this work at other campuses, and I do feel like the team here genuinely cares and wants to do a good job, and I think that does make a difference,” she said.

Dralle said she plans to implement a survey in the spring for students who go through her office to get a better idea of why students are reporting and if they felt supported through the process. She also hopes to increase education on how to report and to redesign the website, making it more accessible.

Miami’s sexual assault resource guide can be accessed here. Along with information on the reporting process, the site offers advice on what to do if you or someone you know is sexually assaulted.

Sexual assault survivors who wish to report an incident can contact campus security enforcement, including the Miami University Police Department at 513-519-2222, the Oxford Police Department at 513-523-4321, the Coordinator of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program at 513-529-1870 and any athletic coaches, academic or student organization advisor.

If students wish to speak to a non-mandatory reporter for confidential support, they can call or text Miami’s campus-based support specialists from WomenHelpingWomen at 513-431-1111. @racheldberry berryrd@miamioh.edu

THE BREAKDOWN

Mike Smith, Bill Snavely chosen as Oxford’s mayor and vice mayor FROM FRONT

most recent election, Snavely’s campaign platforms included environmental preservation and affordable housing.

Both men were endorsed by the Butler County Progessive Political Action Committee during their campaigns, and Snavely was also endorsed by The Student’s editorial board.

The new council will hold its first meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

All city council meetings are held at the Oxford Courthouse. @timcarlin_ carlintm@miamioh.edu

wanna know more? listen to our podcast here:

How much do Miami’s highest-paid employees make?

RACHEL BERRY NEWS EDITOR

Miami University employees’ salaries range more than half a million dollars from the highest paid to the lowest.

Head football coach Chuck Martin tops the list of highest paid university employees at close to $532,000. University President Greg Crawford comes in a close second with more than $520,000.

Three of the ten highest paid employees are coaches. Three are college deans.

One is a person of color. None are women.

The top ten paid employees at the university are as follows: Head Football Coach Chuck Martin: $531, 746 President Greg Crawford: $520,047 Provost and Executive Vice President Jason Osborne: $390,000 Senior Vice President of Finance and Business Services David Creamer: $376,120 Farmer School of Business Dean and Professor Marc Rubin: $372,667

Men’s Head Basketball Coach Jack Owens: $368,924 Senior Vice President for University Advancement Thomas Walter Herbert: $349,838 Dean and Professor in the College of Engineering and Computing Marek Dollar: $332,741 Dean and Professor of the College of Arts and Science Christopher Makaroff: $316,285 Head Ice Hockey Coach Christopher Bergeron: $305,000 These salaries are as of Oct. 1, 2019.

Creamer said these numbers are determined based on market value and what comparable schools pay for the same positions.

Salaried faculty positions are determined by the chair and dean of the respective academic department and the provost.

Bill Even, professor of economics, said the discrepancy in pay between the highest and lowest paid employees is not just in higher education and that the disparity

has widened recently.

“People at the top have such a huge effect on profitability, on the reputation and efficiency of the university, that if you try to save 100 or 200,000 on the president, it could cost you a lot more than that,” Even said.

Creamer said negotiations start based on market value and vary based on the person’s experience, success and other factors.

Even though Martin makes the most money at the university, Creamer explained that’s pretty typical.

“Unfortunately, football coaches are paid more than presidents today, so while it may seem to be a little out of step, it is a reality then when you use, again, market to determine what the compensation should be,” Creamer said.

According to USA Today, Martin’s salary is ranked 112 out of 122 NCAA football coaches who reported their salaries for 2019.

Miami’s list doesn’t differ much from comparable Ohio public schools. The

University of Cincinnati’s president, Neville Pinto, will make $660,000 this year, according to data compiled by The News Record. Their 10 highest paid employees include the president, provost, two athletics positions, three deans, two finance/ investment administrators and the vice president for research. The salaries range from about $340,000 to $660,000.

At Ohio University, The Post reports that the men’s basketball and football coaches top the list, followed by the president and provost. Next comes the Chief Medical Affairs Officer, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration, Vice President for University Advancement, deans of the engineering and business schools and director of athletics. Their salaries range from $295,000 to $581,000.

Miami’s numbers haven’t changed much in the past five years, either. The same list of positions has generally made up the top paid employees. @racheldberry berryrd@miamioh.edu

107-year-old Miami alumna reflects on her college years FROM FRONT

FRED STRUCK A DEAL WITH THE MILKMAN TO SEE FEARN WHEN HE WAS CARLESS. NEWS EDITOR RACHEL BERRY

for Old East’s formal dinners every night.

The fancy dorm dining is a far cry from the centralized dining halls of Miami today. She also served as a hall bellhop, where she was responsible for keeping the boys out of the girls’ building and conveying their messages for them.

While performing her bellhop duties one day, four brothers from the Sigma Nu Fraternity came looking for girls to take a walk with.

Fearn noticed the wonderful weather outside, found someone to cover her shift and went on a walk with the gentlemen. The next day, one of the brothers called after her again.

After picking her up outside of the church where she sang in the choir, the pair attempted to play tennis. Neither of them really knew how to play, but they both enjoyed themselves.

Fearn and her beau, Fred, continued to see each other, taking walks and talking on the banks of Tallawanda creek and occasionally splurging and splitting a Coke.

When Fearn graduated at the end of the year with straight As and moved away, Fred continued to court her.

The only problem?

He didn’t have a car.

Desperate to see her, Fred struck a deal with the milkman who drove part of the way to her house in Mowrystown, Ohio, and helped lift the milk cans in exchange for a ride.

When Fred graduated with his engineering degree a year later, Fearn borrowed her dad’s car to attend the commencement ceremony.

The same day, they decided to drive to Indiana and get married.

The depression was at its peak, and money was hard to come by. Fred spent his last 10 dollars on the marriage license, leaving the hotel bill to Fearn’s saved income from her first year of teaching.

Although Fred eventually got a job at the steel mill, and cash became a little bit easier to come by, Fearn didn’t want to give up her teaching job. But in that time, there was a rule

that prevented teachers from being married, trying to offer the few jobs to those who had no other support system. Unwilling to accept this, Fearn and Fred kept their marriage a secret from everyone except her parents for about a year.

When they finally went public, she was dismissed from her teaching position. Before too long, however, the principal came to her house. They had too many third and fourth

“It’s been a busy, good 107 years,”

- Fearn Gerber

graders, and they needed an extra teacher for a combined class. After that position, another teacher position was needed. Then another.

Eventually, she was back to working full-time at the Middletown schools.

She taught until about 1950, when she and Fred built the house where she still resides.

Over the next 60 years, Gerber became the matriarch of a family that now includes 3 kids, 12 grandkids, 17 great grandkids and 20 greatgreat grandkids as of next month.

At the age of 107 Fearn still lives independently and continues to tell stories and teach those around her. Although she stopped driving around four years ago, she still listens to books that the library sends her on CDs. She loves to sing and even led a singing group at the care facility where Fred lived until his passing.

“It’s been a busy, good 107 years,” Fearn said. “God has been so good to me.” coxaj4@miamioh.edu

4 NEWS New budget model takes decisions from each college HANNAH HORSINGTON THE MIAMI STUDENT

Last July, Miami University implemented a new budgetary system where, instead of having each college’s dean distribute money to the departments within their schools, individual departments will now apply to the provost’s office for funding.

This new “agility-focused” system will provide less funding to programs with declining popularity or enrollment. David Creamer, the university vice president for finance and business services and treasurer, explained that the provost will make financial decisions for each department.

To keep up with Miami’s growing student population and the increasing popularity of new programs, Osborne said the provost’s office reformed the budget to give more assistance to the people and programs that he deems are in the most need based on the university’s greatest investment.

Other university faculty have speculated as to which colleges will receive the most money and questioned the motives behind the “agility-focused” budget. Creamer insisted that the program is more about overall “opportunities of growth and expansion.”

“Deans and their interests are not being ignored,” Creamer said, stressing that all proposals will be given equal consideration.

Despite Creamer’s assurance, some university faculty members remain highly critical of the new program.

“As far as I can see, we aren’t deciding what we want to be as an institution and then budgeting based on that,” Classics professor Steven Tuck wrote in an email to The Student.

“Instead, we seem to be prioritizing recruiting and admitting as many students as possible (the numbers are going up every year), slashing costs (except intercollegiate athletics with their $25 million annual deficit) and then trying to create programs to appeal to those students.”

Creamer said the university will invest in new programs and high-demand areas, like nursing and e-sports.

Creamer said each academic division can make funding requests with a Boldly Creative proposal or by presenting the faculty positions that need to be filled. The Boldly Creative program is a multi-year initiative emphasizing data, analytics and programs that span traditional disciplines. The requests are reviewed by Osborne and the dean of each college.

Ultimately, Osborne makes the final decision on where funds will be distributed.

While the previous Responsibility Centered Management (RCM) program was once considered to be effective, finance and business services determined the program was no longer benefitting the university to its highest capacity.

“My hope is that programs who are seeing declines in majors or enrollment will look for opportunities to rethink what they do and how they communicate their deep and unquestioned value to attract new interest,” Osborne said.

Tuck disagrees.

“We’re told that we need to create majors and programs for failed Farmer School of Business admits, so they don’t leave the institution,” he wrote.

“In my honest opinion, the academic profile of the institution should not be driven by the desperate need to retain failed business students.”

The university already has plans for the funds freed up by the new budgeting system. A new health sciences building is on the docket, which would provide a home for the Oxford campus’ new nursing program. The university did not previously have enough funding for this new building, but it can now be made possible by allocating more funds from the new centralized budget.

The engineering and computer science programs are also taking priority, as it was determined that these rising programs had funds disproportionate to their growing financial needs, Creamer said.

The deans of the College of Arts and Sciences and Farmer School of Business, Chris Makaroff and Marc Rubin, declined to comment on the new budget.

The deans for the College of Education, Health and Society and Engineering and Computing, Michael Dantley and Marek Dollár, were out of town and repeatedly unable to be reached for comment.

The dean of the College of Creative Arts, Elizabeth Mullenix, could not be reached for comment. @h_horsington12 horsinhp@miamioh.edu

BERRYRD@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019

FORMER PROFESSOR SUES MIAMI CLAIMING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION RACHEL BERRY NEWS EDITOR

A former assistant professor is suing Miami University for discrimination after she was denied tenure and access to laboratory equipment.

Natosha Finley, a black woman, was hired in 2009 through a diversity initiative. Finley specialized in structural biology, and the lawsuit stated that her use of a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer — a machine used to measure the magnetic field around atomic nuclei — was necessary to complete her studies.

The lawsuit alleges that Miami denied Finley the ability to write scholarly articles to meet “shifting” requirements for promotion and tenure.

According to court documents, two white colleagues were required to have one or three articles on which they were the lead author published

FINLEY SAID SHE HAD DIFFERENT TENURE REQUIREMENTS THAN HER WHITE COLLEAGUES. CONTRIBUTED BY MIAMI UNIVERSITY MADELINE

for a tenure recommendation. Finley was required to have five.

Co-authored articles counted toward tenure for the white colleagues

but not for Finley.

Finley said that in order for her to write these articles, she needed access to the spectrometer to complete her research. Access to this machine was denied to her, yet given to colleagues and others outside of the university.

It’s unclear why Finley was denied access to the spectrometer.

Finley said in the lawsuit that she wasn’t given an adequate amount of time but that she did complete the necessary number of articles to receive tenure.

She was denied tenure in Dec. 2017. She appealed the decision but was again denied tenure in June 2018.

Finley eventually filed discrimination with the Office of Equal Opportunity.

She seeks more than $5 million in damages for front pay, back pay, emotional distress and attorney costs. Finley requests that she be returned to her position and given tenure.

American studies class starts recycling program for Greek life ABBY BAMMERLIN

THE MIAMI STUDENT Miami University’s American studies (AMS) 303: Consumer Culture class, taught by Carolyn Hardin, is working with Greek organizations on campus to start a recycling program.

The class is primarily targeting fraternities but has reached out to sororities as well. Senior political science major Sonny Gast has worked to connect her classmates with sororities and different resources on campus.

“We also knew that fraternities had a large amount of things that they could recycle and that they weren’t previously recycling,” Gast said. “We figured it’d be an easy target because they’re trying to do

good things in the community.”

Senior American studies major Emily Garforth is the organizational point person for getting recycling bins into the fraternity houses.

“I think that it’s just an easy thing for fraternities to do, and it would make a small but meaningful difference on campus,” Garforth said.

Garforth said fraternities can recycle by emailing the city of Oxford and requesting that recycling services be added to their water and refuse utility bill, which includes an initial $1 fee for green, wheeled recycling bins and an additional $3.80 per month. On Feb. 1, 2020, the amount per month will increase to $4.25.

Fraternities can use the AMS

303 class to help connect them to the city of Oxford. The class also created a website where fraternities can be featured if they pledge to begin recycling.

Hardin has taught AMS 303 for four years, but this is her first time implementing this project.

“When I first started teaching [AMS 303], I included a final project where the students would, in groups, come up with a campaign to address a particular issue and consumer culture,” Hardin said.

This year, Hardin had students pick a project to implement based off previous classes. Students reviewed past proposals and chose one to create a campaign around.

“It’s also been a little anxiety-inducing as a professor,” Hardin said. “It’s not as easy as just

“Miami does not comment on pending litigation but denies it acted unlawfully,” said Director of University News and Communications Claire Wagner. “Miami follows well-established tenure and promotion procedures that include reviews by a department faculty committee, the department chair and the dean.”

The two white professors mentioned in the lawsuit and Luis Actis, chair of the microbiology department, said they cannot comment on pending litigation. Finley declined to comment.

Junior Julianna DiMarco, a former student of Finley’s, said she was well-liked as a teacher.

“She was super sweet during her lectures, and you could tell she really cared about the subject matter … She was a very likable person. She was definitely willing to help.” @racheldberry berryrd@miamioh.edu

staying in the classroom and having them think stuff up and write it and grade it.”

Hardin said she originally designed the project with the intention of it ending with the fall semester, but students wanted the project to continue even after the semester ended.

“They’re communicating with targeted organizations about what they can continue to do in the future,” Hardin said. “It’s been really cool to see students take ownership of it and figure out what it will take to make it work.”

Senior marketing major Matt Murray helped gain the support of the Interfraternity Council (IFC).

“If we can get one fraternity to just pledge they’re going to keep recycling as the semester goes forward, I’d say that’s success,” Murray said. bammeraj@miamioh.edu

Cycles and Ceramics

Oxford’s Small Business Saturday

THE INTERNET CAN’T DO IT ALL. OXFORD’S SMALL BUSINESSES, LIKE YOU’RE FIRED AND BIKEWISE, ENJOYED THEIR THANKSGIVING WEEKEND PATRONAGE. ASST. DESIGN EDITOR OWEN BERG

OWEN BERG

ASST. DESIGN EDITOR The cold, rainy streets of Oxford were empty last Saturday afternoon, but inside You’re Fired it was busy, welcoming and warm. Oxford families and friends stopped in to unwind and paint pottery together over Thanksgiving break.

Near the front door, Lisa Leishman, the owner of You’re Fired for the past 11 years, helped a young customer pick the right paintbrush.

She said people have been coming to her shop on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for years.

“It’s just traditional that this is what they’ve done for years,” she said. “They always come and make their gifts.”

This shopping holiday, known as Small Business Saturday, is one of the only times the shop does a half-priced studio fee on a weekend, making it popular among families on break from work and school.

Small Business Saturday, which falls between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the two largest shopping holidays in the U.S., aims to

encourage shoppers to buy from locally-owned stores instead of large retailers and e-commerce websites.

Leishman thinks Small Business Saturday can also be a unique way for people to spend time with their families during such a big shopping weekend.

“I think they’re tired of going out to bigger areas and enjoy the small vibe and us helping them one-on-one,” she said. “We love that you can have any age of cus-

Wise’s owner, was hard at work repairing bicycles behind the counter. Although he thinks the small business community in Oxford is “challenging more so than ever,” he’s still enthusiastic about his bike shop.

Hamilton has owned BikeWise since 2003 and has been around long enough to see local businesses in Oxford change. He remembers a time where there were many more small local businesses in town re-

“I think they’re tired of going out to bigger areas and enjoy the small vibe and us helping them one-on-one.”

- Lisa Leishman

tomer in here, hanging out together. You can have a college student, a high school student, a baby, a grandma. Everybody all together.”

Across the street from You’re Fired at BikeWise, the scene was quieter. But Doug Hamilton, Bike-

lying on patronage from students.

Before online shopping was so popular, Hamilton said the shop would sell nearly 1,000 bikes during the back-to-school season.

But as more students began to choose to shop online, small busi-

nesses struggled.

“Students won’t support them because they tend to prefer to shop online,” Hamilton said. This is why he aims to give local cyclists what they can’t find online: repair expertise and a close customer-to-business relationship.

“They’ll drive an hour to get up here because they want someone with experience,” he said.

Like You’re Fired, BikeWise has customers that have been coming back for many years because of the close relationship and trust they have with the business. This is why Hamilton said his favorite part of owning a small repair shop is “being in service of my fellow humans.”

Although shopping is moving to online platforms, Uptown business owners know their unique services and relationships are important to the community.

“The internet’s great at selling you things,” Hamilton said. “But it doesn’t do a very good job of fixing things.” bergoe@miamioh.edu

GLYNNEE@MIAMIOH.EDU

NEWS 5

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019

Miami employee hits the books to pursue new career SKYLER PERRY

THE MIAMI STUDENT In the late 1980s, Rebecca Heftel was a student at Wright State University pursuing a major in music. As a lifelong singer, Heftel’s plans went awry when she began to experience issues with her vocal chords, forcing her to switch her major.

While struggling to find a new major that interested her, she met someone and made the decision to drop out of college.

Heftel went on to marry the man she left school for. They share a daughter, Catrina, but have since divorced.

“I left university to follow my heart,” Heftel said. “I shouldn’t have left, but when you’re 20, 21, you think you’ve got the world in your hands …

I [thought] ‘I can come back to this,’ but that never happened.”

But, Heftel has since resumed her studies. Today, at age 52, Heftel is studying English at Miami University’s Hamilton campus.

“I like to read, but the things I like to read, I also kind of like to pick them apart, and someone suggested [to me] that I should go into editing,” Heftel said about choosing her major. “[I returned to school] for professional reasons and because I got tired of being the eldest in my family and the only one who had not graduated from college.”

Currently, Heftel works as an administrative assistant in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Department.

Because she’s a university employee, Miami waives Heftel’s tuition.

But, when Heftel accepted the position at Miami 13 years ago, it wasn’t her own education she had in mind.

“I was thinking ahead to what would happen if my daughter wanted to go to university, and how was I going to pay for it?” Heftel said. “I knew that the tuition waiver also applied to the children of [employees]. It just so happened that I thought, ‘Well, I can take advantage of that, too.’”

Years later, Heftel’s daughter did end up enrolling at Miami Universi-

“I knew that the tutition waiver also applied to the children of [employees]. It just so happened that I thought, ‘Well, I can take advantage of that, too.’”

-Rebecca Heftel

ty’s Hamilton campus and is supportive of her mother’s return to school.

“I don’t think that I could be any happier for her,” Catrina said. “She is such an amazing person, and I just wish that she could just find something that makes her so happy … She gave up her career for me when I was born.”

Catrina said she has found it helpful to go to the same school as her mom, as they often support each other and can provide insight to each other on professors.

Heftel is approaching the point of her degree where the higher level classes required for her major are not offered online like many of the classes she has taken thus far. Heftel said that it’s hard for her to attend classes when she works a full time job.

But when Heftel decided she wanted to study abroad, she faced a large challenge: being almost entirely surrounded by traditional students 20 years younger.

When Heftel comes in contact with traditional students, she said that she sometimes has concerns about how she will be perceived or treated, especially if they find out she works at Miami.

She said mostly people just react to her with surprise.

Although Heftel greatly enjoyed her trip to Italy through Miami’s Florence: Visions and Contrast’s Program, she didn’t participate in many of the events that the other students attended.

“I didn’t go out to clubs and stuff like that with them, but you know, I didn’t expect to be invited, and I wasn’t,” Heftel said. “I didn’t stand in the way of anyone either.”

Heftel did occasionally go to dinners with the supervising professors of the trip, but also found a friend in

University Senate votes to dissolve Department of Classics, split kinesiology and SLAM MADELINE PHABY STAFF WRITER

University Senate approved recommendations to merge the Department of Classics with two other departments and to establish Sport Leadership and Management (SLAM) as its own department separate from the Department of Kinesiology and Health (KNH) at its meeting on Dec. 2.

Terri Barr, professor of marketing, served as the process coordinator for the Department of Classics merger.

Barr said that the process of merging classics with another department started when Steven Tuck, former chair of the Department of Classics and current professor of classics, requested that senate formulate a plan for a merger at its meeting on April 22.

To determine the best course of ac-

tion for the merger, Barr met with all of the faculty and students in the department, the Dean of the College of Arts and Science, and others.

Barr’s recommendation to senate was that Tuck move to the Department of History and the rest of the classics faculty merge with the Department of French and Italian.

Barr said that the department originally wished to remain together, but that Tuck preferred to move to history.

“The French and Italian faculty are very excited about this opportunity,” Barr said. “I think the folks who are going from classics are also excited about [the merger].”

John Bailer, chair and professor of Statistics, served as the process coordinator for the partitioning of KNH. Currently, SLAM is a major within KNH, but the recommendation made

NONTRADITIONAL STUDENT REBECCA HEFTEL ATTENDS COLLEGE AT 52-YEARS-OLD .

CONTRIBUTED BY REBECCA HEFTEL

one of her roommates who was another non-traditional student in her late 20s.

Once Heftel gets her degree, her dream job is to be a copy editor for a website that does news curation, because she is very interested in current events.

Despite the many challenges Heftel has faced and continues to face in the pursuit of her college degree, she said she tries her best to stay motivat-

ed.

“It’s kind of a long term goal,” Heftel said. “Sometimes it seems very frustrating, like it’s never going to happen, but then somehow, some way, it all works out in the end, and you realize that all the sacrifices are worth it.” perrysl2@miamioh.edu

ARMSTRONG TO OPEN 24 HOURS FOR FINALS

to senate was to establish a Department of Sport Leadership and Management separate from KNH. Bailer said that the main rationale for this split is to develop two separate departments that focus on different concepts. While KNH will place more emphasis on public health and nutrition, SLAM will focus on social change and culture in sports.

“There’s some opportunities here for new programs that could be implemented at both the undergraduate and graduate level,” Bailer said. “There’s a very strong foundation in both of these units.”

Both recommendations were unanimously endorsed by senate. They will now be sent to University Provost Jason Osborne and the Board of Trustees. phabymr@miamioh.edu

IN THE PAST, ARMSTRONG HAS BEEN A FAVORED FINALS WEEK STUDY LOCATION. ASST. PHOTO EDITOR BO BRUECK

RACHEL BERRY NEWS EDITOR

UNIVERSITY SENATE VOTED TO DISSOLVE THE DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS AND TO SEPARATE KINESIOLOGY AND SLAM..

STAFF WRITER MADELINE PHABY

ASG wants to make bias reporting data public MATTHEW RUBENSTEIN THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami University has declined to make the bias reporting system data available to the public. Associated Student Government (ASG) hopes to change that.

ASG passed legislation on Tuesday, Nov. 19, to show student support for publicizing the data from the bias reporting system.

Senators advocated for this legislation due to the number of discrimination and bias-based incidents in recent years, specifically based off anti-Semetic incidents from last year.

The legislation acknowledges the university cannot punish those responsible for most of these issues because of students’ First Amendment right to free speech, but the authors of the legislation wrote that publicizing the data would give the university a

way to “publicly and neutrally speak to problem areas on campus.”

“I think this is really important because it gives us the ability to gauge what’s happening on campus, and I think this is just the first step in a long process of really looking and reflecting upon some of the bigger institutional or cultural issues at Miami,” said Brandon Small, ASG’s secretary for diversity and inclusion.

Under ASG’s proposed new system, the actual reports would not be public, but it would list incidents under certain categories such as racism, anti-Semitism and homophobia.

The administrative staff in charge of the bias reporting system has concerns regarding the effect of publicizing the data, however.

“If every incident of bias was reported, what does that accomplish?” asked Ronald Scott, vice president for institutional diversity. “These are inci-

dents that are unfortunate that should not occur based on a certain level of insensitivity, but there’s no policy violation. So, to report every act … does not make a whole lot of sense.”

Scott said it would be a problem when multiple students submit bias reports on one instance, thereby artificially inflating the number of incidents on campus.

Small still has faith that information from bias reports can be used to make positive changes on Miami’s campus.

“The main thing I was concerned with was transparency,” Small said.

“Specifically, how we as student leaders were able to take the information that comes from the bias reporting system in a way that’s both legal and able to be utilized in the initiatives that we are doing.” rubensms@miamioh.edu

Armstrong Student Center and Pulley Diner will remain open for 24 hours a day during finals week.

It will open at 6:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 a.m. and stay open until 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 13.

Katie Wilson, director of Armstrong, said the decision was based on the number of students who have used the building overnight during past finals weeks.

On average, 116 students used Armstrong from 2 - 6 a.m. last year throughout finals week. The average for the rest of the fall 2018 semester during those hours was 12 students per night.

“We know that students live their lives differently during finals week,” Wilson said. “A lot of students stay up later and get up earlier to make sure that they’re ready for their exams, and we thought that … we could help contribute to [students’ academic success] in this way.”

This decision was pushed for by the Armstrong Student Center Board, which is a group of students involved in the decision-making process of the building.

“As soon as we knew about the change in hours, we knew we had to think about finals and how the new hours schedule would impact students during finals,” said the board’s chair, Megan Creamer.

A full-time staff member will be in the building all night. Student employees were also given the option to work, and Pulley will have an assistant manager and other employees in the building as well.

Wilson said while they can stay open 24 hours during finals week, it isn’t sustainable year-round.

Armstrong still doesn’t have enough staffing, and she said it’s

“We know that students live their lives differently during finals week.”

-Katie Wilson not safe for one person to be there alone late at night when the building is so empty.

They will consider continuing the late night hours for future finals weeks, though.

“We’ll see how it goes and hope that we’ll be able to maintain it and that it’s popular enough that people come and use it,” Wilson said. @racheldberry berryrd@miamioh.edu

6 CULTURE

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019

HEADLEDD@MIAMIOH.EDU

OPD raises money and forgoes the razors for No-Shave November DAVID KWIATKOWSKI STAFF WRITER

When you think about police officers portrayed in television and film, how many of them have facial hair?

Odds are, quite a few.

Both of the leads in “Lethal Weapon” have facial hair. Tom Selleck sported a mustache in “Magnum, P.I.” and “Blue Bloods.” Ice-T has had a full goatee for 18 seasons on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

But how many cops do you see in everyday life that have facial hair? Not as many.

This year, the Oxford Police Department participated in its third annual No-Shave November fundraiser. Each year, the entire force is allowed to voluntarily grow out their facial hair if they donate to the local charity the force chooses.

The force chose to donate to the Oxford Community Foundation’s Logan David Keebler Memorial Scholarship in honor of Logan Keebler, the son of Oxford’s Streets and Maintenance supervisor Eric Keebler. Logan tragically died earlier this summer after an industrial fire.

“We work really closely with Eric and his crew,” Oxford Police Chief John Jones said.

“They started a foundation that will give scholarships to Talawanda kids.”

By growing out their beards, officers are technically violating one of the force’s codes of

conduct.

Oxford Division of Police’s General Order 41.3 Appendix B, Rule No. 2 says that officers may not have mustaches that extend below the upper lip line.

Rule No. 3 prohibits officers from having beards entirely.

Jones explained that there is a long-held stigma behind officers having facial hair.

“Officers are meant to be in uniform, clean cut and professional looking,” he said. “So, there’s always this thought that you couldn’t have a beard and be professional looking.”

Detective Matt Blauvelt points out the evolution of the attitude society has toward facial hair.

“Twenty or thirty years ago, beards weren’t considered appropriate at all,” Blauvelt said.

“And now, I think society is more accepting.

CEOs of companies have them. It’s much more mainstream.”

Every year, Jones issues a procedural order that lasts from the end of October to the end of December that suspends the rules prohibiting beards and mustaches in support of the No Shave November movement. The order also establishes the guidelines for the movement in order for the rules to remain suspended.

For instance, every officer participating must pay $40 for each month they participate.

They also may make an extra $10 donation and demand another officer to shave anytime

The Poet on Patterson JENNA CALDERÓN

THE MIAMI STUDENT Room 314 of Bachelor Hall is lined with shelves of books. A plush, pink couch dotted with throw pillows sits across from an organized desk, giving off a comfortable vibe.

The centered, rectangular window on the far wall overlooks Cook Field.

Cathy Wagner has made herself at home at Miami University.

Wagner is a professor of English at Miami and has been for the past 13 years, but she’s filled those years with more than just teaching.

Growing up, she moved around a lot.

Her dad was an officer in the army during the Vietnam War, so when the military called, they went. Adapting to new places has since been second nature to her.

Born in Burma, now present-day Myanmar, Wagner grew up around a way of life nothing like her own.

“I feel like my childhood was really lucky because I got to see all of these amazing things and … massive contrasts, you know?”

Wagner said. “We’d move every year or so.

I saw a lot of poverty, a lot of really, really interesting ways of living, and heard various languages. I think that has been sort of key to my thinking ever since, just to know that things can be otherwise.”

After the military, her father became a part of Catholic Relief Services, which took them all around the world from Indonesia to the Philippines, India and Yemen. When she was nine, they returned to the States and continued their lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Experiencing so many unique ways of life at such a young age ignited a spark inside of her. She began to write.

“I think there are things that will skew your perspective so that you see things a little bit differently than the people around you, and then that pushes you to write things down,” she said with a laugh. “What else are you going to do with that kind of feeling?”

She attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as an English major, then the University of Iowa for an MFA and finally the University of Utah for a doctorate in English with a creative dissertation.

After completing years of schooling, Wagner decided to give back by becoming a professor.

While Wagner was working as an adjunct professor at Boise State, she and her ex-husband split and she decided she needed a fresh start in a new state. She was drawn to Miami’s poetry cohort at the time, so she applied and eventually got the job.

Shortly after graduate school, she pub-

lished her first poetry book, “Miss America,” followed by four more in the following years.

Her third book, “My New Job,” was about her position at Miami.

“I felt very, very lucky to land here with these folks who were thinking in really original ways about poetry and teaching poetry in really original ways,” she said.

She doesn’t set times or places to write because it’s not organic.

“You shouldn’t set up rules for yourself that are going to get in the way,” Wagner said about her creative process. But she does enjoy writing in nature, specifically while she’s walking.

“I really like sounds … a lot of my poetry comes out of sounds, and I feel like there’s this whole world of sonic landscape that is often unattended to,” Wagner said.

When she’s not writing, she spends her time exercising, walking trails and biking.

For years, she didn’t even own a car.

Yet even with all of her work in the literary field, Wagner says her biggest accomplishments lie elsewhere.

She is very involved in activism and enjoys advocating for causes she’s passionate about.

As president of Miami’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), she works toward more fair wages for all teaching faculty at Miami. As a tenured professor, she feels obligated to use her position of privilege to invoke change.

“I feel like being an artist is [hard] … It’s so subjective, and you don’t get to have really firm accomplishments,” Wagner said. “I feel like the stuff I’ve done in terms of activism has been more clear to me in terms of accomplishments. That’s where I can see results.”

Wagner lives in Cincinnati and is working on her fifth book.

“I think a lot about, ‘What is my role as a poet?’ and writing poetry and publishing poetry in light of all the problems in the world, and how my poetry needs to change in light of those problems,” she said. “I don’t know what my poetry should look like right now.

It’s been changing a lot and I’m still thinking that through.”

Wagner loves teaching, especially undergraduates, and hopes that she has a positive impact on their new way of thinking through poetry.

“There’s a way that you can end up thinking that there’s a way you’re supposed to be,” she warns young writers. “If you can just try to hold a space where you can look at that and understand what bullshit it is, then that is the advice I would give.” calderjm@miamioh.edu

“You shouldn’t set up rules for yourself that are going to get in the way.”

- Cathy Wagner TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD, WAGNER FOUND NEW WAYS TO WEAVE WORDS. CONTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS.

THERE’S A “MORALE BOOST” IN THE OXFORD POLICE STATION WHILE OFFICERS GROW FACIAL HAIR. CONTRIBUTED BY OXFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT.

during the month. The challenged officer can override the shave demand by matching the amount of the demands against them within 24 hours.

Each year, to commemorate the end of NoShave November, the force takes composite photographs of just the officers’ beards and posts them on the division’s Facebook page.

The public then has their chance to vote for who grew the best beard. The top three officers that get the most votes win a prize chosen by Jones.

“There’s a little bit of a morale boost, since they get to grow facial hair,” Jones said. “And also it’s kind of their way of giving back to the community. [The contest] involves the community and it also humanizes that badge.”

Talawanda Middle School Student Resource Officer Matthew Wagers won the contest last year and believes the competition makes the workplace more fun.

“There’s a little bit of casual competition,”

Wagers said. “But I think we all enjoy not having to shave, too.”

The department has raised over $800 for the Logan David Keebler Memorial Scholarship and that number is set to grow as more officers will pay to keep their facial hair through the month of December.

“In Oxford, people aren’t used to seeing cops with facial hair,” Wagers said. “So, it is an attention-grabber. But then it is also an opportunity to spark conversation, too, because they want to come up and talk to you about it. And then we can tell them the cause behind it and it’s a way to let them know we’re trying to connect and support the community that we serve.”

Voting for this year’s contest begins on Tuesday, Dec. 17 on the Oxford Police Department’s official Facebook page, and it will end on Friday, Dec. 20. kwiatkdm@miamioh.edu

Miami students kiln it in the art department

ART 160 PUTS A NEW SPIN ON THE TRADITIONAL ART CLASS AND OFFERS STUDENTS A CHANCE TO DESIGN WITH WHIMSY. STAFF WRITER LEANNE STAHULAK.

LEANNE STAHULAK STAFF WRITER

The pottery wheels hum softly as nine students bend over their work, hands gently wrapped around the spinning cups and bowls.

Bright sunlight blazes in from the almost-fulllength windows spread across two walls of the room, illuminating the space and the students’ faces.

The professor, Neil Simak, wanders around the room with a handmade bronze-colored mug in one hand, sipping from it as the sunlight catches on the iron freckles decorating the ceramic surface. Simak sets the mug down to help a student, squatting down to the level of the wheel to point out where the student should trim the edge of their creation.

When senior diplomacy and global politics major Sarah Gaddy finishes trimming the foot of her bowl, she takes it off the wheel and brushes off the clay trimmings with a smile. The dark gray bowl sits steadily on its new base on the worktable, ready to be fired and glazed for Gaddy to take home.

All students who take ART 160: Beginning Ceramics walk away with at least six finished products at the end of the course. In just seven weeks, people with varying levels of artistic experience learn the fundamentals of ceramic-making, working with clay, water and specific tools to create their own masterpieces.

The class only meets once a week, so students are asked to spend at least three hours per week in the studio outside of class time, signing in at a small booth in Phillips 103A. This gives them a chance to fine tune their pieces or complete steps they ran out of time to do during class.

Simak said Beginning Ceramics has been offered for decades, but since he started teaching it three semesters ago, he decided to make it more approachable for students.

“The style of the course is very loose,” Simak said, “where we don’t want people to be afraid of the material — we want them to be open, feel free to ask questions, just make some cool stuff.”

For the first half of the sprint course, students dedicate almost all of their time to the first project, called a coil. This time-consuming project introduces a bit of the history of ceramics while also teaching people about the basic tools and materials used to create ceramic objects.

“Usually the coil project has some sort of historic significance, since ceramics is one of the oldest art forms,” Simak said. “So we’ll base it off of something that at least predates 1600 and usually recreate that piece or recreate the form and put in a more contemporary design or vice versa.”

After working on the coil, students will jump into the slab project. Instead of rolling out long coils and binding them together, the clay is worked through a “giant pasta maker” type machine that rolls out a slab of clay of a certain thickness. Students then shape the slab into a cup and,

at Simak’s insistence, add an animal design to the cup to give it a more “whimsical” appeal.

But the task most students look forward to is the wheel-thrown project at the end of the sprint course. They have to shape and design two cups and two bowls on the pottery wheel, making sure the clay stays centered and formed as the wheel spins mercilessly under their hands.

Senior international studies and public health major Liz Jonas caught on quickly to the first few hand-crafted projects, but getting used to the wheel was more of a struggle than she anticipated.

“I thought the wheel was gonna be pretty chill, but I was absolutely horrible at it,” Jonas said. “So it was really interesting in terms of, like, skill growth that I had to go and watch hours of YouTube videos, of tutorials, to try to get to a point where I could have something that I wasn’t ashamed of or didn’t just fall apart.”

Very few art or ceramics majors take the course, leaving it to students from other majors who need a creative course for their Miami Plan.

But several students in the class said they used to take ceramics in high school or have been thinking about taking it and never had the chance.

They use the course to brush up on old skills and develop new ones, especially people who have never worked with a pottery wheel before.

Gaddy, who’s been making ceramics on and off for the past several years, appreciates how the course has opened her eyes to a different side of ceramic-making and taught her more technical procedures. Like Jonas, she initially underestimated the pottery wheel, but after putting in more and more studio time, she noticed a visible difference in her creations.

“I spent a lot of time on the wheel because I had a vision of what I wanted to do, but actually doing it was a bit trickier than I expected,” Gaddy said. “But overall, I’m pretty happy with how things turned out.”

Putting in extra time on a specific piece is exactly what Simak wants for students taking the course. Part of the new changes he implemented was cutting back on the number of projects that had to be completed so students like Gaddy will become more familiar and comfortable with the few objects that are produced.

“It’s more quality over quantity, which I feel has worked out,” Simak said. “Students get to know those pieces much better, especially with the wheel thrown pieces, because cups and bowls are intimate objects that we use everyday.”

Simak hopes that having a physical object to hold and interact with will help students appreciate art and feel more comfortable pursuing artistic interests. No matter how busy or stressed students get throughout the semester, Simak wants the pottery studio to be a relaxed atmosphere where it’s just the students and their art.

It’s always time to seize the clay. stahullc@miamioh.edu

CULTURE 7

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019

DATTILEC@MIAMIOH.EDU

MU symphony orchestra reveals

‘The Two Faces of Freedom’

Rebecca Andres:

A strong, independent woodwind LISA ARCURE

THE MIAMI STUDENT

WITH VIOLINS, TRUMPETS, VOCALS AND MORE, THE MU SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA LET FREEDOM RING AT ITS NOVEMBER CONCERT. ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR BO BRUECK.

DAVID KWIATKOWSKI STAFF WRITER

Audience members reached for their pockets to make sure their phones were on silent as the sounds of violins being tuned filled the auditorium. Soon the sharp notes were joined by various woodwind instruments, prompting audience members to lower their voices and quiet side conversations.

As the lights began to dim, the orchestra drew its warm-up routine to a close. The audience followed suit and turned to focus all attention on the stage.

Let freedom ring.

The Miami University Symphony Orchestra and the Department of Music put on their “The Two Faces of Freedom” concert on Monday, Nov. 25 at Hall Auditorium.

The concert’s name was inspired by the two central pieces that showcased different meanings of freedom.

The first piece, “Urban Legends,” was composed by Michael Abels.

Abels recently did the scores for Jordan Peele’s films “Get Out” and “Us.” The piece was aided by four members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Fellows String Quartet.

Conductor and director of orchestral studies Ricardo Averbach was inspired by his experience on the organizing committee of the recent Freedom 55 conference in Cincinnati and he wanted to translate that by se lecting Abel’s piece to perform.

“I thought we should go beyond just having the conference in Cincinnati,” Averbach said.

So Averbach brought Freedom 55, and Abel’s piece, to Miami.

After “Urban Legends,” Miss Ohio winner and upcoming Miss America contestant Caroline Grace Williams

sang the aria “O mio babbino caro” from the opera “Gianni Schicchi.”

The concert culminated with “Symphony No. 5, Opus 47” by Dmitri Shostakovich. The composition was written in response to Shostakovich and his music was ostracized from public opinion after a scathing editorial in the Soviet Union’s Pravda newspaper, according to the concert playbook.

Averbach explained that the composition was also written during Stalin’s rule of the Soviet Union. “[The piece] was written in a moment when Russians were going through the most oppressive regime they ever had,” Averbach said. “People were being killed and disappearing.”

First-year music education major Sarah Perry detailed the complexity of the nearly 50-minute piece. “[This piece] was a feat for any orchestra,” Perry said. “Especially a non-professional orchestra of mostly students.”

In the concert booklet, the performance of Shostakovich’s symphony was dedicated to Professor Henry Orlov, a personal friend and colleague of Averbach. Orlov wrote a book on Shostakovich’s symphonies and his death inspired Averbach to lead his orchestra in a performance of “Symphony No. 5”.

“I’ve been wanting to perform Shostakovich here at Miami for the past 18 years,” Averbach said. “But I never had an orchestra capable of playing this music.”

Averbach knew that with this complex of a piece, he needed to expand his orchestra. Miami graduate Monica Hill revealed that Averbach reached out to her and her fellow alumni in an email.

“He asked us to come and play

this great piece,” Hill said. “Most of us said yes because playing something this large-scale is a wonderful opportunity.”

The concert had been in the works since the second week of October.

The orchestra was on an intensive rehearsal schedule for three times a week and the students took it upon themselves to extend their practice outside of rehearsal.

“I practiced around an hour or an hour and a half daily over the course of six weeks,” Perry said.

The “Two Faces of Freedom” concert demonstrates Averbach’s efforts to keep orchestral music relevant to today’s world by contextualizing universal themes like freedom in choosing his pieces.

“I think it’s always good to take those lessons from the past,” Averbach said. “And [I want to] keep remembering and seeing how they apply to today.”

Even students outside of the music program enjoyed the concert and the meaning behind each piece.

Sophomore psychology Andrew Martinez was impressed by the dedication of all the performers and not just the student ones.

“Some of those people are going to be playing these instruments for the rest of their lives,” Martinez said.

It’s crazy how passionate they are, he added.

While Averbach was conscious that his students were a little nervous about taking on these complex pieces, he left them with a little piece of advice before showtime.

“It’s better to make mistakes than to play tentatively,” Averbach said.

“If you’re going to make a mistake, just make it.” kwiatkdm@miamioh.edu

NOTES OF NOSTALGIA

Memories dancing through her head

THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, VISIONS OF PAST THEATRICAL ADVENTURES DANCE IN LILY’S HEAD. CONTRIBUTED BY THE FREIBERG FAMILY.

LILY FREIBERG

THE MIAMI STUDENT Some memories are so poignant that you’re able to recall specific details of the situation long after the event has passed. This series highlights the truly memorable moments of our writers’ lives, those that have stuck with them for days, months and years and now take shape as stories on the page. *** It was August 2015.

I was in the middle of geometry class.

I turned on my iPod touch, and I went to the cast list website to see if there were any updates.

I looked at the top line of the list where I saw the role, “Clara.” I scanned my eyes across the page and I saw my

name, “Lily Freiberg,” on the same line.

My heart started pounding as I took a screenshot of the page.

I was going to be Clara, the lead role, in Cincinnati Ballet’s “Frisch’s Presents The Nutcracker.”

It took me six years of auditioning and performing various roles, but my dream of being Clara was finally coming true. All of the hard work and determination had paid off.

I told my friend sitting next to me in geometry class. Then I apologized to my geometry teacher for freaking out in the middle of class. Later, I texted my dad the news and I told my best friend in school. When I told my mom later that day in the car, she cried.

Rehearsals were fun, but I underestimated the amount of work and time commitment it would take.

Clara was in every single scene, so I never left the stage. Clara sits and reacts to dances for the entire second act, so I still had to be in act two rehearsals and practice my reactions.

My first performance was exhilarating. I remember performing alongside my best friend and hugging the dancer who played the Nutcracker Prince when the curtain came down.

The first dress I wore, the party dress, was a tight, bright pink corset where the hoop skirt made it puff out a lot. My nightgown dress was a lot looser and it really felt like a nightgown.

My favorite part of the set was the growing Christmas tree, whose lights flickered along with the cheerful music.

I only got to be in five shows, but those five shows were special.

I got to perform in a show, called the “gentle matinee,” where the audience members had medical conditions, so the loud sound effects were muted and the house lights were kept at half.

I was also chosen to participate in the Sugar Plum Parade. This is when the younger children in the audience come onstage after the show and meet the dancers who played their favorite roles.

My favorite show to perform in was closing night because it’s known as a “give it your all” performance.

It’s the last performance of the year.

There are no notes or things to improve on after the show.

It’s the performance where dancers try to jump higher, turn more and do everything they possibly can to make the show the best show they’ve had.

At the end of the last performance, when Clara waved goodbye to everyone from the hot air balloon, I teared up a bit.

I didn’t want it to end.

Taking that final bow and watching the curtain go down for the last time was relieving but heartbreaking.

And just like Clara realizes the Land of Sweets fantasy was all a dream, still to this day, I feel like performing as Clara was a dream come true. @lilyfreiberg freibell@miamioh.edu

Spending her childhood forging her musical talents, Rebecca Andres eventually found herself playing for Cincinnati Broadway Across America’s Wicked.

In the 96 performances that followed, Andres further fine tuned her flute skills.

Andres found her passion for music in the fourth grade. She comes from a family of musicians — many of her relatives play piano and her sister plays the violin. Andres tried to play the violin too, but found that it wasn’t a good fit.

“It just wasn’t the right thing for me and I wanted to quit. I wasn’t enjoying it,” Andres said. “And then when I got in band, we had a flute in the family and I thought, ‘My mom and dad won’t have to buy an instrument,’ and I was just like, ‘this,’ you know?”

Her interest stuck.

Andres played the flute throughout middle school and high school, but she never thought she’d pursue the instrument as her lifelong career.

Her high school didn’t provide a lot of training in their music department.

But then she enrolled at Ohio State University (OSU). There, she found a space that fostered and encouraged her instrumental efforts.

“And then I didn’t think I would be a musician but, in the end, I was,” she said.

“I was going to have a different major but at the last minute, I was like ‘no’ I’m going into music education.”

Andres now plays the flute in the Dayton Philharmonic and Cincinnati Orchestras, and she’s done numerous shows for Cincinnati’s Broadway Across America.

There is a spot on Andres’ office wall reserved for people who have inspired and helped in her journey as a musician — a photo collage of them all adorns the wall.

“I’ve learned so much from each teacher that I’ve had,” she said.

John Pieron Paul, a teacher at OSU, takes on a small number of students to mentor each year and one year he chose Andres. Her college mentor helped teach her excellence and discipline, which is something Andres said she needed at the time.

“He put me on the straight and narrow path, he was extremely disciplined, he had an exercise for everything,” she said. “I have, hanging on my wall, exercises that I gave to students that he gave to me back in the day.”

One of the most rewarding experiences she’s had happened when she was almost finished with college.

Paul gave her the opportunity to take on a threeand-a-half week master class in Nice, France.

There, musicians from all over the world would practice five hours a day, everyday. She heard songs played on the flute in a way that she’d never heard before.

“That was eye opening,” she said.

Andres can’t pick just one performance as her all-time favorite. She has a top five, one which is when the Cincinnati Symphony performed a “Star Wars” concert.

“One thing I love so much is to be surrounded by the music,” she said. “I love it way better than being in the audience, and to sit in the middle of that I thought, ‘I’m so lucky. This is just great.’”

While immersing herself in the music, Andres has had the chance to play alongside a cast of renowned musicians. Worldclass cellist Yo-Yo Ma is just one of the many artists that Andres has performed with when he came to play with the Dayton Philharmonic.

“It’s so inspiring to play with world-class artists,” Andres said. “It lifts you and you really want to do your very best for the people you’re working with.”

Playing the flute isn’t easy, and every flutist has a different way of playing the instrument. Andres said it’s good to have a variety of types of flute players in an orchestra.

“In the end, that’s what makes the world go round in the orchestra I play in,” she said. “My section mate is kind of the opposite and that’s good: we both have our strengths.”

Practice is key for Andres. She still practices the scales and long notes she played in college.

Andres also knows how to play the piccolo, which plays an octave higher than the flute, and the alto flute, which plays an octave lower.

Andres is now one of two flute teachers at Miami University. The second flutist is her colleague, Morrigan O’Brien Kane.

The Department of Music at Miami primarily focuses on music education, while other schools focus on performers and don’t pay enough attention to their music departments, Andres said.

“The kids who come out of here are really well prepared to do a good job, and I have ultimate respect for a lot of the professors here.

They’re really good at what they do,” Andres said.

Becoming a musician is challenging, and Andres wants to let those pursuing music as their career know that they need to keep their doors open. They need to be dedicated to what they do and promote themselves in the right way.

“You go into music because you love music,” she said. @lisaarcure33001 arcurelv@miamioh.edu

“One thing I love so much is to be surrounded by the music.”

- Rebecca Andres

Humor

8

BERTRANT@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019

American Ninja Warrior-life crisis!

Study finds average ‘American Ninja Warrior’ contestant realizes exact moment it all went wrong halfway up warped wall SEAN MULLEE

THE MIAMI STUDENT Adding to the growing literature on mid-life crisis behavior and the post-divorce psyche, a study published last week by Miami University’s Department of Psychology found “American Ninja Warrior” contestants can pinpoint the exact moment their life went wrong, halfway through their ascension of the warped wall.

“The analysis of numerous case studies and extensive neurological testing led us to conclude that nearly every Ninja Warrior competitor finally understands what they have become as that final, towering obstacle begins to curve back over top of them,” associate professor Gregory Brown said. “Many see it as a metaphor for the regrets of their past coming back to swallow them whole, which can be a cathartic experience.”

Brown identified 40-year-old recent divorcees as the most susceptible to these mid-course epiphanies.

“A switch just flips for these guys as they charge up the wall,” Brown explained. “Like, they realized they’ve spent the last two years jumping on plywood in their condo after losing custody of the kids for

leaving them in their hot SUV while they bought 5-hour Energy drinks.”

The research team also found a striking correlation between Warriors who stared longingly into the crowd after completing the quintuple steps and men who had a history of public urination.

These offenders are about 30 years of age, on average, and tend to own more tank tops than collared shirts.

“Of course, many of them say they’re doing the competition for their community,” Brown said. “But reality strikes when they grab that inverted lip; they never really cared when a hurricane displaced hundreds of their neighbors.”

Brown points to additional evidence which uncovered a string of depressing contestants who hide their shame behind thinly-veiled charitable causes, like repairing damaged homes or volunteering with children every other weekend.

“But at the end of the day,” Brown explained. “They’re climbing that salmon ladder just to regain some semblance of that self worth they fumbled five years prior when they started eating only Lean Cuisine microwave dinners.” mulleesp@miamioh.edu

DESIGN EDITOR CONNOR WELLS

In defense of the whip and the nae nae NOAH BERTRAND HUMOR EDITOR

Let me go ahead and start this defense with a quick “watch me whip” immediately followed up by a drawn-out “... and watch me nae nae.”

Do you feel that excitement in your stomach?

Do your gums tingle?

Me, too — and that is a direct result of the genius of the famed cultural innovator Silentó. There is something magical about when a whip transitions smoothly into the nae nae, only to be overtaken by two more, fiercer whips.

It’s a cosmic puzzle coming together. It’s the sole reason I remember 2015.

The whip (and the nae nae) are connected to our youth culturally as well. The art of the whip is entombed with one of the most cherished texts in the socio-cultural realm: Vine.

It was a platform so influential and loved that it has infiltrated other, larger platforms, such as YouTube, by way of nostalgic compilation videos. The whip is branded into our cultural history as a people.

But, like the app that gave it life, the whip and the nae nae burned bright and died young.

The ripples of the whip can even

be seen in newer cultural imitations that have emerged throughout the past few years.

Dabbing, flossing, Fortnite dances and other performance-based memes all stem from the soul of the great Silentó. There have been other, weaker attempts to create these memetic trends (The Stanky Leg comes to mind) but none turned the tide quite like the whip and the nae nae. And the fact that these newer memetic performances continue to grow speaks to the luck, skill and concentrated power of will of Silentó’s legacy.

We had to learn to whip before we could floss.

The whip is a cultural lightning rod, which has electrocuted the world of performance-based memes and, for this, we owe it an immense debt.

My proposed plan to honor one of the most prominent creations in American culture is to supplant the whip and the nae nae in our public schools, in lieu of the antiquated, politically charged “Pledge of Allegiance.”

I will not rest until this goal is met.

I pledge allegiance to one thing, and one thing only: that motherfucking whip, baby. bertrant@miamioh.edu

Where are they now?

Famous water skiing squirrel now owns a Lowes, coaches peewee boxing.

Palm Reader caught read-handed

Study finds a direct correlation between sweat production and opening Canvas.

New, cooler Amish go even further backwards: To age of feudalism I AM TRAPPED IN THIS NEWSPAPER THIS IS NOT A HEADLINE, RACHEL, PLEASE HELP ME.

SNAILS:

MENACE OR BLESSING? Miami student is suddenly going to start taking school ‘seriously’ this week

‘Goo Goo Ga Ga’ says sole witness to Laketown murder

Second Ivy clone escapes from the Crawford’s basement

High school reunion the single night where knowing your childhood friend, an adult DJ, isn’t a huge bummer

Progressive family lets turkey slaughter their firstborn in kooky mixup NOAH BERTRAND HUMOR EDITOR

Every holiday season is kicked off by Thanksgiving — a time to be close with your family and to be thankful for all you have. Traditionally, this time of the year comes with a turkey, mashed potatoes, family gatherings and joy.

But, in a new and kooky mixup, one Akron couple has turned Thanksgiving on its head.

“We have never had any personal problems with the Stultas,” Akron resident Emile Renee said. “But

the only thing that always seems to get them in trouble? Their extreme views on animal activism.”

“This Thanksgiving, they took it too far,” she added.

This year, the Stultas did not eat a Thanksgiving turkey like the rest of their neighbors. Instead, they offered up their firstborn son, Harry, to a horde of turkeys as payment for the turkey blood being spilt on this glorious day.

Harry’s younger brother, Ryan, had a surprisingly optimistic outlook about his parents’ decision to sacrifice Harry.

“Honestly I think Harry was into it,” Ryan said. “Mom and Dad

frankly did a very good job of explaining why being pecked to death was the most ethical thing to do. We owe a debt to their kind, a debt only paid in blood.”

The Stulta family has a storied history with controversial acts of animal activism.

They famously protested at all 11 “AirBud” affiliated film premieres, not pausing as they screamed at the tiny puppies making their way down the red carpet.

Their late son, Harry, freed 38 horses from a nearby ranch in an attempt to “free them from their shackles.”

All 38 bodies of the horses have

now been found. All but four had died in the wild.

The Akron police were notified of the Stulta’s sacrifice and plan to investigate both the Stutla’s household and the turkeys’ cave.

But the force’s effectiveness has been shaky in the past.

Three years ago on Easter Sunday, the Stultas announced their plan to douse anyone dressed as the Easter bunny in rabbit blood.

The family successfully doused four bunnies before they were apprehended by local authorities.

“We thought it was a joke the first three times, but four marks a pattern, so we came when we could,”

said Sheriff Craig Donaldson, head of the Stulta investigation.

Now, with another crisis on their hands, the Akron community is looking for police protection.

“All we have found so far is some feathers at the scene, and some documentation showing that several turkeys applied for and received concealed carry licenses from the state,” Donaldson explained. “We’re sure Harry is done-for, but we need to bring these sick birds to justice.”

Donaldson declined to answer if his family had eaten a turkey on Thanksgiving. bertrant@miamioh.edu

BERTRANT@MIAMIOH.EDU

HUMOR 9

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019

My grandmother got into a fatal hit and run while walking home drunk on Christmas NOAH BERTRAND HUMOR EDITOR

“Grandma Got Runover By A Reindeer”

by Elmo & Patsy

*To the tune of “Grandma Got Runover By A Reindeer”

by Elmo & Patsy*

Grandma got runned over by a reindeer

My Grandmother is dead. She was just here a minute ago, drinking and being merry with her family. Grandma was an amazing woman, but forgetful to a fault. She had left her lactaid at home, and wouldn’t be able to participate in our fondue bonanza.

Walking home from our house Christmas Eve

She insisted on going home to retrieve it.

She’d been drinkin’ too much eggnog

We begged her not to go, the storm was at its peak and the wind burnt like fire. But Grandma would not miss another bonanza.

And we’d begged her not to go

You can say there’s no such thing as Santa But as for me and Grandpa, we believe

But she’d left her medication

As I mentioned, she had been drinking — rum spiked eggnog, to be specific. Grandma was, admittedly, a tank, but the nog had been flowing all night. I began to worry for her as she started off into the night, stumbling through six inches of heavy snow.

So she stumbled out the door into the snow When they found her Christmas mornin’

How had no one stopped her?

At the scene of the attack

I ask myself this question every day now.

There were hoof prints on her forehead

I couldn’t sleep. I had a feeling in my gut that wouldn’t go away, and it wasn’t because of the fondue. When I got downstairs, I heard the news.

Grandma was struck last night, fatally.

And incriminatin’ Claus marks on her back Chorus Now we’re all so proud of Grandpa

All they had to go off of was a pair of hoof prints on her forehead and claw marks on her back. It sounded to me like an animal attack until I learned their were sleigh tracks leading away from the scene.

He’s been takin’ this so well See him in there watchin’ football

It couldn’t be Santa. He isn’t real. But who else could be riding a sleigh around on Christmas? We were all a little confused.

Drinkin beer and playin’ cards with cousin Belle

Grandpa took it well, considering the circumstances. He had his moments of grief, but watching football seemed to help distract him.

Cousin Belle came over and started playing cards with Grandpa. She hated playing cards with him — he is a ruthless 52 pick-up competitor — but we could all see he needed it. He also started drinking. I think we all would.

It’s not Christmas without Grandma All the family’s dressed in black And we just can’t help but wonder: Should we open up her gifts or send them back?

We all changed into black clothing in remembrance of her. The house gradually became quieter and quieter with a lingering tension. None of the gifts had been opened. Looking over at the pile, I could see Grandma’s wrapping paper on boxes of all sizes. Should we really open these?

I was of the mind that we should throw them away — I didn’t want to see them. On the other hand, she said she was getting me a Nintendo Switch, which seemed impossible to pass up.

Chorus Now the goose is on the table And the pudding made of fig And a blue and silver candle That would have just matched the hair in grandma’s wig

The police weren’t able to find anything more in the following days.

There is no one with a registered sleigh in the tri-state area.

I’ve warned all my friends and neighbors

It had to be Santa.

“Better watch out for yourselves

Grandpa started believing as well. We needed an answer, and the only one I could think of was that fat bastard. Go to hell, you murderer. I’ve warned the neighborhood about you — and we will be waiting.

To a man who drives a sleigh and plays with elves.”

Enjoy your elves while you can.

Chorus x2

They should never give a license

betrant@miamioh.edu

Medals to give yourself when you did the bare minimum but need to feel accomplished cut ‘em out and stick ‘em on, you earned it!

Went to class and didn’t open your laptop or check your phone once.

Drank water.

Found the scrunchie you lost two weeks ago.

Realized it’s not a good idea to adopt a dog your senior year of college.

Didn’t mention you were a film major for an hour.

Went to a party and didn’t mansplain the Wikipedia article you read last night on spiders to anyone.

Wrote a check without Googling “How to write a check.”

Made it to the Farmer’s Market by noon.

Sports

10

VINELCA@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019

COLUMN: I was wrong about Chuck Martin BRADY PFISTER STAFF WRITER

I wanted Chuck Martin to be fired.

For too long, I watched talented Miami football teams lose close games. And, in my mind, that came down to the culture set by the head coach.

But now, with Miami set to take on Central Michigan this Saturday with the Mid-American Conference title on the line, I can conclusively say Martin has turned this program around. And as long as the whistle hangs around his neck, the RedHawks are here to stay.

Starting with the Cincinnati game in 2017, Martin’s teams lost nine consecutive games decided by one score or less. These were games the RedHawks should have won, but they handed to opponents in creatively heart-breaking ways.

I had never experienced a team better at clutching defeat from the jaws of certain victory than Miami during this stretch. And that’s coming from a Bengals fan.

Miami found innovative ways to lose, ranging all the way from an excruciating interception for a touchdown against Cincinnati, fumbling a shotgun snap off a fullback in the red zone against Bowling Green to earning an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late at Army.

When games got close, Martin’s players failed to rise to the occasion nine times in a row. This signified more than bad luck — it revealed a lack of mental toughness to put away tight contests.

And that was Martin’s fault.

The head coach of a football team is responsible for creating a culture of grit that produces players who know how to successfully fight through adversity. I saw little evidence of that, so I concluded that a change was necessary.

I was wrong.

When the Ohio Bobcats came

THIS SEASON, CHUCK MARTIN LED THE REDHAWKS TO SEVEN WINS AND A MAC CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS TENURE. MARTIN SIGNED AS MIAMI’S HEAD COACH AFTER THE PROGRAM WENT 0-12 IN 2013. THE MIAMI STUDENT ZACH REICHMAN

to Oxford in early November last season, the RedHawks showed me something I hadn’t seen since I began covering them: resolve.

After Miami led by 21 at the half, the Bobcats made a mad scramble back, attempting to claim the “Battle of the Bricks” for the sixth straight time.

“Here we go again,” I thought, as I seemingly watched yet another game slip away from the RedHawks.

But following a Doug Costin safety and a late stop by the Miami

defense, the RedHawks claimed their first one-score victory since Nov. 22, 2016 — nearly two years earlier.

The blue-collar RedHawks had finally arrived, and they haven’t left since.

Following an offseason which saw the departure of 15 starters, the RedHawks were outscored 149-32 by non-conference FBS opponents, including a humiliating 76-5 defeat at Ohio State.

Same court, different result?

Standing at 1-3 heading into conference play, the RedHawks rattled off six victories in seven games, though they were favored just once during that stretch.

But this wasn’t because the RedHawks finally saw breaks going their way. They created their own luck.

Miami put together a 31-0 run to pull away from Buffalo after being down, 14-3, in Week Five, coming off humiliation in Columbus against the Buckeyes. Two weeks later, the

’Hawks overcame a 10-0 deficit to beat Northern Illinois, 27-24, before going on the road to tough out a rainy road victory at Kent State, 23-16.

Eleven days later, the RedHawks made a midweek trip to Athens to renew their rivalry versus Ohio.

For all intents and purposes, Miami should have lost this game.

They lined up against Nathan Rourke, a senior quarterback widely regarded as the MAC’s best offensive player, in by far the loudest and most hostile environment I have seen Miami play in during my time with The Student, excluding Ohio State and Notre Dame.

On the field, Miami hardly deserved to win. The Bobcats outgained Miami by nearly 100 yards while consistently driving the football deep into RedHawk territory.

But the ‘Hawks’ defense produced timely stops and escaped with a 2421 win.

The common theme throughout the past 13 or so months? Martin’s program defying the odds.

This doesn’t just happen — it comes from a program-wide mental fortitude established by the head coach.

On Monday, Martin recalled telling former Miami President David Hodge in his interview for the head coaching position that he was going to build a “blue collar” football program in Oxford.

Two years ago, there’s no way you could watch Martin’s team choke away close games and describe them as a working-class team.

But now, with the RedHawks set to go to Detroit for the first time since 2010 after battling through the 2019 gauntlet, Martin has a roster of industrial football players.

You did it, Chuck. Miami football is back. And it has a blue-collar mindset. @brady_pfister pfistejb@miamioh.edu

FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK

Volleyball enters National Invitational Volleyball Championship CHRIS VINEL

SPORTS EDITOR Carolyn Condit wasn’t sure what to tell her team.

Her Miami RedHawks fell to Ball State, 3-1, eliminating them from the Mid-American Conference Tournament Nov. 23 at Bowling Green’s Stroh Center. It could’ve been the end to their season.

“I said, you know, I really don’t know what to tell you now,” Condit said.

“Nothing I say can make you feel better.

I know you all put your heart into it, but we just didn’t find our rhythm, and we just didn’t go at them (the Cardinals) early enough to keep them in check.”

Instead of going home, they’re getting a chance for redemption on the same court as the MAC Tournament defeat. The RedHawks were selected to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship and will play Texas Christian Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

“I knew we had a very good chance [of going to a postseason showcase],” Condit said.

Despite a 9-17 record, TCU features athletic and powerful players all over the court. The Horned Frogs compete in the Big 12 Conference. Three of their final four opponents — TCU lost to each — are in the NCAA Tournament.

“TCU is pretty athletic,” Condit said. “They have a couple big blockers that can get their heads over the top of the net, and they’re just a really athletic team. However, their downfall is they

don’t play the best defense. They don’t necessarily have a blocking scheme, so even though they’re big and go over, we’ve worked a lot today on going high, going off their arms, finding seams.

There’s a couple [TCU] kids that really aren’t sure of themselves on defense.”

Miami has played similar teams (Ohio State, Tennessee), so it knows how to handle them.

“One thing, for sure, is starting strong,” Condit said. “With our serves, find the velocity we need to keep the other good teams out of system. If they’re not passing to the next, they can’t run quick and isolate our block.”

If all goes according to plan, Miami will face rival Bowling Green on the Falcons’ home court in the second round.

For that to happen, both will have to win their first-round matchups. The two teams split their season series.

“Just to prove to ourselves that we can play that well and take care of us,” Condit said, “Then, I feel like we can give them the game we need to give them.”

The RedHawks have all their weapons at their disposal, too. Sarah Wojick, Sophie Riemersma and Gaby Harper have battled injuries, but all three will be available for the NIVT. Now, with the chance for redemption solidified, Condit knows exactly what to tell her team.

“We can do it.” @ChrisAVinel vinelca@miamioh.edu

THE REDHAWKS HOLD A 17-11 RECORD (12-4 MAC) AS THEY HEAD INTO THE NATIONAL INVITATIONAL VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT. THE MIAMI STUDENT ZACH REICHMAN

REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE SAFETY STERLING WEATHERFORD AND SENIOR DEFENSIVE LINEMAN DOUG COSTIN CELEBRATE DURING A 76-5 LOSS ON SEPT 21 AT OHIO STADIUM. PHOTO EDITOR JUGAL JAIN

RedHawks to learn from, not dwell on, Ball State loss before MAC Championship CHRIS VINEL

SPORTS EDITOR Hours after telling his RedHawks Friday’s loss should hurt in their stomachs, Chuck Martin felt the Chick-Fil-A trying to escape his own.

Watching tape on the bus ride home from a 41-27 loss to Ball State, Martin wanted to vomit as he studied his defense’s second-half breakdowns.

“I told some of the players, ‘Hey, when you watch our first half, that’s fine,’” Martin, Miami’s head coach, said. “There’s some really nice things that were done in the first half. But before you watch the second half, you might want to have an empty stomach ...

“I probably had too much ChickFil-A.” In the RedHawks’ final game before Saturday’s Mid-American Conference Championship contest, they led, 27-14, but didn’t score a single point after halftime. The defense allowed 27 in the second half, allowing the Cardinals to complete the comeback.

“We played our first bad half of football, probably, since the first quarter of Buffalo [in September],” Martin said. “That was a disappointing second half.”

Freshman quarterback Brett Gabbert didn’t play in the second half due to a late first-half injury.

His backup, redshirt sophomore

Jackson Williamson, couldn’t continue the momentum, finishing 4-of-11 for 52 yards and two interceptions. Gabbert is on track to play against Central Michigan Saturday.

Miami allowed three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, alone, pushing Ball State ahead.

For the game, redshirt junior quarterback Drew Plitt threw for 317 yards and three scores.

Junior running back Caleb Huntley matched Plitt’s touchdown total with three on the ground. He ran for 134 yards, the most the RedHawks had allowed to a single player since falling to Western Michigan a month and a half ago.

Coincidentally, that’s the last game Miami lost before Friday.

Martin said the loss, despite its timing, will be treated like any other.

“The first thing is looking critically, like we do every week, even after a win, at what did we do well,” Martin said. “What do we need to improve on? Let’s really work hard at improving those areas.”

To combat the Chippewas this weekend, the RedHawks aim to get over the Ball State loss quickly.

Under first-year head coach Jim McElwain, Central Michigan enters the MAC Championship with an 8-4 record — a huge turnaround after a 1-11 campaign last season.

“Obviously, they’ve done a crazy-great job of just getting everybody to buy into their systems and way of life,” Martin said.

“They’re very physical. They’re very tough-minded. They’re very wellcoached, and they’re very disciplined. But they’re crazy talented.”

Sophomore wideout Kalil Pimpleton leads the conference in receiving yards. Martin called him one of the two “most electric dudes in this league, by far.”

Junior wideout JaCorey Sullivan places fourth in the conference in receiving yards.

On the ground, the Chippewas feature two tailbacks who are poised to finish the season with more than 1,000 rushing yards.

Senior Jonathan Ward has already eclipsed that number with 1,056 yards. Sophomore Kobe Lewis and his 953 yards aren’t far behind.

They’ve combined for 27 total touchdowns.

“No one tackles him, and he’s probably one of the best receiving backs in the country,” Martin said of Ward. “That’s his ticket to the NFL, to be able to do both.”

Central Michigan’s defense allows an average of 26.8 points per game, which ranks third in the MAC. “There’s a reason that they’re good,” Martin said. “No one who’s played them thinks they’re a fluke.”

The MAC Championship kicks off Saturday at noon inside the Detroit Lions’ Ford Field. The game will air on ESPN2. @ChrisAVinel vinelca@miamioh.edu

VINELCA@MIAMIOH.EDU

SPORTS 11

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019

STARTING GOALIE SHARES THE LARKIN LEGACY EMILY DATTILO

CULTURE EDITOR Senior Ryan Larkin grew up playing hockey with his older brother and two cousins, and he was the last to learn how to skate.

“Since I couldn’t skate, they made me play goalie and I ended up kinda developing the skills for it,” Ryan said.

Recreational leagues allow players to rotate positions, but by age 10, Ryan found his home in the net, playing goalie full-time. Twelve years later, the net is still home and, for the last three years, it has rested on the ice of the Steve “Coach” Cady Arena.

During the summer, however, he returns to Michigan, his home state, to share his hockey skills with younger kids in a special way.

For the past four years, Ryan, his brother, Adam, and his cousins, Dylan and Colin, have run Larkin Hockey School at Lakeland Arena in Michigan, after their local rink owner asked if they’d be interested in starting a camp.

All four boys have plenty of hockey experience — Ryan is Miami’s starting goalie, Colin played at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Adam played at Yale and Dylan is the alternate captain for the Detroit Red Wings. Between the four of them, all three positions are covered.

“We have a little bit of something for every kid that comes to the camp

and someone that’s kinda an expert on that position, and I guess it just kinda went from there,” Ryan said.

This past year, the youngest participant they had was five-years-old and the oldest was 13 or 14, so the camp is split into three-day segments to accommodate the three different age groups.

On a typical day back in Oxford, Miami goalies grace the ice 30 minutes before the rest of the players, working on goalie-specific training before delving into a regular team practice. Ryan says if the goalies aren’t focused, the rhythm of practice gets thrown off.

“The game kind of revolves around us, so it’s important that we’re always ready and that, during practice, we’re ready to go,” he said.

On game days, he breaks the game down into five-minute pieces. While his teammates swerve about a stretch of ice, sending shards of ice flying into side boards, Ryan commands a smaller amount of space with the same amount of intensity. He takes his stance, fiercely protecting the net.

“The very first save is kind of in a category of its own — you always like to get that first save, it makes you feel confident and feel like you’re in the game,” he said.

Being in the net requires both speed and focus without much break.

Ryan says the mental part of being a goalie is more tiring than the physical part. During the week, he practices

with purpose and talks with coaches and former Miami goalies to try to decrease stress and calm his nerves.

“At the end of each weekend, there’s a big mental wear and tear on ya, and it’s just kind of between the nerves and the pressure of the position,” Ryan said. “Every Sunday is kind of a day just to relax and get your mind away from hockey.”

Despite the high-pressure nature of his position, Ryan’s demeanor is calm and quiet. Dressed in black athletic pants, a light blue hoodie, black and white bracelets and Nike gym shoes, he chats about his love for his sport.

He talks about his most memorable moments as goalie — his first win freshman year playing against Providence, and a game in North Dakota where Miami was down 3-1 at the beginning of the third period, and ended up winning it 5-3 — and he talks about how the relationships that are built make hockey different from other sports.

“You’re also all competing for the same thing, while competing against each other for playing time at every position,” he said. “So, you get a little bit of everything, but it really is a family atmosphere.”

And really, that’s nothing new. For Ryan, hockey has always been a family affair. dattilec@miamioh.edu

SENIOR RYAN LARKIN IS IN HIS FOURTH SEASON AS MIAMI’S STARTING GOALTENDER. THIS SEASON, HE HAS SAVED 88.4 PERCENT OF THE SHOTS HE’S FACED. CONTRIBUTED BY MIAMI ATHLETICS

̓HAWKS RETURN TO MILLETT LOOKING FOR A W SCOUTING REPORT THE GAME

Tipoff: 7 p.m. Tuesday at Millett Hall TV/Radio: ESPN+, Miami Sports Network from Van Wagner, RedHawk Radio on YouTube Live

MIAMI REDHAWKS

Record............................................................................. 4-3 Offense....................................................................75.4 ppg Defense....................................................................69.7 ppg

PROJECTED LINEUP

Player......................................... (position, height, key stat) Dae Dae Grant.................................. (guard, 6’2”, 6.6 ppg) Nike Sibande....................................(guard, 6’4”, 16.6 ppg) Milos Jovic........................................ (guard, 6’4”, 5.9 ppg) Dalonte Brown............................. (forward, 6’7”, 13.6 ppg) Bam Bowman.................................(forward, 6’8”, 8.5 ppg)

NORTHERN KENTUCKY NORSE

Record..............................................................................5-3 Offense:...................................................................76.6 ppg Defense....................................................................67.6 ppg

PROJECTED LINEUP

REDSHIRT JUNIOR GUARD MILOS JOVIC DEFENDS AN INBOUND PLAY DURING MIAMI’S SEASON-OPENING LOSS TO WRIGHT STATE NOV. 9 AT MILLETT HALL (LEFT).

JUNIOR GUARD NIKE SIBANDE SHOOTS A FLOATER DURING HIS 24-POINT PERFORMANCE AGAINST THE RAIDERS (RIGHT). THE MIAMI STUDENT ZACH REICHMAN

MIKE GUISTOLISE STAFF WRITER

The men’s basketball RedHawks are looking to shake off a disappointing Florida road trip after going 1-2 in the Gulf Coast Showcase last week.

As Northern Kentucky (5-3) comes to Millett Hall Tuesday evening, Miami (4-3) will seek a return to the winning culture head coach Jack Owens continues to try to build in Oxford.

“They play a lot of iso-basketball,” Owens said of NKU. “I truly believe we will shoot the basketball better than we did in Florida. We have to come out when we have an opportunity to win games … This is going to be a great test for us.”

The test might be more important to the future of the season than predicted.

Although the RedHawks’ record might not be immediately alarming to fans, the inconsistency of whether the team is able to make plays for one another has carried over from game to game. This plagued Miami in the Showcase, when, during the threegame span, the RedHawks combined for 18 assists (four, nine and five, respectively).

The issue of the ball sticking in players’ hands has been addressed by Owens more than once in the first seven games, but it remains.

The leading playmaker for the team is sophomore guard Mekhi Lairy (3.4 APG), who comes off the bench. This

issue leads to the starting lineup having five players who come out ready to eat, but no one is there to set the table.

Success in transition has helped keep games close. Junior guard Nike Sibande has taken big strides on the defensive end, averaging a steal per game while also carrying the responsibilities of being the starting lineup’s primary ball handler.

Keeping the same defensive intensity against the Norse is key in defending their star 6-foot-7 senior forward, Dantez Walton, who leads NKU in scoring (16.6) and rebounding (7.0).

Walton will most likely be matched up against junior forward Dalonte Brown, who has the potential to match Walton in every facet.

SCOREBOARD WEDNESDAY MEN’S BASKETBALL

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Liberty...................................... 65

Miami....................................... 66 Miami....................................... 53 Wright State..............................71

FRIDAY FOOTBALL Miami....................................... 27 Ball State.................................. 41

HOCKEY

SATURDAY

HOCKEY Miami......................................... 3 UConn........................................4

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Miami.........................................4 Miami....................................... 62 UConn........................................ 6 Miami (Fla.).............................80

Player......................................... (position, height, key stat) Bryson Langdon................................(guard, 5’9”, 8.1 ppg) Tyler Sharpe..................................... (guard, 6’1”, 12.5 ppg) Trevon Faulkner............................. (guard, 6’4”, 13.0 ppg) Dantez Walton............................. (forward, 6’7”, 16.6 ppg) Silas Adheke.................................(forward, 6’10”, 5.3 ppg)

The Norse, however, will not be at full strength, as junior guard Jalen Tate broke his hand in practice and had surgery on it two weeks ago. Tate played in three games while pacing the team in assists and placing second in rebounds per game before being sidelined.

The RedHawks are also slowly recovering from early-season injuries, hopefully giving way to the chemistry that was seen as a strength when the year began.

Who’s hot Sibande continues to build his resume for the NBA. His 20 points in 36 minutes of play are typical of his workhorse mentality. The team will need Sibande to keep up the intensity

while the rest of the team looks to find its identity.

Who’s not Isaiah Coleman-Lands has worked to become a catch-and-shoot spark off the bench, but his shooting percentages haven’t quite been up to par yet. He sits at 31 percent from the field and 30 percent from the arc in the first seven games. Coleman-Lands can go on a tear at any moment, but moving the ball and getting closer to the basket might serve him better to get out of his post-injury funk. guistom@miamioh.edu

’Hawks Talk “It’s Dec. 2. It’s my wife’s birthday. I’m not taking her out to dinner tonight ’cause we’re preparing for the MAC Championship game.” ⁃⁃ Chuck Martin, while discussing his dedication and love for his players and their chance in Saturday’s conference championship game

Opinion

12

RIGAZIKM@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2019

STAFF EDITORIAL

We need to be better for the sake of the kids.

The following reflects the majority opinion of the Editorial Board.

Well, folks, we’re in the homestretch.

Two more weeks until we can kiss this semester goodbye and ride off into the sunset toward holiday cheer and a little less homework. Our staff has been reflecting on the good, the bad and the ugly of this past semester, setting our sights on what we hope to improve come January.

We’re drafting our New Year’s resolution, if you will.

Going forward, we at The Miami Student hope to see the relationship between our reporters and Miami’s administration improve in hopes to increase transparency on our campus. But achieving this resolution starts with setting some common ground and erasing the idea that our staff is pushing an anti-administration agenda.

We’ve heard this narrative from students as well as administrators, and it’s simply not true.

We certainly aren’t a PR agency. We’re not going to write stories because people want some positive coverage. We’re going to be critical, and we’re going to shed light in our community. That’s our job.

But we can’t effectively do our job when we’re purposely stonewalled so we never get the whole picture.

As students we’re on 24/7, and often forget what it means to be on a nine to five

schedule. So, we aim to work on both acknowledging and remembering this disconnect and give administrators more lead time to answer our questions.

Despite our best efforts, we sometimes get things wrong.

We hold our reporters to high standards, and want to make sure that errors aren’t repeated. We’re always open to constructive feedback from our readers and the people

to hide, or that they don’t have an answer.

“No comment” allows for misconceptions to spread and breeds confusion. “No comment” makes those affected by these stories feel ignored or disenfranchised by the leaders of their community.

The Miami Student is one of the few remaining newspapers in southwestern Ohio, and as more and more publications are forced to cut back on coverage our stu-

“‘No comment’ allows for misconceptions to spread and breeds confusion.” that we report on. But seeing a mistake and deciding it’s not worth an administrator’s time to comment in the future is not conducive to improving our community.

It often feels like Miami subscribes to the idea that the best PR response is “no comment.”

But “no comment” won’t kill a story. Our reporters will simply write that a comment was asked for and not provided.

Instead, “no comment” gives the perception that the university has something

dent-journalists are forced to step up. We cover the largest employer in the county — a university that houses and educates thousands of students. These issues directly impact our lives, our peers and the community we care about. It’s imperative we get these stories out to the public and that we get them right.

Offering “no comment” won’t stop us from doing that.

While our staff understands that federal privacy law puts limitations on how specific

the administration can be, we assert that it doesn’t bind them to a code of silence. Instead of speaking to the specifics of a certain incident, tell us about the processes the university has in place for similar situations.

Offer something better than silence, at least.

Last month, The Student reported firstyear Nicholas Shaw had been expelled from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis after the university found him guilty of sexual assault and he was criminally convicted in relation to the assault.

Miami’s administration has yet to publicly acknowledge what happened.

We never would have had any clarity, had Miami’s Dean of Students Kimberley Moore not sat down with members of our staff and walked them through the process Miami follows in active threat cases similar to Shaw’s.

We could have avoided strife on both sides if an explanation of the mechanisms of these procedures were more readily offered to students.

If a reporter asks questions you can’t answer, explain why you can’t and answer what you can. If you’re not the right person to talk to, point our reporters in the direction of who is. It doesn’t just help us — it helps the community that relies on our reporting.

And, ultimately, aren’t we fighting for the same community?

I’m about to graduate and it hasn’t hit me yet.

I really need it to.

BEN DEETER

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR It’s almost here.

In a week, I’ll say goodbye to some of the greatest friends I’ll ever know. I won’t be a student at Miami University anymore.

But it hasn’t hit me yet.

I really figured I’d be smacked upside the head with a wave of extreme sadness and nostalgic longing by now.

But nope, nothing.

I’ve thought about it a lot. I feel bad that I can’t match the despair expressed to me by many of my friends. I want to be sad with them. I want to cry with them. I want to know exactly when all the emotions tied up in this place will hit.

I think I’ve figured it out, and I don’t like it.

I’ve spent most of my college career, especially this past semester, running around between all of my commitments. Most days, I don’t get back into bed until 2 or 3 a.m., which I know is average for college students, but it still takes a toll. I don’t have a moment to stop and really take everything in and feel all the feelings.

So, it’ll hit me once I’m done.

It’ll hit me after I leave the offices of The Miami Student late on a Monday night knowing I’ve helped put together my last print issue of the newspaper that’s given me so much.

After I say goodbye to the handful of professors that have changed my life and helped take me from an unsure 18-year-old to a smarter-but-still-unsure 22-year-old.

After I finish recording my last episode of “This Week @ TMS,” leaving behind a podcasting arm that I created to be run by someone else.

After I leave my last class in Harrison Hall, the building that took an agreeable centrist youngster, chewed him up and spit him back out a Bernie-curious progressive.

After I sing my last note as a member of the Miami Men’s Glee Club, or sing my final parting song with my brothers in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

After all those last times, it still won’t sink in. It still won’t feel real.

I don’t think I’ll feel it even when I’m walking across the stage in Millett, wearing an insane assortment of ornaments around my neck that make me look like a sad, red Christmas tree.

It won’t come until after I see all the Snapchat stories and Instagram updates that everyone is back in Oxford, ready for one last hurrah of a semester. And, months from now, when I receive my official receipt (two of them, actually) for one college education in the mail.

It will hit when I finally have a chance to stop running around.

And I’ll have no one to share in that misery. I don’t like that prospect at all, but I also can’t just stop all my responsibilities in the last week of class.

I want it to sink in sooner. Somehow, in between every commitment, every class period, every meeting, I’ll have to find a way to remind myself of everything I’ll be leaving behind.

As I make my last mad-dash across campus to get to class on time, I won’t put in my earbuds. I’ll look around and appreciate the beautiful campus that became home for almost four years. I’ll forget all the crap I have to do for the next day so I can be present enough to laugh, cry and reminisce with a few of my best friends over a few (or, hopefully, more) drinks at Steinkeller.

Instead of thinking about how I have to

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remaining moments I have in the place that I love with the people that I love.

I’ll force it to hit me, and then I can get properly emotional when I finally say what is somehow the corniest and most emotional line in Miami history: “To think in such a place, I led such a life.”

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A D V A N C E .

M E N T O R .

deeterbj@miamioh.edu

I N V E S T .

GIVING CIRCLE GRANTS Over $123,000 awarded in grants last year!

If you are a student, staff or faculty member of any of the Miami University campuses – you are invited to apply for grants ranging from $2,500 to $20,000!

• Applicants are invited whether solo or in groups, teams or organizations.

• Grants awarded for programs, projects, initiatives and research that are not profit-making endeavors.

Think big!

Finalists will be part of Hawk Tank, a fast-pitch event on April 23, 2020, where our Giving Circle members will vote for their favorite projects to receive funding.

Past winners include: Miami Women’s Basketball, Habitat for Humanity, Advancing Women in Entrepreneurship, MobilePack Miami, Computer Science in Modern Biology and more.

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edit another podcast later, I’ll look around Presser 222, at the guys I’ve had the privilege of making music with for years, and remember each of their faces and the sound of our voices together.

I’ll take my grandparents’ advice and write out thank-you letters to professors and friends, letting them know just how much better my life has been made with them in it.

I’ll do whatever I can to appreciate all the

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