ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Volume 147 No. 20
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2019
FORMER STUDENT ARRESTED ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES
Rainn-ing down knowledge
CÉILÍ DOYLE
NEWS EDITOR Former Miami University first-year Adam Blatt was arrested by the Miami University Police Department (MUPD) Feb. 12 at the Maplestreet Station dining hall for operating a Dropbox account containing 17 videos of child pornography. MUPD investigated Blatt’s Dropbox account with the help of Southwest Ohio Crimes Against Children Task Force after receiving a tip Feb. 7, according to the incident report. Blatt was charged with 17 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, a fourth-degree felony. Blatt’s Dropbox account had “178 movies of questionable content,” MUPD Detective Walter Schneider wrote in the incident report. The report noted 17 of the movies “contained footage of obvious prepubescent females engaging in sexual acts.” After being taken into questioning, Blatt told MUPD the email associated with the Dropbox account in question was his, but that he had not shared access to the account with anyone else. Blatt’s case was moved to the jurisdiction of the Butler County Court of Common Pleas. Judge Keith Spaeth gave the prosecuting attorney, Michael Gmoser, 60 days to present additional evidence ADAM BLATT to a grand jury, CONTRIBUTED BY MUPD which was filed by the clerk of courts on Wednesday, March 6. Blatt posted a $17,000 bond and subsequent fees the day after his arrest and is currently out of jail on bail, according to an entry in the court docket. As of last week, Blatt is no longer enrolled at Miami, university spokesperson Claire Wagner said. A hearing will be scheduled after Gmoser finishes presenting evidence to the grand jury by June 12. doyleca3@miamioh.edu
“THE OFFICE” STAR RAINN WILSON SPOKE TO A FULL HOUSE AT HALL AUDITORIUM. THE MIAMI STUDENT SARAH BROSSART
ANNA MINTON
world a better place and decided to do it through digital media content,” said Wilson. “I really had a calling to make a change in the world, and we want to instill joy in people.” Wilson came up with the company when discussing with colleagues how to change the world for the better; the name came from GoDaddy.com. “We were all in Andy Grammer’s apartment, thinking of existential terms and then random food,” said Wilson. “And we checked on GoDaddy, and Spirit Taco was taken, so we went with SoulPancake.” SoulPancake works to promote positive and thought-provoking content. Wilson and co-founders Joshua Homnick and Devon
STYLE EDITOR
Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica. And now? Big Questions. On Monday, Rainn Wilson came to speak at Hall Auditorium about “life’s big questions.” Tickets to the event sold out within a couple of hours. While Wilson is mainly known for his work as Dwight Schrute in the popular television show “The Office” (U.S.), he spent the lecture discussing his work as a founder of the popular media and entertainment company SoulPancake. “Essentially, we just wanted to make the
Gundry started the platform in 2008, and it has already gathered over 10 million loyal followers across various platforms. SoulPancake was recently bought by the Oscar-winning entertainment and media company Participant Media. The company aims to “target the optimistic millennial,” according to its website, by creating content that addresses questions like what it means to be human. Some of SoulPancake’s most popular content includes Kid President, Kitten Therapy and a series of videos for the Super Soul Sunday Program for the OWN network. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
ARENA
Senate probes Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes SAMANTHA BRUNN NEWS EDITOR
SEN. ROB PORTMAN LED THE NATION-WIDE INVESTIGATION OF THE CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE. ILLUSTRATION BY: CONNOR WELLS
A United States Senate investigation into the Confucius Institute found no wrongdoing by the Chinese government-funded language and culture program, which operates centers at universities across the country — including Miami. The investigation, led by Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman and Delaware Democrat Sen. Tom Carper, called for increased transparency in the funding mechanisms from Hanban — a semi-governmental agency affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education that funds the Confucius Institute. The results of the investigation, which lasted for eight months, were revealed in a Feb. 28 hearing in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. “This bipartisan report documents the stunning lack of transparency and reciprocity from China in how Confucius Institutes operate inside the United States,” Portman said in his opening statement at the hearing. “As China has expanded Confucius Institutes here in the U.S., it has systematically shut down key U.S. State Department public diplomacy efforts on Chinese college campuses.” Though the investigation originally aimed to determine whether the Chinese government has attempted to spread propaganda through Confucius Institutes, Portman and
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Carper ultimately claimed the Chinese government was curtailing “academic freedom” by funding these departments throughout the United States. “That level of access can stifle academic freedom and provide students and others exposed to Confucius Institute programming with an incomplete picture of Chinese government actions and policies that run counter to U.S. interests at home and abroad,” Portman said in a separate statement after the investigation concluded. Miami’s Assistant Provost of Global Initiatives, Cheryl Young, said she was surprised by the senators’ allegations. “Our experience with the Confucius Institute, at least over the last 12 years, is not what these negative things being reported in the Senate are,” Young told The Miami Student. Young said the Miami University Confucius Institute (MUCI) is a valuable resource for students interested in engaging in Chinese culture and for helping bridge cultural gaps. MUCI proposes its events to Hanban, whose officials then determine which will receive funding. Universities receiving more than $250,000 from Hanban are legally required to document the contributions as foreign gifts. Young said that while Miami hasn’t reached the legal threshold since 2009, the department still voluntarily reports its receipts. In 2018, MUCI received $30,000, which is much lower than in previous years. In 2017, CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
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