ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Volume 147 No. 12
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2018
CONTROVERSY OVER MACE BAN IN DORMS BRIAH LUMPKINS THE MIAMI STUDENT
RACHEL BERRY SAMANTHA BRUNN STAFF WRITER
Amid allegations of racist conduct by two student senators and an executive cabinet member, Miami’s Associated Student Government (ASG) held a 90-minute closed-door meeting Tuesday, Nov. 13, that appeared to violate Ohio’s open-meeting law. The executive session was called to discuss a two-year-old Snapchat video that has plunged ASG into turmoil. Two years ago, College of Education, Health and Society Academic Senator Conor Daly and Off-Campus Senator Connor Mallegg were filmed in a Snapchat video singing and dancing along to the song “Ultralight Beam” by Kanye West featuring Chance The Rapper. It is unclear whether they used the racial slur in the song’s lyrics — ASG’s own oversight committee cleared the students of wrongdoing, but other members of the body launched a petition to impeach the two senators.
On Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, Secretary for On-Campus Affairs Mike Meleka sent the two-year-old video from his Snapchat memories in a Snapchat group of current and former ASG members. Meleka had undergone surgery the previous day and was under the influence of heavy painkillers. He claims not to have watched the video before he sent it. * ** ASG violated Ohio law by closing the meeting to the public without providing an adequate reason. When The Miami Student’s reporter asked for the explicit purpose of calling the executive session, Speaker of Senate Cole Hankins refused to provide one. “When Student Senate approves student organization funding allocations or our internal operating budget, we are required to act as a public body because, in those instances, we are allocating public money derived from student fees,” Hankins wrote in an email following the meeting last Tuesday. “Aside from those cases, we are not legally required to act as
a public body.” The Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22 lists specific instances when a public body is allowed to call an executive session and bar reporters and other observers from the proceedings. The body must state which of the specified instances is the reason for calling the session. ASG claims not to be a public body in most circumstances. However, the Ohio Revised Code defines a public body as “any board, commission, committee, council or similar decision-making body of a state agency, institution or authority.” Miami University is a state institution, held to these same standards. ASG is a public body at all times, according to the Student Press Law Center. In a 2001 case, The Cincinnati Enquirer v. City of Cincinnati, the Ohio Court of Appeals ruled that a body that makes decisions and gives recommendations to a public body must comply with the public meetings law. Therefore, even if ASG’s decisions are not final, they are still bound under the same laws.
The Office of Residence Life (ORL) is enforcing a policy that requires resident assistants to write up their residents if they are caught with pepper spray in their dorms. The policy is enforced through Miami University’s Student Code of Conduct Weapons section (107), which lists several prohibited weapons that apply to all students attending Miami University, even those who do not live on campus. ORL considers pepper spray to be a weapon under the category of a “dangerous chemical.” But the student code of conduct does not explicitly ban the use or possession of pepper spray in dorms or broadly on campus as a whole, Dean of Students Kimberly Moore said in an email to The Miami Student. ORL officials said they work closely with the Miami University Police Department (MUPD) and Miami’s General Counsel’s office to make sure they are following university guidelines around what is permitted and prohibited in residential communities. However, MUPD Captain Ben Spilman claims that his department did not have a direct influence on ORL’s decision. “The university’s policy against the student code of conduct does not prohibit pepper spray. So, if you’ve read anything anywhere, it must be specifically in residence halls,” said Spilman. “But it’s not because of any specific recommendation that the police department has made.” With a total of 13 sexual assaults reported this semester, some students have taken an effort to protect themselves by carrying pepper spray. Pepper spray has the ability to impair a perpetrator of sexual assault and potentially assist an individual in getting away from their attacker. It can cause temporary blindness and eye pain, burning in the throat, shortness of breath and the inability to speak. The use of pepper spray in the case of evading sexual assault has been proven successful on campuses, such as Ohio University (OU), which had 12 reports of sexual assault within the first four weeks of their school year. On Sept. 18, while walking back to her dorm at night, a female student at OU was attacked by a stranger who attempted to sexually assault her. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
ARENA
Bowl game hangs in the balance for RedHawks BRADY PFISTER STAFF WRITER Simply put, the 2018 season is on the line tonight when the Ball State Cardinals arrive at Yager Stadium. With a win, the RedHawks become bowl-eligible and stay alive in the Mid-American Conference East hunt, a situation that felt unrealistic three weeks ago following a shootout road loss to Buffalo. Sitting at 3-6 after Buffalo, Miami had to beat an explosive Ohio offense and a staunch Northern Illinois. They did and allowed just 19.5 points a game in conference play to stay alive heading into Week 12. Yet with one game left to play in 2018, the RedHawks remain very much alive despite injuries to preseason All-MAC selections including senior wide receiver James Gardner, senior linebacker Junior McMullen and others. “You’re kind of the dumb kid that thinks he’s better than he is and is kind of pissed off that no one knows it,” Miami head coach Chuck Martin said of his team. “I’m as proud as any group I’ve coached.” The final obstacle standing between the RedHawks and a 6-6 season is the 4-7 Ball State Cardinals. Though Miami is given an 82 percent chance to win tonight, the Ball State passing attack poses a threat to the depleted Miami defense. The Cardinals lead the MAC with 2,796 total passing yards on the year behind the arm of junior quarterback Riley Neal.
The RedHawks have struggled against passheavy offenses this season, surrendering 40 or more points to both Western Michigan and Buffalo earlier in the season, though they have allowed an average of just 179 passing yards the past two weeks. The already potent aerial attack of Ball State could be assisted by the injury of Miami’s redshirt senior linebacker Brad Koenig. Koenig has accumulated 90 total tackles in 2018 while forcing eight turnovers. For Martin’s defense, injuries are hardly a new form of adversity this season. After looking at his list of preseason top defensive performers, Martin said: “All my defensive guys that are on that [list] don’t play for me anymore.” Despite uncertainty around Koenig’s status, Miami players swear to be laser-focused on the task at hand amidst accumulating aches and pains built-up throughout the season. “I’m pretty beat up, but I love it,” senior defensive end Pasquale Calcagno said. “I love football.” For seniors like Calcagno, today’s game will be extra special as he takes the Yager Stadium turf for the last time wearing a Miami uniform. As postseason hopes hang in the balance, the senior class will be reminded of just how far they have come since arriving in Oxford. “We wanted to be the group of guys who changed the way football is viewed around here,” redshirt senior quarterback Gus Ragland said. In Coach Martin’s inaugural season at the helm of the program, this senior class suffered through
THE REDHAWKS SQUARE UP WITH THEIR SEASON ON THE LINE. PHOTO EDITOR JUGAL JAIN
a 2-10 season before improving to just 3-9 in 2015. The mindset surrounding Miami football shifted in 2016 when the RedHawks rattled off six consecutive wins to earn a bowl berth. “Those kids have battled and fought,” Martin said. “Even though they have accomplished so much, they’ve gotten no credit for anything.” Today, the painful seasons of MAC irrelevance will feel like a distant memory to these seniors as they fight one last time for the legacy of the 2018
team. No matter the outcome, this group believes they have left their mark on the program. “If we go to a bowl, that’d be great,” Calcagno said. “If not, I had a great run of it with all my best friends.” Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Yager. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. pfistejb@miamioh.edu @brady_pfister
This Issue
‘Good Kids’
photos on page 6
Camp Kesem could come to MU
Music from the movies
Summer camp provides respite for kids whose parents have cancer.
MUSO performs selections from film history and alongside a student film.
News » page 4
Culture » page 6
Miami Volleyball drops the ball
California burning
Spirited Speedo squad leads chants and taunts at MAC volleyball tournament.
Our Californian writer points out President Trump’s false fire facts.
Sports » page 8
Opinion » page 10