ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
Volume 145 №33
DEAN OF FARMER SCHOOL TO LEAVE MIAMI
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
WSU student seriously injured at Oxford party
ADMINISTRATION
BONNIE MEIBERS NEWS EDITOR
Matt Myers, current dean of the Farmer School of Business, will leave Miami University at the end of June to become dean of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Myers said the main reason for the move is for his family. “Our girls are different people than they were when I accepted the Farmer School position back in 2013, and Dallas offers them the kind of environment they need,” he said. “This doesn’t mean the decision was easy, though. Miami and Oxford are incredible in their own right.” Myers, who took over for former dean Roger Jenkins, has been dean of the business school for three years. In that time, the Farmer School was ranked as the 25th best undergraduate business school in the nation by College Choice, enhanced student diversity, created the first truly integrated core curriculum in business education and almost doubled the size of the School’s endowment in gifts and bequests. Myers also oversaw the launch of DEAN » PAGE 8
Basketball player fractured spine INJURY
EMILY WILLIAMS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
First-year Wright State University student Ryan Custer was seriously injured at a party at 305 S. Main Street on Saturday afternoon, April 8. Custer was flown to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center where he underwent surgery that night. Custer, a basketball player at WSU, was falling or diving into a shallow makeshift pool made from a blue tarp and hay bales. According to Oxford Fire Chief John Detherage, Custer collided with another person’s knee when he slid into the pool, causing the injury. Bystanders said Custer was facedown in the water for about 10 to 15 seconds before others removed him from the pool. According to a Facebook page created by Custer’s family, he has no feeling from the waist down. “The doctors hope in time he will continue to get feeling, but there is a long road ahead of him,” reads a post INJURY » PAGE 8
A.J. NEWBERRY THE MIAMI STUDENT
Stills from the upcoming in-depth news documentary, “High-risk,” premiering Friday, April 14 on miamistudent.net
In fight against blacking out, Oxford, Miami are left with hands tied Lack of home rule stifles city’s efforts to control bars JAMES STEINBAUER EDITOR-AT-LARGE
This spring, facing alcohol-related crises on multiple fronts, university administration partnered with officials from the city of Oxford to host several open forums. The goal of the forums was to confront a drinking culture at Miami University that many have come to see as a public health epidemic and to assure the community that Miami is “commit-
A drinking town with a college problem ted to doing all that we can to help ensure the well-being of all of our students,” as Miami President Gregory Crawford put it. And yet, even as Miami administrators and Oxford officials talk up their determination to tackle high-risk alcohol consumption, the
MUFD STUNS WITH ANNUAL FASHION SHOW KIRBY DAVIS HANNAH WILLIAMS THE MIAMI STUDENT
RYAN TERHUNE PHOTO EDITOR
Kenia Viezcas, a third-year ITS major, was first on MUFD’s new runway modeling Liz Whitney’s Tonalita di Bianco collection.
On Saturday night, Millett Hall was teeming with audience members anxious to witness Miami University Fashion & Design’s 11th annual show. Family members and alumni squeezed around the runway, weaving through the venue, and students crowded the seats above the floor. A little girl at the edge of the runway, hair pulled back in a flowery headband, strained against her mother’s grip as she tried to escape and locate someone she knew. Behind her sat a guy clutching flowers to be delivered after the show. Black-clad photographers crouched at the edges of the crowd and hoisted their cameras up as Millett’s overhead lights went down. Piano notes fluttered from the corner of the room, and spotlights were thrust upon the runway. Sparks and smoke drifted from behind the curtain concealing the models and designers under the fluorescent “#MUFD” sign. MUFD » PAGE 5
consensus behind closed doors is clear. In most ways, their hands are tied. In fact, many Oxford officials concede there has not been an explicit focus on trying to solve the problem at City Hall. At the heart of the problem is a lack of home rule
and a sense of powerlessness in the face of state liquor legislation that the city has little control over. But economic factors are also at work, and the fear of being seen as anti-business stifles many efforts the city could make to control large, non-restaurant bars, whose competitive drink specials facilitate the high-risk, binging-to-blackout style that defines Miami’s drinking culture today. ALCOHOL » PAGE 3
Political climate affects international application numbers MU admissions sees first decrease in years INTERNATIONAL
JACK EVANS MEGAN ZAHNEIS
THE MIAMI STUDENT
If Rebecca Guan could do it all over again, she wouldn’t choose to come to Miami. “No,” she said simply. “I would have stayed in China.” The sophomore, who’s from a northern part of China, said that the decision international students make to study abroad in the United States is already a difficult one. Now, it’s increasingly fraught with uncertainty brought about by a spike in anti-immigration sentiment since the 2016 presidential
election. And were Guan a high school senior back in China today, those issues would convince her not to pack her bags and travel to Oxford — or elsewhere in the U.S., for that matter. It’s a conclusion many more international students may soon be reaching, as universities nationwide have seen numbers of international student applications drop this year. Miami University isn’t immune to that trend, according to data provided by admissions staff. INTERNATIONAL » PAGE 8
NEWS p. 3
CULTURE p. 4
FOOD p. 6
EDITORIAL p. 10
OP-ED p. 10-11
SPORTS p. 12
DRINKING IN OXFORD: A HISTORY
‘THE LATEST SHOW’ STOPS IN OXFORD
OXFORD’S NEXT GREAT BAKER
TO THE NEXT STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT
ADVOCATING FOR DISABLED STUDENTS
CLUB TENNIS TAKES NATIONALS
It wasn’t always so easy for students to access alcohol Uptown.
The Independent Artist Series play masquerades as a real talk show.
Baker Allyson Moore whips up gluten, egg and dairy-free treats.
Focusing on attainable goals will help ASG make the biggest impact.
Unfortunately, universities have a history of excluding people with disabilities.
On Thursday, the team will travel to Orlando to compete.
The Annual
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH
presented by Martin Dining Hall
A PR I L 12 • 5:00 – 8:00 PM MiamiOH.edu/Dining
2 NEWS
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET
Students solve scheduling woes with Miami Scheduler website ACADEMICS
MEGAN ZAHNEIS
SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR
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VI VII section they’ve selected from a single pop-up window. For the creators, the website was just a fun way to fill their time over winter break. They’d been looking for a project to take on during J-term, lest boredom set in, when they realized they already had a proof of concept. Two of them, actually. Last year, Hoeting designed a website called “4findr” that allowed users to search the average GPA for a
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“We’re not super-geniuses,” sophomore Brennan Hoeting promised. On either side of him, fellow second-years and computer science majors Luke Artnak and Grant Eaton concurred. But the average Miami student, mired in the straits of class registration season, might beg to differ. Hoeting, Artnak and Eaton are the co-creators of Miami Scheduler (miamischeduler.com), a website that lets students input classes they need to register for, then generates potential schedules for students to browse. Users also have the option to refine their schedule possibilities with filters (for example, eliminating schedules with classes that start before or end after a certain time). Once students fine-tune their schedule on the site, they can collect the five-digit course registration number (CRN) for each class
given course, while Artnak created a class schedule generator. The two decided to merge their projects, with the help of Eaton, to create Miami Scheduler. But it wasn’t quite that easy. The team spent several hundred hours on the project in January, with Eaton estimating he worked the equivalent of a part-time job on the site while classes weren’t in session. The team had to export sched-
ule data from Miami’s BannerWeb registration interface, then transfer it to their own database for storage on Miami Scheduler’s server. Artnak handled the design of the website, including the colorcoordinated daily schedules the site presents. Hoeting’s expertise is in backend work, so he handles the site’s database and server. And Eaton says he ties together the loose ends, as well as coordinating marketing for the site. The trio, who operate collectively under the name Hilarious Atlantic, say the site cost only $12.99 for the domain name miamischeduler.com and another $5 each month for server hosting. It’s money well spent for Artnak, who says the current method of scheduling is a “nightmare.” “I’m very meticulous about my schedule,” Artnak said. “I would spend hours rearranging my schedule to make it how I want it to be. Just being able to have every possible schedule and click through them and see them at a glance...I really wanted that.”
And judging from students’ reaction to the site, Artnak isn’t alone. “I love showing it off. It’s fun to get the satisfaction from having built it,” Eaton said. And site analytics show students are reaping the benefits as well. Since the site’s launch on March 15, it has seen over 6,851 visits from 3,603 users. By next semester, Hoeting, Artnak and Eaton hope to add GPA functionality, which would allow users to view the average GPA earned by students in each class. They’re also looking into integrating their site with rankings submitted through the popular instructor feedback network RateMyProfessors.com. In the meantime, though, they’ll continue refining the site and in Hoeting’s words, not being “super-geniuses.” “We’re trying to keep it simple,” Artnak said.
April showers bring May flower walks to Peffer Park this spring NATURE
CHLOE MCKAY THE MIAMI STUDENT Throughout the months of April and May, Silvoor Biological Sanctuary in Oxford’s Peffer Park will host guided wildflower walks. The walks are scheduled to take place every
Sunday at 1 p.m. from April 2 to May 14 and are free to the public. The natural area looks small and grassy at first, but instantly upon entering the sanctuary, colorful blooms of all shapes and sizes capture visitors’ attention. Brilliant purples, bright blues and milky whites occupy the once-barren land. “The Sunday afternoon walks at
Panhellenic Pride rising GREEK LIFE
KIRBY DAVIS
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Panhellenic Pride and Greek Service Week will cap off a successful semester for the organization. Last week, from April 3 to April 7, Panhellenic hosted different events for sororities ranging from “T-shirt Tuesday” to a visit from “Girl Code’s” Carly Aquilino on Friday. Melissa English, who serves as the organization’s VP of programming, coordinated the daily events and said she was thrilled with their levels of attendance and participation. “The point of Panhellenic Pride Week is to make people proud of being part of the Panhellenic community, not just being proud of their own chapter,” English said. Greek Service Week is next, lasting until April 14. Greek life will host a blood drive and a “can-struction” event at which different chapters will compete to build the best sculpture out of canned goods. The winner receives $200 for their philanthropy. At Greek Spring Clean on Saturday, they will team up with almost 20 community partners in Oxford and Cincinnati, with 450 people expected to participate. The Greek community has raised tens of thousands of dollars over the past semester for various causes. Delta Zeta’s Puttin’ on the Hits (POTH) is their largest event and helped amass over $18,000 for the St. Rita School for the Deaf in Cincinnati. Panhellenic’s VP of community service and engagement, Misha Mathur, has been impressed with sororities’ philanthropic efforts in the last few weeks. “People have been doing really, really well with their numbers, and the participation has been awesome, so it’s been really fun this semester,” said Mathur. Recently, Kappa Delta’s Paint Brawl event generated over $4,500 for child abuse prevention, Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash over $5,000 for the visually impaired and Zeta Tau Alpha close to $4,000 for breast cancer prevention. Panhellenic is also enacting other changes in their organization. Increasing accessibility during the re-
cruitment process is one priority. During recruitment this January, Miami sororities offered bids to 962 new women, according to the Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life. VP of recruitment Tatiana Pavloff said they have aimed to make the process as unrestricted as possible for anyone with disabilities who wants to participate. “We have, really, in the past couple years made it a huge effort to make everything accessible for women,” said Pavloff. “So, actually, next year it will be 100 percent accessible, which we’re super excited about.” This means Panhellenic will be hosting all events at wheelchairaccessible locations and taking all disabilities into account during the events leading up to recruitment and the event itself. Erin Sullivan, VP of standards, said they are also increasing efforts to enforce social regulations. “Over the past year it’s gotten so much better,” said Sullivan. “I don’t think anybody has socials without registering now, so it just adds to the safety of the fact that we know it’s happening.” This Thursday, Panhellenic will host a “perfect party,” a model for the ideal Greek life party attended by sororities’ executive boards (and their plus-ones, to ensure their message is spread as much as possible). Panhellenic is also already planning for events next year. Currently, Mathur is working with Shane Mart, IFC’s VP of community service and philanthropy on a Greek-wide (encompassing Panhellenic, IFC and NPHC) philanthropy event for fall 2017. They also plan to include other clubs and organizations on campus, and all proceeds will go to the Booker T. Washington Community Center in Hamilton. They’re aiming for October, and the event will likely be a 5K or something similar. Along with Mathur and Mart, new sorority and fraternity members have also assisted in planning. “I’m sometimes amazed at how much they can do and pull off, because it’s honestly phenomenal,” said Mathur. “I have never planned a philanthropy event for my sorority, I’ve only advised, but what they do — it’s amazing.”
Silvoor are a great way to experience spring. The color palette is constantly changing as different plants come into their own,” said Holly Wissing, a wildflower walk guide. Silvoor Biological Sanctuary was donated to Miami in 1978 by Robert A. Hefner and his wife, Ilo. The couple created the sanctuary from an old landfill they purchased during the Great Depression. They completely transformed the land with dams, a suspension bridge and an abundance of flowers and native vegetation. Amanda Bentley Brymer, Silvoor Biological Sanctuary’s curator, explained the history of the sanctuary’s
creation. “It was in terrible shape — bare, eroding slopes and overrun with pigs and livestock. [Hefner] and his family worked to restore it,” Brymer said. “Residents and students in Oxford have enjoyed hiking through little sanctuary for eight decades and counting.” The sanctuary is now “one of the most unique landscapes in Oxford” as it is home to over 60 species of wildflowers including trillium, bloodroot, wild geranium, blue-eyed Mary, trout lily, anemone, Dutchman’s breeches and larkspur, Brymer said. The wildflower walk guides emphasized their aesthetic as one of the
main reasons for both their involvement with the sanctuary and the idea behind the walks. The sanctuary will also be holding a celebration on April 23 from noon to 3 p.m. as a thank you to everyone who has taken part in local conservation efforts. The celebration will include outdoor children’s games, a wildflower walk and a lunch. Anyone is welcome to attend the event. Both the celebration and the weekly wildflower walks are sponsored by Miami’s Natural Areas. “We see bright days and happy trails ahead in Silvoor this spring and summer,” said Brymer.
JOSHUA ANZALONE THE MIAMI STUDENT
Oxford’s Silvoor Park hides a number of biological treasures, including this 80 year-old Trillium sessile.
Former Soviet ambassador calls for improved U.S., Russia relations LECTURE
NINA FRANCO
THE MIAMI STUDENT
With the investigation into the alleged Russian hacking of the 2016 presidential election in full-force and Trump’s ordered missile strike in Syria complete, it poses the question — will the United States ever be able to make amends with Russia? Jack Matlock, a U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union during the Reagan-Bush era, isn’t sure. “The possibility is there. But our own politics don’t command it,” said Matlock. In a lecture sponsored by the Havighurst Center for Russian and PostSoviet Studies, Matlock spoke about his perceptions of the past, present and future of the United States’ relationship with Russia. Originally, the event, held on Thursday in Harrison Hall, was supposed to host former ambassador John Beyrle as well, but inclement weather prohibited Beyrle
from traveling to Oxford. Walter Havighurst, a former author and English professor at Miami, made the development of the center possible with an endowment. “Walter Havighurst wanted dialogue between Russia and America to be the center of what his [endowment] went towards,” said Stephen Norris, interim director of the Havighurst Center. Norris organized the event in August of last year, knowing that tensions between the United States and Russia were rising. Tension between the two countries is just what Matlock hates to see. He described himself as “never being a hardliner when it [comes] to dealing with Russia.” Matlock received his bachelor’s degree from Duke University and his master’s at Columbia, with a focus on Russian studies. He joined the Foreign Service in 1956, launching his 35-year career, which included roles as Director of Soviet Affairs (‘71-’74), U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia
(‘81-’83) and U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union (‘87-’91), appointed by President Reagan. He speaks five languages, has authored three books and is still teaching at Duke University. The life-long-Democrat-turnedindependent has views regarding Russia that align more with President Trump than the man he strongly supported, former President Obama. Matlock advocates for a better relationship between the two countries. During his time as Ambassador, Matlock respected the cultures of the countries where he worked without making preconceived notions about them. “When I went to Ukraine, I always did speeches in Ukrainian. I tried to show my respect for the various nationalities, but at the same time, the Russians would know I was really deeply attracted to their culture,” he said. READ THE REST ONLINE AT MIAMISTUDENT.NET
NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET
FROM ALCOHOL » PAGE 1
Oxford’s peculiar geography If you take a stroll up Slant Walk, the iconic entryway to Miami University (or exit, depending on how you look at it), in one block you’ll find yourself at the corner of High Street and Poplar, home to two of the highest density undergraduate drinking establishments in Oxford. And if it’s a warm Saturday afternoon in spring, the outdoor patio seating at the bars will be jam-packed with jersey-clad students sipping super-sized mixed drinks and guzzling cheap pitchers of light beer. The proximity of these bars and the loud, alcohol-fueled atmosphere they create is the anecdote most often used to paint a cataclysmic picture of the drinking culture at Miami. If you take a bigger town and you put these locations eight blocks from each other, they seem much less consequential, said Mike Curme, the dean of students at Miami University. But in the peculiar geography of Oxford, they are right across the street from one another. “On the surface, there is nothing wrong with this,” Curme said. “Then you build a community around the Uptown that used to be 50 percent residential but now has no organic community standards. You see the front yard house parties, the trash, the noise. This attracts attention.” These very visible manifestations of Miami’s drinking culture are a problem for administrators because they help form the perceptions students have about alcohol consumption at the university. In a study conducted by RoseMarie Ward, a professor at Miami who researches the drinking culture, students were asked two questions: How much do they drink, and how much do they think other students drink? Then, researchers calculated the difference — what’s called a “selfother discrepancy.” Ward’s data shows that the average discrepancy at Miami is high. In other words, most students believe their peers drink more than they actually do. “Students are giving themselves the freedom to drink more because they believe that everyone else drinks an even greater amount,” Ward said. High-visibility house parties have troubled Miami administrators and Oxford officials for years. In 2003, the city adopted litter and noise ordinances — collectively known as the “nuisance party” ordinances — to regulate the parties. But have they worked? The answer depends on whom you ask. City officials tend to be more optimistic, but Miami administrators are skeptical that the ordinances carry weight. “We do tend to have more affluent students, so when they get a fine, it’s not that big of a concern,” said Ward. “I don’t think that increasing fines over the last few years has done as much as we thought it would.”
NEWS 3
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
A litigious environment In the spring of 2016, a cadre of Oxford officials, including the city manager, the police chief and the mayor, Kate Rousmaniere, met with the owner of one of the largest and most popular bars in town. His lawyer in tow, the owner complained that he had a problem with the police. They showed up at his bar every weekend. They weren’t nice enough when they arrested underage drinkers. They were bad for business. Rousmaniere asked the owner, point blank, whether he would stop offering drink specials during the early afternoon hours. He said no. She asked him why. He gave no answer, so she pushed again. Still, he gave her no answer. A frustrated Rousmaniere asked two more times before the owner turned to her and gave a quick, frank response: He would not stop the drink specials, he said, because they make him too much money. That’s one of several obstacles to regulating the bars. Efforts to combat high-risk drinking Uptown are often stymied out of a fear of legal retaliation from bar owners. Then there’s the pro-business argument. Whenever one city official talks about regulation, another will say the city’s job is to foster business, not restrict it. As a result, conversations about the drinking culture seldom make it closer to city council than the coffee shop. And in most of her meetings, Rousmaniere said the discussion tends to revolve around how the drinking culture seems to have wheels of its own. “I wish we could create some local legislation that would give us at least a little authority to control the bars and the drink specials,” Rousmaniere said. “But we don’t. And we can’t. So we end up not really talking about it.” Changing the law so Oxford can restrict drink specials would require sweeping, statewide legislative change. This is because liquor law is controlled at the state level, and Ohio law discourages home rule. Frustration at the lack of home rule is causing some to brainstorm a more proactive approach: City government can try to regulate behavior more strictly by enforcing ordinances, but can it use other tools at its disposal, like zoning laws, to plan the drinking problem away? “If we wanted to have a conversation, thinking harder about what type of retail we have Uptown, we could do that,” said David Prytherch, a professor at Miami and chair of the planning commission for the city of Oxford. “But the planning conversations have been on one track and the drinking culture conversations have been on another. They don’t cross.” It’s tough to say what such a planning strategy might look like in Oxford, but the idea of engineering a city’s economy away from certain industries or establishments is hardly new. For example, some towns, like Yellow Springs east of Dayton, make the explicit decision to plan against fast food joints or chain restaurants by regulating the hours of the day an
establishment can operate. That takes a certain type of willpower, though. And Oxford is more laissez-faire than other towns. It tends to let the marketplace do the work. It’s no secret that a lot of people profit from the student party culture at Miami. There is money to be made. And Oxford can be a litigious environment. “So, the city is cautious in striking a balance,” Prytherch said. “But we’re in one of these moments where the status quo is not working. This is a public health crisis and we have a responsibility to look at all possible strategies.”
An economic question Here’s how an economist might visualize a solution to the problem: Imagine, for a moment, the effects of having only one bar Uptown. It’s a far-fetched idea, but it would get the job done. If there was one bar Uptown, the power of monopoly would allow it to raise prices. It wouldn’t need to compete for patrons with day-drinking specials like “Beat the Clock,” and it wouldn’t turn a blind eye to underage drinking. Even with a few bars, the effects of limited supply would likely be felt. But such a scenario is out of reach, at least under the regulations that currently govern drinking in Oxford. In the state of Ohio, liquor licenses are distributed on a per capita basis. The more people in a municipality, the more liquor licenses the state liquor board makes available. Ohio law allows one on-site permit for every 2,000 residents. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city of Oxford has a popu-
“But we’re in one of these moments where the status quo is not working.” lation estimated to be approximately 22,104 people. That should mean that Oxford has 11 drinking permits available to it. The state liquor board gives it 12. But there aren’t just 12 places to get a drink in town. There are 43. This is because Oxford is given 12 beer permits, 12 wine permits, 12 liquor permits and 12 “D5” permits. Alan Kyger, the city’s economic development director, keeps track of Oxford’s liquor licenses. He calls the D5 the “Mac Daddy.” It’s the permit that gives the owner everything: beer, wine and liquor. Other gray areas of Ohio liquor law make the number of permits available in Oxford even higher. Establishments that are physically connected, for example, can share their permits. Think of the doorway that connects The Wood’s, aka “New Bar,” and Sidebar. They share permits. So do Circle Bar and Steinkeller, which are connected by
a passageway. Cru Wine Bar and Patterson’s Cafe is another example, and, somehow, Armstrong Student Center and Shriver Center. But perhaps the largest factor bloating Oxford’s liquor permits are Miami University students. Of the 22,104 people living in Oxford, more than 75 percent — 16,981 — are undergraduate students at Miami University. And fewer than half that number are of legal drinking age. Although they only live in the city for four years, the students permanently inflate the number of drinking permits available. “The model the state uses doesn’t always fit a community like Oxford, which has a much younger population base,” Kyger said, “though I’m not totally sure, in the long run, what the benefit of having a limit is.” There’s a certain population in Oxford that drinks, Kyger said, and if a new bar opens, he’s skeptical that it will make the drinking problem worse. The struggle is not the number of permits, it’s the way they are used. “If Oxford Lanes or Phan Shin have liquor permits, is that a bad thing? You can look at the majority of establishments in town and see that they aren’t the problem,” Kyger said. “The problem are the non-restaurant establishments. They tend to be a problem because you’re not going for a meal. You’re going for a drink.” An economist by profession, Dean Curme believes the hyperinflation of drinking permits in the relatively small town of Oxford creates intense competition among bar owners to sell large amounts of alcohol at cheap prices during what many consider to be obscene hours of the day. The resulting drink specials — such as “Beat the Clock” at Brick Street, “Broken Clock” at The Wood’s and “Pitchers” at 45 East — are of particular concern to Miami administrators and Oxford officials alike, who fear they facilitate high-risk, bingeing-toblackout alcohol consumption. This competition can seem more like a ruinous boomtown economy than the healthy, laissez-faire one that city officials want, and it’s caused Curme to formulate this interesting hypothesis: If a surplus of bars leads to highrisk results, what if there was only one? Curme would go so far as to conclude that with one bar, no student under the age of 21 would get in, and patrons would be cut off well before they became intoxicated. “It would be unambiguously conforming to the law and much less likely to have drink specials,” Curme said. “You can contrast that to where we are now.”
“Our hands are tied” For the most part, when a bar applies for a liquor permit, there’s not a lot the city of Oxford has control over. The state liquor board processes the application in Columbus and notifies Kyger, who said the city rarely, if ever, tries to deny one. “So some of our issues are Ohio’s liquor laws,” Kyger said. “It’s the
state. The state has their rules and they get plopped down into the community’s lap.” This July, the city of Oxford and Miami University will host the second meeting of the Ohio Town and Gown Association, a gathering of Ohio universities and their partner towns. One goal is to urge members of the Ohio State Liquor Board to lobby for changes that would give college towns more home rule over liquor laws. The hope among university administrators and city officials is that they can get more power to combat drink specials and the price of alcohol, which up until now, has been the university’s primary game plan to combat binge-drinking. “The decision to intentionally binge-drink is an individual choice,” Curme said. “I’m falling back on my economics training here. So I think about how we change behavior. Well, we have to increase the cost or reduce the benefit of it.” It makes a lot of sense. If the price of alcohol is higher, it’s going to discourage consumption. The idea, named a “Pigouvian” tax after the economist who first suggested it in 1920, is to diminish the ugly consequences of externalities, especially in highly polluting industries. So with the bars in Oxford, the idea is that if you raise the price of alcohol, students will drink less of it and the damaging effects of high-risk consumption will be diminished. There is evidence that by eliminating happy hours, you can reduce the human damage associated with high-risk consumption, Ward said. So, if the question is whether totally eliminating day drinking specials like “Beat the Clock” would help, the answer is yes. “On a lower level, it would deter more students if there weren’t drink specials during the day,” Ward said. But higher prices for liquor probably wouldn’t deter student drinking any more than fines deter litter and noise, Ward said. For example, researchers know that if you increase the cost of smoking, it decreases smoking. But what they have also found is that people will linger with their cigarettes and take longer drags. “So if you increase the price of alcohol, students would just move toward the drinks that have a higher alcohol content, like shots,” Ward said. “It’s more bang for their buck, and it could be even riskier.” The frustrating reality for Miami administrators is that the best solution to dangerous drinking — namely, changing attitudes and behavior among students themselves — lies mostly out of their control. “As far as reducing the perceived benefit of consuming alcohol, this is largely where I don’t know what control we have,” Curme said. “Miami students make their decisions off of how they feel the community will view them. And this is where we are challenging students: “How do you change the culture?”
Drinking in Oxford: A history HISTORY
JAKE GOLD
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Since the opening of Oxford’s first tavern in 1816, patrons have packed Uptown’s drinking establishments. There was a time, however, when bar owners in Oxford were not excited to have their establishments filled with upperclass white women: the 1880s. These women weren’t dancing, and they sure weren’t drinking. No, the Women’s Temperance Crusaders were singing hymns, reading scriptures and praying — all in a concerted effort to persuade barkeeps to change their profession and close their shops. Alcohol in Oxford has had a paradoxical relationship with its citizens’ opinions. When residents were most concerned about the effects of alcohol, the danger just wasn’t there, but as alcohol got more dangerous, locals became less concerned.
A teetotaling town In the beginning, Oxford was pretty dry. Temperance (anti-alcohol) movements were fairly common across the nation in the mid-1800s. They were especially popular with well-off, Protestant white women. Men started the movement in Oxford, however, with the founding of The Temperance Council. Local women followed up by establishing the Women’s Temperance League. At one point, the two organizations joined, but women did most of the protesting. There was even an organization on campus, the Young Men’s Temperance Society of Miami University, formed in 1852 to limit alcohol consumption on campus. “We the subscribers, members of Miami University in view of life evils arising from the manufacture and consumption of ardent spirits do solemnly pledge ourselves that we will totally abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage,” reads the preamble to the Young Men’s Temperance Society’s constitution.
After two major “Crusades” by religious anti-drinking activists, the major protests faded, but the prohibition experiment was only beginning. Over several years (starting in 1888), the citizens of Oxford waged a minor — and bloodless — civil war. City council banned alcohol sales and consumption from 1888 to 1891 through a city ordinance. Then, in 1902, a dryness referendum failed by two votes, but another in 1905 passed. It was intended to only last for two years, but the 1905 initiative stuck around until national prohibition began in 1920.
From temperance to ‘trash cans’ After national prohibition was repealed in 1933, state law declared 3.2-percent alcohol-by-volume beer legal to manufacture, sell and consume. More colloquially, this beverage is known as 3.2 beer. Even a municipal ordinance or local option couldn’t prohibit it. Still, all other alcohol was forbidden — at least in Oxford.
GEORGE R. HOXIE PROVIDED BY SMITH LIBRARY
View of Uptown Oxford ca. 1968
And thus, to the chagrin (and sometimes amusement) of students, Miami became “the 3.2 beer capital of the world,” a term used frequently by students, historians and, once, the Cincinnati Enquirer. It’s famously difficult to get drunk on 3.2 beer. Miami alumni from the era often say that “you get full before you get drunk” or that “it’s like drinking water.” So, high-risk alcohol consumption was rare, even when playing Oxford’s most popular drinking game in the late 1950s, “Century Club.” In the game, which was played at the three
Uptown bars, each player takes a shot of 3.2 beer every minute for 100 minutes, totaling approximately 6.4 standard drinks over two hours. For context, consuming five standard drinks in two hours is considered “binge drinking” for men, according to the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. For women, binge drinking is defined as four drinks over the same timeframe. “There was no emphasis at all, anywhere or anytime, at getting HISTORY »PAGE 9
Culture
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SHUMANDB@MIAMIOH.EDU
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
IAS production masquerades as real-life late night talk show
In full bloom: The start of spring STUDENT LIFE
EMMA SHIBLEY
THE MIAMI STUDENT
CONTRIBUTED BY MIKE RICE’
Anthony Thompson performs a scene as J.J. King from “The Latest Show” in Williams Hall T.V. Studio. THEATRE
KRISTIN STRATMAN THE MIAMI STUDENT
Miami students may have noticed posters hanging around campus advertising the arrival of “The Latest Show,” a talk show stopping in Oxford as part of its College Tour. Those who attended the showings, however, realized that this was not an actual filming of a real talk show, but a play made to appear like one. “The Latest Show” was the final production of the Independent Artist Series, a series of performances compiled and directed by theatre graduate students at Miami. While the play was written by the ensemble, David DeVita, a second-year masters student at Miami, directed and starred. The plot centered on the filming of a late night talk show on a cross-country college tour. Its unstable and belligerent host, Scott Thompson (DeVita), is unceremoniously fired from his position and replaced by the charismatic keyboard player in the late show band in a dramatic and humorous series of events. The play ran from April 5-9 in the TV production studio in Williams Hall. This location allowed for the audience to feel truly immersed in the setting and believe that they
were a part of the live audience at a real show. “The idea was for people to come in expecting to see a live taping of a talk show,” said Nate Bissinger, a theatre student who played the head writer of the show. DeVita and his team supported the show’s feeling of authenticity through a number of creative promotional choices. None of the advertisements, online or print, mention that “The Latest Show” is a play. Rather, they present a professional portrait of DeVita as Scott Thompson with information on showtimes and tickets, creating the illusion that this was a legitimate late-night production. DeVita and his team also used social media to promote the play as a talk show. Those interested by the posters could use the tag #thelatestwithscott to access regularly updated Instagram and Twitter accounts, as well as a Youtube channel. They could follow the show’s page or even watch old guest interviews, produced by a media and culture class in collaboration with the ensemble. DeVita also held a promotional event in the week leading up to the performance dubbed “The Latest Show takes O’Pub” in which the ensemble stayed in character while leading a game night and had the
band play at O’Pub to publicize the show. DeVita also reached outside the theatre department to help create his show. The Department of Media, Journalism and Film played an integral role by providing their TV production studio for the set as well as a large portion of the labor and knowledge necessary for the production of a professional-looking talk show. The music department also provided the musicians necessary for the band. “This was truly a multi-disciplinary effort” says DeVita, “It wouldn’t have been possible to be as successful without the help of other departments.” Freshman theatre major, Rian Sondag, who played one of the guest celebrities on the show, agreed that assistance from other departments was essential to the success of the show. “Theatre is such an isolated department because we are so small,” Sondag said. “If we didn’t have help from the music department, we wouldn’t have had the band. If we didn’t have help from the media and culture department, we would not have had the studio and wouldn’t have been able to run this type of show.”
Humans oƒ Oxford Brad Hoblitzell: Coaching on and off the field PEOPLE
ALYSSA MELENDEZ THE MIAMI STUDENT
Hobbs started off the meeting by walking around the room with another member on staff. Forty college students surrounded them. Out of nowhere, he turned to one of the students and blew the whistle in their face. The screeching noise resounded in everyone’s ears. His expression didn’t change as he continued to walk around the room. “Are you guys ready for this?” he yelled, acting out the role of a head football coach. “Today, we’re not only going to train your bodies. We’re going to train your minds, we’re going to train your hearts and we’re going to train your souls!” He called on everyone to stand up from their seats and do some stretches. Hobbs is a football coach at Talawanda Middle School, but he wasn’t prepping for a game. He was prepping the forty college students for his talk about how they could do Christian ministry. For 12 years, Hobbs has been the area director for Young Life, a Christian organization involved on Miami’s campus. His actual name is Brad Hoblitzell, but everyone in Young Life calls him Hobbs. Last weekend, Hobbs and the other Young Life staff had their final meeting with the newest volunteer leaders. They’ve held these meetings nearly every Sunday evening since September of last year.
There’s something about small talk that gets easier in the spring. Maybe vitamin D promotes the propagation of extroverted neurotransmitters in our brains. For whatever reason, when the sun is shining there’s this delicious ease to saying hello to a passerby and flashing them a smile – a real smile, a smile with roots deeper than lips and teeth. My mom always tells me she can hear through the phone whether I am truly smiling when I answer a phone call. The first half of my semester didn’t have very many of those real-smile days. But we’ve finally hit April, and the warmth of the season is here to stay. The tense pinch of cold in the air is lifted, like a kink getting cracked back into place in your spine, or finally finding a bathroom when you’ve been holding it for, like, a very long time. In spring, the air itself can breathe again. The world rubs its eyes and blinks. Clouds clear and trees rejoice. Yes, they yawn and stretch into the sunlight. Relief. So I keep passing people on the sidewalk, smiling at them and saying hello when I’m late to class and they definitely have better things to do. They tell me as much when I ask how it’s going – they’re good, they say, just on their way to one thing or another. “This is a crazy time of year,” I keep hearing myself say to these rushing sidewalk friends. “Hang in there.” Instead of saying goodbye or see you later, I ambiguously encourage them, “Keep on keeping on.” Those are probably weird things to say in a three-second sidewalk interaction. But in my defense, it is a crazy time. Everything is busy. There are end-of-year events, wrung unforgivingly from the weary sponge of our social and extracurricular calendars. There are overlapping commitments every week and running-late’s and leaving-early’s. There are bucket list items yet uncrossed. There are departmental awards and coffeeshop jobs to apply for, student org elections and charity 5k’s to run. In the near distance, there are final nights out, final exams, final goodbyes. There are tassels dangling inevitably from shiny red caps. There are summer decisions, there are lastminute plan revisions and there are first inhalations of autumnward dreams. So, it is. It’s a ridiculous time of year and when all you need to do is buckle down and get stuff done, the nice weather is very frustrating. But this is college. In the hive that is spring, somehow we bloom, and we bloom frenetic. Earlier this month, I attended a recital by violist Christian Sugarev in the Center for Performing Arts to fulfill part of a requirement for my music major. The recital’s flyer was an ink pen sketch of a man with a long forehead and curly hair, printed on plain computer paper with the performance’s time and date. It looked simple and unusual and, hey, it fit into my schedule, so I went. Inside Souers recital hall, the
half-sheet program glowed warmly in the yellow stage lights, the orangey wood of every surface, the red of the Miami sweatshirt on the back of the patron seated in front of me. As Sugarev started to play, I started to write down everything on my mind in the margins of the program. A piece ended, we applauded. Another one. I kept writing, building an elaborate rambling flow chart on the page that wouldn’t be quiet. To-do lists cross-pollinating my observations of the performance and my insecurities of that day, weedy ideas I’d thought of in an earlier class that I didn’t want to forget. In the middle of a scribble, the music suddenly stopped. I looked up. Sugarev stood still, eyes wide on his viola. He slowly coiled his finger around something in the air too thin to see from the back of the hall and tugged, a bewildered demonstration to clue the audience in on what had just happened. At the peak of the piece, at its penultimate instant, he had played with such force that he’d broken a string. Sugarev excused himself to fix the problem, restringing backstage and ripping up and down all the notes it could play to make sure it’d hold. After a minute, he came back out to cheers and applause, and resumed where he had left off. In his rush to return and finish the concert, Sugarev’s tuning of that replaced string wasn’t perfect; the remainder of the performance sounded the slightest bit harsh, less effortless than before. We still cheered and clapped even louder when he finished the piece, and he smiled and held the viola out to the side and plucked each string individually to prove they weren’t going anywhere this time. But I related too much to Sugarev. At least for me, fall was like the controlled, focused warm-up for the big performance. Spring is sawing on a viola until a part of it literally breaks. So, here we are. Amidst the lovely weather and excited anticipation for the end of the year is a different kind of fear and dread for the unknown horizon. But there’s beauty, too, in that rushed replacement of a snapped string — the stressed, messy striving that keeps us afloat. Walking back toward my dorm that night after the performance, I hit that same spot in the sidewalks’ cliche crisscrossing where I keep making weirdly breezy small talk, in front of the Armstrong terraces that now are fully in bloom. Some of the pink petals had already blown off the branches, clumping along the sidewalk in thick frosting swipes I wanted to bury my toes under. It’s bougie and touristy and naive, but I pulled out my Polaroid camera and took a picture of the trees anyway. The picture printed, coming out all indigos and violets in the dim light of streetlamps, the cake-frosting color of those petals lost in the ink. Oh well, I told myself. I tried. Then I saw an unidentified white speck in lower part of the photo. I looked back up at the picturesque terrace and smiled. In the shadow of the elegant pink trees, a lonely dandelion puff was growing in the grass, reaching, gloriously yearning to be.
HEATHER MCCOWAN THE MIAMI STUDENT
In between stretching and allowing everyone to goof around by playing funs games — a variation of rock, paper, scissors and stuffing multiple dum-dum suckers in their mouths — Hobbs spoke passionately to the new leaders about how to conduct clubs of their own and connect with the adults in the communities they were serving in. Throughout his time as area director, Hobbs has trained hundreds of Miami students to be leaders for high schoolers, middle schoolers, kids with disabilities, teen moms and other college students. These leaders go out into the communities they are placed in and build relationships with others, their ultimate goal being
to share the message of Jesus Christ. “I think it’s important work,” Hobbs said. “I think adolescents today are surrounded by all kinds of pressures and negative things. For us to be able to come alongside adolescents with positive role-models and friendships is an encouraging thing. It was his last time meeting with these particular leaders as a whole, and even though he’ll no longer stand in front of them giving them advice and guidance in their ministry, Hobbs will continue to meet with them and be involved in their lives. “I’ve seen lives changed,” Hobbs said. “I’ve seen families changed. My life has been changed.”
RYAN TERHUNE PHOTO EDITOR
As classes enter their final weeks, the trees around campus begin to bloom.
WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET
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TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
‘Disenchanted!’ pokes fun at Disney princess stories THEATRE
ERIN GLYNN
THE MIAMI STUDENT
When a show starts with three princesses gyrating and swearing at their princes, it becomes immediately clear that Disney had no hand in this version of the company’s beloved “Princess Line” franchise. Instead, the book, music and lyrics of “Disenchanted!” a glitzy musical comedy that examines the flaws Disney princesses find within their respective stories, were all written by Dennis T. Giacino. The former history teacher was struck by the vast discrepancies between Pocahontas, the historical figure, and Pocahontas, the princess. As he writes on his website, “What would the ‘real’ Pocahontas – a circa 1616, rough-and-tumble 10-yearold Powhatan girl, have thought of the fringed deer-pelt miniskirt and long, flowing hair donned by her 20-year-old counterpart in her 1995 movie comeback?” After writing Pocahontas’s showstopping number “Honestly,” Giacino explored the other “princesses with a bone to pick.” The result was a hilarious celebration of how far society has come in terms of feminist and cultural issues since the first classic Disney princess movie
FROM FASHION »PAGE 1
Around 7:40 p.m., the piano flickered out, replaced by a pulsating beat. The first model emerged from behind the curtain, draped in a white gown and enveloped in a cloud of black smoke. MUFD has rebranded; before this year, they were a club, not an organization. According to PR and Marketing Co-Director Steele Fitzwater, they realized that they wanted to represent something bigger than an on-campus club. They host at least three events a year in addition to their annual fashion show and boast over 200 active members. Fitzwater, who joined two years ago as a model, says the organization is truly unique and provides members with opportunities to explore all aspects of the fashion industry — not just modeling and design. “It was something I enjoyed because of the people,” said Fitzwater. “The people that I met and the people who are involved in the organization . . . I think that the group itself is a group [that believes] that everyone has potential.” Aveda serves as the show’s primary sponsor, along with the College of Creative Arts, Associated Student Govern-
RYAN TERHUNE PHOTO EDITOR
Miami’s Performing Arts Series hosted ‘Disenchanted!,’ a satirical spoof of Disney’s princess stories, at Hall Auditorium. premiered (“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in 1937). The Performing Arts Series hosted “Disenchanted!” in Hall Auditorium on Wednesday, furthering its mission of providing accessible fine arts programming to the Oxford community, whom appeared to enjoy the show immensely. The “Disenchanted!” princesses heatedly sounded off on everything from their ridiculous anatomy (“Big Tits,” “All I Wanna Do Is Eat”) to cultural insensitivity (“Honestly”). The performances were all heartfelt
and fun, infused with an enthusiasm that made it difficult not to jump out of the theatre seats and join the all-female cast. Shelby Ringdahl as Snow White, Madison Hayes-Crook as Cinderella and Daniella Richards as Sleeping Beauty shimmied and high-kicked their way through the production, moving the show from one energetic, irreverent song to the next without ever missing a beat. Ann Paula Bautista, who played Mulan, Pocahontas and Princess Badroulbadour, had excellent comedic tim-
ment and Cintas. Most of the show’s ticket profits go to their organization, but a portion is also contributed to a scholarship fund for Miami’s fashion program’s winter New York trip. Of course, it’s not a fashion show without models. Like the show, MUFD models defy fashion industry norms. “We don’t just look for models who are the typical runway style,” said Fitzwater. “We’re not just searching for people who are tall and thin. What we’re trying to do is find people who are confident and who are comfortable with themselves.” Though the process for finding models started early, official rehearsals started just nine weeks before the show. Model Buse Onen said there was a lot to learn in that period of time. “We all learned the right way to catwalk, pose and show your personality through your walk,” said Onen. The show displayed the work of 22 student designers, each collection showcasing anywhere between two and six ensembles. Most collections had an obvious theme, such as Pollen or Darker than Dark, with certain color schemes or motifs connecting the pieces. The overarching theme was black and white, though it didn’t stifle per-
ing that had the audience in stitches, particularly during her performance as Pocahontas when she shrieked “I was just a 10-year-old girl and now I’m double D?!” Cherise Thomas as The Princess Who Kissed the Frog also delighted the audience with a skillful delivery of her sardonic lines and gave an astonishing vocal performance near the end of the show that tore in to Disney for the length of time the company went without introducing a black princess. Vanessa Leuck, whose 12 years of design experience includes the Dis-
ney on Ice show, “Let’s celebrate,” crafted beautiful, fun costumes that defied any pre-conceived notions based on the characters roaming Disney parks. All the princesses wore dresses they could actually move in, and Mulan wore pants befitting a former soldier. The added practicality did not sacrifice aesthetic, however, and showcased the subtle, but charming nods to the original princesses’ costumes. Twisting the stories of classic Disney princesses is a concept that’s beginning to feel as worn out as the princesses themselves, but at least in “Disenchanted!” the hilarious plot never took itself too seriously. Some of the storylines felt slightly off-putting, (such as when Belle appeared in a straightjacket screaming at flatware about beastiality), and the raunchiness of the material occasionally felt crude in a way that seemed over-the-top, but ultimately the show delivered on its promise of a “subversive, not-for-kiddies musical.” The feel-good, girl-power themes of “Disenchanted!” are not only good for laughs, but also as a reminder that not every flaw in the classic Disney princess narratives can be relegated to “Once upon a time.”
sonal designer creativity; rather, it complemented it. The first collection, Tonalita di Bianco, boasted a series of all-white designs, while other collections were heavily influenced by blackand-white tones. Each designer had a unique take on fashion, influenced by a mix of culture and personal experience, and inspiration radiated throughout the show. MUFD wants to give its members a real taste of the fashion industry, and as such, the show was conducted with the utmost professionalism. The stage was designed to emulate a high-fashion setup, and VIP seats lined the runway. “As a person that wants to pursue a career in the fashion industry, MUFD has helped me get an experience and insight to how the industry is” Onen said. “It allowed me to network with alumni and professionals within the industry.” Last year’s show drew just under 1,000 attendees, and MUFD predicts this year, they’ll net a few hundred more. “It’s a year-long thing,” said Fitzwater. “This is kind of our pinnacle event every year, and it’s the thing that we are ERIK CRAIGO THE MIAMI STUDENT From left, Steele Fitzwater, Leo Jin, and Gloria Zhu modeling for about to be the most proud of.” designer Gabrielle Nti at Miami University Fashion & Design’s 11th fashion show.
L.A. theatre troupe brings drama about Nuremberg Trials to Miami THEATRE
HANNAH FIERLE THE MIAMI STUDENT
On Thursday, L.A. Theatre Works will perform “Judgment at Nuremberg” at Hall Auditorium. The play, in commemoration of the
75th anniversary of World War II, questions the circumstances of war and the interests of the country during a time of conflict. “‘Judgment at Nuremberg’ is important because it is about the actual Nuremberg Trials that happened after World War II,” said Ellie Witter, assistant director for the Performing Arts Series. “The Amer-
ican-led tribunals were formed to prosecute those accused of war crimes committed during WWII.” Although originally written as a teleplay, the story has been adapted to both a stage play and an Academy Award-winning film. The central focus of the play is the American tribunals that were used to prosecute prominent members of
Nazi Germany for war crimes committed during the Holocaust. This play in particular has a special connection to Miami, as John Dolibois was part of the American team that interrogated top-ranking Nazis for the trials graduated in 1942. Dolibois was Miami’s vice president emeritus for university re-
lations and the former U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg. The Luxembourg campus still bears his name — Miami University Dolibois European Center—better known as MUDEC. The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available priced at $20 for adults, $19 for seniors and $10 for student/youth.
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Food
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HANSENEA@MIAMIOH.EDU
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
RYAN TERHUNE PHOTO EDITOR
Next great baker: Allyson Moore ELIZABETH HANSEN FOOD EDITOR
Allyson Moore didn’t think she would ever open a bakery. “It just kinda happened,” she says. After being diagnosed with many food allergies, Allyson Moore started baking gluten, egg and dairy free treats. Not long after, her cupcakes and breads gained popularity and Chubby Bunny Bakery was born. “I liked to bake as a kid, but I was doing it with box mixes,” says Moore. “I never did any of it from scratch, so that was totally new. I’ve just always been kinda good at it.” It started with the Oxford Farmers Market. Next, Moon Co-op wanted the products. Then came Jungle Jim’s and Kofenya. Finally, through word of mouth, Miami University wanted Chubby Bunny Bakery products in McCracken Market. “Chubby Bunny was just a hobby that got out of control. I didn’t really plan for it to turn into this, but it’s great that it did. There’s a lot of demand for it,” says Moore. Currently, Moore cooks all the goods out of her home in Hamilton, Ohio using four separate ovens, though she hopes to soon move to a commercial kitchen in Over-theRhine.
“I’m kind of at the point where I’m up against the wall where it has to grow,” says Moore. “We’re working on moving the business to Over-the-Rhine to a commercial kitchen space. This way I’ll be able to produce way more product in less time and my whole life won’t be completely consumed with Chubby Bunny.” The whole process is somewhat of a family affair. While Allyson bakes, her mom puts the stickers on the boxes and her husband makes the deliveries. And her two-year-old son? Well he just likes to eat the cupcakes. “Nothing is safe,” Allyson says, laughing. “There’s been times when he’ll just come in with a cupcake and he just acts like nothing happened.” Even her 9 month-year-old likes to be apart of the process by crawling around, eating the fallen chocolate chips off the floor. “It’s nice that I don’t have to get a babysitter for them, they’re not in daycare. They kinda are just along for the ride all the time,” says Moore. But the long baking hours — while raising two little kids — doesn’t allow Allyson much time for herself. “I have days when I just have so much product to bake. I’ll have days where I have to produce $700 invoices and I just want to
hide in the laundry room.” And then there are days where she’s so close to ending it all. “There are a lot of days I want to quit. There are a lot of days I want to say, ‘Oh, no more Chubby Bunny’ but I know so many people would be upset,” says Moore. So she keeps on baking. There aren’t very many bakeries like hers in southwest Ohio. In Cincinnati, there is Happy Chick’s Bakery, which is entirely vegan, but not gluten-free, and Cake Rack Bakery that offers gluten and dairy free options, but is not entirely vegan. Chubby Bunny Bakery offers the best of both worlds in all their products: Vegan and gluten-free. “There are just not a lot of options. I mean even if [other products] are gluten free, there’s still a lot of other crap in it too,” says Moore. “They’re not organic, they have eggs, they have milk, so I do think there’s room for a product like mine on the market.” Jungle Jim’s International Market, located in Fairfield, Ohio, carries more than 150,000 products. Among all of these products, Chubby Bunny is the only one of its kind. “We have a local gluten free bakery and other vegan products,” says Kyle Koppe, Jungle Jim’s Natural Foods employee, “but
nothing vegan, gluten free and baked locally like Chubby Bunny.” And a product like hers is especially popular when its flavor is practically indistinguishable from non-vegan and gluten containing products. Miami University sophomore, Natalia Del Rosario, has had a gluten intolerance for the past two years. She misses being able to eat baked goods the most. But because of Chubby Bunny products, Del Rosario is able to enjoy the cupcakes she loves without the wheat. “I love Chubby Bunny because it’s nice to have gluten free products available,” says Del Rosario. “It can be hard to find quick and easy options that I can enjoy when I want dessert or have a sweet tooth.” While Del Rosario’s favorite Chubby Bunny product is the pumpkin muffin, Moore laughs when talking about this popular product. “I get sick of it,” says Moore. “Everyone loves that pumpkin muffin but I’m like ‘Oh my god if I have to look at a pumpkin muffin one more time…But I mean, there’s times I’ll eat it, but it’s rare. It’s just always there.” Although Moore doesn’t eat Chubby Bunny frequently, her customers sure do. BAKER »PAGE 8
Fifi’s kitchen: Bringing Afro-soul to campus GABBY NTI
THE MIAMI STUDENT
It is 9:10 p.m. on a Sunday night. The weekend is winding down and most college students at Miami University are scrambling to complete the homework they have not thought about since the start of the weekend. But Fifi Ogini, a sophomore marketing major at Miami, has something else on her mind: Sunday family and friends dinner. This Sunday’s theme is Afro-soul food. Her guests walk in one by one, ranging from freshman to juniors. Fifi is hosting this dinner particularly for first-year African American females at Miami. She wants them to meet other upperclassmen of their race, and get some college advice. “I wish I had a group of girls like this when I was a freshman here, that’s why I invited them. Cooking brings everyone together,” says Fifi as she begins seasoning the ground beef. She turns on the heats up the oil and begins to slice plantains. Fifi continuously runs back and forth to a large black bag, taking out cooking utensils and seasonings not found within in a 20 mile radius of Oxford, Ohio. “Oh this bag? It’s my cooking bag,” she says as she removes her golden cupcakes from the oven. “I
keep my supplies in here so no one steals or uses my stuff when I’m not here. I’ve had problems with theft in the past.” She begins mixing her homemade cheesecake icing. Being a sophomore, this is the final year Fifi is required to live on campus. Next year she’ll no longer be required to share a residence hall with hundreds of others. But more importantly, she’ll no longer have to share a kitchen. Fifi has ran into issues since her first year at Miami with people stealing her food from the communal fridge and using her products. She explained how limiting and frustrating it can be when trying to make these grand meals for sometimes an upwards of 50 people when she has no kitchen space to call her own. As the food begins to fill up the small table in the communal kitchenette, Leanne Koveleski, junior strategic communications major at Miami, walks in and is quickly taken back by the copious amount of food Fifi has prepared. “Oh my God this looks soooo good!” says Leanne. “Auntie Fifi has done it again. Let’s eat it at my house. I have a lot more room at
Candied matzah: A Passover treat
my apartment!” All four other guest agree, and begin to help pack up the food and head to the car. When they all settle in at Leanne’s house and finally eat the meal, no one could deny the diversity and
many origins of the food she made sitting on the table. “I was born in Nigeria and came here when I was five, so it influences everything I do, especially my cooking style,” says Fifi. “My mom taught me how to cook. She instilled in us a love for good food, quality and flavor and how to pro-
see it on page 9
vide it for ourselves.” Growing up in a NigerianAmerican household influenced the type of dishes she made, and the ones her mom taught her to cook. Over the years she discovered her own cooking style and hasn’t slowed down since. Fifi has now opened her “kitchen” to old friends and new. She loves to cook for her Sunday dinners, as well as for celebrations, get togethers and even competitions for on campus organizations. “Getting paid for my cooking? Yeah I’ve considered it,” says Fifi. “People have asked me to cater for them and have offered me money. I wouldn’t mind especially with the expenses of college but I don’t want this to be a business. It takes away the intimacy of it.” She enjoys spending time making quality food because of the bonding process that comes along with it. “Most of my favorite childhood memories all started in the kitchen. It’s a special process,” says Fifi. Fifi also sees cooking as a stress reliever. She believes that a home
cooked meal can remind others of home and de-stress them as well, especially with the daily struggles that college brings. Troy, sophomore French major and close friend to Fifi has enjoyed many of her meals throughout the years and is always eager for more “I feel like i’m always harassing her to cook for me but she’s amazing so she knows why,” says Troy. “What I like best about her cooking? Honestly it’s when we’re all together, cracking jokes on each other and helping her clean up. We have made some wild memories while smashing on some lasagna.” So what is the future of Fifi’s cooking? Though limited, she does not plan on letting that get in her way of doing what she loves: Bringing people together over a flavorful, homemade meal. She looks forward to living on campus and having a kitchen to call her own. “I dream of my future kitchen. I have a whole Pinterest page filled with ideas already,” says Fifi. “I know, I know, how typical of me.” To some, cooking may just be a means to meal but to Fifi, it will always mean so much more.
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Entertainment
7
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
‘Legion’ a trippy, excellent take on superhero TV TV
SAM KEELING
THE MIAMI STUDENT
In the past few years, superheroes have taken television by storm. The CW has a DC show for almost every day of the week, and Marvel has partnered with ABC and Netflix to broadcast a handful of popular shows like “Daredevil” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Just when it seemed like the formula for a comic book show was obvious, FX’s “Legion” arrived to turn everything on its head. Even though “Legion” takes its titular character from the X-Men comics, its universe seems entirely independent of famed mutants like Wolverine or Magneto. David Haller (Dan Stevens) has spent most of his life moving from one mental institution to the next, constantly sedated to keep his dangerous schizophrenia at bay. But the arrival of a strange, alluring patient named Syd (Rachel Keller) and some intimidating government agents disrupt his drug-induced stupor and send him on a bizarre journey. What if all the voices in David’s head aren’t fake? What if those visions of floating objects aren’t visions at all? No, Syd reveals to David that he’s not crazy. Instead, he’s
a mutant of startling power, capable of telepathy, telekinesis and even creating astral planes. And David’s not alone; Syd temporarily switches bodies with anyone she touches, and her friend Ptonomy can travel into anyone’s memories. This might sound a little mindboggling, but you don’t know half of it; revealing any more plot information would be delving into spoiler territory, but “Legion” has one of the most purposefully evasive and confusing first seasons in television. Much of the show takes place in David’s fragmented and damaged mind. As a team of mutants—including Syd, David’s love interest—try to find out what’s fractured his psyche, they come across a dangerous entity known simply as the Devil with Yellow Eyes. As a mystery, “Legion” works brilliantly, carefully pacing its reveals and surrounding them with surreal, stunning imagery. The season’s basic plot could probably be explained in less than hour, and yet the eight hour-long episodes never feel unnecessarily bloated. And David’s struggle with mental illness feels fresh and essential in a genre that has been known to avoid heavy topics. Show creator Noah Hawley has proven his genius on the brilliant anthology series “Fargo,” and he
orchestrates the chaos of “Legion” with uncanny precision. Oftentimes, the most basic assertions one must establish in any story—is this reality or fake? A dream or a waking moment? —are deliberately toyed with, and any less-capable creative team could easily let the complexity get the better of them. “Legion” borders the line between an absurd gem and an incomprehensible mess. But the show’s directors— namely Michael Uppendahl—understand how to distinguish the real from the fantastic with wacky cinematography and set pieces. For example, when the entire cast breaks out in song and dance, the viewer can catch on that something’s not right. The same applies when it’s turned into a silent film from the 1920s complete with dialogue cards, or when David begins having conversations with a suave, British version of himself. Unique, stunning images abound; a man has spent decades listening to disco and reciting slam poetry in an ice cube, Aubrey Plaza plays David’s deceased friend who still appears in maniacal visions and a knife-wielding boy from a creepy children’s book— “The Angriest Boy in the World”—terrorizes the characters. The tone effortlessly flows from disturbing to
hilarious to surprisingly emotional. “Legion” is bound to turn off plenty of people. Even though Legion is the comic book son of Charles Xavier, the show barely addresses its connection to the X-Men franchise. It’s not straightforward enough to be a pure superhero show, and its confusing elements could most definitely be frustrating to some. But beneath all that craziness is a story with real heart. David is an empathetic character whose concern that he’s imagining everything prevents him from feeling genuine joy, and his romance with Syd is made powerful and unconventional considering that they can’t touch each other. The season finale does an amazing job of establishing new, exciting conflicts and character dynamics without resolving the biggest, most intriguing conflict. Its effectiveness as an intriguing thriller despite the labyrinthine mental acrobatics encapsulates what makes “Legion” special; while most shows aim to either provoke thought or purely entertain, this does both without breaking a sweat. Much like its protagonist, it’s schizophrenic, mysterious and utterly captivating.
On Rotten Tomatoes and the importance of bad movies FILM
JACK RYAN
THE MIAMI STUDENT
On March 24, producer Brett Ratner (“The Revenant,” “Prison Break”) made a statement that caused major waves in the film community: “The worst thing that we have in today’s movie culture is Rotten Tomatoes . . . I think it’s the destruction of our business.” With this accusation, Ratner certainly means to target the crux of our current film culture, but amidst all the negative responses, one has to wonder: is he right? Rotten Tomatoes exists as a selfanalytical TV and movie guide, something that tells you not only what’s on but also what’s worth seeing, and perhaps more importantly, what’s not worth your money. Being an aggregate site, its main purpose is to compile every “major review” (from the top 100 print or online publications with a high level of traffic) and assign a number to represent the percentage of positive reviews. The “Tomatometer” is misleading, however; the number assigned by the website is not the average score of each review, but rather the percentage of positive reviews, with positive defined by the website as 60 percent or so. This allows for one majorly
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opinionated reviewer to not completely tank the average score of any given film, but also sometimes acts against itself. Middle-of-the-pack films — the Nicholas Sparks rom-coms, the buddy cop adventures, the jump scare-packed horror flicks — take a huge gamble on this system. Just one too many negative ratings causes a perfectly acceptable flick to drop down below 59 percent, and lose hold of coveted “Fresh” status. On the other hand, if a film were to hypothetically get straight 60 percents across the board, it would achieve a 100 percent rating on the site, and reap the profits that benefit so many major awardseason flicks. These simply “meh” movies, and even bad films for that matter, teach us more than the good ones; they force us to ask “what could they have done better?”
or even “why don’t I like this?” Sometimes they aren’t even purely terrible, and offer a completely different perspective. Think of all the bad movies that you love, by the respects of the Tomatometer — “Home Alone,” “Space Jam,” “National Treasure” or even “The Boondock Saints.” This Tomatometer system is also dangerous because it devalues personal opinion and construes potentially controversial films as “Rotten,” rather than something that you should see and develop a take on. In this mindset, there is no purpose in having an independent thought on any given subject, and it replaces the subjective nature of film with an objective decree of quality. Many a moviegoer likes to counter these criticisms with a simple retort: “Well, maybe Hollywood should just make better
movies.” This makes sense in theory, but the business side of Hollywood studios loses net millions on “good movies.” This is blatant when you look at how “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” a film with a 27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, managed to gross $440 million more than any of the nine 2017 Best Picture nominees. Likewise, it is absolutely impossible to only make “good movies;” there is always a worst movie in theaters, the same way that there will always be a worst thing in the fridge, even if all you have is gourmet food. And, although it can be hard to rationalize, these “worsts” are just as important as the rest. Imagine if every time that you sat down to take a test, you were told all the answers. Yes, it would make life easier, but you would walk away without any gained knowledge or sense of achievement. As horrible as it is, the film industry needs the Zach Snyder’s, the Nicholas Sparks’, the Adam Sandler’s. In an era where theaters struggle to fill seats for even the most respected films, we need to turn our focus not to the massively compressed opinion of one kind of person, but rather toward the way that we value individual experience and personal connection.
Chance the Philanthropist MUSIC
CEILI DOYLE
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
When Chance the Rapper dropped “Coloring Book” almost a year ago, I was nearing the end of high school, and my best friends and I were driving early one morning before school to watch the sunrise on Lake Michigan. I immediately fell in love with the catchy hooks, goofy laughs and nonsensical yelps that filter through his lyrics. I spent the following day memorizing every single lyric to “All Night” before starting to listen through his first two mixtapes. I spent every free moment I had blasting Chance, whether it was nearly blowing out the speakers in my car during “Chain Smoker” or running through the entire “10 Day” album. I quickly began to admire how Chance channels his frustrations and feelings of hopelessness from high school and throughout his life into poetic and unflinchingly honest lyrics.
He managed to take his 10-day suspension (after being caught smoking weed in the parking lot of his high school) and turn it into music that inspired his peers and future listeners to recognize that failure is only what you make of it. He motivated me to start writing every day and solidified my ambition to become a journalist and eventually an author. Anyone can have talent, and with enough luck that talent can propel the brightest artists to the top of the music industry. But Chance is so much more than just a talented rapper. Unlike his role model and equally famous Chicago-native rapper, Kanye West, Chance has not let his fame or early successes inflate his ego. He regularly advocates on Twitter for high school students to attend “Open Mike” events at the Harold Washington Library Center that he went to as a teenager. When Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” premiered in theaters earlier this year, Chance took the opportunity to rent out a theater
DANIEL GREGORY FLICKR CREATIVE COMMONS
one weekend for a screening in his former neighborhood of West Chatham. He is a father, an activist and a true artist who is devoted to his fans more than anything or anyone else. Following his sweep at the Grammys this past February, Chance received national acclaim. He refuses to sign with a label, yet his songs have gained increasingly consistent airplay on the radio without him ever selling a single album. After Illinois governor Bruce Rauner tweeted his congratulations to Chance after the Grammys, the rapper replied, asking the governor for a meeting to discuss the state of funding for Chicago Public Schools
(CPS). When the meeting went poorly, Chance committed to donating $1 million to 100 schools in the CPS system, presenting $10,000 dollar checks to third grade classrooms during the first week of March. His efforts to rehabilitate Chicago’s educational system are both admirable and unprecedented for the average American rapper, let alone a 23-year-old kid who has reached unfathomable success at such a young age. Chance’s passion for activism and inner obligation to help those less fortunate is a rousing change of pace for all musical artists, and I’m proud to call him one of my favorite musicians.
‘13 Reasons Why’ draws out the book’s drama TV
EMMA KINGHORN
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
“Hey, it’s Hannah. Hannah Baker.” How would you respond to the dead calling? What if you had killed them? The 13 responsible for the death of Hannah Baker, and their reactions to having their dirty laundry aired via explanatory tapes she left behind, are the subjects of Netflix’s new series, based on the book of the same name by Jay Asher. “13 Reasons Why” demands drama; the screenwriters and largely unknown cast of youths almost over-deliver. Narrated by intensely foreboding, occasionally snarky, one-lined voiceovers from Hannah (Katherine Langford), the episodes simply drip drama all over your Netflix queue. Baker’s tapes detail each event that she feels motivated her to commit suicide, perpetrated by one of the receivers of the tapes. These are told in flashbacks while a bewildered Clay Jensen, (Dylan Minnette), hears the tales for the first time. These flashbacks, combined with Clay’s present-day confrontations and mental episodes, create a timeline that viewers have to intently follow, or risk being lost until the next tape begins. The plot itself also has several holes, the most glaring of which is plausibility. The likelihood of these tapes, their secrecy and parents being that oblivious is low. However, the series brings to light a muchneeded confrontation of bullying and assault within the school system. It’s raw; the rare Netflix viewer discretion warning that precedes a handful of episodes should tell you that. Unapologetically real depictions of rape, assault, suicide, pure, unadulterated guilt and even worse, denial, are not for the faint of heart, or for the easily upset stomach. Of all the dramatic nuances, though difficult to stomach, these are the most important. Building slowly at first, these graphic scenes give weight and momentum to the back half of the series as the audience creeps closer to the end they know is coming. At times, this wait can feel drawn-out; 13 episodes are a lot to precede an ending that is announced before the very first title screen, with little hope of recourse. Combined with not having any sort of contrastingly upbeat episode and many, many meetings of the nervous tape receivers suggesting the same unrealistic murder of Clay Jensen, many viewers may choose to switch back to binge-watching a happier favorite. On this ever-climactic stage, the actors deliver on a hit-or-miss basis. Far and away the anchoring, brilliant performance by Kate Walsh is the series’ crown jewel. Even those without children can be pulled in, and feel their stomachs twist at her heartbreaking grief and confusion over her daughter’s suicide. Langford manages to slowly lose her moxie and confident attitude at a consistent pace, in response to those 13 events. While the multitude of angsty voiceovers lessen their impact, she delivers them all with just the right amount of attitude, and without the slightest hint of her rather strong, real-life British accent. Some of the misses include a deadpan performance from closeted lesbian and Hannah Baker denouncer Courtney (Michele Selene Ang), and an underwhelming portrayal of guidance counselor Mr. Porter (Derek Luke). The series was executively produced by Selena Gomez and her mother, Mandy Teefey, and concludes with the bread-crumbed possibility for a second season.
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The Oxford Parks and Recreation Department is currently accepting job applications for the following spring & summer positions. Applicants must be at least 15 years old to be considered for employment. WATER SAFETY INSTRUCTOR: $10.00/hr. for Swim Lessons up to 15/hrs. per week for eight weeks. Approx. hours 10am – 1pm. This position may be combined with a lifeguard or supervisor position for additional hours. CERTIFICATIONS: Current certification in lifeguarding and Water Safety Instructor. POOL SUPERVISOR: $10.00/hr. – Supervise lifeguards, produce schedules, provide customer service and maintain a safe facility. CERTIFICATIONS: Current certification in lifeguarding and CPR for the Professional Rescuer (CPR/FPR). AACRAO reports that Chinese
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LIFEGUARD: SALARY: $9.00/ hr. – Must possess or be enrolled in lifeguarding certification course and CPR/FPR, as well as complete and pass routine training sessions with Oxford Parks and Recreation Department.
CONCESSION SUPERVISOR: SALARY: $9.25/hr. – 25 – 35 hours/week, with a flexible schedule. Supervise and train concession workers, inventory products, prepare staff schedules and provide customer service at the park concessions, pool concessions and pool gate.
FROM BAKER »PAGE 6
FROM INTERNATIONAL » PAGE 1
Koppe consistently sees customers come for the cute labels, and then return for more. “I’m not vegan, but it is tasty and I enjoy it,” says Koppe. “They always ask me for my preferences once they start trying it.” Chubby Bunny’s exponential growth from its start in 2012 to present is an indication that there is indeed high demand for a product like Moore’s. According to a Mintel study, gluten-free product sales increased 68 percent from 2012 to 2014. “I haven’t found, at least not in this area, bakeries like me,” says Moore. “I mean, there are in L.A. and New York, but there’s nothing like that here, and if you want it shipped, that’s gonna be really expensive.” Moore doesn’t ever plan on opening a full-scale bakery, but rather one that focuses on wholesale by expanding into stores like Whole Foods and Dorothy Lane Market. She’d eventually like to produce some bake-at-home products like raw cookie dough. “I don’t strive to have a bakery where I sit there all day and wait for someone to buy a cupcake,” says Moore. “I want to get it out to stores and then that way I can be with my kids.”
As of Sunday, April 9, 2017, applications from international students are down by 4.1 percent this year from 2016, Miami admissions staff say. This marks a year-to-date drop from 4,897 applications in 2016 to 4,696 in 2017. Though this percentage is low, this fall-off is significant. Before this year, Miami’s international admissions were on a steady annual climb that began in 2014, when the number spiked by nearly 60 percent. On a national scale, several reports have indicated that international students are less likely to apply to schools in the United States. The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) last month released a report of key findings from a survey of over 250 U.S. schools forecasting decreased international application numbers for this year.
and Indian families are increasingly concerned by the Trump administration’s “America first” rhetoric. A perceived decrease in the number of student visas handed out by embassies in China and India, a less-welcoming environment for foreigners and the possibility of increased immigration and travel regulations were cited as the most common worries. AACRAO isn’t the only organization registering international students’ apprehension. EAB’s Royall & Company, a consulting agency that focuses on higher education applications and enrollment, polled over 2,000 high school students from 150 nations on their plans to enroll in higher education. The results were in line with AACRAO’s findings. The Royall report, released in late March, says international students’ interest in studying in the United States has
According to information from the Johns Hopkins Medicine Health Library, the higher up an injury is on the spinal cord — from the C1 to the C5 vertebrae — the more serious its effects. Custer’s surgery to repair the spinal cord damage went as planned, the post said, and he has regained feeling and some movement in his arms and shoulders. Saturday’s party, hosted by the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, is an annual event, called “Kimonawanalaya.” Partygoers wear Hawaiian garb — or some don kimonos ― and the hosts set up a makeshift pool and island decor in the house’s backyard. Oxford Police told the 300 to 400 party attendees to leave after the Oxford Life Squad transported
Custer. Police arrested one woman leaving the party for underage alcohol possession. A graduate of Elder High School in Cincinnati, Custer just completed his first basketball season with the WSU Raiders. The 19-year-old forward played 32 games, averaging 9.8 minutes and 2.2 points a game. At Elder, Custer captained the team his senior year and was among the all-time leaders for threes made at the school. A message posted to the page on Monday expressed the family’s deep appreciation for the support Custer has received since his injury. Players from WSU’s basketball team as well as Custer’s high school teammates have already made visits to the UC hospital.
FROM INJURY » PAGE 1
from Sunday evening. Custer has only one injury — a fractured C5 vertebrae — but the injury caused severe trauma, the post said. The C5 is the fifth of seven vertebrae located at the base of the skull and is significant when determining the likely consequences of neck and spinal injuries.
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CONCESSION WORKER: SALARY: $8.50/hr. – Prepare and serve food, operate cash registers, maintain clean work environment and provide customer service at the park concessions, pool concessions and pool admission gate. Pool concession, pool gate and park concession . SUMMER CAMP LEADER: $8.50/hr. – 20 to 40 hrs. per week (late May – August). Supervise and engage camp children, plan activities, communicate with parents/guardians and maintain a positive public image. Experience with children required. CERTIFICATIONS: Most possess current CPR/First-Aid/ AED, or willing to be trained prior to employment. RECREATION TECHNICIAN: SALARY: $10/hr. – App. 12-15 hrs. per week April – September. Assist with sports field prep, sports programs and other community events as needed. Previous outdoor field work and sports experience a plus; must be able to lift 50 lbs. Flexible schedule includes some weekends, evenings and early mornings. Valid Driver’s License required. declined by one-third. That num-
APPLICATION PROCEDURE: ACity of Oxford application must be mailed, faxed or delivered to: Oxford Parks and Recreation Dept. c/o Casey Wooddell 6025 Fairfield Road Oxford, Ohio 45056 Office: (513) 523-6314 cwooddell@cityofoxford.org http://www.cityofoxford.org Please note position(s) of interest.
ber could change depending on the Trump administration’s actions in the coming months. Of students in the Royall survey who expressed reduced interest in studying in the United States, 69 percent cited concerns “about the U.S. presidential administration,” 55 percent were “worried about travel restrictions for international students” and about half reported being fearful of their personal safety and of prejudice and discrimination. Miami is working to buck these trends, particularly in China and India, where the university has hired “in-country coordinators” to keep admissions numbers high. After Miami went from receiving 2,316 international student applications in the fall of 2013 to 3,679 in the fall of 2014, admissions staff decided to hire in-country coordinators in China and India. Director of admissions Susan Schaurer said these on-site personnel serve much the same function as local recruiters, attending college recruitment fairs and visiting high schools. For Schaurer, their posi-
“It’s so great to see how many people love Ryan as much as we do,” the post reads. At the time of publication, the Center for Analytics and Data Science, expansion of the Center for Business Excellence to FROM DEAN » PAGE 1
become the Isaac-Oxley Center for Business Leadership and the successful re-accreditation of Farmer with its accrediting body (AACSB). However, there are some other things Myers wishes he could have accomplished. “I would have liked to continue to work on the diversity and inclusion initiative in the FSB and on
Certified Lifeguards/Swim Instructors and Activity Leaders –Archery, Arts & Crafts, Basketball, BB Air Rifle, Maintenance, Male Group Counselors, and Nature and Camping - needed for FUN and REWARDING summer day camp in Cincinnati. Six week session begins June 19 – July 28, M-F 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Contact Camp Wildbrook @ 513-931-2196 or campwildbrook@cinci.rr.com.
HOUSES FOR RENT 1024 Arrowhead Dr. permitted for 4. $2,400 per person per semester. Water and trash included. 4 Bedroom, 2.5 Bath. 2 Living rooms, dining room eati in kitchen. Walk out deck, covered patio, garage. Availbale June 2017. Contact Carolyn 513-659-5671 also thecourtyardsofmiami.com tions are essential to international recruitment efforts. “If we were going to do what we felt was a good job in recruiting those students, attending to their needs and responding to the demands of high schools and college counselors who wanted Miami’s presence, it was a better use of our resources to have those in-country coordinators,” Schaurer said. Beyond the coordinators, Miami provides other services, like pre-orientation for international students, that serve as overseas touchstones and aim to dispel some unease regarding school, culture and work in the United States. Senior business major Ambrose Li, who staffs student pre-orientation in his home country of China each summer and serves as the president of Miami’s International Student Organization, said work visas are a primary concern for international students. “The first concern is a visa,” Li said. “No matter if you have a really good academic background, or you have skills, if you cannot get a visa, you cannot work here anyway.” First-year Daljeet Singh Gadiwale, a native of India who’s majoring in finance with a co-major in fashion, agreed. Gadiwale applied for a H1B student visa three times after being accepted to Miami. “Before I applied [to Miami], I didn’t have any concerns,” Gadiwale said. “But after I got rejected twice [for a visa], I was pretty scared because it was very uncertain. There’s no clarity in the process, so that kind of threw me off. I was really scared when I first came here through immigration and customs — ‘Are they going to let me in properly?’” Gadiwale, like many other international students, plans to travel home for the summer. But he’s unsure if, come fall, he’ll be able to make it back to campus safely. Even with all the fortifying, reassuring documentation required for foreign students to study in the U.S., unease seems to be the name of the game for international admissions going forward. “That’s what Donald Trump did,” said Gadiwale. “There’s a lot of uncertainty about stuff, and even the people who have all the paperwork and all the things in place are still worried about it.”
over 2,200 people were following Custer’s recovery through the Facebook page.
campus, and also to have provided support for the faculty as they continue to modernize our curricula,” Myers said. “While we are sorry to lose Matt, we congratulate him on his new position and wish his family well on their new journey,” Miami University President Gregory Crawford said. “I hope the students, parents, and faculty of Miami know how hard their administrators work for them. Everyday,” Myers said. Miami is in the process of searching for a new dean.
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TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
FROM FOOD SECTION
Candied matzah: A Passover treat RYAN TERHUNE THE MIAMI STUDENT
KIRBY DAVIS JAKE GOLD BETH WHITTIER
THE MIAMI STUDENT
FROM HISTORY »PAGE 3
drunk,” Miami alumnus Jim Bodmer (‘60) said. “You just drank to get happy.” But soon enough, the students thirsted for more. They craved different kinds of drinks with heavier alcohol concentrations. This gave Oxford business owners an opportunity: high-content beer, wine, mixed drinks or even straight liquor. In November 1969, a “local option” — essentially a referendum — was put to voters. There were four questions raised, all rooted in one idea: Should high-content alcohol be available for sale and consumption in Oxford? The individual questions asked were more exacting. In all following local options, the city separated alcohol into two classes: Beer, wine and mixed drinks are grouped together in the first category, and liquor is the second. The ctiy also stratified the place of consumption — on-premise (sometimes dubbed “by-the-glass”) as you see at bars and restaurants, or carry-out, as you can find at liquor stores and supermarkets. In 1969, all four were voted down by a 2-1 margin, leaving Oxford a dry town, as reported by The Miami Stu-
Ingredients • 4 plain matzahs • 1 cup packed brown sugar • 1 cup kosher-for-Passover butter (we didn’t do this. Evil!) • 1 cup chopped pecans • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips Steps 1. Convince everyone to let you cook again (after the incident) 2. Convince everyone that Jewish food isn’t that bad 3. Break up the matzah into small “rectangles” (max 2 inches by 2 inches). Put it on a parchment-papered cookie tray
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees 5. Mix the butter and the sugar, melt it over medium-high heat 6. Add in the pecans 7. Once it’s started to boil, bring down to medium heat for a few minutes (don’t let it burn) 8. Pour it over the matzah “rectangles” and put it in the oven for eight minutes 9. Take the tray out, cover it in chocolate chips 10. Cook for another two minutes 11. Put the tray in the fridge for ten minutes 12. Serve and enjoy!
This week, we’re celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover.The basic premise is, after several weeks of divine torment on the Egyptian pha-
raoh, the Jewish people were ready to leave captivity. Their bread hadn’t risen yet, so they slung it on their backs and hightailed it out of Egypt, walking for 40 years to find the promised land.
The revisionist historians at Miami University won’t tell you this, but there’s an in-between step. While the Jewish people were waiting for Moses to part the Red Sea, they
dent. In 1971, the United States government adopted 18 as the national voting age. Previously in Ohio, only 21-year-olds could vote. In a town where more than half of the residents were Miami students, this had two major implications. The first was that Oxford graduated from a township to a city due to its higher votingage population, granting it additional liquor permits. The second? Voting interests of the students overpowered those of fulltime Oxford residents. So, despite vocal opposition by residents, another local option in 1975 legalized carry-out purchasing for all classes of alcohol, but due to state regulations liquor could only be sold by a state-run liquor store. For the 3.2 beer capital of southwest Ohio, this was a shakeup. It was especially big because, prior to the local option, if a Miami student wanted hard liquor, he or she had to travel across state lines to Indiana, said Miami alumnus Mark Klingbeil ( ’78). For years, Miami held a strict nocar rule for residential students — even if the vehicle were kept Uptown. Getting to Indiana was difficult without knowing a commuter student. Then, in 1979, the local option
came back, pushing for on-premise consumption of all classes of alcohol. Only two of Oxford’s 13 precincts voted on this version of the referendum. One of those precincts included a significant part of modern Uptown — High Street. “Saloon Row?” reads a 1975 flier by the Pro-Oxford Group, an advocacy group hoping to strike down the local options. “Is that High Street’s future?” Today, 19 of Oxford’s 59 liquor licenses — 32 percent — are held by High Street establishments, according to Ohio’s division of liquor control web database. The Pro-Oxford Group (categorically called a “vote-no” group) played a large role in lobbying against proalchohol pressure. Their rationale: If the culture of Uptown revolves around bars instead of a holistic community, students will show up, drink, graduate and then leave. In contrast to a student population that “disregard[s] the long-range welfare of the Miami/Oxford community,” members of the Pro-Oxford Group saw themselves as upstanding and high-class members of the Oxford Community. They were generally permanent residents, just like the temperance activists over a century earlier.
During this time, the drinking age in Ohio was 18 — but only for 3.2 beer. Everything else was restricted to 21-year-olds, but the effectiveness of those restrictions is uncertain. In a report compiled by the university’s Student Life Research Service in 1979, nearly one-third of students and 40 percent of seniors believed that student drinking was a serious enough problem to warrant greater attention by the university. In 1980, a final alcohol referendum was put to vote, again only in two primarily-Uptown precincts (the reasoning behind choosing these two regions is unclear). By a 2-1 margin, Sunday liquor sales were authorized in certain parts of Oxford. With that, Oxford’s metamorphosis from a temperance-controlled village to a college drinking havent was complete.
Oxford’s population transformation Full-time Oxfordians who took issue with the local options were, unsurprisingly, upset by the transformation of their city. They felt their small town would become a “Mecca for noisy, rowdy, non-collegiate crowds,” according to a Pro-
stopped to make caramel and drizzle it on top, so that the unleavened bread didn’t taste like cardboard. Add chocolate chips and pecans. Genuine!
GEORGE R. HOXIE PROVIDED BY SMITH LIBRARY
View of Uptown Oxford ca. 1968
Oxford Group advertisement. It was self-exacerbating: liquor options passed, locals moved out, students moved in and even more liquor options passed. It was after the first wave of local options in the 1970s that houses in Oxford went from 72 percent owner-occupied to 33 percent, a shift documented in 2007 by Oxford’s League of Women Voters. Along with the permanent residents, the temperance and vote-no movements disappeared, too. With students wielding the democratic power, most precincts across Oxford quickly voted to allow liquor sales.
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Opinion
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EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
To the new student body president: Keep goals attainable The following piece, written by the editorial editors, reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.
L
ast week, the student body elected Maggie Callaghan and Lucas Elfreich as President and Vice President, respectively, of ASG. With this new administration comes the hope that ASG and its executive branch will continue to expand efforts to resolve the many issues that face members of the Miami community. It is very easy for winning candidates to forget the issues on which they campaigned when competition is done and the prize of holding office is in hand. The items listed here represent this staff’s effort to keep the most important issues at the forefront of the conversation. First, the new administration must commit to more thorough cooperation with this newspaper, as well as other individuals and institutions tasked with being the watchdog of those who govern. Elected officials, even those that hold positions in a student organization, must be held accountable via openness regarding their actions and decisions. In addition to transparency at the top, student government must do a better job of getting more students involved in policy-making. The people that understand student issues the most are the students themselves, and understanding what most
“In that final note is a message to heed overall: The tasks that ASG does take on should be those small attainable goals that can add up to larger results.” or many of Miami students are concerned about is an integral part of working toward resolving those issues. This includes giving more responsibility to positions such as Vice President. Elfreich should use his platform to develop and drive initiatives. Many of the positions within ASG are paid, and it is important for the people of the Miami community to know that their money is being well spent. At least two of the populations on campus that are often neglected in discussions of student issues are the disabled and international communities. Callaghan and Elfreich touched on these issues by presenting the ideas of offering more translations of English signs and notifications and keeping the south doors at King Library open 24 hours
to increase accessibility. These ideas are good starts. But with a year to enact policies that affect the students, the leaders of the student body should focus on additional issues. Student Counseling Services has gained a significant amount of attention in recent years as the issue of mental health has moved into the national and local public discourse. With the importance of student mental health, ASG should make improving SCS a necessity. Under this umbrella are the issues of substance abuse and sexual assault, issues that SCS deals with and that are inseparable from mental health. These issues should always demand attention, but are of chief importance after recent months that saw eight sexual assaults just this semester, alcohol-
related injuries and a student death. Internally, ASG should strive to change its makeup so that it is more proportionate, racially and with respect to gender, to the rest of the student population. As it stands, about 6 percent of ASG members are people of color, and about 38 percent are women. This situation stands in contrast to the general population of Miami students, of which about one-fifth identify as a person of color and about half are female. The recent addition of a Steering Committee within ASG is a good thought, but it needs more direction to fulfill the purpose of providing Miami students with solutions to issues involving high-risk drinking. Tasks such as attracting businesses to the larger Oxford community may end up being too large of an endeavor to be realistically accomplished in the time that ASG’s leaders have to affect policy. In that final note is a message to heed overall: The tasks that ASG does take on should be those small attainable goals that can add up to larger results. Not everything can be accomplished in a snap, but with intent and dedication, ASG can and should live up to Miami’s expectations of change and reform in the coming year.
Controversial Pepsi ad misses the mark POP CULTURE
KIRBY DAVIS
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
A.J. NEWBERRY NEWBERAJ@MIAMIOH.EDU
Accomodations are a necessity at univerisities, not an option DISABILITIES
SARAH CAMINO COLUMNIST
To have a disability can mean many things. People who have Downs syndrome, autism, a learning disability, bipolar disorder or an autoimmune disease, are hard of hearing, wheelchair users, are deaf, blind, or visually impaired, can all identify their diagnosis as a disability, but to be disabled is something else. A social position rather than a medical diagnosis, for some it means identifying with a culture, but perhaps in one of the most heterogeneous minorities, the singular ubiquitous
experience is one of feeling on edge. It is a precarious position when your essential physical or psychiatric being is considered a liability. Unfortunately, universities have a long history of intentionally excluding people with disabilities. The College Board has been criticized for its lack of accessibility. Private universities were among the most prominent anti-ADA lobbyists. The SAT has roots in eugenic principles. Through the 1970s, Ivy League and Seven Sisters colleges documented each freshman class with nude posture portraits in order to link stature to moral character and intelligence.
To this day, students file lawsuits of discrimination against universities including Miami. Although not all disabled people will use accommodations in the classroom, many do, and the process of obtaining documentation alone can be exhausting, let alone justifying needs to multiple professors on an individual basis. Unfortunately, “Why I Dread the Accommodations Talk,” an article by Gail A. Horstein recently published in the Chronicle of Higher Education, adds to the tradition of skepticism surrounding disability in higher DISABILITIES »PAGE 11
Trump’s action in Syria: Unwise, but justified POLITICS
JILL TEITELBAUM COLUMNIST
“Mogul,” President Trump’s secret service codename, seems more fitting now than ever before. Last week he made the boldest move of his presidency and in doing so, showed Americans, and the world, that he means business. In the early hours of the morning last Thursday, 59 Tomahawk missiles were sent to the Al-Sharyat air base in Homs, Syria. The base is where U.S. intelligence believes the Syrian planes used in Tuesday’s deadly chemical attack had flown from. On Tuesday, April 4, the Syrian government, under President Bashar al-Assad, allegedly conducted a chemical weapons attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun
in the province of Idlib in northwestern Syria. It is believed that at least 70 people were killed, including 20 children. Sarin, a nerve agent which is banned under international law, was the suspected chemical used in the attack on Assad’s own people. Seemingly contradicting his earlier stance on intervention in Syria, Trump ordered the strike on the Syrian military air base. He explained his decision stating, “It is in this vital national security of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons.” Trump continued by saying, “There can be no dispute that Syria used banned chemical weapons, violated its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention and ignored the urging of the U.N. Security Council.” He also cited seeing the graphic images of children killed in Tuesday’s chemical attack as a contribut-
ing factor in his decision. Despite the apparent shift in stance, however, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson assured reporters that the operation did not denote a “change in our policy or our posture in Syria.” Careful precautions were notably followed throughout the mission, including notifying various governments prior to the attack, including the U.K., Russia, Jordan and Israel, using unmanned aircraft and striking during hours of low activity. According to CNN, “the strike took place at 8:40 p.m. ET (3:40 a.m. local time), when there would have been minimal activity at the base. It targeted aircraft, aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, air deREAD THE REST ONLINE AT MIAMISTUDENT.NET
Love or hate them, keep up with or renounce them, the Kardashian-Jenner clan and its affiliates (most recently: sugar-coated hair vitamins, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Blac Chyna) are almost comically inescapable. And the family members themselves do, undeniably, wield a lot of power in this nation, especially among millennials — which is why Kendall Jenner’s recently released ad campaign for Pepsi is so upsetting. Jenner is the eleventh-most-followed Instagram user in the world, boasting a fanbase of around 77 million on the app. Over 21 million follow her on Twitter, and while this may seem perilously low compared to the former figure, mirrored with some of her peers (Gigi Hadid’s four million, Hailey Baldwin’s almost one and Karlie Kloss’ mere two million), Jenner reigns far superior. So, it makes sense that Pepsi tapped her for its latest ad campaign. In the commercial, released April 4, Skip Marley’s “Lions” pulsates in the background while Jenner rips off a blonde wig during a photoshoot and bounds into a crowd of protesters — after grabbing an icy can of Pepsi, of course, which she later hands to a police officer. The “protesters,” all sheathed in aesthetically cohesive shades of blue, are thrilled to be in the street and even more thrilled to be hoisting signs in the air that implore people to “join the conversation” and “love.” Which conversation? Love what? The protester/police clash depicted in the ad has been most compared to protests of the Black Lives Matter movement, first galvanized in 2013 with George Zimmerman’s exoneration. Considering Pepsi’s public campaign to reach millennials, the ad’s superficial, ambivalent nature seems to suggest that they don’t — and shouldn’t — care. One day after its less-than-triumphant release, Pepsi pulled the ad and pinned an apology to their Twitter page, ceding that they had “missed the mark.” Jenner, so excited to promote it on April 5, deleted it from her own account by the
next day after vicious public backlash (My personal favorite: a Tweet that read, “Michael Jackson almost burned alive on the set of a Pepsi commercial and today that became the second worst moment in Pepsi history”). Just as I don’t believe all films are obligated to tackle important societal issues, I don’t expect all celebrities to espouse messages of social justice with every Tweet they fire off or ad campaign in which they participate. But celebrities’ voices reach farther than most average citizens’; it’s crucial that they use these voices to broach meaningful and topical subjects, not borderline slander them. In 2015, TIME magazine deemed Jenner so important that she earned a spot on their “30 Most Influential” list, along with her sister Kylie. This is a list populated by some child stars, yes, but also a high school student who invented a new way to test for Ebola, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. Jenner is no Nobel Prize winner, nor is she even a contender. But almost 100 million people, collectively, track her on social media. When she kicked off a sultry Calvin Klein campaign, the company’s sales rocketed by 13 percent. Until a few years and a Beyoncé pregnancy announcement ago, she held the title of Most-Liked Instagram Photo of All Time. Kendall Jenner clearly has the ability to reach a significant amount of people, primarily those of the young and impressionable variety. It was Pepsi’s responsibility to recognize this and use her influence as a tool to either harmlessly promote its brand or support a genuine, specified cause — not portray protester/police clashes as little more than optimal Instagram photo backdrops. This ad is worse than apathetic. It encourages those who do see protesting as something trendy, not necessary, and exacerbates the false notion that millennials can’t comprehend real issues. Miami: if you needed any further reason for switching to Coke, other than the fact that it’s objectively better, check it out.
DAVISKN3@MIAMIOH.EDU
WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT.
eic@miamistudent.net
11 OPINION DISABILITIES »PAGE 11
education. The author apparently believes “accommodations forms” are too standardized and “often have little to do with” students’ needs. However, the benefit of a form lies in mitigating the burden on the disabled student to convince between four and seven faculty members each semester of both their academic competency and their genuine need for accommodations. As with any “The ___ Talk,” the accommodations talk can be uncomfortable for both parties. However, a discussion of civil rights is not equivalent to “the Sex Talk,” and it is condescending for this author to stigmatize it in the same way. In a discussion with a pseudonymously named student, Lee, the author’s trepidation about accommodations comes to a tonal climax with Lee “thrusting the form at [the author].” (I find it difficult to imagine this student did any more than hand the form across a
TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017 desk). Then, when Lee mentioned her need to be absent if she experienced a panic attack, the author responded, “well, I hope that doesn’t happen.” In exaggerating Lee’s body language and catastrophizing her absence, this author displays a kind of emotional reasoning that seems ironic when dismissing a student’s need to miss class due to a panic attack. It also makes Lee’s civil rights seem like an aggressive and unwelcome imposition on the author’s curriculum. Her response is unhelpful and demoralizing. Although the author later writes, that “it’s not our job to make [students] conform to some stereotypical role,” this is exactly what she encourages for Lee. She invalidates Lee’s self-determinative potential to make up work at her own pace and function outside of a normative role. Even worse, she later details the “serious” circumstances which could result in an extension for an assignment. Those include “coming down with
the flu,” but not a chronic health issue, “Or having an exam the morning after a distressing break-up,” but not having an exam the day you are experiencing a panic attack. It seems that an accommodation form and a diagnosis stigmatize Lee and make her, if anything, less eligible for accommodations in her professor’s eyes. One of the most common results of stigmatizing disability is viewing the problems of people with disabilities as less than those without disabilities. After all, if disability is not an outright character flaw, this author does at least perceive the need for accommodations as a failure to work hard enough to cope with or overcome one’s disability. For example, I needed extra help in a high school class because of how often I was absent, but when I approached my teacher, he said I needed to “make it a priority” to attend class before he worked with me after school. In fact, he often stayed after school to help students but refused to
Faculty must support, not scorn ACE students ACADEMICS
TO THE EDITOR: On Tuesday, March 14, 2017, The Miami Student published a letter to the editor authored by James Brock, an economics professor in the Farmer School of Business. The article, “Miami’s excellent failing ACE program,” was short but had a simple message: The ACE program has failed in its purpose to educate, with the insinuation that the ACE program is simply passing students along. ACE Program faculty hand out A’s to any student who wants one with no regard for the burden they place on the professors of “real” courses. After I read the letter, I felt angry. I felt frustrated and I felt sad because, yet again, here was someone telling an entire population of students on our campus that they were not deserving of an education if their English ability did not match that of their domestic peers. This message is broadcasted consistently from a variety of sources. On the surface this message is a benign one: Language proficiency is important for success in the American classroom, a fact that I will concede. But the underlying theme of this message is significantly more sinister and damaging. We continually equate English proficiency with intelligence and we continually equate whiteness with worthiness. To our students of color, for whom English is not their first language, we are saying “you are not smart enough to be here and you are not worthy of my time.” When I consider the issue presented in the first letter, that international students are often not prepared for introductory eco-
nomics courses, I begin to question whether the struggle is a result of the flaws of the student or the faculty member. Conceptually speaking, learning is a shared responsibility between the educator and the student; knowledge is co-constructed as a result of the student-teacher relationship. I have volunteered to present sessions on campus involvement and residence life for the ACE Program’s extended orientation for two semesters now. I’ve spoken with almost 300 students about the importance of being a part of student organizations, utilizing their residence hall resources and managing relationships and conflict with roommates. When a student appears puzzled or asks a clarifying question or seems to be missing the point, I cannot blame the student but rather my own methods of presentation. I assess the situation and adapt because it is my responsibility to ensure that the students are internalizing the messages I am presenting. The previous letter also mentioned that the grades that many ACE program students received did not correlate to their perceived readiness in class. There are two issues with this premise. The first is the assumption mentioned above: that these faculty members are (for some reason) passing students who are not ready. The author’s opinion of the ACE program has led to the belief that these educators are less ethical, and care more about moving students through than their students’ success. My personal experience with many of the ACE program faculty and staff demonstrates otherwise. The second issue I have is the assumption that the classroom environment for both an ACE course and an economics course
are equal. I have known several international students who have received emails from their professors at the beginning of new semesters. These emails contain warnings of intensive use of English and suggestions that those who do not speak “good” English should drop the class. The international students enrolled in these courses have to enter the classroom for the first time knowing the professor had already made assumptions about their ability to speak English and, ultimately, to succeed. In psychology, stereotype threat is the situational predicament in which individuals experience mental and emotional stress as a result of feeling at risk of confirming negative stereotypes. International students who enter the classroom understand this stress, and studies have demonstrated the negative effects of stereotype threat on classroom performance. The ACE courses are designed for students to use English freely and without judgment. Classroom environments in which students are fearful or ashamed of their English ability are not environments in which they can succeed. After I read the letter, I also felt disappointed. Given my position within the university, I have come to expect those around me to support all Miami students. Whether we meet these students in our classrooms, at the residence halls or through student organizations, they all deserve our support and our commitment to ensuring they are getting an education and an experience fitting of Miami’s reputation. After all, the success of our students is also our success, and we cannot forget this. JORDAN AHLERSMEYER RESIDENT DIRECTOR AHLERSJB@MIAMIOH.EDU
A.J. is tired of telling jokes and is looking for new cartoonists. If you think you have what it takes, email newberaj@miamioh.edu NO MEMES OR MANGA
EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET work with me because of my absences. Perhaps he thought if he withheld help, I would rise to his standards, but I couldn’t and I never did. Thus, the concern with professors like this author who would rather offer “coping skills” than accommodations or modifications, is that if a “coping strategy” seems to be working in her class, a professor tends to assume unilateral success rather than sacrifice on the part of the student. In fact, I have modeled the compliant disabled student rising above their weaknesses—for that is what this author assumes disability to be—in one class, and been a struggling, exhausted student in another. Often, it’s difficult for a professor to see in three hours’ weekly interaction that turning in work on time or attending one of her classes may look like I’m coping or rising to high expectations, but in fact, I prioritize my work by how understanding I expect my professor to be. The most unaccommodating professor’s work gets
done first, and I put off the work for the professor who will grant me an extension. This isn’t a “coping strategy;” this is bare self-preservation. Ultimately, individual interviews and official documentation thoughtfully inform the “accommodations forms,” and it is not the professor’s directive to encourage students to “learn to manage on their own.” Ultimately, the professor is neither a therapist nor an accommodations counselor, and despite the variability of many disabilities, including psychiatric conditions, autoimmune diseases, chronic pain, fatigue or migraines, federal law nevertheless guarantees accommodations. Therein lies the benefit of standardization. A student is spared the dubious ethics of a discussion about which accommodations they “deserve” when her success in the class may or may not depend on whether they acquiesce to their professor. CAMINOSJ@MIAMIOH.EDU
Cozying up to Russia puts Syria in jeopardy POLITICS
PAOLO FEDERICO-O’MURCHU COLUMNIST
As we approach President Trump’s 100th day in office, his presidency has been characterized as a pell-mell of big ideas trapped in a malaise of legislative failings. Hanging over this dubious litany of shortcomings is the cloud of Russian ties. It is still unclear to what extent the Russian allegations are legitimate accusations or the Democrats’ attempt to destabilize Trump’s presidency. It is clear though that some members of Trump’s inner circle, specifically Mike Flynn, Jeff Sessions and Paul Manafort had improper and/or obfuscated communication with Russian officials. As such, it is inevitable and fair that Trump will continue to be dogged by Congressional investigations looking to uncover the whole truth. One reason that the Russian allegations are likely to have merit is that Trump is incredibly pro-Russia and seeks a strong relationship with them. Unlike Obama (and all presidents since the 19th century), he does not find that America holds a moral high ground when it comes to human rights compared to our Russian comrades. Trump’s stated goal of a good relationship in Russia is threatened by the recent attacks in Syria. If Trump wants to continue to claim that he is pro-American values, he must stand diametrically opposed to Russia and Assad. The gassing of citizens is outlawed by the Geneva Convention and modern Western political philosophy. America, as the so-called leader of the free world has to be at the forefront in the fight to defend these ideals. Russia, however, has fewer moral qualms and has dismissed the gassing as an incidental explosion of the rebels’ own stockpile. This has been disproved by eyewitness accounts, chemical experts and logic as sarin gas is very difficult to make and these scattered rebel forces do not have the resources. Therefore Trump has to decide whether to play nice with Russia and ignore the gassing or aggressively pursue justice. This pursuit cannot be characterized by a few strong words and Tomahawk missiles, but by dogged determination to fix the situation.
Obama failed in this regard. I always admired his diligent and professorial way of making decisions — he considered consequences and did not let tradition mindlessly dictate his policy. In Syria, however, this thoughtful process failed him, Syria and America. When Assad crossed “the line in the sand,” Obama was so caught up in potential escalation and our country’s distaste of another Middle Eastern war that the only significant response was Assad being forced to dismantle all his chemical weapons. Now that it is clear that was not done, it appears Assad gassed his citizens with almost no retribution from the signatories of the Geneva convention. So far, Trump’s response has been generally positive. He too mentioned crossed lines but responded with Tomahawk missiles. The key to managing this affair successfully though, is not stopping after a singular show of force but moving to affect change. Obama was correct in not arming Syrian rebels despite political pressure to do so. America has seen weapons given to rebels of dubious intent turned against us and our allies in short order. Therefore what Trump must do is continue punishing both Assad and the Al-Qaeda and Daesh forces in Syria while not putting boots on the ground. Our larger goal should be to back France’s Syrian proposal which is to remove Assad from office but keep the political institutions in place. This can keep the country relatively stable, while showing that no one can gas and barrel bomb citizens with impunity. Russia will still not be happy with this. Russia is best served by keeping Assad in power and furthering business interests there. America does not worry about Russian business interests in the face of human rights violations and therefore neither should Trump. I have been critical of Trump’s presidency and his biggest failing yet would be jeopardizing innocent Syrians in order to cozy up to Russia. This is why previous presidents have realized that friendly relationships with Russia are untenable; their disdain for human rights is unpalatable for Americans, and it should be for Trump as well.
FEDERIPS@MIAMIOH.EDU
Stress less: Take a break from your schedule and find time for you MINDFULNESS
MARIA TAYLOR COLUMNIST
Our favorite time of year is just around the corner: finals. We’re finishing up the last chapters of class, we’re almost ready to turn in our lab keys and we’re trading all the notes we can to make finals a little less stressful. Don’t get me wrong, we need a little bit of stress in our lives; it teaches us to cope and function under pressure. Was being stressed out making me depressed? Prying myself out of bed, I’d mope all the
way to the gym where I’d pick up some weights and sweat out all my problems. And no matter how sad, mad, stressed-out and bothered I felt walking into those gym doors, things didn’t seem that bad leaving. We can do anything, but we can’t do everything, and that is easily forgotten when it seems like everything is asked of us every day. Instead of drowning in the water of stress, swim in it. Start moving. Our bodies need exercise and our minds need continuous self-love. Hate running on a track? Go lift some weights. Hate lifting?
Go take a yoga class Uptown or in the Rec. Find some moments in your hectic everyday schedule and breathe. Love your body and mind, and the stress of school won’t seem as bad. Eating healthy and taking care of your body shouldn’t be a chore. It should be something you want to do. Take a break from filling your body with pizza and alcohol and try replacing it with smoothies and well-balanced meals. We live with a work hard, play hard mentality here on campus, but that doesn’t just have to apply to school work and frat parties.
Grind out the class assignments and then go for a hike or a swim, or play basketball or baseball. There are a ton of different workouts and outlets for you and your inner fit-spiration. Run, jog, hip-hop, whatever it is, do it. Get up and get moving. You’ll feel weird at first, but everyone does. I felt like such a loser when I walked into a gym; it’s normal. We’re running to the finish line of the year and it’s going to get stressful. Schedule out your weeks. Know what is coming, know what is due and plan time for yourself. Get active and get moving. Being
healthy is about loving yourself and your body. It’s about making the choices you need to make to live a long, healthy life. Hiding in bed from the oncoming problems of a finishing semester isn’t healthy or loving yourself. Grab your best friend and get outside. Get moving. Taking a break from the never-ending cycle of work will help ease your mind and allow you take a step back from the impending doom and breathe.
TAYLO193@MIAMIOH.EDU
Sports
SPORTS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET
‘Drop the Puck on Cancer’ Tournament Raises Money for Luna Cares
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TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2017
HOCKEY
KAYLA KAMIL
THE MIAMI STUDENT
Drop the Puck on Cancer took place over the course of three days at Goggin Ice Center. The charity hockey and broomball tournament between fraternities and sororities benefitted Luna Cares and was hosted by the Collegiate Charities here at Miami. The focus of the event was the full-contact elite fraternity hockey tournament. This year, the tournament included eight teams -double the number of participating teams last year. Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) was crowned this year’s champion in a 4-3 double-overtime victory over Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) on Saturday. “Miami has a huge hockey culture,” Thatcher Creber, Miami’s head of the Executive Board of Collegiate Charities said. “All the teams playing are in the elite intramural division so it’s really good hockey teams playing. Then the whole sorority broomball aspect just adds to all the people coming and being involved overall.” This is Drop the Puck’s third year on campus, and is expected to be the most successful yet. All proceeds will benefit Luna Cares, which is a nonprofit fund created in 2010 to financially support women undergoing treatment for cancer and their families. Luna Cares was founded by Lisa Ciampa in honor of her mother, who lost her battle with cancer amid the anxiety that she was
placing a financial burden on her family because of her medical expenses. The fund continues to support local women in the Oxford community who are undergoing cancer treatment. The hockey tournament started on Tuesday April 4 with eight teams. Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) won a highly contested game against Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE), Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) handily defeated Delta Chi, Sigma Pi narrowly beat Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE), and Sigma Phi Epsilon (Sig Ep) defeated Theta Chi. In the semifinals on Thursday April 6, FIJI narrowly outplayed Sig Ep and SAE beat Sig Pi to make it to the championship. The crowd on all three days was sizable and active when cheering for their teams. The tournament hosted four individual sorority broomball games, which took place on Thursday and Saturday in between the hockey matches. All in all, sixteen fraternity and sorority chapters participated in the event, which raised over $7,000 last year. “Personally I’m not a huge hockey fan but it was a lot of fun to go out and watch the different fraternities compete,” freshman Phi Gamma Delta member Nick Sam said. “It was cool that a ton of people showed up for a philanthropy event. It was a good cause, but still a lot of fun.” The amount of money raised will be disclosed in the upcoming days.
BRIANNA NIXON THE MIAMI STUDENT
MU dropped the first and last games of a three-game series at home against Eastern Michigan University.
Baseball drops third MAC series to EMU BASEBALL
COBURN GILLIES STAFF WRITER
For the third time this season, Miami baseball (8-23) has been on the losing end of a Mid-American Conference series, dropping two-out-of-three against Eastern Michigan University (12-19) at home this past weekend. After losing the first game 7-5 in 10 innings, the ‘Hawks bounced back to win the second by a score of 6-2. Heading into the rubber match, the hunt for the first MAC series win was on, but the search proved fruitless -- the RedHawks lost the finale 10-6. In what was a battle of birds, the Eagles and the RedHawks battled each other to a nearstalemate at the plate. In the end, it would be the Green and White
outscoring the Red and White 1918. Sitting 15 games under .500 at this point in the campaign isn’t ideal, but MU isn’t allowing the past to affect their outlook of the season going forward. “We just got to stay positive,” freshman left fielder Cal Elvers said. “We are a good team. We just have to keep grinding it out. We have good players and we just have to believe in ourselves. There’s a lot of season left.” Senior center fielder Steve Sada, who went 1-for-4 with a three-run triple in the finale, agrees, adding that the team will maintain an unflappable mindset. “I think we’re a very confident team,” he said. “I think it’s just playing better baseball, honestly. One day, pitching’s not there.
One day, hitting’s not there. I just think it’s playing complete games every single game.” The opening affair of the series saw the ‘Hawks limp into the trio of games against EMU on a fivegame losing streak, their fourth such streak of at least three games. The top of the first inning brought similar feelings of despair into light. Eastern Michigan teed off on Miami’s sophomore starting pitcher Shane Smith for three runs in the opening frame, with Redshirt junior outfielder Mike Mioduszewski dealing the first blow with a double to right center field, scoring one. READ THE REST ONLINE AT MIAMISTUDENT.NET
CLUB TENNIS TAKES NATIONALS TENNIS
EMILY SIMANSKIS SPORTS EDITOR
On Thursday, Miami’s club tennis team will travel to Orlando, Florida to compete at USTA’s Tennis on Campus (TOC) program’s National Championships. The club team needed to place in the top-five at TOC’s Midwest Section Championships to advance to the National Championships – they were fourth and were ecstatic. It’s the first time in the program’s history that the team has advanced to Nationals. The 70 members of the co-ed club sport has been practicing since the beginning of the year and the team’s eight competitive members have been travelling for just as long. Anyone can join the club team – all skill levels are welcome – and can pay the yearly fee of $110 or a semester fee of $60. The four best boys and four best girls are chosen to travel to Wisconsin, Arizona, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Illinois and throughout Ohio to play other club teams in tournaments. If a member of the club wants to travel, they only need to “challenge” one of the top-eight players and win a match to earn a spot on the travel roster. Senior Sydney Reichert is the club’s President. She balances the budget, leads practices and is thankful that club tennis has allowed her to continue to play a sport that she loves. She had stopped playing tennis when she was a teenager, but after numerous injuries forced her to stop playing soccer, she found Miami’s club tennis team. “Honestly, it’s the best of both
worlds. There are people on club who could easily play varsity, if they wanted, but it wouldn’t be the same experience,” Reichert said. “With club tennis, you have the social aspect. You have the competitive aspect with none of the constraints that the varsity team has – none of the restrictions on your social life and stuff. I’ve loved it, it’s been great for me.” Reichert’s Co-President, junior Sammud Sharma began playing tennis in India when he was nine. He played throughout high school and considered playing D1 but knew he wasn’t good enough to “make it big.” After deciding to come to Miami, he found the club tennis team at MegaFair. “I loved it -- it was super laid back, super chill. I loved all the people,” Sharma said. “It’s the one thing I’m good at, so I wanted to keep going.” And for the past three years that Sharma has been on the team, the program has certainly been going. This year, the team played five tournaments during the Fall semester. Spring semester found the team beating a competitive Ohio State team to be well-seeded going to Midwest Sectionals, eventually leading to their fourth place and bid to Nationals. “It’s great. When you see them in the hallway, you can see that they’re glowing in terms of what they’ve achieved. I really just hope that stuff like this puts tennis more on the radar for Miami,” the club’s faculty advisor Jean-Paul Baldwin said. “Hockey, obviously, gets quite a lot of coverage and football, to an extent, but it’s really great to see tennis being brought up. The idea is just to
ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT
Sophomore Haley Thoresen of Miami Club Tennis prepares for USTA’s Tennis On Campus’ National Championships on April 13. make it more of a recognized sport at the university.” Baldwin aims to be as involved as possible, regularly checks in with the team and hopes to see the program welcome players of all different skill levels. He’s played tennis his entire life and attends the hour and a half, to two hour long practices at the varsity courts.
Reichert, Sharma, junior Akhil Kanagaraj, sophomores Brett Schubert and Haley Thoresen and freshmen Nick Ruth, Ellen Hata and Nayana Ravishankar have been practicing four days a week as the Nationals team. As Miami’s varsity sports seasons came to tragic ends, club tennis is one of the numerous club sports
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which are seeing success past the regular season. “The one thing that frustrates me is that people don’t appreciate how good some of our players really are. When I tell people I’m on club tennis they kind of just smile and are like, ‘alright cool,’” Reichert said. “We’re actually really good.”
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