ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018
Volume 146 No. 21
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
STUDENT ORG FUNDING REQUESTS HALVED STUDENT ORGS
JACK EVANS
MANAGING EDITOR
Student organizations are frustrated, confused and hurting for cash after Student Affairs and Associated Student Government (ASG) announced sweeping funding cuts last week — the largest in memory. “Definitely stressed, very frustrated, without a doubt,” said Marco Colant, the treasurer of Stage Left, a student theatre group. Stage Left requested $4,250 from ASG’s March funding cycle — the fifth and final funding opportunity of the academic year. They have been slated to receive only $2,125 — barely enough to cover the baseline $2,000 needed to rent light and sound equipment for their long-planned April production of the musical “First Date.” At the beginning of the year, ASG works with Student Affairs to set a total dollar amount for student organization funding. Individual organizations then petition ASG for funds. The success of this system relies on two assumptions: More requests are filed in the fall semester than in the spring, and requests are usually front-loaded at the beginning of each semester. Over the past few years, Student Affairs has frequently made small cuts when requests fall slightly outside of its expectations. In the past, emergency funding could sometimes be scrounged up, and cuts usually settled between 10 and 20 percent. Student organization leaders have come to expect those small reductions and plan for them in their own budgeting. “They are usually 15 percent, which is fair,” Colant said. “You know, money is money. It’s not unlimited.”
Students throw colored powder around on Central Quad to celebrate Holi, the hindu festival of spring. Matt Heckert The Miami Student
Despite suspensions, GBD likely not affected GREEK LIFE
CÉILÍ DOYLE
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Despite the uncertainty that has plagued Miami’s Greek community for the last three and a half weeks, it appears this year’s Green Beer Day will play out as usual, Greek members say. “It’s interesting because I don’t think Green Beer Day will be affected a whole ton,” IFC fraternity member and junior Michael Serio said. “It’ll be a lot less organized, definitely because every year there’s this list that goes out for all of the official fraternity parties that are happening.” For the last 65 years, Miami students have been celebrating Green Beer Day (GBD), an all-day drinking affair the
Thursday before spring break, which starts around 1 a.m. and lasts roughly until 5 p.m. the following afternoon. While there will not be as many official parties scheduled due to outstanding fraternity suspensions, word of mouth travels fast, Serio said. This past week, Alpha Sigma Phi (Alpha Sig) and Sigma Pi were cleared from their social suspensions, Interfraternity Council (IFC) president Stephen Golonka said. They join 12 fraternities which were already removed from suspension: Beta Theta Pi (Beta), Alpha Chi Rho, Delta Tau Delta (Delt), Delta Sigma Phi (Delta Sig), Chi Psi, Delta Chi, Sigma Phi Epsilon (Sig Ep), Delta Upsilon (DU), Alpha Epsilon Pi, Lambda Chi Alpha (Lambda Chi), Sigma Alpha Mu (Sammy) and Pi Kappa Phi (Pi Kapp).
IFC has removed 14 fraternities from social suspension Sophomore sorority member Sara Foley said she is not surprised that the majority of the organizations initially suspended have been reinstated, and doesn’t believe it will change much of how GBD is celebrated. “IFC released a list of the organizations that are recognized on campus and our Standards Chair lets us know a few others you’re supposed to stay away from in our eyes, when it comes to GBD,” Foley said. “Everyone’s careful on this day because they know how much pressure, not just Greek life, but Miami is also under.” IFC announced a sweeping social susCONTINUED ON PAGE 5
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Ella Cope: Nothing to lose, everything to gain
More than just clowning around
Talawanda student turns tragedy into action
THEATRE
MADELINE MITCHELL THE MIAMI STUDENT
It’s 10 a.m. on a Saturday and I am bear crawling in a circle around an acting studio with my favorite professor, 12 other students and a certified clown. I remind myself that my tuition dollars are going toward this. In actuality, I’m questioning my sanity as the clown tells me the name of his “horse body” and begins slapping awake various body parts: arms, belly, chest, legs. Involuntarily, I start to do the same. In all transparency, this is not the first time I’ve found myself in the midst of a six-hour stint of structured game playing on a Saturday morning or, really, any day of the week. This is the life of an acting student. Our clowning workshop facilitator, Jerome Yorke, has an MFA in ensemble-based physical theatre and currently teaches at the University of Dayton. Jerome the Clown’s job is to play games with us in hopes of coaxing out an actor’s inner clown. Instead of a briefcase with file folders, he brings a tote bag filled with juggling balls, jump rope and a red nose to work. I am a cast member in Moliere’s farse “Tartuffe,” the next mainstage production from Miami’s Department of Theatre. Moliere is known for writing plays with high physical comedy CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
SOPHOMORE ELLA COPE PLANNED A WALKOUT AT TALAWANDA HIGH SCHOOL. JUGAL JAIN PHOTO EDITOR PROFILE
AUDREY DAVIS NEWS EDITOR
Ella Cope is many things — a golfer, an actress, a singer and a sophomore at Talawanda High School. She’s also a seasoned activist. As a child, Cope hopped around the continental U.S. and Canada with her parents. “I was kinda raised with theatre people,” Cope said. Her dad, Noah, is a musician and her
NEWS P.3
FOOD page 8
TORN BETWEEN TWO WORLDS “Unless I have a job, I can’t stay in the country. I have to leave.”
mom, Robin, is an artist and a saleswoman. “I was raised on a Broadway road show. My dad was the double-bass player for the ‘Phantom of the Opera’ national tour. From five weeks old to eight years old, I moved every month to a different city.” There was a month in Seattle, a month in San Diego, then a month in Tulsa and a month in Dallas and so on, for much of her early childhood. While in elementary school, her family decided to settle down in Oxford to help out her grandfather.
Cope was no stranger to Oxford, though. She had gone to preschool here during a layoff of the tour and had stayed in touch with some friends. As she grew up, Cope was pulled into a life of activism. “In eighth grade, I did my Girl Scout Silver Award about raising awareness for the disappearing population of bees,” Cope said. “People remember that and will be like ‘Oh, you’re the bee girl!’ And yes, I am the bee girl. I am very proud to be the bee girl.” Today, the 16-year-old is co-president of Talawanda’s diversity club and in the midst of organizing a student walkout on March 14 in response to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14. “I’m kind of the ‘putter-together,’ if you will,” Cope said. “I put together a team of about 25 organizers, and I tried to get a very diverse range, so people I’m not necessarily in the same friend group with and people from all different grades, all different sports and activities.” Beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, students will gather outside for 17 minutes, to represent the 17 students who lost their lives last month, in accordance with the national walkout by Women’s March Youth EMPOWER. During the walkout, Cope and a few other students will be reading the names of the victims and their ages. “I’m trying, within my speech, to give a personal connection to the people affected by this...It’s much easier to connect with someone if it’s like, ‘Oh, they’re a
CULTURE P.6
EDITORIAL P. 12
LILLY & ME: DEALING WITH RESTLESSNESS
HAVE YOU VOTED YET?
What to do when endless toys just aren’t enough.
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We sat down with this year’s Student Body President candidates.
SPORTS P.16
BASKETBALL FALLS SHORT IN CLEVELAND But a pair of tough losses won’t diminish their strong season.
2 NEWS
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TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018
JANUS SPEAKERS DISCUSS POLITICAL POLARIZATION policies, his opinions change as his advisors change. “Donald Trump does not know what he believes,” Klein said. “He does not know anything about policy, and he’s incredibly changeable and so what’s that created is an extremely unstable equilibrium within his administration.” Ayotte said schools don’t put enough emphasis on civic education. Klein said the more people inform themselves, the more politically polarized they become because they get better at rationalizing their viewpoints with the information they learned. The speakers also answered questions in small breakout sessions before the forum, allowing students to get to know the individual speakers in a more intimate setting. Greig said Janus brought those speakers to represent different political viewpoints from the right, left and center. Senior and Janus Forum president Madeline Zick moderated the discussion, asking questions received from the audience. Zick said the forum is named after the two-faced Roman God Janus, the different faces representing different viewpoints that come together in discussion. “[The forum] definitely fulfilled the purpose of our organization which is to bring these discussions to campus and engage in meaningful dialogue on the issues but also at the same time realizing it’s OK to disagree and that you can learn from each other from having these discussions,” Zick said. fitzgelm@miamioh.edu
EVENT
LAURA FITZGERALD THE MIAMI STUDENT
Two journalists and a former senator discussed the polarization of American politics in front of a full crowd at the Janus Forum on Wednesday, March 7. Vox.com founder and editor-at-large Ezra Klein, Axios national political reporter Jonathan Swan and former Republican senator Kelly Ayotte tried to answer the forum’s central question: Are American political parties as we know them over? The Janus Forum brings speakers to Miami University’s campus every semester to engage in debate and answer questions on politics from the Janus Forum committee and the audience. “Its purpose is to provide a platform for members of the Miami community to engage in discussion and debate about the most important issues in our society and to do so in a constructive and informed way,” Janus Forum coordinator Colin Greig said. In this semester’s forum, Klein said American political parties are weak while partisanship is strong, meaning individuals who don’t reflect the values of the part, such as President Donald Trump, can come to power, but voters consistently vote for their party because they dislike the other one. Swan countered that comparatively, American political parties are incredibly powerful in the amount of money and influence
EZRA KLEIN, JONATHAN SWAN AND KELLY AYOTTE SPOKE AT THE JANUS FORUM. COLLEEN GRIMM THE MIAMI STUDENT
they wield, he said. Swan also argued that despite news reports to the contrary, there is little dissent within parties. The American political center is shrinking, and the polarization within the political system makes it hard for politicians and citizens to reach a compromise, Ayotte said. “If you think that someone is bad because they think differently than you, how are you ever going to come to any common ground?” Ayotte said. “So, these next generation of leaders that’s in the audience out there, I hope that you can do a lot better than we’re doing right now.” Klein said President Trump is both polarizing and unifying because there are multiple forms of
LLCs added, general housing eliminated RESIDENCE LIFE
LILY O’GORDEN
THE MIAMI STUDENT
In the 2018-19 school year, Miami is adding several specialized Living Learning Communities (LLCs) and eliminating its RedHawk Traditions and General Housing options. Miami president Greg Crawford has publicly challenged the university to provide more academically rigorous LLCs, said Tresa Barlage, associate director in the Office of Residence Life. RedHawk Traditions and General Housing are being eliminated as part of this push to create more “intentional residence communities.” “When picking an LLC, it is important for students to think about what they are interested in, either academically or co-curricularly,” Barlage said. “There are so many options for LLCs that incoming students need to decide if they want to make social connections or academic connections.” Miami is welcoming a nursing program to campus next fall, and an LLC for nursing majors will accompany the program. The nursing faculty created an LLC hoping it would help create a collaborative learning environment for the students. Miami is also creating a Com-
munity of Justice and Wellbeing based on the suggestions of the College of Education, Health and Society. This LLC will focus on community service and engagement. Additionally, an LLC is being created for Louis Stokes Scholars, a national scholarship program targeted at minority high school students interested in attending college and pursuing public service careers. Miami is also introducing a new concept to the LLC program: affinity communities. An affinity community is a group formed around a shared interest or a common goal. The Office of Residence Life identified different life experiences that students can find connections through, and created LLCs based on these ideas. These include being first-generation college students, outof-state students and transfer students. “These LLCs benefit Miami’s campus because they make Miami’s large campus feel a little bit smaller,” Barlage said. “They provide unique opportunities for students and allow incoming students to intentionally make connections with people who have similar interests.” ogordelm@miamioh.edu
polarization. Trump is less polarizing ideologically and in the political parties because his views constantly change, and he isn’t hardline for either party. But he is culturally polarizing because he consciously focuses America’s attention on cultural issues that are difficult to resolve. “When someone repeatedly makes a huge deal of the NFL players kneeling before the anthem after that had died down, most other politicians would have just not have chosen to release it given that they have no solution to it and it does not affect them,” Klein said, “but he did.” Swan said the Trump administration is a symptom of American polarization rather than a cause, re-
flecting anger among some Americans. Some see him as an outsider who could infiltrate Washington. “A lot of those people saw Trump as a wrecking ball that was sent to Washington because they hate those bastards in Washington and they wanna take them out,” Swan said. He added that the White House can be difficult to cover because Trump’s advisors rarely know what is happening in a chaotic environment and some individuals maliciously lie to journalists. Klein said the cause of the dysfunction is that Trump didn’t come up through the ranks of government, so he hasn’t had time to form his own opinions. Coupled with the fact that he has little knowledge of
Nursing classes to be offered in Oxford this fall ACADEMICS
AVERY COMAR
THE MIAMI STUDENT
This fall, Miami’s nursing program will be coming to the Oxford campus. Currently, the major is only offered at Miami’s regional campuses in Middletown and Hamilton. Oxford students pursuing a nursing degree have to commute to Hamilton in order to take the NSG classes not offered on Miami’s main campus. Senior nursing student Dana Severin describes her experience with the nursing program as “challenging, but worth it.” She spends two days a week taking nursing classes at the Hamilton campus alongside six other Oxford-based nursing students. Severin says she believes the challenges involved with commuting have kept the number of Oxford nursing students relatively small and is excited to see the growth of the nursing program as nursing classes become more accessible to Oxford students. The idea was first proposed in February of last year. Student interest, as well as faculty and administrative support, have coincided to help the program come together quickly since then. According to Brooke Flinders, nursing department chair, a recent expansion of Oxford course
offerings in the fields of biology, chemistry and microbiology made this an opportune time to bring a nursing cohort to Oxford. “Because our [faculty] are able to offer these courses in Oxford now, we’re able to more conveniently meet the needs of an entire Oxford cohort,” Flinders said. Students will benefit from a diverse range of clinical training in hospitals throughout southwestern Ohio. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital will offer hands-on training in pediatric care, while Mercy Fairfield will provide experience in the obstetric and surgical fields. Other partners include McCullough-Hyde, Atrium Medical Center and Bethesda North. The expansion of Miami’s nursing program also comes at a time when the national need for nurses is projected to skyrocket over the coming decade. This growth, according to Jennifer Rode, an associate professor in the nursing department, can be attributed to a variety of factors. Perhaps most significantly, Baby Boomers will reach seniority over the next 10 years, bringing with them an uptick in chronic disease and an increased risk of acute illness. Additionally, advances in medical technology have led to an extended life expectancy. As a result, the medical workforce has to manage an ever-increasing number of chronic ailments that accompany old age, including di-
abetes, hypertension and obesity. RN annual job growth rate is predicted to be 15 percent — approximately double the national average for all occupations, said Rode. This makes a degree in nursing a very practical choice for incoming first-years, she said. This sentiment is shared by the 800 to 900 potential Miami students who expressed interest in a nursing degree on the Common App. In addition to the increasing demand for medical care, the supply of qualified nurses is quickly diminishing. Over half of the nurses currently in the workforce are over the age of 50, and many qualified nursing faculty are quickly nearing retirement. As a result, thousands of qualified students have been turned away from nursing programs in recent years. According to Rode, Miami has been lucky to be able to retain its nursing department faculty and diverse clinical teaching partnerships, allowing for the expansion of the program. The admissions process for the nursing program will be extremely selective, choosing just 40 students to be a part of Oxford’s first cohort, Flinders said. Students can expect an expansion of the program in the near future, however. Flinders anticipates the department will likely double enrollment in just a few years. comaraf@miamioh.edu
EVENTS THIS THURSDAY For those who would rather avoid High Street this Thursday, several other events are planned on campus and in Oxford:
March Madness Watch Party
Grill & Chill Cookout
Shamrock Shake
Learn to Curl
Red Zone 12 to 8 p.m.
16 S. Campus Ave. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Uptown Park 12 to 4 p.m.
Goggin Ice Arena 9:30 p.m.
Hang out at Armstrong’s own sportsthemed restaurant, Red Zone, to watch college teams compete in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Feast your eyes on the space’s 18 TV screens, or just feast on the free food, courtesy of Miami Activities and Programming.
The Haven at College will be offering a safe, sober place for students to hang out this Thursday afternoon. Staffers will be grilling free burgers and hot dogs, and students can watch NCAA games or play giant Jenga while snacking on soda and chips.
If you usually find yourself uninterested in St. Patrick’s Day festivities, this event, sponsored by Cru, promises to be the answer to your mid-March woes. Grab a few friends and spend your afternoon in Uptown Park, eating free pizza and playing lawn games.
After this year’s Winter Olympics, have you been itching to learn how to sweep, roar or make a hit-and-roll shot? Learn the basics of curling at Thursday night’s event. If you’re a natural, gather a team of 2 to 4 for a postspring break modified Curling League.
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TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018
Torn between two worlds VISITING PROFESSOR BALANCES WORK AND FAMILY, CONTINENTS APART
FOR A VIDEO ABOUT PROF. IBRAHIM’S EXPERIENCE, VISIT MIAMISTUDENT.NET/TWO-WORLDS. EMILY BRUSTOSKI - THE MIAMI STUDENT
PROFESSOR KARIM IBRAHIM JUGAL JAIN PHOTO EDITOR
PROFILE
MEGAN ZAHNEIS MAGAZINE EDITOR
The projector in 235 Upham Hall isn’t working. That means Karim Ibrahim has to summarize the “Seinfeld” clip he’d planned to screen for his Professional Communication for Business students himself. In the scene, Jerry criticizes a car rental agent who can’t accommodate his reservation for a midsize car. “Seinfeld” — paired with contrasting clips of Gerard Butler and George Clooney firing people in movies — is Ibrahim’s way of teaching his students about “bad news messaging.” Ibrahim, a visiting assistant professor of English, is discussing the prevalence of bad news in business, whether it’s a boss firing an employee or a service provider hiking its rates, and giving an overview of strategies his students might use to handle tough conversations with future clients and colleagues. “Bad news,” Ibrahim explains to his students, “is bad, no matter what.” Ibrahim ought to know. In two years teaching at Miami, he’s faced more professional and personal hardship than some of his colleagues may in an entire career. In some ways, Ibrahim’s story is typical of an academic. He fell in love with his chosen field as a young student, got a master’s and Ph.D., then accepted his first teaching gig as a visiting assistant professor at Miami. Ibrahim isn’t even a native speaker of the language he teaches. A native of Cairo, Egypt, his first language is Arabic. He was bored with English classes in school, so he taught himself the language by playing video games. That’s why Ibrahim became passionate about teaching. Education in Egypt, he says, is fairly underdeveloped and lack of a command of the English language is a barrier to advancement for many Egyptians. Video games, Ibrahim thinks, could be part of the solution. “Imagine playing a video game — a real video game, not one of those ‘match the colors and words,’ — no, a real video game,” Ibrahim says. “Something so immersive and engaging that, as you play the game, you learn the language.” Ibrahim figures if he can advance a new way of teaching and learning English, he can affect generations of
students to come. With a bachelor’s degree from Cairo University, Ibrahim came to the United States on a Fulbright scholarship to study teaching English as a second language at the University of Arizona. After earning his Master’s and Ph.D in Tucson, Ibrahim moved to Oxford to begin teaching English composition, professional writing and linguistics at Miami.
Beyond the job description But a career in academia isn’t what Ibrahim thought it would be. Being a visiting assistant professor — a position that emphasizes teaching over doing research — has meant Ibrahim isn’t able to focus as much on his work, studying educational video games. “To focus more on teaching means less scholarship, which means losing who I am as an academic. What I learned in grad school is that as an academic, part of your job is teaching and service, of course,” Ibrahim said. “But what you really are is a scholar, someone who’s producing knowledge, someone who’s developing knowledge, someone who’s creating resources and knowledge and models for others to use and implement in education. “That mission is fading away.” Ibrahim is teaching four classes this semester, above the usual load of three due to a scheduling conflict. He estimates he spends 60 hours a week on teaching and related duties and devotes one day of each weekend, plus school breaks, to his scholarship. “Life itself is not doable under so much stress.” Somehow he’s managed to pump out five research papers, with two more under review and an additional three being drafted. He has designs on writing a book, too. All of this Ibrahim could overcome if it weren’t for the job instability. At Miami, visiting assistant professors (VAPs) work on one-year contracts, and while they can remain a VAP for up to five years, there is no guarantee of staying in the position from one academic year to the next. This system creates extra stress for Ibrahim and his colleagues, who he said are essentially doing three jobs at once — teaching classes, doing scholarly work on the side to further their chances at a tenure-track job and searching and applying for more permanent jobs.
“I’m always thinking, ‘Okay, so I’m going to lose my job sooner or later.’” But losing his job would have more far-reaching consequences for Ibrahim than it might for some of his colleagues in the English department. That’s because as an Egyptian national, Ibrahim lives in the United States on a work visa. “Unless I have a job, I can’t stay in the country. I have to leave.” That was the situation Ibrahim nearly found himself in a year ago. “Last year was when things got crazy.” Miami administrators usually review the contracts of visiting faculty in February and March. But in winter 2017, American universities were faced with the prospect of a drop in
“I’m always thinking, ‘Okay, so I’m going to lose my job sooner or later.’”
international student enrollment. “That’s when someone higher up at Miami decided, ‘We’re not going to renew the contracts of visiting faculty until we know for sure how many students we’re getting.’” So Ibrahim, his Egyptian wife and their children, who were born on American soil and therefore are U.S. citizens, lived in uncertainty. If Ibrahim lost his job at Miami, his visa would be invalidated and the entire family would have to move back to Egypt — the children would have been allowed to stay, but their parents weren’t going to abandon them. In late March, Ibrahim learned his job was safe for another academic year. But his visa wasn’t. After graduating with his Ph.D, he’d applied for and received a temporary employment permit that essentially extended his student visa by a year. Ibrahim’s year would be up in May 2017, so he applied for a J-1 visa, a non-immigrant status frequently used by scholars. Having a J-1 would allow him to stay in the U.S. for up to five years, as long as he had a job. The change of status, he was told, would take two or three months for the U.S. government to process.
KARIM WITH WIFE LAMYAA AND DAUGHTER. CONTRIBUTED BY KARIM IBRAHIM
So, Ibrahim found himself in limbo once again. Two months into the waiting period, a colleague from Russia who’d applied at the same time got her J-1 visa approved. “We were all excited for her, and we were expecting mine should come in the mail in a week, maybe two.” But no mail came. A week before classes would start for the fall, Ibrahim’s change of status hadn’t been cleared. He scheduled an appointment with an immigration officer in Cincinnati who told Ibrahim the hangup was with his security clearance. “I have been here for eight years, almost nine years,” Ibrahim said. “I didn’t receive a single speeding ticket, not a single speeding ticket. I’ve been more abiding by the law than Barack Obama, and after all that time they can’t provide a security clearance for me? Are you kidding me?” As it turned out, U.S. security had still not started processing Ibrahim’s case, after three months. His only option would be to take his family, leave the country and, from Egypt, apply to return to the U.S., which would trigger an automatic status change. “So I told my wife, ‘We need to leave to Egypt in a week.’” The Ibrahim family had just been moving from one house to another in Oxford, but they packed everything they owned — not an easy task with three young children, he recalled. He informed his supervisors at Miami he’d be back as soon as possible, or as long as it took to start the visa process back in Egypt. In Cairo, Ibrahim’s wife’s visa arrived three days after their application interview. His hadn’t showed up after a full month. By that point, the semester was in full swing in Oxford. Miami’s English department had arranged for substitutes to cover Ibrahim’s classes temporarily, but he worried the instability of his status would force Miami to let him go. He began applying for jobs in Egypt and even asked a friend in Oxford to sell the furniture he’d left behind. During the sixth week of the semester, Ibrahim’s visa came in the mail. That was on a Tuesday; on Friday, Ibrahim was on a plane to Ohio. He hasn’t seen his family since. His wife, Lamyaa, and the children stayed in Egypt to avoid yet anCONTINUED ON PAGE 4
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TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018
Karim Ibrahim: Torn between two worlds FROM PAGE 3
other relocation. They would reunite when Ibrahim had a more stable job in the States. The couple knew further change would be especially hard on their oldest son, Hamza, who is autistic. “Being under the constant stress of being unstable and facing this idea of having to relocate to a completely different country and disrupt all of your life activities... this sudden complete, unusual change can be very annoying to him,” Ibrahim said. An alternate reality Living 6,000 miles from Lamyaa and the children is the only viable option for their family, who depend on Ibrahim’s salary from Miami. A comparable offer Ibrahim got from an Egyptian university, as a full-time faculty member, came with a gross pay of 700 U.S. dollars a month. “This is why I can’t be with my family,” Ibrahim explained. Their basic expenses, he said, are around $1,500 a month, plus specialized therapy for Hamza. The education system in Egypt doesn’t provide adequate services for Ibrahim’s son, but to send him to a private institution in Egypt would set the family back about $10,000 a year. Ibrahim also doesn’t like the idea of his family living in politically-charged Egypt, especially without him there. Terrorist attacks are frequent, as are criminal incidents in which men rape children or, worse, kidnap them in order to harvest their organs. “Having a job is a matter of life or death to me,” Ibrahim said. “[Without a job,] you go back to your country, where everything is volatile and your family’s exposed to everything from hunger to death and rape at the hands of jihadist militarists, or being subjected to police brutality because there is a breakdown on anyone who expresses an opinion against the government, or being subject to rape or kidnapping by gangsters or just regular people who find that it’s okay to rape children because no one is watching. “Life in Egypt is very hard...We don’t have a car, we don’t have a house, we don’t have anything to start with. We’re starting from scratch.” Ibrahim tries to make himself as valuable as possible at Miami.
“I don’t feel like I have home anywhere,” he said. “I feel like I’m just torn between two worlds. I feel alien — E.T. on planet Earth. I don’t know, I just feel I have no place. I’m dispensable.” “The pay is very low, the cost of living is very high, and I’m just on very soft ground, if I may say,” Ibrahim said. “I’m just on thin ice here, trying, working hard to maintain my position, but I know sooner or later I have to leave, and I know that it might happen next month.” Because of that instability, Oxford for Ibrahim isn’t home. Neither, though, is Egypt. “I don’t feel like I have home anywhere,” he said. “I feel like I’m just torn between two worlds. I feel alien — E.T. on planet Earth. I don’t know, I just feel I have no place. I’m dispensable.” Fathering from a distance Ibrahim uses Facebook Messenger to stay in touch with Lamyaa, who sends him photos and videos of the kids. Every day — morning in Oxford and evening in Cairo — the family talks via video chat. When his children — Hamza, who’s almost 5, Noura, almost 3, and Noha, nearly 1 — ask where Ibrahim is, Lamyaa tells them he went to work. “When we talked over Skype, my daughter told me, ‘Hey, tell your work that I’m mad at him because he took my daddy away from me.’” On the Skype call, Ibrahim laughed. But tears fill his eyes when he recounts the exchange. “She thought that work is some guy that I have to go see,” Ibrahim said. “She doesn’t understand that this is life and how I don’t really have a choice in it. I’m working hard trying to find stability somewhere so they can be with me.” Forever goodbye In early fall 2016, Ibrahim was on the
highway, driving to Target with his family to buy clothes for his kids, when he got an international call from his brother back home. Ibrahim’s brother is married with children of his own, so they don’t talk a lot. When they do, they usually plan a time to connect over Skype, so the unplanned call was jarring. “What’s wrong?” Ibrahim asked his brother. “Is our mother still alive?” he joked. “Well,” the response came, “let’s talk when you get home.” “No,” Ibrahim pressed. “What’s wrong?” “Well, she was diagnosed with cancer.” In a Target in southwest Ohio, her son cried. “Take the kids away from me, just do your shopping and let’s get out of here,” he told Lamyaa. Wondering if treatment options would be more plentiful in the United States, Ibrahim emailed his mother’s scans to American friends who are doctors. One of those friends, a radiologist, confirmed the diagnosis Egyptian doctors had given the family. The cancer wasn’t treatable; it had spread to her entire liver, affording her only months to live. Ibrahim was determined to spend those months with her. But Lamyaa was pregnant, and with two more toddlers at home, he worried about stranding her in the States. “It’s your mom,” she told him. “If you want to go, you can go.” But if Ibrahim left the country to be with his mother in Egypt, he risked being denied reentry, and it was the middle of the semester. Six weeks later, on Nov. 6, 2016, Ibrahim’s mother died.
He never made it home. “It felt like the pain was pouring out of my heart and into every part of my body, cutting through my flesh like a sharp knife, and there was nothing I could do to stop it,” Ibrahim said. “It was a pain that could not be turned off. I was dreaming of her all the time and just remembering that I didn’t see her in the past five years because I was always afraid if I go back, I might be denied a visa.” Two days after Ibrahim’s mother died, the knife cut even deeper when Donald Trump was elected president, intensifying the anti-immigration and anti-Muslim rhetoric Ibrahim had been hearing so much of. He was afraid of being detained at the airport, afraid at the sight of so many Trump campaign signs around Oxford, afraid of being profiled by his neighbors — one of whom accused him of tearing down Trump signs on a fence near his condo. “Every time we hear about an accident or a terrorist activity or a shooting, I think the natural response would be, ‘I hope everyone is okay. I hope there are no victims; I hope everyone is safe. “But, unfortunately, my natural response is, ‘I hope it’s not a Muslim.’ I hope that the perpetrator, the terrorist, the gunman is not a Muslim, because I will have to suffer the backlash if it’s a Muslim. The backlash is there, whether we acknowledge it or not.” ‘It just passed’ Grief — for his mother and for the political environment he found himself in — enveloped Ibrahim for about a month. “It just passed. That’s all I can say: It’s passed,” Ibrahim said. “It’s a blessing that we forget, that we can forget things because the pain at first was unbearable, but then it was like, ‘Okay, this is life.’ And you just live with it.” After all, he knows, it could be worse. “I wonder if you should even write my story. I feel it’s really insignificant, considering what other people are going through,” Ibrahim said. “As much as I want resolution for my case, when I think about other people’s, especially Syrian refugees and what they go through, I realize that, ‘Oh my god, I’m in heaven, I have nothing to worry about.’” zahneime@miamioh.edu @MeganZahneis
Miami students continue to push for bike share program CITY COUNCIL
CÉILÍ DOYLE
ASST. NEWS EDITOR
At the start of last week’s Oxford City Council meeting, Miami’s Associated Student Body President Maggie Callahan took the microphone during the public comments section of council’s session. “The university understands there is a real concept and need for a bikeshare in our community,” Callahan said while addressing council last Tuesday. “We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for signing the MOU [memorandum of understanding].” During Callahan’s term, Miami’s Associated Student Government (ASG) has pushed both university administrators and Oxford’s city council to adopt a bike sharing program with SPIN — a San Francisco-based dockless bike company. ASG has urged Miami and Oxford officials to allow students and town residents to have access to these bikes by entering into an agreement with the company. The MOU regarding a six-month pilot program of the service was unanimously approved by council during the Feb. 20 session. However, the university’s general counsel, Robin Parker, raised concerns about the implementation of SPIN bikes on Miami’s property, and Miami has yet to make a call regard-
ing the future of the bikes on campus, either way. “The university is going to work on their end to sign with SPIN or work with another company with students,” said city manager Doug Elliott. Mayor Kate Rousmaniere informed the ASG representatives that Miami president Greg Crawford was concerned about the lack of helmets and is leaning toward working with a different company. “We’ll get the MOU with the city finalized,” Rousmaniere said. “But we’d also like the university’s greenlight [for this project].” Councilman Glenn Elerbe offered his sympathies to ASG and reiterated that he “wants to make sure [they] can see this through” while they are still students on Miami’s campus. Callahan, along with ASG Secretary for Off-campus Affairs, Sean Perme, and a few other members of ASG, will be meeting with Parker, executive assistant to the president, Ted Pickerill, and Associate VP of Facilities Planning and Operations, Cody Powell, to discuss the pilot program this Wednesday, March 14. Check miamistudent. net for more updates on the push for bikesharing at Miami. doyleca3@miamioh. edu
MIAMI STUDENTS PAY MORE FOR LAUNDRY THAN STUDENTS AT OTHER OHIO PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES. JUGAL JAIN PHOTO EDITOR
ASG votes to reduce laundry costs ASG
RACHEL BERRY
THE MIAMI STUDENT
After realizing that Miami students pay more than students at other Ohio public universities to do laundry in their dorms, ASG unanimously passed a bill to lower laundry charges on campus. Miami University students pay $3.50 per load, while other Ohio public universities only charge between $2.50 to $3 per load. The Oxford laundromat Suds City Laundromat and Dry charges $2.50 to wash an 18 pound load and between $1.25 and $1.50 to dry. The Laundry Bag, located in Hamilton, charges $5 to wash five loads and $0.25 for six minutes of drying, which results in about a $1.25 charge for drying. Two ASG senators noticed the discrepancies between these laundry prices and those in the residence halls and began to investigate. Jasmine Adkins, First District Senator, was the original creator of the bill, and Craig
Beuerlein, Third District Senator, joined later to help her with research and the writing of the proposal. “I saw the price like ‘this is kind of expensive for washing and drying,’” Beuerlein said. “So really for me it was holding the university accountable.” Some students, such as first year Gabi Perez, find other ways to avoid the high costs of doing laundry in their halls. “What I do is I usually bring most of my clothes here to college, and after about 3 to 4 weeks, I go home, and I wash them all and bring them back,” Perez said. “I just find it easier than spending money that I could use for something else to go and wash my clothes here.” Adkins started investigating laundry prices because of confusion regarding what students’ money is going toward. Since there is only one water and electricity meter per building, it is impossible to determine the separate cost for running the washers. “In our room and board fee, we are already paying for the cost of utilities for our building, which means that
we’re already paying for the cost of laundry in the sense that we’re paying for water and electricity,” Adkins said. Beuerlein called the company that sells Miami the laundry machines, thinking that maybe the cost covers repairs. However, he was told that repairs are paid for in the original contract. A resolution to be more clear when listing fees was included in the bill, so students know exactly what they are paying for. Since ASG passed the bill, the students are now working to make these changes occur. “Writing a bill doesn’t necessarily say that a change will go into effect,” Adkins said. “It’s saying that we, the student body, and we, the representatives of the student body, would support this change happening. So, now that we’ve passed it, we can start talking to administration and saying, ‘This is what the student body wants. This is everything that we’ve found. How can we make this happen?’” berryrd@miamioh.edu
NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET
STUDENT ORG FUNDING REQUESTS HALVED FROM PAGE 1
But this spring, student orgs will only receive about half of the funding they requested, in part due to a serious underestimation of the total dollar amount organizations would request for this final funding cycle. “The requests this cycle were unanticipated,” said Walter. “The requests going into this time of the year are largest since I’ve been here, both in terms of numbers and the amount of dollars asked for.” In previous years, the busiest time for student programming was the first six weeks of the fall semester. About 75 percent of student org funding was doled out in the fall, Walter said. This year, the balance shifted. The amount of money distributed in the fall is about equal to the amount of money distributed in the spring, he said. “We would have 75 percent of the funding given out in the fall. Until this semester, most of the student programming happened in the fall. The busiest time was the first six weeks, the first two months of the fall semester,” said Walters. “Clearly there has been a shift.” The decision to slash funds was made on the afternoon of March 6, when Weimer and Walter met to go over the most recent round of funding requests. More than $195,000 in general funding had been requested, but only $88,000 remained in the student org account, according to ASG budget documents. “The decision [to cut funding] was made within 60 seconds,” Walter said. “We can’t run ASG in a negative balance. There’s only so much in the system. We
NEWS 5
TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018
can’t put more money in than we have in the account.” To hold the cut to 50 percent, ASG redirected about $14,000 from its own internal operating budget, in part by cutting the student org debt relief program. They also received approval to go into $10,000 of debt, according to the documents. Student org leaders were informed of the cuts on the night of March 6 via an email sent out by Vice President of Student Affairs Scott Walter, as well through memos circulated by Walter and ASG Secretary of Finance Caroline Weimer. “Cutting finances for these organizations by 50 percent with zero warning or foresight is an embarrassment to a community which I have grown to care so deeply for, marring months of planning and countless hours of work done by your students,” wrote Steele Fitzwater, president of Miami University Fashion and Design (MUFD), in an email to more than forty student leaders and university administrators. Weimer and Walter were both recipients of the email, as well as President Gregory Crawford and Provost Phyllis Callahan. MUFD requested more than $19,800 from the March cycle, the most of any student organization. They are now set to receive less than half of their original request, just over $9,900, according to ASG budget documents. One potential force behind the funding collapse is the growing number of student orgs requesting money from ASG. “We are using a funding structure that has been in place for probably about a decade,”
Walter said. “Every time we have a new student body election, they’ll tweak it a little bit, but, by and large, we are still playing with the same thing when we had 300 student organizations.” Now, Miami has more than 600 registered student organizations, Walter said. Walter has said they will be meeting with Student Activities colleagues and the ASG finance committee over the coming weeks to identify the weaknesses in the old system and construct a new one from the ground up. “There are lots of options,” Walter said. “I think the one option that is off the table is to continue to do it like we are are doing it. If we simply tweak something, we are going to be back in the same place a year from now.” Until then, student organizations like Stage Left and MUFD are left with few avenues to fund the events they already have planned for the rest of the semester. “We are going to reach out to alumni, to students and to parents,” said Colant, citing Stage Left’s lack of dues as one reason that members might be willing to chip in to support the last production of the year. The club is also exploring crowdfunding through GoFundMe or Kickstarter. But, at least for the remainder of the school year, student organizations should not expect much monetary support from Student Affairs. “I don’t want to give people false hope, that’s just the reality of where we are in this process,” Walter said. evanjm4@miamioh.edu
DESPITE SUSPENSIONS, GBD LIKELY NOT AFFECTED FROM PAGE 1
about a week and a half later, a dozen fraternities were cleared from their suspensions. Now, just 10 fraternities remain on suspension. Serio said that Miami’s Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution (OESCR) has been investigating each individual chapter’s hazing allegations and then calling in the executive members of each organization along with their national representatives. “From what I heard OSCER brought the charges to our nationals, and then the nationals discussed with [the fraternity’s] executive members in private,” Serio said. “If it’s more of systematic issue, then it’s OSCER’s problem, but if it’s just one individual who’s causing the problems, then it’s more of an internal affairs issue and [nationals deals with it].” Lt. Lara Fening of the Oxford Police Department (OPD) is also unconvinced that the remaining 10 fraternities still under social sus-
pension — meaning they are prohibited from hosting parties — will have any effect on the upcoming GBD festivities. “They’re still going to be using annex houses, and they can still have a party. It just won’t be under the umbrella of that organization,” Fening said. “There will still be a group of friends that has chosen to hang out with each other for the last few years. Just because the name of their friend group has changed or been removed doesn’t mean the parties will.” Serio said that, despite the recent suspensions, he doesn’t expect any major changes. “I think if anything, if they want to do a slate wipe, it’s going to be more trimming than a complete destruction of the entire Greek life system,” he said. “As much as you hate or you love it, it is a core part of the Miami culture.” doyleca3@miamioh.edu
Know what’s a classic case of dramatic irony? You pecking away while your staff writes out Goodbye house ads ten feet behind you.
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PERELMAK@MIAMIOH.EDU
Lilly and Me:
Restlessness and its consequences COLUMN
DEVON SHUMAN MANAGING EDITOR
Lilly’s never been big on toys. This was actually a point of tension when we first met. The night before I adopted her, I walked into a PetSmart back home and walked out an hour later with an overflowing cart and a comically large receipt trailing behind me like a bridal train. Among the purchased items were lots of new toys to welcome Lilly into her forever home. There was a plush soccer ball equipped with a squeaker, an oblong tennis ball designed for optimally erratic bounces, a rubber Kong™ that promised “more fun per square inch than any toy on the planet,” a tug-of-war bumblebee, countless bouncy balls, some stuffed frat guy doll (sporting the letters πYπ) for some reason and a variety of bones and chew toys. To this day, they all sit in her underused and overpriced dog bed, without so much as a spot of slobber on them. It’s hard to look at that bed and not imagine it as its own little island of misfit toys, just waiting to serve a purpose. This is not to say that Lilly is unenergetic — quite the contrary. This is a dog that can go on a five-mile hike on new trails — yanking the leash the entire way — immediately followed by half an hour of sprinting at the dog park, and then go home and pace from window to window, wondering why we’re not still outside playing. She’s exhausting. She just couldn’t care less about the toys I’ve showered her with. From the moment I brought her home from the shelter, she turned her brown-speckled snout up at them. So I’m left with a unique challenge — I need to help her expend all of this excess doggy energy, but I lack many of the traditional avenues by which to do that. I can’t give her a chew toy to while away the hours with. I can’t offer her the other end of a rope and play tugof-war. I can bring her to the park, but if there are no other dogs there to chase around, she doesn’t have much to do. She’s phenomenal at watching me throw the tennis ball, but she hasn’t exactly figured out the “fetch” part yet. For the most part, this hasn’t been a huge issue. I’ve said from day one that I got lucky with Lilly because she’s perfect — and I truly meant it. That was only partially the joyous admission of a lovestruck dog owner. She doesn’t bark, she’s house trained and crate trained, she’s great off her leash, she’s not too aggressive and, even though she’s clingy and anxious, she can handle me being away for a few hours. That’s about as perfect as a dog can be for a first-time owner who’s also a college student.
Lately, things haven’t been as easy. On our walks, she’s stopped responding so well to my whistling and has started taking off on long sprints through the woods before returning on her own time. Her anxious pacing around the house while I’m working has grown more frenzied. There was one instance where she peed in front of me on the carpet. And there have been multiple incidents where we had to leave the park because her manic playfulness escalated into aggressive fighting. All in all, she seems just a little… restless. And I think I might know why. The last couple weeks for me have constituted what is best described as a depressive episode. My depression, like that of many, comes in waves. Sometimes I’ll go weeks or even months where I’m feeling fine. I’m confident in myself and my work, my meds are working well, I’m eating and sleeping on a responsible schedule — I feel normal.
The more I do nothing, the more restless she becomes — hence, I assume, the acting out I’ve observed lately. Then things will get tough. I’ll start to slip up, to fall out of my cultivated routine. I’ll feel constantly self-critical and empty, like I just can’t get excited about anything, and the thought of hopping under my covers and doing nothing starts to seem more and more inviting. This is the phase I currently find myself in. Don’t get me wrong — I’m okay. A year ago, a downward spiral of this nature would have been something to worry about. It would have had me turning to unhealthier ways to temporarily fill the internal void, thus sending myself into a darker pit of despair. Now, I’m in a place where I can recognize this as a passing episode, something I can work through and come out clean on the other side. But there are still consequences. As my friends and professors can attest to, there have been several missed classes and meetings lately, too many responsibilities I’ve flaked on because I’m too busy arguing with myself about whether or not it’s worth it to get out of bed. Enter Lilly. All this time I’ve spent prone on our mattress is time not spent at the dog park, not out on the trails. She’s patient — i.e. unlike many dogs, she’s not going to wake me up at six every morning to take her outside and get the day started — but, as we’ve covered, she’s got energy that needs to be purged. The more I do nothing, the more
LILLY SHUMAN LOOKING SIMPLY MAJESTIC BO BRUECK THE MIAMI STUDENT
restless she becomes — hence, I assume, the acting out I’ve observed lately. This morning, partly in an effort to procrastinate writing this column, I walked her down to the dog park and let her loose. Unfortunately, there were no other dogs there. Usually what this means is I’ll let her walk around for a few minutes and do her business, and then, absent anything else to do, we’ll return home. Today, I decided to wait. Rather than bring her back to our stuffy house for the day, I let her stay in that natural playground and enjoy the fresh air for a bit. I thought back over all the recent mornings she stayed in bed with me until 11, or even noon, and realized that if she can sacrifice that time for me, I can sacrifice some of my time for her. Before I knew it, she was playing… with toys. Littered around the park are a bunch of communal tennis balls and tug-of-war ropes
for the dogs to enjoy and, finally given the time to work out some this pent-up energy, Lilly started noticing them. She was at a full sprint, zooming around the enclosure like a thoroughbred at the Derby, picking up the toys and whipping them around her head viciously. If she dropped one toy, she’d just sprint to the next and pick up where she left off. For minutes at a time, she existed as a blur, moving at top speeds from one unlucky toy to the next. Then, when she was finally spent, she ran up to me and jumped up to my chest, her toothy grin and panting letting me know that, yes, she was finally satisfied. And now? She’s laying next to me as I type this, sprawled out on her back with her eyes shut and her nose producing the most adorable snore I’ve ever heard. shumandb@miamioh.edu
More Than Just Clowning Around
ILLUSTRATION BY NINA WILLIS THE MIAMI STUDENT
FROM PAGE 1
that incorporates an exaggerated style of character work known as commedia dell’arte. Thus, Jerome the Clown. Jerome the Clown was called in to lead our cast in a workshop before the traditional rehearsals begin. Through myriad exercises, scenarios and play, he helps us to find a buoyancy in our bodies that will be useful as we develop the comedic timing in Moliere’s language. Jerome the Clown tells us to listen to our “dantian.” There is no English translation, but it generally refers to our internal
energy, our soul, perhaps — the core of our beings. Jerome tells us to reach our arms out in front of us and interlock our fingers, and then gently bring our arms down until our woven fingers are resting at the base of our pelvis. This, he says, is where our dantian lives. We take a moment to feel that power, and then dive into another game. We play an enthusiastic game of 10-digit high-five, jumping up and yelling “Ho!” when we make hand-to-hand contact with a partner. If you jump up and your partner doesn’t, you’re out. The game is thrilling. The intensity grows; there are betrayals, fake-outs and a
general feeling of every man for himself. I make it to the final four but then am overconfident in a jump that ultimately leaves me in the dust. I let out a cry of self-pity and walk, crushed, to the edge of the room with the other defeated players to watch the game play out until we have a “Ho!” winner. What do you, like, even do in your classes? Do you just roll around on the floor and make weird noises? These are the kinds of questions I get when I tell people that I’m a theatre major. So, like, is it just a lot of make believe? Is it just an hour of meditation? What do you DO? The answer to these questions is, plainly, yes. Over the past three years at Miami I have spent the majority of my time in class laying on the floor, meditating, contorting my body to do things that perhaps it isn’t supposed to be able to do at all. It’s a lot of what some call “make believe,” a lot of play and pretend. But, through it all, it’s a lot of hard work. Harder than anything I have ever done before. Harder than my writing classes, my statistics exam and my microbiology final. Why is playing games in an acting studio for six hours on a Saturday so much more difficult than the 15-page history paper I wrote last semester? Here, I have to be vulnerable. I can’t fake my knowledge or bullshit my short-answer portion of the test. Here, I can’t use facts or statistics or formulas to solve a problem. My only tools are my body, my experiences, my truth, my feelings and my relationships to the people around me. It’s scary, but it’s also completely freeing. Jerome the Clown teaches us how to use our bodies to create characters and make choices onstage that will thrill an audience. He shows us that our work has to be grounded deep below the earth and executed in a way that reaches far above our heads. We imagine ourselves as strong oak
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trees, taking deep breaths that pull from beneath our feet, from our roots in the dirt, and blow out, reaching up to the clouds above our branches. It’s the last hour of our two-day clowning intensive when Jerome the Clown introduces our final exercise: show-and-tell, the preschool favorite. I grasp my gray ball cap tightly in my hand, awaiting further instruction. The task is simple: I am to exit the space, re-enter, encounter the audience, approach them, show my object and how to use it and then leave the space. We must complete these steps without a word. And while wearing a red clown nose, of course. I enter the space, hat in hand, and make eye contact with each audience member. The excitement in my body is reflected in their eager eyes, and I feel for their nonverbal invitation to approach. Throughout the last two days, Jerome the Clown has consistently reminded us to “find the joy in the game.” And boy, did I find it in this exercise. The audible “oohs” and “ahs” that escape the lips of my audience as I display my hat sends a course of adrenaline through my veins. I stretch my arms upward, holding the hat. As I bring it down to place it on my head, my high bun interferes and brings the activity to a screeching halt. I pause, place the hat on the ground and remove the rubberband from my hair, exposing my bouncing curls. The audience gasps in delight as I retrieve the hat and try again to complete my task. The cap fits perfectly. The whole room cheers. I leave the workshop feeling strong. I feel free, confident and just a little silly, as you might expect from a newly trained clown. Although I’m not wearing the red nose anymore, I feel that joyful mask with me now, in each buoyant step that I take home. mitche49@miamioh.edu
PERELMAK@MIAMIOH.EDU
CULTURE 7
TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018
Humans of Oxford
Kay Connelly: Getting stronger everyday PEOPLE
ZOEY BECKER
THE MIAMI STUDENT
“Even when I was counting the calories in my gum and running 20 miles a day, I didn’t realize I had a problem.” Kay Connelly loves dogs, fashion, coffee and jamming out to music. She has a passion for performing, socializing, running and learning. She is a writer for Her Campus and transferred to Miami to pursue her ambition for organic chemistry. Kay is also recovering from anorexia. At first, she didn’t realize there was anything wrong with wanting to feel skinny, even bony. Even when she hit an extremely dangerous weight, even when her skin became a yellowish hue, even when her hair thinned out and she lost clumps of it every time she took a brush to it, she insisted she was fine. “I have a sense of euphoria any time I am running on empty,” Kay said. “I didn’t want to recover. I was fine.” Kay had a difficult time in recovery, as many patients do. During the ear-
ly stages, she would “gain a pound and lose two.” But for her, it wasn’t about the weight gain. It was about the ritual of the energy deficit. Luckily, Kay found ways to cope. She turned to science to expand her knowledge on her illness. Learning more about anorexia helped her overcome the illness. This year, she decided to “bite the bullet” and vow to gain 35 pounds by the end of the school year, while maintaining healthy habits. “Most outsiders may say that it is wrong to eat as many jars of peanut butter as I have over the past year, but your body craves the calories,” Kay said. Her personal motto is, “Don’t just purr; roar,” which is about “living life to the fullest and kicking the bad as far away as possible.” Kay now has a very positive outlook on life. “I think there is something you can find to love about anyone and anything. You just have to remember, you will never know the full extent of their stories.” Kay aspires to be a doctor or psychologist so she can help others with a variety of struggles, some of which she has
SEBASTIAN NEUFUSS THE MIAMI STUDENT
personal experience with. Her journey can be followed on her Instagram, @kay.thatiscool. If you or someone you know has an
MIAMI STUDENTS PROUDLY DISPLAY THEIR DIVERSITY
eating disorder, don’t be afraid to contact the National Eating Disorder hotline, at (800) 931-2237. beckerzf@miamioh.edu
‘WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT’ MEANT TO MAKE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE
ACTORS TACKLE TOUGH MATERIAL ON THE STAGE MACY WHITAKER THE MIAMI STUDENT
REVIEW STUDENTS GATHER TO CELEBRATE MIAMI UNIVERSITY’S DIVERSITY WEEK DANIELLE NEHRING THE MIAMI STUDENT
STUDENT LIFE
MAIA ANDERSON
THE MIAMI STUDENT
Miami students are accustomed to the tables set up by various campus organizations on the second floor of Armstrong. Most of them are advertising or fundraising, and many students quickly walk by avoiding eye contact, not wanting to be interrupted on their way to and from class. On Tuesday, one table served a different purpose: to let students express their most personal identity. As part of Miami’s Diversity Week, the Diversity Affairs Council hosted the “I Am Diversity” event to help students celebrate what makes them unique. Sitting at a table set with coffee and hot chocolate, programming directors Morgan Neal and Blessing Famule encouraged anyone who walked by to contribute words or a drawing to represent their idea of what makes them diverse. “Something I thought was necessary was a conversation about diversity but not just diversity in terms of what each individual’s definition of diversity is,” said Neal. “Everyone has different significance in regards to diversity.” The goal of the event was to get as many submissions as possible to create a wall of words and drawings which will be displayed to represent the many ways students see themselves as diverse. All students were encouraged to participate, not just minoritystudents. Neal and Famule said some students felt they could not participate because they were
in the majority and did not feel they contributed to diversity. “We get caught up in this norm of ‘what is diversity’ and we don’t think that we can contribute as part of a society, and that becomes exclusionary and othering,” said Neal. “If we all recognize that we have special things, we see the diversity of our diversity.” Neal’s idea for the diversity wall was inspired by a trip to Auschwitz she took when she studied abroad in Europe in the
“If we all recognize that we have special things, we see the diversity of our diversity.” fall of 2016. There, Neal saw a wall of photographs that were found among the discarded luggage and compiled to create a display with descriptions of each picture. The original idea was for students to submit photographs of things they thought represented their personal diversity. For logistical reasons, Neal and the rest of the planning team decided that having students illustrate their own pictures would be a more practical way for them to express themselves. “Art is undefined which makes it so cool,” Neal said. “The viewer decides what it means, which is kind of its own art.” Neal and Famule cut roughly 1000 pieces of paper for students to create their submissions, and by 2 p.m. on event day they were already a quarter of the way
through them. The turnout was exactly what the two were hoping for, and they were excited by how many students were taking part in the activity. “Everyone has a voice. Everyone is unique. There will literally never be two persons who are identical and the same,” said Famule. “You have your own identity. Don’t be afraid to share that. Everyone is different. Be proud of your personal identity no matter what it is” Students took unique approaches to their submissions, expressing pride in things such as their sexuality, nationality or religion. One submission expressed all three, reading, “Queer, Filipino, Christian.” Another contained writing in Italian along with a drawing of the Italian flag to demonstrate the student’s pride in their heritage. The final wall was displayed at Friday’s “We Are Diversity” event in McGuffey Hall. The event was meant to celebrate the conclusion of Diversity Week with crafts, music, food and a performance by local band The Wrong Crowd. The permanent location of the diversity wall is still being determined in order to comply with Armstrong’s rules, but Neal is hoping it will be hung in the Diversity Affairs Council’s office window. “What I really like about this display is the role or importance of art in self-expression and how powerful it is that people can communicate what their identity is, and people can perceive them through viewing it,” said Neal. “It’s about people being able to express their identities.” ander198@miamioh.edu
ERIN GLYNN
THE MIAMI STUDENT
The title “We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Südwesafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915,” lets its audience know right off the bat that this is not going to be an easy show to take in. The play depicts a group of six actors rehearsing a presentation that chronicles the early 20th century genocide of the Herero tribe by the German government. The characters wrestle with the stories they each want to elevate and the racial tension that arises between them as a result. It was an excellent choice for the third installment of the Department of Theatre’s “Occupy Empathy” season, coinciding with Miami’s Diversity Week, and very timely as many countries are still reluctant to name genocides for what they are. It serves as a poignant reminder that the ramifications of the 20th century “Scramble for Africa” and colonialism are still being felt. The play also provokes a discussion on the loss of heritage that is still felt by Africans and African-Americans alike. The show was surprisingly comedic, featuring actors beatboxing, bursting into song and humping the floor as they attempted to navigate the difficult subject matter. The cast hilariously portrayed exaggerated caricatures of themselves as college actors. All performers contributed to the almost overwhelming plausibility of their conversations on race and culture.
Shaun Diggs was brilliant in his especially challenging role as Actor 2/Black Man, causing the audience to freeze on multiple occasions as he pointed out the flaws in the German narrative of events. Taylor Hayes as Actor 5/Sarah was captivating and funny, managing to draw the audience’s eye in scenes when the entire cast talked over each other. Hayes belted “Edelweiss” and imitated a cow, while still building on the tension between the actors throughout the performance. The technical aspects of this show were engaging and demonstrated a remarkable attention to detail. Each program included a ballot on which audience members could mark whether they found Germany guilty or not guilty, to place in a box in the lobby. The final moments of the show were breathtaking and cathartic. When Actor 1/ White Man, played astutely by Mario Formica, crossed the line of decency in rehearsal and pulled out a rope tied in a noose to taunt Digg’s character, who then stormed out of the theater, the audience was left in shock. Slowly, Keith Holland, playing Actor 4/Another Black Man, put away the cruelest props used (a gun, a mask and the noose), and then pulled aside the curtain backdrop to reveal mirrors that reflected the theatregoers’ horrified expressions. He thus ended the show with a powerful challenge for each audience member, provoking them into an examination of the way they view stories similar to the one they just witnessed. glynnee@miamioh.edu
Fo
8
TUESDAY, MA
BUZZING AROUND HONEY FRIED
The Bee’s Knees
ILLUSTRA TION: KAT HOL
LERAN
The Prohibition-era classic cocktail
Ingredients •
Gin
•
Honey
•
Lemon
•
Hot Water
When the phrase “the bee’s knees” was coined — more than a century before this cocktail’s invention — it referred to something small or insignificant. By the 1920s, however, the phase joined the company of several other zoological expressions meaning “the best” (see also: the cat’s pajamas, the eel’s ankle, the capybara’s spats). This more recent translation of the phrase was likely the intended connotation for this drink, whose acidity and sweetness was once used to mask the potency of Prohibition-era bathtub gin. Thanks to the 21st Amendment, this drink is now elevated by the abundance of quality liquor. If you’re using bottom-shelf gin, though, take comfort in the fact that you’re still likely a step above this cocktail’s original iteration. For the syrup: In a bowl or saucepan, combine 1 cup of honey with ⅓ cup hot water. Stir thoroughly. You can use the syrup immediately or keep it in the fridge for a few days.
Ingredients
For the cocktail: In a shaker, combine 1 ounce of fresh lemon juice, ¾ ounces of honey syrup and 2 ounces of gin. Shake with gusto and pour, garnishing with a lemon peel.
Buttermilk, 2 cups
•
Chicken
•
Honey, 6 tsp.
•
Cayenne
•
Flour, 3 cups
•
Paprika
•
Baking powder, 1 tsp.
•
Canola oil
T
For the ambience: Que up Cole Porter’s “Let’s Fall in Love” and pretend that Calvin Coolidge is president, bobbed hair is in fashion and someone illegally distilled your gin in their bathroom.
o me, fried chicken is the quintessential summer meal. My uncle cooks industrial quantities of the stuff in a 55-gallon oil drum repurposed to support an iron kettle. He checks the temperature of the bubbling oil with a laser thermometer and adjusts the intensity of the single, jet-like burner underneath by tweaking the valve on the propane tank. Two minutes after dropping heaps of seasoned poultry into the makeshift fryer, he is Midwestern July personified, ruddy-faced with an inkblot sweat stain spreading across his back. What could make this moment feel more like summer? Bees whizzing around at knee-level, scattering sticky-fingered children just to circle back to their unattended pop cans. It’s March. It’s cold. If I can’t have sun, at least I can have chicken and honey and summer in the kitchen. We used chicken breasts, but really any piece thin enough to cook through evenly works. Drumsticks and tenderloins are good options. Start by mixing the honey into the buttermilk and then seasoning with salt and black pepper. Pour the mixture into a ziplock bag and drop your chicken pieces in. Zip it up and squish them
By Emily Williams
BUTTERMILK BISCUITS Topped with honeyed butter Ingredients •
Flour, 2 cups
•
Salt, 1 tsp
•
Baking powder, 2 Tbsp
•
Buttermilk, 1 cup
•
Sugar, 1 Tbsp
•
Unsalted butter, 6 Tbsp
There are few things easier than topping a biscuit. It’s almost impossible to get it wrong: a drizzle of honey, a smear of preserves, a runny egg, a dollop of spicy mayo. Baking the biscuits themselves, though, is a challenge. Their texture, like pie crust, can be fickle and heavily dependent on accurately measuring ingredients. My first attempt at crafting my own proportions was too heavy on the flour — and then, to compensate, too heavy on the everything — and formed what looked like flaky buttermilk biscuits and smelled like flaky buttermilk biscuits but were really bland, dense, borderline-inedible pucks. But, thankfully, you probably have almost all
•
around until they’re fully coated. Toss the bag in the fridge and let the chicken rest for at least 20 minutes. If you are able to plan your meals more than an hour in advance, you should leave the chicken in the fridge overnight. Up to about 24 hours, more time soaking in the brined buttermilk means more flavor and more tenderness. About an hour before frying, take the chicken out of the fridge and let it drain on a wire rack before wiping excess of buttermilk off. If you leave big globs on, the breading will fall right off of your chicken. Pour your oil into the skillet or pot and set it on a burner just a notch or two over medium heat. Let the oil warm up until shimmering. If you have a fryer thermometer (or one of those handy laser ones), take the temperature of the oil. For best results — that means crispy, golden breading and thoroughly-cooked poultry — you want the oil around 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Too hot and the color of the breading inches toward brown while the interior remains uncooked. Too cold and the chicken will take on excess oil without ever achieving that perfectly crunchy exterior. While your oil is heating up, mix the baking soda into the flour in a large bowl and season the mixture heavily with salt, black pepper, pa-
prika an one). When dredge t drop the making the oil d Depe to work bit, but i minutes and intu for a ne rememb Even
of these ingredients in your pantry already, and, with just one cup in each batch, you can mess up seven times and have enough left in a half gallon of buttermilk to give it one more go. First, grab a large bowl and mix all of your dry ingredients together — flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut six tablespoons of unsalted butter (just two tablespoons shy of the whole stick) into pats. Set the remaining butter aside to reach room temperature. A food processor (or a decent blender with a food processor setting) is a real asset here. Ideally, you’ll pulse the butter and the dry mixture together until it forms large crumbs. But, if you’re without the necessary kitchen implements, you
LET YOUR BISCUITS BAKE FOR ABOUT 12 MINUTES, OR UNTIL GOLDEN. A
ood
WILLI501@MIAMIOH.EDU
ARCH 13, 2018
THE KITCHEN: D CHICKEN
Honey-Roasted Rainbow Medley Root vegetables, glazed and seasoned Ingredients • • •
•
Carrots, rainbow medley
•
Sweet potatoes, 2 medium •
SERVE YOUR CHICKEN WITH A COUPLE WARM BISCUITS ON THE SIDE, DRIZZLED WITH MORE HONEY AND TOPPED WITH BREAD & BUTTER PICKLES. A.J. NEWBERRY DESIGN EDITOR
Parsnips, 2 medium
Walnuts, 2 handfuls
Salt & pepper •
•
The parsnip — a paler, sweeter cousin to the carrot — is possibly the most underrated vegetable. They’re almost always an asset to anything you’re making, both in flavor and nutritional value. Need more soluble fiber in your diet? Eat a parsnip. Want a healthier heart? Reach for the parsnips. Trying to lose weight? Parsnip. If you’re unfamiliar with the ways of the parsnip, this side is a good place start. It’s a bright dish — both in color and flavor — mixing oranges, yellows and purples with saltiness, nuttiness, sweetness and the slight mintiness of fresh thyme. Just peel and chop all of your vegetables and toss them in a baking dish with a healthy pour of olive oil and several shakes of salt and pepper, each. Throw
Olive oil Honey
Fresh thyme, 4-5 sprigs
in two handfuls of chopped walnuts and drizzle three to four figureeights of honey over the mixture. Stir until the honey and olive oil has coated all of the vegetables. Place three to four sprigs of fresh thyme on top. Roast in an oven that has been preheated to 375 degrees. It’s easy to assemble and difficult to screw up, but the only downside to these vegetables is the cooking time: These should have about an hour to roast, until the sweet potatoes are tender, the parsnips translucent and the honey slightly caramelized in the corners of the baking dish.
By Emily “The Honeybee” Williams ILLUSTRATION: KAT HOLLERAN
THE SANDWICH
LAY THE CHICKEN DOWN AWAY FROM YOU WHEN YOU FRY IT SO IT DOESN’T SPLASH. A.J. NEWBERRY DESIGN EDITOR
nd cayenne (but be careful with that last
n your oil is at the proper temperature, the chicken in the breading mixture and e pieces one or two at a time into the oil, sure not to crowd them together, lest drop too far in temperature. ending on the cut of chicken you decided with, your frying time can vary quite a it will probably be between eight and 15 s. The trick here is to rely on your senses uition. This can be a intimidating lesson ew cook to learn, but trust yourself and ber that it’s okay to screw up. n if you’ve never fried chicken before,
A.J. NEWBERRY DESIGN EDITOR
you’ve probably eaten some. You know what it should look like and about what it should smell like. If it starts to get too dark too fast, drop the heat. If it’s not crisping, dial it up. Flip each piece close to halfway through its time in the oil. Once a piece is done, pluck it out and let it rest on a wire rack (ideal, as it lets fat drain but doesn’t soak it all up) or paper towels (what I had on hand). Repeat until each delectably golden hunk is fried and drained. Drizzle with honey or splotch with homemade mayo. Eat, and be warm and merry.
Leftovers. They happen. Whether you intentionally doubled the recipes or your dinner guests bailed, the bottom shelf of your fridge is now home to a fried chicken breast or two and a smattering of yesterday’s biscuits.
By Jack Evans
can achieve the same texture by cutting the butter into the flour mixture using focus, a good bit of patience and a fork. Pour in the buttermilk and continue to mix with the fork until it forms a ball. Transfer the ball of dough (it should be rough and a bit sticky) to a flat, floured surface. Spread the dough out to prepare to cut into biscuits, but use your hands, not a rolling pin, gentling turning, folding and pressing the dough until it is about 1 inch thick throughout. Cut the biscuits with a glass or the mouth of a Mason jar and transfer to a cookie sheet. Bake them in the oven at 425 degrees for just about 12 minutes — more than enough time to prepare your butter.
A.J. NEWBERRY DESIGN EDITOR
Take end of the stick that’s been warming to room temperature and, if it’s still cold, pop it into the microwave for 10 seconds or until the butter is soft enough to stir. Drizzle two figure-eights of honey on top, stir and taste. Repeat until it tastes just right, whatever that means to you. Cut open a biscuit while it’s still hot enough that the cut releases a flow of steam which you can stifle using a butter knife and a heavy glop of your homemade spread. By Emily Williams
A solution: Split your biscuits. Chop the chicken into chunks manageable enough to fit on the bottom half of a biscuit. Find an egg and a quarter cup of oil. Drain away the egg white with your fingers and then beat the yolk in a bowl, adding the oil drop by drop. Dash in some salt and one quick squeeze of lemon juice. Slather your homemade mayo on the top half of a now-slightly-stale biscuit. Top with pickle slices. Assemble the best leftover sandwich this side of Thanksgiving. Enjoy your leftovers.
9
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FROM PAGE 16
said. “We were just taking bad, contested outside shots.” The ‘Hawks were able to force junior guard Presley Hudson -- a MAC Player of the Year candidate -- into early foul trouble. With two minutes left in the first quarter, she picked up her second foul, and would sit out the remainder of the half. In the second quarter, CMU continued their dominant play now behind Redshirt freshman guard Michaela Kelley who stepped up in Hudson’s absence. She would finish with 16 points, three rebounds and three assists. The Central Michigan lead increased to 27-12 with 7:05 left in the quarter, but the Chippewas would not score again in the half. The ‘Hawks responded to their deficit with a remarkable 13-0 run, marked with tenacious defensive play from the entire team. Coach Duffy has preached the importance of defense in her first year with the program and, as her team clawed back into the game with stop after stop, the Miami bench was electrified. At the half, the score read 2725 with the momentum behind the RedHawks, after being seemingly outmatched minutes earlier. Miami only shot 25 percent from the field in the first half, yet found themselves down two
points to the MAC’s best. The third quarter flew by as a fast-paced, back-and-forth battle between the two teams. Heading into the fourth, Central Michigan was up 45-42. The ‘Hawks would even the score on their first possession in the fourth quarter, with a three-pointer from junior guard Leah Purvis. Minutes later, the Chippewas were able to build a lead with a quick 6-2 burst, forcing Megan Duffy to call a timeout down 5349. Out of the timeout, Redshirt junior guard Baleigh Reid scored a crucial five points for the RedHawks from a deep two-pointer and a clutch three from the corner. Known for her defense, Reid only averaged 5.0 points per game, and only attempted 12 shots from behind the arc this entire season. The score read 54-53 favoring Miami with 4:10 to go. CMU hit two free throws to regain the lead, but Lauren Dickerson drove to the basket and finished at the rim in back-to-back possessions, giving the ‘Hawks a 58-55 lead with 2:38 left. After scoring a layup, and blocking two shot attempts on the defensive end, Central Michigan drove down the court, and found junior forward Reyna Frost wide open for an easy mid-range jumper. The Chippewas led 59-58 with 1:04 left in the game. Frost, who finished as the MAC
Tournament MVP, would score 18 points and grab 12 rebounds. Miami failed to score on their next possession, and were forced to foul with 9.2 seconds left. Central Michigan made both shots, and the ‘Hawks found themselves needing a three to force overtime. After calling a timeout to advance the ball, the RedHawks were able to find junior forward Kendall McCoy at the top of the arc, who missed the three. The offensive rebound was grabbed by Dickerson who managed to find space to fire another three. Dickerson’s shot fell short, but the ‘Hawks grabbed another offensive rebound. Purvis’ desperate final shot was off, and the Chippewas escaped with a win. Despite the result, the RedHawks managed to hold CMU, a team who averages over 80 points a game, to only 61. The following day in the Finals matchup against No. 2 Buffalo, CMU won 96-91. “We’re extremely proud of what we’re doing here,” said Duffy, “The buy-in from our administrators to our coaching staff to our players -- it’s been a great ride.” In all likelihood, the season is not quite over for Duffy’s team. The seedings for the NIT Tournament were announced Monday night. Check miamistudent.net for updated information.
Videography Staff Emily Brustoski Jack Barteck Chandler Williams
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FROM PAGE 16
games this year was 1,671 -- the highest the number has been since the 2011-2012 season. There is no archived online data on attendance at women’s games. The MAC coaches expected more of Miami women’s basketball and projected the team to finish fourth in the East, but the ’Hawks exceeded even those expectations by finishing second in the MAC East division and fourth overall. The women’s team finished with a 21-10 and 12-6 record in the MAC. The last time the women’s
team had more than 21 wins and 12 MAC wins in a season was six years ago. The last time the women played in the MAC semi-finals was ten years ago. “For Miami basketball, we haven’t been to the semis in 10 years with a group that has lost a lot of games,” women’s head coach Megan Duffy said at a post-game press conference. “So we’re extremely proud of what we’re doing here.” Duffy welcomed an entirely new staff at the start of this year, though Director of Video Opera-
tions Justine Raterman stayed for her second year. Unlike the men’s team, the women’s team only added two freshmen who saw insignificant minutes. Duffy was instead tasked with changing her returning players’ mentality and creating a new culture of success. And, she did. The Notre Dame graduate is one of just four first-year head coaches to earn more than 20 wins. She is the only female. She was also the second-fastest to 10 wins of any coach in school history in their first year. Duffy ranks second in total win improvement with 10 more wins than last season. After starting MAC play 2-5, Duffy’s RedHawks won 11 of their last 12 games before their semi-finals loss. Though ultimately losing in the women’s semi-finals and in the men’s quarter-finals wasn’t the goal of the basketball program, Miami went down swinging. The men’s team lost by two points to No. 2 Toledo, which would go on to play in the men’s MAC championship. The Rockets averaged 79 points per game, and the RedHawks held them to 71. Falling to Central Michigan, the women’s team lost by three to the
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TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018
Talawanda student turns tragedy into action FROM PAGE 1
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soccer player? I’m a soccer player.’” In addition to talking about the victims, the main goal is to emphasize the innocence of the victims. “These kids did nothing. They did nothing at all, and they were killed for it.” Cope added that there’s nothing that says it can’t happen at her own school. “People like to think there is. They’re like, ‘That will never happen here.’ But you can’t say that. You can never say that.” The national walkout, Cope said, is extremely focused around wanting an assault rifle ban. “I have chosen, strategically and deliberately, to not make that what [the Talawanda] march is about. I want to highlight the tragedy of the situation. I want to highlight the urgency of the situation, and I want to build a personal connection with these students.” Thankfully, Cope said, the administration has been supportive of the walkout. “When you’re going about organizing a walkout, the first people you talk to are not the administration.” she said. “That’s not to be unfair to the administration, it’s just… ya know… If you say you’re gonna walk out, you’re not gonna be like, ‘Let’s go talk to the principal!’” Instead, she had the guidance of Kyria Petro, the diversity club’s advisor. And, of course, her parents. “I’m fortunate to have very supportive parents. I know that not a lot of people who share my views and activities have supportive parents.” Her dad drove her and her friends to the first Women’s March in Cincinnati on January 21, 2017. “Since then, I’ve felt a lot more urgency,” Cope said. “When you live in a place where you don’t always get to see that people are standing with you and are trying to do the same things that you’re trying to do, you feel like you can’t do it by yourself. You can’t do it all, so why should you try?” After going to the walkout and seeing people from across the world participate in the movement, Cope felt more open to new possibilities. “There’s so much going in this direction, so much momentum here,” she said. “I thought, ‘I can contribute to this.’ It’s not like my achievement is going to be lost. Being part of a movement inspired me to push harder.” When Cope first started talking to her parents about doing the walkout, her mom
immediately encouraged her to pursue it, she said. Her parents’ support and her own enthusiasm for activism has challenged the entire family to take more action. “I’ve pushed them to be more involved, but then they’ve pushed me back.” Cope has no idea about what the future her future after high school holds, though not many sophomores do. However, she is certain about one thing: activism. “Whatever I go into, I will always be an activist,” Cope said. “Once you start, you almost can’t stop.” Once you see injustice, she said, it’s hard to turn away. “If we’re talking about women’s rights, for example, people say, ‘Women have their rights.’ And yes, women have quite a lot of rights, but there are a lot of people, like immigrants, that don’t have all their rights. There’s always somebody less advantaged, and there’s always somebody worth fighting for.” Cope said teenagers like her have the opportunity to actually make a difference in the world. “Because teenagers are kind of predisposed to risk — we like to take risks — it’s kind of beneficial,” she said. “We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We’re just starting in the world.” In two years, Cope and her peers will be able to vote. “I will vote in the next presidential election. I will. You can’t pass off teenagers as having no power because sooner or later, they’re going to, and you’re going to have to answer to that.” Teenagers now, Cope said, unlike older generations, are growing up with a fear that they will witness the next tragic shooting. “These feelings aren’t going to go away. If you’re a kid in the American education system right now, you’re growing up with this omnipotent fear where everyday you think, ‘Is today going to be the day?’” Cope said. Cope thinks things are going to change, sooner rather than later, because people can’t live with that fear for their entire school careers. “The walkout is extremely important. It’s giving a platform for young voices. People are listening, primarily due to Stoneman Douglas students. Their ability to turn tragedy into action amazes me. I want to emulate that. I think everybody does. I think the world is listening, and we’re saying what needs to be said.” davisa10@miamioh.edu
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No. 1 team in the MAC and held the Chippewas, who averaged 82.5 points per game, to only 71 points. CMU would go on to win the women’s MAC championship by scoring 96 points. “What was pretty cool for being their coach is to see them afterwards and obviously the tears, and they’re upset,” Duffy said. “I’m so proud of them because the fact that the emotion of losing a game against the No. 1 team in the league is there. I’m as big a competitor as anybody, but I just think the word ‘proud’ was really evident in my head.” Though notable seasons to Miami fans, both Central Michigan head coach Sue Guevara and Toledo head coach Tod Kowalczyk commended Miami’s first-year head coaches on the improvements and competitiveness of their teams. Even after losing, Miami basketball has established a new standard and a winning culture. This isn’t to say the men’s or the women’s basketball teams will win a MAC Championship next year because it’s hard to think that it’s possible. Then again, who thought a trip to Cleveland was possible? simansec@miamioh.edu
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12 OPINION
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★ ASG ELECTION 2018 ★
TMS takes a look at this year’s Student Body candidates The following reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board. Voting for our new student body president opened at 7 a.m. yesterday morning and will stay open until 7 p.m. tonight. While we encourage everyone to get on The Hub during this time and vote, we do think everyone should be informed before doing so. The three presidential candidates and their running mates (all juniors, and nearly all Associated Student Government (ASG) members) share a lot of the same goals. All of their platforms touch on improving Student Counseling Services, parking and dining. They all want to initiate cultural changes among the student body and make changes Uptown. None are fans of this semester’s new one-door residence hall policy. But each ticket also has issues of their own they’d like to tackle, as we learned from a public debate held in Armstrong last Monday and individual meetings with the candidates in the Miami Student office. Here are their individual goals, what sets them apart from other candidates and what our editorial board thinks of these tickets.
Meaghan Murtagh and Vincent Smith have made a point of campaigning directly to students, approaching people around campus and, more specifically, in Pulley Diner, to talk to them about what they care about. We were impressed by their level of authenticity during the campaign and while speaking to us. While all three tickets cited increased diversity as something they want to strive for if elected, Murtagh and Smith seemed particularly passionate about the subject. They were the only candidates who mentioned the National Pan-Hellenic Council, which is comprised of six historically black sororities and fraternities at Miami, and described plans to include them in future Greek events with the Panhellenic Association and Interfraternity Council. Murtagh and Smith also demonstrated a particular concern for international students and laid out initiatives to make them feel more comfortable on campus. These include diversity training during freshman orientation, establishing a peer mentoring system between domestic and international students and better utilizing the Office of Diversity Affairs to make international students feel at home here. Murtagh is ASG’s Secretary for Advancement and Alumni Affairs. Smith has never been involved with the organization — something, they pointed out, that could work in their favor in negotiating with the administration, since they would not have any biases against him or personal relationships to lean on.
Alex Boster and Charles Kennick may have the strongest polish and rapport of all the candidates, but their mutual platform — while generally promoting the same messages as the others — was the weakest on their website and social media, relying more heavily on vague summary than specifics. However, the candidates were the most professional and prepared in person, which would benefit the pair in working with administrators. The duo has also, historically, been willing to push back against the administration when they have felt it’s necessary. While it’s crucial that a student body president and vice president are able to work with Miami administrators, it’s equally important that they’re willing to stand up to them on behalf of the student body. And, while the Gale/Rose team has made Oxford’s bikeshare endeavors a part of their campaign, as Gale was involved in the program’s passing through city council, Charles Kennick, along with ASG Senator Nick Froehlich and ASG Secretary for Off-Campus Affairs Sean Perme, were all major organizers of the initiative. Boster is an ASG senator, but days before her election last month, she completed a two-year term as a student trustee on the Miami Board of Trustees — a unique position not held by any other candidate in recent memory. Kennick has served as an ASG senator for two terms, and is President of Miami’s College Democrats.
In addition to both serving in ASG, Gale and Rose both have, collectively, the most leadership experience of all the candidates. They have also demonstrated the most interest in continuing the efforts of the current president, vice president and the rest of ASG. Considering all that has been accomplished under the current administration over the last year (see below), this is a refreshingly realistic idea that would likely benefit the student body. Rose, in particular, has already demonstrated a particularly strong passion for diversity. They are also currently President of the Diversity Affairs Council, and recently organized Diversity Week. They can use this experience to accomplish their diversity-related goals, such as establishing an ASG fund for “Diversity Programming” and making diversity training part of the UNV 101 curriculum. Gale is an off-campus senator for ASG, and Rose is the organization’s Secretary for Diversity and Inclusion. Both serve on several ASG-affiliated committees.
A Glance Back at a Year in Student Government JACK EVANS
MANAGING EDITOR
As you consider the candidates for 20182019 Student Body President, inform your decision with a quick look back at a few of the larger ASG happenings since the last election. Some were successes, boosting the status of those involved. Others present challenges for the next generation of elected student leaders. Student org funding slashed Check out the front page for coverage. In short, an unexpected spike in funding
requests outsized the amount of money available, so every student org will be receiving only about half of what they requested. VP of Student Affairs Scott Walter says the decade-old funding system that led up to this snafu needs to go. Expect this to be both a major priority and a major pain in the ass for the next president’s Secretary of Finance. Bikeshare battle A handful of ASG senators (including presidential candidates Kennick and Gale) worked with the City of Oxford and the bikeshare company Spin to push this
project forward. The administration is the party dragging its feet here. Big surprise. Miami wants control and maybe a chunk of the revenue, and Crawford is concerned about helmets — seriously though, rented helmets? Gross. Expect this fight to draw itself out into next year. Feminine hygiene collaboration This RHA-ASG collaboration is a pretty huge deal. Both legislatures unanimously passed bills supporting widespread feminine hygiene receptacles. With such an unusually strong mandate (and some national pressure), the potential for a concrete
student government victory lies just within reach for the next administration. International inclusion Encouraging international students to speak their minds about the realities of their experiences at Miami is the first step in bridging the international-domestic gap. With an established international student secretary position and more international students on senate, expect a student body president’s ability to work with this community to be an increasingly important factor in their success.
Looks Like it’s Gonna Be Another Close SBP Election NICK FROEHLICH GUEST COLUMNIST
It’s that time of the year again! If you’re in a frat, sorority or student org — or if you have looked up from your phone while walking past the Seal — you might know that it’s student body election season. There’s also a good chance you have no clue that there’s an election going on: 40 percent of our survey respondents didn’t. The “our” is 1809. We’re a new publication that loves to get wonky with data regarding public opinion and other interesting numbers. This is our first article. How exciting! With the goal of being able to predict the outcome of Tuesday’s Student Body President election with a certain degree of accuracy, we conducted a (horribly unscientific, but nonetheless charming) poll of a relatively random sample of students. After polling students around campus and by electronic mail throughout the last week, here is what we can say with confidence: Who knows? Certainly not us. But the results are interesting. In short: There’s probably going to be a runoff, the clear frontrunner is a candidate named Undecided and students want a movie theater in Oxford as much as they dislike the meal plan (which is a lot). Before getting into the numbers, a word on how we got them. Around 3,500 students voted last year in an election with five candidates, which is 700 votes a candidate (it was really close in the first round). Since we only have three candidates this year, we can expect turnout to be around 2,100 votes. Our sample size was 630 students, which brings us to a 3 percent margin of error with 95 percent confidence. The biggest source of salt to be poured on this survey comes from our method of collecting data: We stood around Armstrong, Farmer, the Seal, Maplestreet and Slantwalk and asked random students to take our survey. Sean Perme also put out a digital survey in an email to all off-campus students. This method probably oversampled off-campus students, as the email was reached by thousands of them and we could only get a hold of two hundred on-campus students. However, traditionally, the largest share of voters are juniors and seniors who do not live on campus. It should be mentioned that ASG’s Elections Committee helped a great deal by giving us money to offer a gift card raffle as a reward for taking the survey, without which we probably would have gotten far fewer responses. Thanks! Undecided has earned a strong showing of 46 per-
ILLUSTRATION: NINA WILLIS
cent. Behind Undecided comes our first human candidate, Alex Boster, at 18.4 percent. Next is James Gale with 17.9 percent, and then Meaghan Murtagh at 17 percent. Folks, this is a remarkably dead tie. The sheer number of undecided voters, coupled with some other x factors, make this so very hard to analyze. It’s highly unlikely that any one of these candidates will get more than 50 percent, which means that we are all so lucky enough to endure another week of campaigning in the runoff election! Turnout and turnout alone will decide which two will advance. From here on out in the article, just so you know, I’m just guessing. These elections are fickle. The fact that voting happens online makes turnout sporadic and hard to predict. While each candidate has been trying their hardest to get their name out there, election day typically boils down to who is backing whom. Greek organizations will tend to vote chapter by chapter, GroupMes will get flooded and student orgs will roll out their endorsement emails. Because she held her ground in our survey, she is in a popular sorority and she was endorsed by two big emailchain orgs (the College Democrats and College Republicans), we’re going to say that Alex Boster will probably
clear the first round. It is difficult to say whether Murtagh or Gale will be the challenger. Again, there are tons of undecided votes to eat up, so whichever campaign makes more appeals regarding popular issues could soar far above their current standing. There’s also the chance that undecided voters do not vote, which will be a barrier for everyone running. Gale performed the best with off-campus students but the worst with on-campus students, and the fact that his ticket is endorsed by RHA could or could not be a big deal, depending on how they want to mobilize that endorsement. Murtagh does best with voters who just learned about the election, so her campaign is the strongest at face-value. She also has been zipping around campus, visiting a total of 42 organizations. These candidates and their running mates are also each pretty well known in greek life and around campus, and they’ve been campaigning non-stop. Tuesday’s results will likely shake out very close between these two, and only just trailing Boster. All three campaigns have a path to victory by maximizing the impact of their endorsements and campaigning on issues students care about all the way up to the last hour. That leads us to our final survey question. Out of a list of eleven, respondents chose three issues they cared about the most. Roughly tied for most complained about by on-campus students — around 50 percent of all respondents chose these — is the lack of a movie theater and the meal plan. Real shockers there. For off-campus students, a whopping 62 percent want different parking policies on Miami’s campus. More students know what changes they want to see than they know who they are voting for. If you’re a candidate for student body president and you’re reading this and you want to win, you should probably talk more about your plans for the meal plan, go into detail about parking and then perform a host of rituals you think will bring you good luck because it is anyone’s game after that point. Thanks a whole lot to Craig Beurelein and Molly O’Donnell for doing the legwork on this one and conducting most of the survey. Cole Hankins and the Elections Committee deserve a shout-out for signing off on this project, as does Sean Perme for spreading the survey far and wide in the digital world. If you want to get involved in projects like this in the future, send me an email about joining 1809! froehlns@miamioh.edu
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The Darrell West Lecture in American Politics presented by
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“The Other Threat to Our Democracy”
Ira Shapiro
Author of Broken: Can the Senate Save Itself and the Country?
Tuesday, March 27 ■ 7 pm Armstrong Student Center, Room 3056A Miami University ■ Oxford, Ohio Reception will follow.
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Ira Shapiro is the President of Ira Shapiro Global Strategies, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in international trade, U.S.-Japan relations, and American politics, which he founded in 2014. He brings to the firm 40 years of experience in senior staff positions in the U.S. Senate, the Clinton administration, and private law practice. He was integral in the negotiation of NAFTA and, with the rank of ambassador, took the lead in trade relations with Japan and Canada in the 1990’s.
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TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018
Men’s basketball loses to No. 2 Toledo FROM PAGE 16
The Rockets and the RedHawks missed a handful of free throws and easy layups, and the 30-29 Toledo lead would stand. In the fast-paced first half, neither team led by more than six. The lead changed eight times during the opening 20 minutes, and was tied six times. The early stages of the second half mimicked the first, as the teams traded baskets and the lead. Freshman guard Jalen Adaway put Miami up 36-35 with 17:26 left to play. Toledo’s sophomore center Luke Knapke drained a three twenty seconds later to reclaim the lead. The RedHawks kept it close for the following four minutes with help from Sibande and Ringo’s sharp shooting behind the arc. Though MAC Player of the Year senior forward Tre’Shaun Fletcher would not be outdone, and he gave the Rockets a 49-46 lead with 12:53 left -- a lead the Rockets wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the game. A 7-0 run from the Rockets combined with a three-minute Miami scoring drought gave Toledo a 10-point advantage. Senior forward Logan McLane put his team back on the score sheet with a layup, but the RedHawks lost their touch and forced shots from behind the arc that wouldn’t go. Toledo’s biggest lead of the game came at 6:44 and the score read 63-51. Miami faced similar deficits throughout the season, and finally got the lead under 10 when there was 3:47 left to play. “I feel like we’ve been in this situation multiple times throughout the season so I feel like we was prepared for moments like this,” Sibande said. The RedHawks began to chip away at the Rockets’ advantage. A three from freshman forward Dalonte Brown pulled the ’Hawks within four with 2:03 left to play. On the following possession, Brown fouled to send Toledo’s junior forward Nate Navigato to the line. Navigato pushed it back to a three
EMILY SIMANSKIS SPORTS EDITOR
Miami hockey’s season ended in heartbreaking fashion on Sunday night, as the RedHawks lost 4-3 in overtime to the No. 1 St. Cloud State University Huskies. The ’Hawks lost 5-2 on Friday night in Game One of the three-game National Collegiate Hockey Conference playoff series, but battled back to win 3-2 on Saturday night to force the finale on Sunday. The RedHawks’ season comes to an end after the weekend, as they finished 12-20-5 overall and 6-14-4 in the NCHC. The Huskies (24-7-6, 17-4-4) advance to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff. Statistically outmatched against the No. 1 team in the country and 2016 NCHC Champions, the RedHawks didn’t look it throughout the weekend. Miami took three of the first four shots, though it was SCSU who found the back of the net first. Sophomore defenseman Jack Ahcan beat Miami’s sophomore goaltender Ryan Larkin with 6:02 gone by. A power play in the later half of the period gave the RedHawks the offensive momentum they needed to eventually even the score. Junior defenseman Grant Hutton found junior forward Kiefer Sherwood who shot from the right circle to tie the game at one with 4:32 left in the period. The teams went into the first intermission locked at 1-1. The second period opened with an exchange of shots, but momentum swung to the Huskies after a slashing penalty was called on the RedHawks. SCSU capitalized only 16 seconds into the man-advantage off a one-timer from junior defenseman Jimmy Schuldt. When the score read 2-1 with 8:43 left to play in the middle frame, Miami was whistled for another penalty but killed off the disadvantage. St. Cloud extended their lead to two, though, after freshman forward Blake Lizotte scored his seventh of the season at 15:14. The 3-1 score favoring SCSU would stand for the rest of the period. To start the third, the RedHawks were undeterred and rushed up the Olympic-sized ice to pepper St. Cloud’s goaltender freshman David Hrenak with early shots. Several one-timers missed the mark, but good hustle by Sherwood led to a rush into the Huskies’ defensive zone. Sherwood found sophomore forward Gordie Green in the goal crease and Green went around the net to beat Hrenak with 15:34 left. Miami’s 3-2 deficit wouldn’t stand for very long, as freshman forward Easton Brodzinski put his team further ahead with a goal with 8:21 left in the game. Four minutes ticked by before head coach Enrico Blasi decided to pull Larkin and the RedHawks camped out in the offensive zone for a stretch. Junior forward Mikey Eyssimont, ranking eighth in points in the NCHC, buried an empty-net goal and Miami’s hopes of a last-minute comeback. Eyssimont’s Huskies took Game One 5-2. Miami was outshot 29-26 and went 0-for0 on the power play while St. Cloud went 1-for-3 on its man-advantages. Sherwood
MARTIN’S CONTRACT EXTENDED THROUGH 2020 FOOTBALL
BRADY PFISTER
THE MIAMI STUDENT
SENIOR FORWARD LOGAN MCLANE BACKS UNDERNEATH THE BASKET ON THURSDAY EVENING IN CLEVELAND. CONTRIBUTED BY JACK SRAIL
possession game. The ’Hawks were undeterred, but undisciplined. Sibande had a clutch layup and back-to-back threes -- eliciting roars from the Miami crowd as the score read 70-69 with 11 seconds to play. A foul on Jalen Adaway, the team’s 14th, sent Sanford to the line where he collected his 21st point of the game. The Q held their breath as the clock read nine seconds and the RedHawks gave the ball to Sibande. Sibande’s shot with two seconds left was no good and hit the back of the rim. The horn sounded, the scoreboard read 71-69 and the RedHawks’ season ended. “We wanted to come out and win really bad,” Ringo said. “There was just a few breakdowns that we had, so it really hurt us late.” The Rockets shot 43.5 percent from the field, while the RedHawks only shot 39.4 percent. The ’Hawks kept it close from far away, as they shot 31 percent from threepoint land.
A defensive game, Miami held Toledo 10 points below its average points per game, though the Rockets shut out freshman guard Isaiah Coleman-Lands and senior forward Rod Mills. Sibande finished with a team-high 20 points. Ringo logged 19 and was 5-for-5 behind the arc. Toledo’s Sanford finished with 21 points and had eight field goals -- the most of either team. Even with Miami’s 17th loss, it was the first time in seven years men’s basketball finished with 16 wins. Last year, the team lost in the first round of the tournament and only won 11 games. “At the end of the day I’m happy with our guys’ fight,” Owens said. “Execution and things like that will get better in time.” Miami men’s basketball accepted a bid to the College Basketball Invitational on Sunday. The RedHawks are one of 16 teams which accepted bids and will face Campbell University in North Carolina on Wednesday at 7 p.m. for the first-round of the tournament.
Hockey loses OT heartbreaker to Huskies HOCKEY
SPORTS 15
(1g, 1a) and Hutton (2a) each recorded multipoint games. On Saturday, Miami started the game needing a win to force Game Three in the best-of-three playoff series. The desperation showed early, as the RedHawks uncharacteristically scored two first period goals. The first came only 1:54 into the game, from a redirection by junior forward Josh Melnick off a freshman defenseman Alec Mahalak point shot. Sherwood notched the secondary assist. The Huskies had a chance to tie the game with a power play at 7:17, but the RedHawks were rolling and kept turning away St. Cloud’s top-notch chances. Four-on-four play ten minutes later left Hutton enough room to wrist his 11th goal of the season past Hrenak. The goal came with only 2:27 left to play and Sherwood and Mahalak notched their second points of the game via their assists. The intermission horn sounded and sent the RedHawks up 2-0 into the first break. The potent St. Cloud power play would spell trouble for Miami, even after the ’Hawks started the period with jump. With 14:04 left in the period, Miami was whistled for a 5-minute major. The RedHawks did a good job of keeping the Huskies to the outside until sophomore forward Ryan Poehling beat Larkin to make it a one-goal game with 3:37 left on the kill.
Sunday March 12
Miami - 3 St. Cloud - 4 (OT) The remainder of the power play ticked by and the goalies battled to keep their teams in the game. Sherwood and Green and their 2-on-0 rush forced Hrenak to stretch and make the pad-save. Miami’s first power play of the game came with 5:44 left in the second period, but it was the Huskies turn to turn away the ’Hawks opportunities. Though outshot 13-7 in the period, Miami still led 2-1 where it counted. The man-disadvantage again plagued the RedHawks early in the third. Ahcan tipped in a shot from senior forward Blake Winiecki to tie the game at two. The rest of the period marched on, and Larkin withstood 10 more shots to send the game to overtime. RedHawk fans held their breath as the 20-minute win or go home period started. Early rushes pushed both the Huskies and RedHawks fans to the edge of their seats, but it was Grant Hutton who elicited cheers from his bench. Hutton wristed a shot past Hrenak 7:10 into the extra frame. Assisting on the goal, Belpedio and freshman forward Phil Knies jumped on Hutton to celebrate Hutton’s second goal of the night. The 3-2 victory was Miami’s first Saturday night regulation win since Nov. 18, as the ’Hawks were a pitiful 2-10-5 on night twos before the weekend. Larkin made 30 saves to earn the victory.
Sunday night looked much like Saturday’s, though the win or go home game sent the RedHawks home. Playing in the third game in as many days and against the No. 1 team in the country, Miami hockey battled in a way they hadn’t before. Larkin withstood early pressure from the Huskies, and his team went flying the other way to generate more scoring chances. It was Hutton, again, who found the back of the net. He ripped a shot to beat Hrenak top-shelf with 10:29 left in the first. The teams traded power plays, but this time Miami took advantage of the man-advantage. Hrenak was burned for his poor rebound control and freshman forward Casey Gilling collected a loose puck to slip past the St. Cloud goaltender with 3:38 left in the period. Larkin and his team withstood a late Huskies push and carried the 2-0 lead into the first intermission. SCSU’s Schuldt wasted no time at the start of the second and scored on an early power play only 1:26 into the middle period. But, Miami responded immediately on the next shift and sophomore forward Karch Bachman put his speed to good use. Bachman skated to the net and wrapped around left to right to tuck the puck past Hrenak. His 10th goal of the season came only five seconds after St. Cloud’s goal at 1:31. The Huskies would outshoot the RedHawks 13-5 in the second period, but Larkin made timely saves and his team blocked plenty more shots to keep it 3-1. The period calmed down after the initial frenzy until Eyssimont shot through traffic to make it 3-2 at 18:13 and into the second intermission. St. Cloud carried confidence from its second goal into the third period. The RedHawks weathered the storm until 5:52 left in the game, when the Huskies tied the game. The ’Hawks visibly deflated when senior forward Judd Peterson’s redirection beat Larkin. Though undoubtedly tired, the RedHawks almost won the game in its waning minutes -- throwing puck after puck at Hrenak, he would make the saves and send his team to overtime. The sudden-death overtime period started similarly to the previous night’s period. Rushes up and down the ice showed no early favorite and both teams played for the pride of victory and another weekend of NCHC hockey. The No. 1 Huskies would not be outdone, however, and Eyssimont caught the RedHawks on an outnumbered rush to send his team to the Frozen Faceoff. His goal 8:14 into the overtime period ended Miami’s season. Larkin sat unbelieving in his crease for several seconds after making 38 saves on the 42 shots he faced. Notably, the only other time the RedHawks took on the Huskies this year was in February and resulted in 5-2 and 4-0 losses. St. Cloud was projected to finish second in the NCHC and surpassed those expectations, though Miami handed the Huskies their first loss since Jan. 26 on Saturday. The ’Hawks graduate only three seniors in Belpedio, forward Conor Lemirande and defenseman Scott Dornbrock. Next season’s schedule will be announced in April.
Following a breakthrough 2016 season in which the Miami RedHawks football program won six straight games to reach bowl eligibility, many expected the 2017 campaign to bring a Mid-American Conference Championship to Oxford. However, following an underwhelming 5-7 season full of missed opportunities and disappointing losses, the Red and White failed to take the next step many were hoping to see. Despite the frustration many RedHawk fans felt after 2017, Miami announced head coach Chuck Martin’s contract has been extended through January of 2020, referencing the steady progress the program has made since Martin took over following a winless 2013 season. “Chuck continues to reinvigorate the Miami football program,” Athletic Director David Sayler said in a press release. “Resurrecting a program that was on a 16-game losing streak to winning a MAC East Championship three years later shows that Miami football can compete with the top of the Mid-American Conference for years to come.” Since Martin’s inaugural season in 2014, the RedHawks have slowly worked their way back to relevance in the MAC, increasing their win total each of Martin’s first three years. In an era when other programs often demand instant on-field results, Miami has shown patience to let Martin and his staff transform the culture of the team. “We’ve gone from where we couldn’t beat anybody in this league to where we can legitimately say we’re a conference championship contender,” Martin said. “They [athletic department] can see that we’re well-positioned for the long-haul.” As the former Notre Dame assistant has developed his brand of Miami football, players have bought into the vision Martin and the school as a whole have for where this program can be and where it is heading. “When Coach Martin came here four years ago, it was a train wreck,” Redshirt junior quarterback Gus Ragland said. “We feel like our work still isn’t done, so to have Coach Martin renewed, it gives the team a lot of confidence.” Players such as Ragland have been a reflection of the on-field progress the RedHawks have made in Martin’s four years — the Cincinnati native gunslinger has been a staple of Miami’s offense, winning all six of his starts in the 2016 season while throwing for 1,537 yards and 17 touchdowns. Among Ragland’s favorite targets is talented Redshirt junior receiver James Gardner, who hauled in 47 passes for 927 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, enough to be on the watch-list for the nation’s top pass-catcher. To go along with performance improvements, Martin believes the way in which his program is run is just as responsible for his extension. Rather than trying to attract transfer players to instantly bring wins, Martin believes he has built Miami football the right way -- accumulating high-quality players through competitive recruiting within the conference and developing them once they are enrolled. “There’s a certain way at Miami with everything we do,” Martin said. “We’re trying to do things at a really high level and we’re trying to do it the right way. Miami’s not about cutting corners for success.” Martin has been around the college football world for his entire career which got its start as a graduate assistant at Mankato State in 1992. After bouncing around lower-level programs during the rest of the 1990s, the current RedHawk head man started as a defensive assistant at Grand Valley State in 2000 where he eventually became head coach in 2004. In 2010, Martin joined Brian Kelly’s staff at Notre Dame until becoming Miami’s head coach. Rather than looking for the next stop in his coaching career, Martin instead sees a bright future for the ‘Hawks decades into the future. Currently, promising young players such as freshman running back Jaylon Bester and wide receiver Dom Robinson are found up and down the roster along with established veterans including senior linebackers Brad Koenig and Junior McMullen. “We’ve positioned our program to be good for 30 years,” Martin said. “I think we’ll fight for conference championships for the next 30 years.” Despite the positive outlook, the Red and White face an uphill battle in 2018, as Miami’s regular season includes tilts against Minnesota, Cincinnati, Marshall, and Army to go along with challenging MAC opponents. With this in mind, Martin and the rest of the team are taking no time to celebrate the progress already made, instead looking ahead to the work still to be done. “We’ve come a long way in four years,” Martin said. “Are we where we want to be yet? Heck no. We’re maybe three quarters up the mountain. We still got a good chunk to go.”
Sports
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SIMANSEC@MIAMIOH.EDU
TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2018
FRESHMAN GUARD JALEN ADAWAY (CENTER) AGONIZES OVER A LATE FOUL CALL IN MIAMI BASKETBALL’S QUARTER-FINAL GAME AGAINST TOLEDO AT QUICKEN LOANS ARENA. CONTRIBUTED BY JACK SRAIL
MAC TOURNAMENT LOSES CAN’T OVERSHADOW BASKETBALL PROGRAMS’ PROGRESS BASKETBALL
EMILY SIMANSKIS SPORTS EDITOR
The excitement was tangible at the Quicken Loans Arena this weekend. Miami’s fans, though outnumbered, were louder. Miami men’s and women’s basketball, though statistically inferior to their opponents, were desperate and energized. There was little room for error and nerves. Before the men’s basketball team lost in the quarter-finals and the women’s team lost in the semi-finals, there was little talk of nervousness or uncertainty heading into the post-season and the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
For the first time in several years, the RedHawks’ basketball teams deserved to be there -- they had earned their spots in the final MAC standings and their
It has been years since Miami basketball has been as successful as they were this season. wins were the culmination of the seasons’ hard work. This year’s surprising success of a men’s program that slogged through its season last year justified the slumped shoulders of the team after the final buzzer signaled a 71-69 loss to the Toledo Rockets.
Women’s basketball’s win after win and comeback after comeback following a pitiful last season justified the tears in the team’s eyes after three missed last-second opportunities to tie the semi-final game. The RedHawks lost 61-58 to the Central Michigan Chippewas. The final horns ended the team’s seasons but, if this season is any indication, it is only the beginning of a new era for Miami basketball. It has been years -- six and seven, to be exact -- since either basketball team was as successful as they were this season. After exceeding pre-season expectations, Miami’s basketball programs only let themselves down in the MAC tournament. “I think it’s a step in the right
Women’s basketball loses 61-58 to No. 1 CMU
direction,” men’s basketball head coach Jack Owens said at a postgame press conference on Thursday. “But, like I said, my standards for this program and where I want to be, it’s nowhere near what we did this year.” Men’s basketball welcomed Jack Owens and an entirely new coaching staff at the conclusion of last season. Owens then welcomed six freshmen at the start of the year, and consistently started three of them. “I go back and watch film and there’s a lot of times, it’s a product of being young with the breakdowns that we had,” Owens said. “But the one thing that my team has, that’s a fight. They’re going to compete, they’re going to lay it on the line.”
MEN’S BASKETBALL
BEN PANZECA
EMILY SIMANSKIS
CLEVELAND -- When Miami took the court against top-ranked Central Michigan University on Friday morning, they did so with nothing to lose. Under the bright lights of the Quicken Loans Arena, the ‘Hawks suited up for the program’s first semi-final game of the Mid-American Conference Tournament in 10 years. Despite mounting a furious comeback against the Chippewas, the RedHawks fell short in the game’s final minutes and lost 61-58. “Really proud of our team,” head coach Megan Duffy said. “I think we gave Central everything we had.” Boasting a 26-4 record with only one conference loss, senior forward and MAC Player of the Year Tinara Moore and a blowout victory against the ‘Hawks from December in hand, Central Michigan was the clear favorite. The game started in a frenzy, with Mi-
CLEVELAND -- Miami men’s basketball battled to a 71-69 loss to the Toledo Rockets in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference tournament on Thursday evening. Playing the No. 2 seeded Rockets, the No. 7 seeded RedHawks matched the potent Toledo offense in the first-half, but fell behind by 12 in the second half and couldn’t complete the comeback. “First of all, I just thought our guys competed,” head coach Jack Owens said at his post-game press conference. “It was one of those deals where you wish you had more time.” Miami beat Ohio University on Monday evening in the first-round of the MAC tournament, thanks to a decisive second-half. The RedHawks’ finishing touch was lost on Thursday at the Quicken Loans Arena, as Miami finished its season 16-17 overall with an 8-10 MAC record. Toledo (22-10) advanced to play in the
THE MIAMI STUDENT
SPORTS EDITOR
SOPHOMORE GUARD LAUREN DICKERSON (LEFT) DEKES AROUND A CMU PLAYER ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON. CONTRIBUTED BY JACK SRAIL
ami’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Lauren Dickerson looking to get her shot going early -- she started 1-of-4. Characteristic to CMU, the Chippewas roared out to an early lead. By the end of the first quarter the Red and White found themselves in a 21-10 hole. Dickerson finished the quarter 1-for-9 from the field, the rest of the team 2-of-6. “I thought we were very passive on offense, we weren’t executing much,” Duffy
HOCKEY LOSES OT HEARTBREAKER TO HUSKIES
BASEBALL EXTENDS WINNING STREAK TO NINE
Miami hockey’s season ends after forcing overtime on Sunday against No. 1 St. Cloud State. Read on page 15.
After sweeping NKU, the Baseball RedHawks are off to their best start since 1983. Read on miamistudent.net.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
Men’s basketball falls 71-68 to No. 2 Toledo
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
Last year, Miami men’s basketball went 11-21 and 4-14 in conference play. This year, the RedHawks finished 16-17 overall and 8-10 in MAC play. The last time the program finished with a conference record with eight wins was three years ago, and the last time men’s basketball had more than 16 wins in a season was seven years ago. In the MAC pre-season poll, the RedHawks were picked to finish dead last in the East division. They finished third in the East and seventh in the MAC. There is intangible excitement behind those numbers, and fans can feel the excitement too. Average attendance at men’s basketball
semi-finals on Friday night. They would beat Eastern Michigan, but lost in the championship game to Buffalo. Against Miami, the Rockets got on the board first with a layup from junior guard Jaelen Sanford, but the ’Hawks battled to tie the game and go up 5-4 into the first media timeout. The first half was fast and furious, and the score read 19-15 in favor of the RedHawks with 10 minutes gone. It was a three-man show as freshman guard Nike Sibande and junior guard Darrian Ringo combined for 15 points of Miami’s 19, and Toledo’s Sanford had nine of his team’s 15 points. The pace slowed and the Rockets went on an 11-5 run to take the lead 26-24 with 5:29 left in the first half. Miami answered Toledo’s baskets with their own, though both teams fell out of rhythm for the last two minutes of the half. The Rockets and the RedHawks missed a handful of free throws and easy layups, and the 30-29 Toledo lead would stand. In the fast-paced first half, neither team CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
CHUCK MARTIN’S CONTRACT EXTENDED THROUGH 2020 Football head coach signed for two more years. Read on page 15. ANGELO GELFUSO FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT
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