ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Volume 147 No. 10
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2018
CHAMPIONS: FIELD HOCKEY WINS SECOND STRAIGHT MAC TITLE JJ HARTWELL THE MIAMI STUDENT Miami University field hockey won its second straight Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship Saturday when it beat Kent State 5-3. The RedHawks completed their perfect 8-0 season against MAC opponents. Miami played its way to the NCAA tournament in front of its biggest crowd of the year. “Before the game, [coach] Iñako [Puzo] came into the locker room and told us we need to play like champions and have the grit of a champion today,” senior back/midfielder Avery Sturm said. The ‘Hawks played with that grit, scoring the first two goals of the game against the Golden Flashes (8-12, 5-1 MAC) and responding to Kent State’s late pushback. Senior midfielder/forward Paula Portugal scored first in the 13th minute off a deflection from the goalkeeper. The second goal came in the 20th minute when junior forward Kenzie Peterson scored off a rebound. Kent State responded two minutes before halftime to make it 2-1 through 35 minutes of play. Miami outshot the Golden Flashes 12-2 and dominated possession and led 2-1 where it counted. Kent State picked up the pace after the break, but the RedHawks responded. The teams combined to score three goals in the opening eight minutes of the second half. Only four minutes in, sophomore midfielder Leonor Berlie gave the ’Hawks breathing room with a rocket of a shot into the top left corner of the net. The Golden Flashes quickly fired back, scoring two minutes later and keeping the game within one at 3-2. Junior midfielder Lexi Silver was able to give Miami a two-goal lead in the 43rd minute on a rebound shot to the upper right corner. For the rest of the game, the RedHawks didn’t allow the Golden Flashes any closer on the scoreboard. With 20 minutes left to play, sophomore midfielder/forward Noor Breedijk put the game out of reach off an unassisted goal, making it 5-2 — though, with three minutes remaining in the game, Kent State snuck in one more goal to make the final score 5-3. Miami’s Avery Sturm, senior back Kendall Hunker, senior midfielder Estel Roig and Breedijk were named to the MAC All-Tournament team. Sturm was then named MAC Tournament MVP. “It was a great final, but mentally it was very tough for us to play with the pressure of winning the tournament,” Miami field hockey coach Iñako Puzo said. Judging by the post-game celebrations laced with cheers, smiles and photos with the MAC Tournament trophy, Puzo and his team are happy with their second straight MAC championship. But the RedHawks are already looking forward to the NCAA tournament. Miami outplayed Kent State, but only winning by two goals has Puzo concerned about his team playing on the big stage. “The team has great momentum, and we have to keep building that momentum,” Puzo said. Miami looks to continue building against No. 24 Boston University in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. Miami played the Terriers earlier this season and lost 2-1. In a win-or-go-home scenario, the RedHawks look for revenge tomorrow in Boston at noon. hartwejm@miamioh.edu
SCAN TO WATCH MIAMI WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP
This Issue
Sports pages 8 & 9
MARIA RICADIO HAS FOUND HEALING IN FUNDING FREE SELF-DEFENSE CLASSES THROUGH HER COMPANY. CONTRIBUTED BY KICKBACK BATH CO.
Kick back, fight back CÉILÍ DOYLE
NEWS EDITOR While sitting in the AMC Dine-In movie theater in the Anderson neighborhood of Cincinnati early last December, Maria Ricadio struggled to put aside the thoughts eating inside her brain. Two months earlier, Ricadio was raped by a former Miami University student, who has since been imprisoned. She had gone to the movies to take her mind off the stress of school, whether or not she would take a medical leave of absence and if the recurring panic attacks (recently confirmed by her PTSD diagnosis) would ever subside. “I was really struggling with my PTSD and having panic attacks a lot, just generally not feeling safe, feeling like everyone was trying to hurt me,” Ricadio said. “I was talking to my therapist about this, and she suggested that I try taking a self-defense class or some sort of martial arts in order to feel a little bit more em-
Former Miami student finds healing in helping others powered.” This was on Ricadio’s mind as she sat in the theater and started to watch “The Greatest Showman.” “This sounds so cheesy but...the movie’s about how he has this dream about starting a circus and he follows that. And I was like, ‘Wow, that’s really cool. I wonder if I should be doing something that I’m really passionate about.’” It was during that moment in the movie theater that the idea for her company was born. Ricadio thought back to her therapist’s suggestion to seek out self-defense classes in order to feel more secure. “Wouldn’t it be cool if I could raise money to fund free self-defense
classes for women?” she thought. “I came up with the idea for bath products [which] would be perfect, because then I could call it Kickback, because it’s like, ‘kick back and relax,’ but also ‘fight back, stand up for yourself,’” she said. While Ricadio ended up taking a leave of absence from Miami, she was committed to following through with the Kick Back Bath Company. After securing a loan from her parents to jumpstart the company, Ricadio spent the rest CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
CULTURE
Words Matter:
The Reality of Muslim-Americans MADDIE MITCHELL MAIA ANDERSON THE MIAMI STUDENT
Roula Allouch sat behind a glass wall watching a focus group discuss their feelings on Muslim-Americans. She remembers the vicious words and proclamations of hate toward people of her faith. But when the group was made to watch a video on a Muslim speaker condemning violent actions often associated with Islam in the media, their words changed. “Well, if I saw things like that, I’d think differently,” Allouch remembers hearing one of the participants say. Allouch is the chair of the national board of directors for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). CAIR is a civil rights
and advocacy group that focuses on the ways the Muslim community is portrayed in American media. Allouch came to Miami on Monday, Nov. 22 to talk to two classes, Journalism 318 and Sociology 303, about her work with CAIR and the issues Muslim-Americans currently face. Allouch said that anti-Muslim hate has increased in the last decade, and millions of Muslims living in America are afraid to express their faith for fear of falling victim to a hate crime. “I know people who won’t go to the mosque anymore because they feel unsafe, or don’t cover their hair anymore because they don’t want to be ‘outwardly Muslim,’” said Allouch. These assimilation techniques can be seen right here at Miami. Zafer Ozdemir, profes-
sor of information systems and analytics and faculty advisor for Miami’s Muslim Student Association, said that one of his female students covered her hair when she first got to Miami, but now he notices that she no longer practices that tradition. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
ALLOUCH SPOKE OF HOW MUSLIMS FEAR TO PRACTICE THEIR FAITH DUE TO A RISE OF ANTI-MUSLIM HATE. CONTRIBUTED BY MARK CURMUTTE
Miami Tribe receives natl. honor
Counting my pennies
Stage Left bares its talent
Harvard bestowed the Honoring Nations Award for language revitalization.
Our culture editor reflects on the intersection of humor and identity.
Stage Left prepares for its upcoming show, “Bare: A Pop Opera.”
News» page 4
Opinion » page 5
Culture » page 6