ESTABLISH 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018
Volume 147 No. 7
87 IMPOUNDED SCOOTERS FREED BY BIRD, LIME COLLIN M. FINN
THE MIAMI STUDENT
SARA CARRUTHERS (LEFT) AND SUSAN VAUGHN (RIGHT) BOTH ATTENDED MIAMI AND ARE NOW RUNNING AGAINST EACH OTHER FOR AN OHIO STATE REPRESENTATIVE SEAT. CAMPAIGN PRESS PHOTOS
A tale of two Miamians Former students and sorority sisters vie for state representative seat COLLIN M. FINN
THE MIAMI STUDENT
Sara Carruthers (R) and Susan Vaughn (D) are both running for 51st district state representative, but that’s not all they have in common. Carruthers and Vaughn are both former Miami students and both are members of Delta Zeta sorority. Carruthers attended classes with the class of 1986, and Vaughn graduated in 1982. While the two did not attend Miami together, they know each other from community involvement, particularly in theatre.
The two candidates are running to represent Hamilton, Fairfield and Ross Township in the Ohio House of Representatives. Despite their similarities, Carruthers and Vaughn have very different political views. Vaughn, a self-described “moderate Democrat,” is also a former employee of Miami University. She served as director of the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution (OESCR), now known as the Office of Community Standards, from 1996 to 2018. Vaughn says she entered the race because she saw a need for collaboration between opposing sides, something she says
The Miami University Police Department (MUPD) overcharged Bird last week when the e-scooter company paid to get their impounded scooters out of storage. A $35 charge was applied to the first 22 scooters, but university policy states that an initial storage fee of $25 should be applied. MUPD will assign the cumulative overpayment from the previous fees to what is owed on currently impounded scooters, according to Claire Wagner, the director of university news and communications. The policy was announced in a mymiami post on Monday, Oct. 15. In addition to the $25 initial charge, a $5 charge will now be applied for each day a scooter is in storage. This change goes into effect on Nov. 1. According to MUPD, there are 87 scooters currently impounded. This number breaks down to 70 Bird scooters and 17 Lime scooters. Students must park the scooters in the bike racks on campus, otherwise the scooters will continue to be impounded for improper parking violations. finncm@miamioh.edu
she experienced while at Miami. “It’s not about anti-republican or anti-anyone,” Vaughn said. “It’s a clean, fair race where people get to know the candidates.” Vaughn’s platform has campaigned heavily on the issue of tax dollars that have been sent to Ohio’s rainy day fund, claiming that Hamilton alone lost $10.5 million to the fund. Her literature, website and billboards all use the phrase “bring our money home.” “Since 2010, Kasich has been keeping tax money that, legally, should be coming back
A BIRD RIDER UPTOWN. PHOTO EDITOR JUGAL JAIN
CONTINUED PAGE 3
ARENA
The Mother of Comedy KATE RIGAZIO
CULTURE EDITOR
IO CHICAGO THEATER IS LOCATED ON NORTH KINGSBURY STREET. KATE RIGAZIO CULTURE EDITOR
This Issue
As cast of the Deltones left the stage, the lights came up on iO’s Jason Chin Cabaret theater. Audience members finished their drinks, dropped a few dollars in tips on the tables and navigated their way through the cramped aisles toward the exit. No one seemed to notice the woman who slipped in through a side door part way through the show. She was dressed in a teal jacket and black pants, her light blonde hair tinted navy by the stage lights. She had a hand tightly wrapped around the leash of her little black and white dog who stood calmly by her seat. She sat quietly observing the shuffle around her. “Is that Charna Halpern by the back door?” My friend looked over my shoulder, a smile spreading across her face. “Yeah, that’s her,” she said. “That’s so cool.” Charna Halpern is the founder and Artistic Director of Chicago’s ImprovOlym-
A department’s tragic decline
Echoes of Miami
The classics department’s decreasing enrollment means potential closure.
Travel through Miami’s haunted history with the theatre department.
page 5
page 8
Day off for voting
‘Munny’ and ‘Hatts’
All students, staff and faculty should be able to cast ballots on Nov. 8. page 12
How two medicallyunable-to-play ‘Hawks stayed on the ice. page 10
pic Theater, now known as iO, which has trained the likes of Chris Farley, Tina Fey and Cecily Strong. Along with Del Close, Charna developed an art form known as long form improvisation. Her book “Truth in Comedy,” which she co-wrote with Del Close and Kim “Howard” Johnson, is considered by many to be the bible of comedy. In many ways, she is the mother of modern comedy. Seeing her in the back of the theater felt like staring at “The Sunflowers” in the Louvre only to turn around and notice Van Gogh himself watching people walk through his exhibit. I didn’t go up to her. She was hiding in plain sight, and I didn’t want to be the one to blow her cover. But as I made my way out of the theater, everything I wanted to say to her ricocheted around in my head. I wanted to thank her for creating a space where comedy was celebrated and could flourish. For taking a chance on an art form that would trickle down to college teams like my own, giving me happiness and inspiration in ways that I had not CONTINUED PAGE 3
Style
photos, stories page 6