February 21, 2017 | The Miami Student

ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017

Volume 145 №30

Miami University — Oxford, Ohio

MU first-year who died had prior arrest Past violation highlights flaws with university alcohol policy ALCOHOL

JAMES STEINBAUER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

RYAN TERHUNE PHOTO EDITOR

David Pepper, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, visited Oxford last Tuesday to reflect on the 2016 election and discuss the future of local polirics. See story online at miamistudent.net

At MU, a third assault in two weeks

Admissions sees record applicant pool for class of 2021

SEXUAL ASSAULT

ADMISSIONS

EMILY WILLIAMS

SAMANTHA BRUN

In the past two weeks, three female Miami University students reported that they were sexually assaulted.

One student reported to MUPD that she had been sexually assaulted by a male student whom she knew in the early morning hours on Sunday, Feb. 5 in her room in McBride Hall.

Early on Friday, Feb. 10, a female student reported to the Oxford Police that she had woken up in a bed in

As of Feb. 15, the Miami University Office of Admissions has received 30,068 applications for the class of 2021, breaking the 30,000 mark for the first time in the university’s history.

Not only is the applicant pool of record size, it’s also the strongest academic pool the university has ever seen with an average ACT score of 27.7 and an average GPA of 3.73.

Applications from domestic students of color rose 5.5 percent, while applications from international students decreased 6.8 percent.

MANAGING EDITOR

SEXUAL ASSAULT » PAGE 6

MANAGING EDITOR

After shots fired outside Cellar, bar implements students-only policy

Susan Schaurer, Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management and Director of Admission at Miami University, attributes the size, credentials and diversity of the applicant pool to the strategic recruiting methods the Office of Admission has employed for the past 5 years.

“We have been communicating more with students,” Schaurer said. “We have used the ACT, SAT, and PSAT to reach out to more students as part of our robust communication plan… We also have enhanced our visits across the nation and globe.”

Last year, Schaurer said, they completed 1,676 high school visits combined, na-

RYAN TERHUNE PHOTO EDITOR

CRIME

JACK EVANS

THE MIAMI STUDENT

One Miami University student was injured when several gunshots were fired from a moving vehicle after an altercation spilled out of Cellar Bar into the early morning air on Saturday, Feb. 11.

Ashley Smith, a senior zoology and IMS major, suffered a shrapnel wound

on her finger, resulting in a fracture and minor surgery.

She was out with five of her friends when a fight broke out in the bar. Cellar’s staff evacuated the establishment, forcing patrons up the main staircase and out to high street, said Smith.

A woman involved in the altercation crossed the street with at least three men, climbed into an SUV and SHOOTING » PAGE 8

ADMISSIONS » PAGE 3

Oxford names Differdange, Luxembourg as Sister City INTERNATIONAL

DEANNA KROKOS

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The OPD reponded to an earlier altercation outside Cellar Bar at 12:45pm, pictured here, but left by the time of the shooting.

tionally and internationally, as compared to 976 visits in 2012.

Schaurer, noting the decrease in international applications, explained the admissions office had not reduced their recruiting efforts abroad, but it seemed students simply weren’t as interested in studying in America as they have been in past years.

“I’ve spoken with admissions colleagues across the country, and many of them have described outcomes with their international application recruitment for the coming year varying anywhere from up 6 percent or

At a meeting of the Oxford City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 7, the council announced that Differdange, Luxembourg is being named Oxford’s “Sister City,” an agreement meant to signify the bond the cities share and improve cultural understanding between the two communities.

This announcement was formalized Monday, March 20 at a public signing at Oxford’s Lane Library. The signing followed a weekend visit from two delegates representing Differdange, both public officials in their home city.

Tom Ulveling, a councilman in Differdange, and Henri Krecki, secretary of Differdange, pent the weekend attending various meetings around Oxford and at Miami University.

Differdange, the third largest city in Luxembourg, is no stranger to this sort

of relationship. The town is home to the Miami University Dolibois European Center, well-known to many Miami students and faculty who have spent summers, winters, semesters and yearlong stints on the Luxembourg campus.

The center has hosted the well-attended study abroad program since the 1960s, boasting hundreds of graduates. It is also home to the Summer Humanities Institute and is a stop on FSB’s summer abroad tour.

The concept of “Sister Cities” was first initiated by President Eisenhower after World War II and was designed to promote these kinds of bonds between culturally different areas, and, by doing so, to initiate “citizen-to-citizen” diplomacy.

Karla Guinigundo, director of global partnerships in Miami’s Global Initiatives program, thinks this partnership will encourage just that.

A little more than two months before she died after a night of heavy drinking, first-year Miami University student Erica Buschick was arrested Uptown for underage alcohol consumption.

Shortly after 1 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2016, Miami University Police officers saw Buschick stumbling and falling near the corner of Campus Avenue and High Street.

According to the police report, the officers stopped their cruiser and approached Buschick. She had bloodshot, glassy eyes and was slurring her words.

When the officers asked her age, Buschick told them that she was 21 years old.

When they asked her birth date, she responded: August 6, 1998. Her Illinois driver’s license confirmed that she was 18 years old.

The officers took Buschick to MUPD for booking and she submitted to a breathalyzer test. Her blood alcohol content was .327 — four times the legal limit in Ohio and what researchers consider “life-threatening.”

“That’s very high,” said Cpt. Ben Spilman, spokesperson for the Miami University Police Department.

“Unfortunately, we see high blood alcohol contents like this more often than we’d like to.”

According to a filing in the Butler County Area 1 court, Buschick was to appear in court at 10 a.m. on Dec. 1,

2016 to face the charges. But a motion of continuance, signed by Buschick, rescheduled the case to Feb. 2, 2017.

Less than two weeks before Buschick was set to appear in court, she was found dead in her Morris Hall dorm room.

The Butler County Coroner has not yet released a toxicology report. However, police records, including an audio recording of the 911 call made by Buschick’s roomate the morning of Jan. 20, show that high-risk alcohol consumption undoubtedly contributed to her death.

Buschick’s death, along with the 21 alcohol-related hospitalizations that coincided with the end of sorority rush over the weekend of Feb. 10, has revamped a conversation on the drinking culture at Miami and prompted President Gregory Crawford to make the issue a priority.

“As a president, I’m disappointed and even angry. As a father, I’m concerned and devastated. As a leader, I’m determined to do something about it,” Crawford told Miami’s Board of Trustees Friday morning. “Everything is on the table. I am reviewing all of our programs and initiatives.”

Buschick’s prior arrest has raised concerns about the effectiveness of Miami’s alcohol policy.

In his statement to the Miami University Police De-

DRINKING » PAGE 2

Humans of Oxford Keara Sonntag: Riding the storm

G.M. AKAND SABIK THE MIAMI STUDENT

COLLEEN GRIMM

THE MIAMI STUDENT

SISTER » PAGE 8

It’s 8 a.m. on a cold Friday morning and first-year Keara Sonntag is already at the equestrian center. She saddles her horse and heads out for an early morning lesson.

Even though she would much rather be sleeping, Keara puts her all into the lesson. She loves riding, and she knows it will help her fight the disability.

Keara has Charcot-Marie Tooth Disease (CMT). It

breaks down the covers of the nerves in the extremities, interfering with the nerve’s ability to transmit signals to and from the brain. In Keara’s case, the CMT causes fatigue and impaired muscle growth and decreases her flexibility.

Keara has to spend a lot of time stretching and attending physical therapy just to keep moving normally. She even has to sleep in night HORSE » PAGE 8

NEWS p. 2

SCIENCE p. 3

CULTURE p. 4

EDITORIAL p. 10

OP-ED p. 11

SPORTS p. 12

AMERICAN DEMOCRACY IS IN CRISIS

THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND REGRET

BLISS (OR, EMILY POST IS DEAD!)

THE GOOD SAMARITAN POLICY

WE CAN BE GREAT AND INCLUSIVE

WOMEN’S BASEBALL CLUB IS FIRST IN U.S.

Staff writer for The New Yorker talked American identity and ‘Hamilton’

Everybody has regrets.

Nobody knows that better than Dr. Amy Summerville.

MU’s Theatre Dept. will host the play’s first ever performance

A vital but flawed component of Miami’s fight against high-risk drinking

America can’t be great without using other cultures as a crutch

The only other women’s club can be found in Alberta, Canada.

2 NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

New Yorker writer George Packer talks humanities, ‘crisis’ in democracy LECTURE

KIRBY DAVIS

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Longtime New Yorker contributor and author George Packer visited Miami last Thursday, Feb. 16, to discuss war reporting and present a lecture on the growing class divide in America as well as the importance of the humanities in education.

For the Humanities Center event “War Stories,” Packer sat down with Miami journalism professor James Tobin, author of the book “Ernie Pyle’s War,” a biography of the famous war correspondent, and spoke about Packer’s coverage of the Iraq War. As Packer admitted, though, he doesn’t consider himself a war correspondent.

“I was a journalist who went to Iraq because it was an enormous part of history,” Packer said.

“When I first went, we didn’t think this was going to be a mass insurgency that lasted years . . . I wanted to know what the Iraqis were going through.”

Packer published his book “The Assassin’s Gate: America in Iraq” in 2005 after spending time in the country getting to know both sides — the deployed Americans as well as locals. He said the latter had the biggest influence on him while writing the book, specifically citing a 28-year-old woman he met who had learned English through watching American films and

dreamt of leaving Baghdad despite opposition from her family. She now lives in Oklahoma.

“In my work, I write about people that I like,” Packer said. “I also don’t write about VIPs very much . . . If I wrote about VIPs more, I would probably dislike my subjects more.”

The American soldiers he met in Iraq intrigued Packer.

“I became very much distressed with America, but very in love with Americans,” he said regarding the time he spent in Iraq.

Packer recalled a moment in which he was stuck on a crowded road in Baghdad. He witnessed an American soldier leap out of his Humvee to help direct traffic, defying the inconsiderate behavior he saw many Americans display while “hurtling” through the streets of Iraq’s capital.

“Those are the moments that we do live for,” Packer said. “They’re unexpected. They can be banal, but something can be revealed.”

He likened the divide the Iraqi War generated in the U.S. to that of the 2016 presidential election, remarking that the former had given him a “premonition” of what would happen to the country.

Later Thursday night, Packer presented a lecture titled “History, Literature, and the American Promise,” touching on the importance of the humanities and American identity and the threat of “fake news” — prompting a sin-

gular but strident protest from a conservative audience member.

Early in his lecture, Packer declared that American democracy is so divided that the United States is in a state of crisis, and that “it comes from within.” Packer’s latest book, “The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America,” delves into the potential reasons why this crisis has gripped the nation and what we can do to fix it — for one, emphasizing the im-

writing the book and what led him to examine the widening class gap in the country.

“For all their personal failings and their social struggles, they had a kind of resilience and resourcefulness that I found amazing,” Packer said. “I don’t want to say it’s peculiarly American, because you can find it elsewhere, but it’s something never to write off, never to count out.”

Packer discussed how the nation

“Figure out how to talk to people who don’t think like you and who don’t come from where you come from.”

GEORGE PACKER STAFF WRITER FOR THE NEW YORKER

portance of humanities in higher education.

“It’s not something I think of as a discipline,” Packer said, referring to the arts. “It’s a way of life.”

Analyzing the causes of the national divide, “The Unwinding” focuses on a wide variety of Americans spread over different social classes and follows their life journeys. Packer cited the workingclass people such as those he met in Youngstown, Ohio and smalltown North Carolina as the most inspirational forces behind his

Students host phone banking event to protest Dakota Access Pipeline

has become divided into groups valuing vastly different things, and how many working-class Americans feel the country’s elites have “betrayed” them and their ideals.

This, in turn, has led to widespread distaste for left-leaning values and liberalism.

When Packer criticized the Trump administration, specifically press secretary Sean Spicer, a Miami sweatshirt-clad alumnus in the audience stood and declared, “Bullshit.”

He pointed out that whether

Crawford speaks to ASG on goals, diversity INTERNATIONAL

SAM IAMMARINO

THE MIAMI STUDENT

RYAN TERHUNE THE MIAMI STUDENT

Sophomores Allison Gay and Madison Cook, assisted a student activist group that encouraged over 200 students to call their representatives in opposition to resumed construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline.

ACTIVISM

ANNA BOLONE

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami students gathered in Armstrong Student Center’s Shade Family Room to protest the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) with a phone banking event on Monday, Feb. 13. After then President Obama blocked the construction of the DAPL and Keystone XL pipeline, President Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 24 to approve the construction of both pipelines.

Students passing by could make phone calls to express their opinion on the DAPL. The phone numbers were provided on a computer by the event organizers. The event was not crowded, and there were a few people trickling in and out throughout the afternoon.

Recently, there has been a noticeable trend in phone banking events, mostly put on by the campus political organizations that are geared towards public outreach.

FROM DRINKING » PAGE 1

partment, Jason Colwell, the cab driver who helped carry Buschick to her room the night of Jan. 19, wrote that Buschick told him not to call anyone for help because she did not want to get in any more trouble.

However, Miami’s Good Samaritan Policy, which was introduced during the 2013-2014 academic year, gives students the

The majority of the events occur in the Shade Family Room because it’s right at the heart of campus, the Armstrong Student Center.

Miami University College Democrats urged students back in December through social media to call Governor John Kasich’s office to protest HB 493, otherwise known as the Heartbeat Bill.

“I think phone banking’s useful because we have access to contact our local representatives and voicing our opinion is really powerful, especially in large numbers,” said junior Sarah Siegel, a coordinator for the event. “It’s really not taking much out of our day.”

There are many reasons why someone would take part in an event like this, but for junior Meryl Haque, another coordinator for the event, it’s all about awareness.

“One of the effects of our current presidency is this feeling of being paralyzed and not being able to do anything,” said Haque. “Having this event helps other students be more aware and active. It’s a con-

crete thing that we can do.”

Siegel said that the effort not only lets participants express their views but also can have a real influence.

“For me, personally, it’s because of outrage at what’s going on and wanting to do something about it,” said Siegel. “It’s a productive way to share.”

This concept of “sharing” is increasing in prevalence. Junior Madison Cook believes Miami’s level of activism has significantly increased.

“If 200 phone calls are made from Oxford today, that’s 200 more phone calls from this town,” said Cook.

Siegel and Haque agreed that the campus has seen an uptick in activism and felt that the phonebanking event was an easy way for students to get involved.

“I think that this event in particular helps to make activism more accessible,” said Siegel. “[This event is] making people aware that people who think this way are on campus,” said Haque.

opportunity to seek medical assistance in alcohol or drug related emergencies without concern for arrest and disciplinary action.

“The research says that people who tend to be heavier drinkers, they are less likely to report or call for help,” said Rose Marie Ward, a professor of Kinesiology and Health who studies the drinking culture at Miami. “But they are also the ones who see the most alcohol poisoning.”

Miami’s code of student conduct says that students can be cited for alcohol violations in two ways: The minimum penalty for the first violation — intoxication, or section 105 A in the code of student conduct — is attendance at a four-hour substance abuse education program and a fee of $200 after the first aoffense. A second offense means suspension from the university.

anyone liked him or not, Trump had won the electoral vote, and accused Packer of not giving the newly instated president a chance.

“This is why there’s a crisis, because he won,” Packer countered.

“If he’d lost, there wouldn’t be a crisis.”

When the heckling audience member continued, accusing him of spreading his liberal agenda to impressionable students, Packer pointed out that he was not a staunch partisan and had criticized both conservative and liberal politicians in the past. He added that he was simply there to express his opinion, and that all the students present were free to think for themselves.

As for what Miami students can do to help reunify the nation, other than continuing to support hit musical “Hamilton” and other works of all-inclusive, boundary-pushing art like it, Packer urged them to step outside their comfort zones.

“Figure out how to talk to people who don’t think like you and who don’t come from where you come from,” Packer said. “Once you’re out of this bubble, go find a bubble that you’re not comfortable in and that challenges you, and that forces you to reconsider your own premises and your own background. It may not change anything fundamentally in you, like your values and the way you think, but it would be a great experiment.”

President Crawford discussed his plans for “advancing Miami, enhancing diversity and building leadership” at ASG’s weekly session on Feb. 14.

The president discussed Miami’s 2020 plan — a formal set of goals the university established in 2012 that the university hopes to achieve by the year 2020, with most targets set five years in advance.

Crawford said that new strides towards campus diversity would lead to academic and inclusive excellence. Specifically, he hopes to increase individual class diversity in the coming year by incentivising scholarships and creating “a more appealing environment for all students.”

During the latter half of the session, diversity was again brought up by Ifeolu Claytor, ASG secretary for diversity affairs, as he presented the university’s new statement on the topic and opened the floor for debate and any possible amendments to the document.

Claytor said that the statement would be made available after it has been approved by the president’s Executive Council and the Board of Trustees.

Crawford spoke briefly on an uncertain campus culture highlighted by recent problems with high-risk

alcohol consumption. From Feb. 9 to 12, 21 Miami students were hospitalized for alcohol consumption.

The president noted that a special student affairs committee was tasked with figuring out “what the university is doing or is not doing to improve this growing problem.”

Aside from President Crawford’s visit, ASG approved i’s newest academic senator, Miata Murphy, who will be representing the College of Education, Health and Society.

Murphy, like President Crawford and Secretary Claytor, presented a platform centered around improving campus-wide diversity.

In preparation for the upcoming student body presidential election, the Senate voted to amend clauses in the Student Body President Packet related to campaign funding, lowering the candidate spending cap from $2000 to $1500 for the primary elections, and striking down redtape that limited campaign tactics such as sign placement and size specificities.

A campus-wide primary election for president will be held on March 14 and 15. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the two candidates with the highest percentage of votes will proceed to a general election that will take place on April 3 and 4. Candidates who make it to the general election will have their funding cap increased by $500.

please recycle this newspaper when finished

For the second violation — prohibited use of alcohol, or section 105 B in the code of student conduct — a student can be suspended from the university after three offenses.

“Every year we have people with a second or third offense, often within a short amount of time,” said Jayne Brownell, Miami’s vice president of Student Affairs. “So this is not changing students’ behavior.”

While it is not clear if Buschick had been charged by the the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution, Ward, who has experience with the OESCR process, said she would at least have been charged with violating section 105 B of the code of student conduct.

“It does make you question: are there other ways to alert students to the risks they are taking?” Ward said. “If an arrest isn’t enough, what else would have been?”

Science

EIC@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

3

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017

PSYCHOLOGY LAB RESEARCHES THE SCIENCE BEHIND REGRET RESEARCH

JAKE GOLD SENIOR STAFF WRITER Everybody has regrets. And nobody knows that better than Dr. Amy Summerville.

Not because she has regrets, but because she studies them.

In the “Regret Lab,” the name given to the research group studying the phenomenon, Miami psychologists — led by Dr. Summerville, a University of Illinois-Champaign Urbana graduate, but also — examine the causes and effects of regret.

More specifically, they study counterfactual thoughts.

“My research is about what’s known as ‘counterfactual thinking,’ which are these thoughts about what might have been, and about regret, which is the emotion based on counterfactual thoughts,” Summerville said.

The effects of properly understanding counterfactual thinking are far-reaching. When people generate counterfactuals, they are better at making ‘future intentions.’

Put simply, they are less likely to

make the same mistake.

For instance, if a student who fails an exam thinks counterfactually (“if I had studied, I would’ve gotten a better score”) they are more likely to study in the future. They’re

using counterfactual thinking could help students in pre-engineering classes to achieve higher scores on exams.

“We are hoping that by helping students think about how they

“Because regret is based on these counterfactuals, it ends up being this really useful emotion.”

DR. AMY SUMMERVILLE ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY

also more likely to do other productive tasks relating to their academic performance — e.g., do more homework, visit office hours or other things that will prevent them from failing another test.

“Because regret is based on these counterfactuals, it ends up being this really useful emotion, as well as obviously being unpleasant as a negative emotion.”

The Regret Lab is currently working on a grant from the National Science Foundation studying how

might have done something differently on the first exam, they’ll be able to improve course performance and be more likely to successfully complete these courses,” Summerville said.

Summerville’s research is widely acknowledged, too. In the Wikipedia entry for counterfactual thinking, the section for “current research” cites two major recent publications. She co-authored one of them. Her papers have also been cited over 300 times, according to

the Thomson Reuters Web of Science, which is used as an indicator of how impactful a researcher’s work is in the scientific community.

Another facet to studying regret is the surface causes — what things do people regret? Two of Summerville’s colleagues, Neal Roese from the Kellogg School of Management and Mike Morrison from the University of Illinois, conducted a largescale telephone survey to find out.

The answer: romance.

In 2011, the researchers determined about 18 percent of Americans most regretted a romantic decision. Following that were family, education and career choices.

In 2012, they went further, delving into the implications of vocational and social regrets.

Social relationships, including romantic failures, broken friendships and lost time with family are together the “most pivotal component of life regrets,” Roese, Morrison and Kai Epstude at the University of Groningen write.

“I find the ways that people learn from their mistakes to be really interesting. We all have negative experiences in life,” Summerville said.

‘Seven Brief Lessons’ reignites love for science BOOK REVIEW

DEVON SCHUMAN CULTURE EDITOR As a culture, we have a tendency to separate science and language. We celebrate the value of a liberal arts education, and yet we funnel students into distinct math/science courses and English/arts courses, rarely bothering to combine the two disciplines. As a result, each individual tends to consider himself either a “numbers” person or a “words” person.

I’m not immune to this phenomenon. In high school, I enjoyed all of my classes equally, but when I came to college and declared a creative writing major, I suddenly saw myself as only an English guy. Literature courses and writing workshops dominated my schedule, and I forgot how much chemistry and physics used to excite me.

Which is partly why I was so exhilarated by “Seven Brief Lessons on Physics,” a book of essays on physics by Carlo Rovelli.

An Italian theoretical physicist who was one of the founders of the loop quantum gravity theory, Rovelli is ostensibly a “numbers” guy, someone who has no business excelling as a writer.

But I’ll be damned if Rovelli’s prose hasn’t reignited my love for science.

The book consists of seven essays, each of which describes a scientific theory, such as general relativity or quantum mechanics. But don’t be turned away by the fancy terminology; Rovelli writes in a way that makes these advanced theories accessible to anyone.

I don’t mean to say this is some sort of beginner-level textbook written in laymen’s terms. Rovelli’s writing isn’t in plain English; it’s in gorgeous English. Rovelli is awestruck by these theories, the ways in which they allow us to view the world and the doors they open into the cosmos. He describes Einstein’s general theory of relativity as a masterpiece, akin to that of Mozart or Homer.

He wants all of humanity to join him in his admiration, to enjoy the beauty that these theories offer.

Just look at the way in which he conveys the implications of quantum mechanics, which, among other things, suggests that the universe is made up entirely of minute, swarming par-

ticles: “The world is a continuous, restless swarming of things, a continuous coming to light and disappearance of ephemeral entities. A set of vibrations, as in the switched-on hippie world of the 1960s. A world of happenings, not of things.”

The book is brief, comprising only 96 pages, and yet those pages are all dripping with curiosity and wonder.

The rigors of a college course load can be demoralizing. Students drowning in papers and assignments might have a tendency to forget what brought them to school in the first place. Rovelli’s essays read like refreshing bursts

“The world is a continuous, restless swarming of things...”

CARLO ROVELLI

“SEVEN BRIEF LESSONS ON PHYSICS”

RYAN TERHUNE PHOTO EDITOR

Experiments in Hughes Laboratories resumed Monday after a new 8,000 pound dilution fan was hoisted to the roof, restorng the facility’s ventilation system. of scholastic clarity, invoking fascination for what we know and what we have yet to understand.

His pure and genuine awe acts as a reminder of humanity’s love for the pursuit of knowledge.

It is this universal pursuit that Rovelli seems to be most passionate about. He often embarks on tangents about the discoveries of these theories, describing the debates between Einstein and Neils Bohr regarding quantum mechanics, and noting the pattern of physicists to use the phrase, “I think” in their articles (“Genius hesitates,” he notes).

He understands that while he offers the basics of these theories, not everyone will be able to fully grasp their complexity after reading a book the size of a video game manual. His main aim, rather, is to remind us of the importance of learning and discovery “Ever since we discovered that Earth is round and turns like a mad spinning-top, we have understood that reality is not as it appears to us,” he writes. “Every time we glimpse a new aspect of it, it is a deeply emotional experience. Another veil has fallen.”

And all of his readers, whether “words” people or “numbers” people, will undoubtedly be left eagerly waiting for another major discovery, another fallen veil.

FROM ADMISSIONS » PAGE 1

down 25 percent,” Schaurer said. “I think, more than anything, those numbers are indicative of the turbulent landscape nationally and internationally.”

However, domestic diversity in applications increased this year, due in large part to the outreach done by the admissions office through the Bridges Program.

“The increase is due to our diligent work both in-state and outof-state to connect with students of color,” Schaurer said. “This is our tenth year with the Bridges Program, and it has grown from our first year with 44 participants to 617 students this year.”

The Bridges Program is a twoweek summer program intended for “high-achieving high school seniors from historically underrepresented populations or who have a commitment to promoting a deeper understanding of and appreciation for diversity,” according to the program’s website. The program also incorporates events throughout the academic year.

Forty-five percent of domestic

students of color from the Fall 2016 cohort went through the Bridges Program.

While the applications to Miami overall increased, Schaurer expects the acceptance rate of about 65 to 66 percent to remain the same with only a marginal potential increase.

“Because so many of these students are academically accomplished and diverse, it will be more difficult for us to meet our enrollment goal because these students have many other options,” Schaurer said. “In order to compete, we continue to push outcomes, and the academic quality of Miami. We want these students to see us as a top tier public university.”

The enrollment goal for the class of 2021 is 3,700, which is slightly smaller than the class of 2020 at 3,798.

“Over the long term, we are most likely going to continue to aim for around 3,700, give or take marginally,” Schaurer said.

“We do not expect to expand our capacity dramatically, as far as I am aware.”

Miami will welcome the finalized class of 2021 by May 1.

new website! miamistudent.net

What to talk about when we talk about climate change

A.J. NEWBERRY THE MIAMI STUDENT

OPINION

KYLE HAYDEN COLUMNIST Being a reasonable person is becoming a radical position. Having a conscience is becoming an activity for insurrectionists. If you agree with any of the following, look out, you might be put on some kind of watch list of people who trust scientific consensus.

We now live in a geologic era known as the Anthropocene: “The age of humans.” Coming from geologists, this is not congratulations for a job well done.

The International Union of Geological Sciences has confirmed: human industrial activity has altered; even at nearly undetectable levels the geology of the planet.

Among the other detritus (steel, sports stadia, asphalt) of industrial civilization — now a global force — activity associated with industrial civilization (like deforestation or the burning of fossil fuels) has altered many other functions of the planet’s ecosystems. Additionally and perhaps importantly moving forward, a changing atmospheric chemistry causing irreversible consequences through the activation of “feedback loops.”

In 2016, another atmospheric carbon milestone was produced.

This time, a permanent threshold was passed. The NASA observatory at Mauna Loa, Hawaii recorded a yearly low concentration of atmospheric carbon above 400 parts per million. You and I will never see an atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere below 400ppm again in our lifetime.

A decade ago, climate scientists agreed that 350 parts per million was the “safe” level of atmospheric carbon that will not affect drastically the earth system — the complex net of relations (ecology) of large ecosystems that sustain life.

Now with the concentration above 400, they are suggesting the new safe level could be 450ppm.

However, if methane (CH4) is added to the atmospheric carbon load, thinkers like Guy McPherson suggest we are “already above” 500ppm, a level not experienced by humans in the last 11,700 years (since the global emergence of agriculture). Meaning: we are in terra incognita.

In Janurary, The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved their “Doomsday Clock” up thirty seconds, now set to 2 minutes and 30 seconds to midnight. The last time the clock was this close to midnight was in 1954, when the United States and Russia both tested nuclear weapons within one year of each other. A spokesperson for the Bulletin said they moved the clock up because of the “disrespect of expertise” (regarding climate scientists) and the dangerous rhetoric from the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

Spring came early in the southeastern United States this year. The U.S. National Phenology Network released a map on February 2 depicting many southern states experiencing budding and flowering of trees and flowers more than 20 days before what has typically been “normal.”

Children are already being born into a world where they ask, “What did clean water taste like?” or “What’s a tree?” or “What color was the sky?”

If the majority of people in this country continue to systematically reject or ignore events and evidence that illustrate the growing evidence of the reality of climate change, not only will we have invoked disaster, we will deserve it.

Culture

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017

“BLISS” to premiere at Miami

‘Slant Show’: Students plan variety sketch show TELEVISION

KELLY BURNS

THE MIAMI STUDENT

BETH PFOHL THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami’s theatre department will present a premiere production of “BLISS (or, Emily Post is Dead)” by playwright Jami Brandli this week. The show takes place in 1960s New Jersey and tackles feminist themes.

THEATRE

HANNAH FIERLE

THE MIAMI STUDENT

“BLISS (or, Emily Post is Dead!)” will make its world debut at Studio 88 Theater this week. The Miami Department of Theatre will put on the play for five shows, beginning on Feb. 22.

The play, which takes place in North Orange, N.J. in 1960, is described as a domestic comedy. It follows two pill-addicted suburban housewives, Clytemnestra (“Clementine”) and Medea (“Maddy”), who seek out etiquette icon Emily Post for advice. When working woman Cassandra moves into the neighborhood, she shakes up their normal lives and expectations of what women in society during this time

can achieve.

For years, Emily Post has been a cultural icon of high society and wealth. She was known in the early 20th century for her rules of etiquette, which continued to be updated after her death in 1960. Ironically, for someone who published such rigid rules for how women and society should function, Post’s personal life was often subjected to scandal and controversy.

“This play is so relevant and really speaks to issues that are going on in the world right now,” said Theresa Liebhart, a senior playing the part of Clementine. “It also merges the four tragic Greek characters into the setting of 1960 New Jersey.”

While Emily Post’s ideas of womanhood and society may seem outdated to some, many of the feminist

Humans oƒ Oxford

themes in the play resonate with modern feminist culture.

“I really enjoy the feminist and social justice themes within the play, and that is what drew me to this show,” said Taylor Hayes, a junior portraying Maddy. “People should come see this show because of the issues that it brings up and how it creates conversation that will hopefully lead to some change.”

With a predominantly female cast, these young women hope to spark conversation and change concerning women’s roles in society, both past and present.

“This show in particular shows women and societal problems can transcend time,” said Liebhart.

“Hopefully audiences will walk away BLISS »PAGE 6

Ross Tague and Corinne McGoldrick sat facing each other in their usual booth. They added their voices to the cacophony inside Pulley Dinner, talking about late night television. Both of them wanted to go into TV when they graduated. After talking for a while, they came to a conclusion that there was nothing like late night TV. And then they had a thought: They could make a late night TV show for Miami.

“Thus ‘Slant Show’ was born,” Tague said.

Last spring, the pair, both sophomores, came up with the idea for a student group that would produce late night style videos. However, they put off actually creating a group and making their videos until this semester.

“Getting everything together has been a lot less work than we initially thought,” Tague said. “When we finally decided that we were going to have regular meetings and assign positions everything just kind of fell into place.”

The two aim for the show to fill the entertainment hole in Miami media.

“It just kind of hit us that there wasn’t anything like that here on campus,” Tague said. “Sure, there were news shows and radio shows but no filmed show meant solely for entertainment.”

Their influences come from places like “SNL,” “Conan” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fal-

lon.” Not only are these programs McGoldrick and Tague’s inspiration, but they’ve also served as tool for learning how to put on the show.

“Slant Show” would bring entertainment to Miami students and others as well.

“We will have some aspects of Miami in it, like having the name ‘Slant Show’ based on Slant Walk,” McGoldrick said. “We also want to use the show to promote other student orgs, sports, etc. But the jokes we make should be understood by anyone.”

The group’s videos won’t run as often or as long as their late night inspirations, though.

“The plan is to post a skit or segment to YouTube once every few weeks, so nothing too crazy,” Tague said. “But we want to work toward an end-of-the-semester show, which would be around half an hour long and a culmination of new skits that we spent the entire semester working on.”

Over J-term, McGoldrick took part in the university’s Inside Hollywood program. As part of the program, she went behind the scenes of “Conan.”

“I shadowed the stage manager at ‘Conan’ for one day, and I learned more about the writing process for segments that we are trying to do on ‘Slant Show,’” McGoldrick said.

The duo also took advantage of Miami alum Rick Ludwin, the former NBC executive vice president of late night and prime-time series.

“He knows comedy, and shows SLANT SHOW »PAGE 6

Miami Opera to perform “A Little Night Music” OPERA

HANNAH WILLIAMS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

RYAN TERHUNE PHOTO

Will Geers: The mysterious case of the boy in the nighttime MAYA FENTER

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Quiet hours have long since fallen upon Emerson Hall. The door to room 53 swings open slowly and out walks freshman Will Geers.

He walks down the dimly lit hallway, wearing only his pajamas. He makes a right.

“Hey, Will,” a fellow resident greets him as he passes by.

No answer. Will keeps walking.

He opens the door to the rec room.

He slumps down in a chair without a word. Two boys playing pool exchange confused looks.

“Will?” one of them asks. No answer.

Will had his first sleepwalking episode four years ago. They vary in frequency, sometimes happening several times in one week, then ceasing for a month. It’s unpredictable.

He doesn’t know what causes it.

He doesn’t know how to control it.

Sometimes he wanders into the kitchenette or the study room.

One night, his roommates woke up to find him sitting up in his bed, eyes set forward.

Another time, he climbed the stairs to the second floor from his room in the basement.

Matej Turk, one of Will’s roommates, will often find him slumped in a chair in the rec room.

Or pacing aimlessly around the study room.

Or wandering down a corridor that doesn’t belong to him.

Matej gives Will a shake. According to what he read online, that’s what you’re supposed to do. It won’t hurt or harm him.

Will jolts back to consciousness but is still only partially aware of his surroundings. He walks back to room 53 without a word.

Will wakes up the next morning, and his friends fill him in on last night’s events — where he was, what he did.

Will listens with a bit of skepticism.

Sometimes he remembers dreaming the night before. Sometimes he remembers waking up in a different place than where he fell asleep.

But for the most part, Will remembers nothing.

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Senior Kyra Klontz knows that opera is not one of the most popular modes of entertainment nowadays.

But she also knows that the Miami Opera Theater’s performance of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” is far from the typical opera.

“I think it’s a fabulous show,” said Klontz, who plays Mrs. Segstrom, one of the Liebeslieders that act as BETH PFOHL THE MIAMI STUDENT a Greek chorus of sorts. “I think that people who maybe are sort of turned Kayla Burley (left), Will Ellis (center) and Allison Whiteside rehearse for their away when they hear the term ‘opera’ performance of “A Little Night Music.” Miami Opera will put on the Sondheim show this Thusday, Friday and Saturday. would still enjoy this show.”

In fact, this show has very little in Music” traces the tangled web of ro- ous roles,” he said. “When we got to common with what people typically mances that inform the lives of these ‘A Little Night Music,’ I thought, this think of as opera. If anything, it’s characters. is the perfect show for this group of more of a musical.

“This is Sondheim’s most popular students.”

And, it’s in English. musical,” said music director and Miami’s Opera program seeks to “I love that it’s in English because conductor Ben Smolder. “It played choose productions that not only suit I think that makes it more accessible longer than any of his other musicals the strengths of its students, but also to people and hopefully will draw on Broadway — over 600 perfor- appeal to the broader Miami commore of a crowd,” said Klontz. mances.” munity. Though sometimes, it can be Set in turn-of-the-century SweOf course, more goes into choos- difficult. den, the show revolves around the ing an opera than its popularity. Ac“It would be nice to have more sturecent marriage of middle-aged cording to Smolder, one of the most dents attend the shows because we Fredrik Egerman and his 18-year-old important things to take into con- do work so hard every single day that wife Anne. The musical also follows sideration is the strength of the stu- we don’t want it to go unnoticed,” actress Desiree Armfeldt, who had dents. said senior Kayla Burley, who plays had an affair with Fredrik a number “When I was choosing between Mrs. Anderssen, another Liebeslieof years ago and now has a young four or five shows, I would imagine daughter, Fredrika. “A Little Night the students we have in these variOPERA »PAGE 6

Comedy meets cannibalism in “Santa Clarita Diet” TELEVISION

SAM KEELING

THE MIAMI STUDENT

In Netflix’s horror-comedy “Santa Clarita Diet,” Joel and Sheila Hammond (Timothy Olyphant and Drew Barrymore) are realtors that have built a nice, if not routine, life in beautiful suburban California, complete with gossipy neighbors and an eternally ungrateful teenage daughter. That routine is quickly thrown out the window when Sheila begins vomiting an absurd amount, coughs up a strange red ball and falls unconscious.

She wakes up after a few minutes, but lo and behold, she isn’t the same as before — she’s, well, dead. What follows are 10 half-hour episodes

following the Hammonds as they struggle to satisfy Sheila’s hunger for human flesh while also searching for a cure to her sudden and inexplicable illness. They are oftentimes gory, frequently absurd and only sometimes funny.

Olyphant and Barrymore have proven themselves accomplished actors in the past, and they certainly give it their all in “Santa Clarita,” finding their characters’ most basic traits and wringing them for all they’re worth. Unfortunately, they aren’t worth much. Sheila’s new condition removes her impulse control, making her upfront and completely nonchalant about the whole “I kill and eat people” thing. Meanwhile, Joel is a doting husband who does all he can to please his wife while also

taking great care to point out every funny detail in a situation (“Honey, we eat people!”).

This dynamic is the backbone of the whole show, and at first, it works well. But as the episode count rises, their incessant wordiness grows tiresome. It’s like running into a married couple whose rapport seems charming until 15 minutes later when your only wish is to get as far away from their annoying chatter as possible.

Luckily, many of the side characters provide necessary variation, even though they never escape cliché. For example, Skyler Gisondo plays Eric Bemis, a reclusive nerd who helps the Hammond family mainly because of his hardcore crush SANTA CLARITA »PAGE 6

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017

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FROM BLISS »PAGE 4

FROM SLANT SHOW »PAGE 4

changed for the better.”

Cast members expressed their gratitude for being able to be a part of the world premiere of the show.

“Both the director and the playwright have come up from Los Angeles to work on it with us,” said Rachel Brandenburg, a junior portraying the character of Antonia.

“It’s been challenging at times, but we’ve worked really hard and we’re excited to present it.

Playwright Jami Brandli will be in town for the performances and will participate in commentary with the audience following the first two shows. In addition, Brandli will lead a workshop on Monday, Feb. 20 at the Howe Writing Center about her career as a playwright.

Brandli, a member of the Playwrights Union and Moving Arts, currently teaches dramatic writing at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass. In 2014 “BLISS (or, Emily Post is Dead!)” was named to The Kilroy’s List, honoring the year’s top female-written plays.

Brandli has been a finalist for awards including the Playwrights’ Center Core Writer Fellowship, Princess Grace Award and O’Neill National Playwrights Conference.

All shows will take place at Studio 88 Theater. Shows will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 22-25 and 2 p.m. on Feb. 26. Tickets are available online and through the Miami box office. Group discounts are available when purchasing 10 or more tickets.

like ‘Conan’ and ‘The Tonight Show’ still ask for his opinion, so getting his advice and hearing he loved the idea was amazing,” McGoldrick said.

After months of planning, the group is almost ready to start creating their videos. They’ve found a group of people who want to be a part of their vision and bring the videos to life.

Ieva Juska joined in order to have an outlet for her creative side.

“I decided to join because I’ve always been interested in late night television shows, like ‘SNL,’ and the production of them,” Juska said. “Being a biology major, I don’t get to tap into that interest or the creativity that surrounds it, so being a part of ‘Slant Show’ allows me to do that.”

Since they are just starting out, the members of the group fill whatever roles they have to, and Juska is no exception.

“My assigned jobs are hair and makeup and acting, although I still help out with coming up with ideas for skits, talking about the logistics of the organization and other general things like that,” she said.

Tague and McGoldrick have high hopes for their brainchild but don’t plan on rushing its production.

“We’re still not totally finished working things out, but we really want to make sure it is as high quality as possible,” McGoldrick said.

“We want the show to last after we graduate, so we are taking our time to ensure the show is ready.”

MIAMISTUDENT.NET

FROM OPERA»PAGE 4

FROM SANTA CLARITA »PAGE

der.

And the production takes up a lot of time. Performers started receiving vocal coaching in mid-October but didn’t start rehearsals until the final week of J-term. Since the semester started, they’ve rehearsed for several hours nearly every day.

“It’s kind of a short production period for us,” said junior Ali Rose Hotz, who plays Anne Egerman.

“Last year we had from the week before classes started until April. So it’s a little bit shorter, but it’s in a really good place.”

Because of the difference between this show and many other operas, it has been slightly more challenging for the cast.

“It’s interesting for us because there’s more spoken dialogue than is usually found in operas,” said Hotz. “It’s a new situation for us to be in to have to do more dialogue.”

Although “A Little Night Music” is ultimately a comedy of errors, Hotz also sees it as a highly moving piece.

“I think what is so special about this is that it’s really funny, but it also has so many poignant moments,” she said. “Even though you’re laughing through a lot of it, there’s still a lot of cathartic moments for the audience to really get involved in.”

Miami Opera Theater will be performing “A Little Night Music” at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 23, 24 and 25 in Wilks Theater. Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for the general public and can be purchased at the Miami Box Office online or at the door.

on the aforementioned ungrateful daughter Abby. Gisondo’s delivery is humorous, but in terms of character development, he is left to dry.

To make it worse, accomplished and talented comedians/actors like Nathan Fillion, Portia de Rossi, Patton Oswalt and Andy Richter appear for five seconds and disappear as if they were never there.

The main plot of “Santa Clarita Diet” involves finding the cure and cause of Sheila’s affliction. Neither problem is adequately solved in season one, although a half-baked story about 16th century Serbia is vomited out (pun intended) to keep the plot rolling. But just as that story begins to pick up about halfway through the season, it is put on the backburner for the sake of increasing the episode count with unnecessary subplots.

“Santa Clarita” is more of a comedy than a horror-comedy, because while there are low-budget blood and guts aplenty, it always feels more gross than scary. For a better example of a zombie-comedy hybrid, look

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to Starz’s “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” which successfully utilizes this exact kind of B-movie budget to create genuinely creepy scenes while also staying hilariously cheesy. “Santa Clarita” doesn’t really feel creepy or cheesy (not on purpose, at least).

What’s most frustrating about this show is how the original charm never quite wears off, even as questionable plot choices are made and the writers make no effort to implement character development. Olyphant and Barrymore can still draw a laugh even as their delivery becomes increasingly predictable, and the guest roles, however brief, are a welcome element of the show. At no point is it actually “bad,” but at the same time, I’m hard-pressed to call it “good.”

Watching “Santa Clarita Diet,” you hope that these creators will come to their senses and that the next episode will finally click, but suddenly, you’ve run out of episodes to watch. For a show about eating brains, sometimes it feels surprisingly brainless.

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it’s a wasteland

miamistudent.net FROM SEXUAL ASSAULT » PAGE 1

an unknown residence without any memory of arriving there. She told police she had been Uptown earlier that night and had left with an unknown male.

According to an incident report from the Oxford Police, the female student had reported from the hospital that she had been sexually assaulted by three males at a local apartment. The incident report said that OPD officers searched the apartment, and suspects in the case have been identified.

Last Wednesday, Feb. 15, McCulloughHyde Memorial Hospital staff notified the university at 3:50 a.m. that a female student had reported to them that she had been sexually assaulted somewhere on Miami’s campus. The incident likely occurred on Sunday, Feb. 12, the hospital staff said.

MUPD and OPD are currently investigating these reports.

Students were notified of the reported assaults through Campus Crime Alerts — an SMS or email designed to alert students, faculty and staff of dangerous situations on or around campus.

Although these alerts notify students of some reports of sexual assaults, these notifications do not represent all of the sexual assaults which are reported, said Becca Getson, Miami’s sexual assault response coordinator. When students report assaults that occurred weeks or months

prior or when students report sexual assaults which did not occur on campus or in the Oxford area, those reports are not included in the Campus Crime Alert notification system.

The number of reported sexual assaults over a period of time varies greatly, Getson said, but certain times of the year consistently show higher reporting. The first six weeks of the fall semester usually show an uptick in reports, but the first several weeks of the spring semester can see an increase in incidents, too, she said.

When a victim reports a sexual assault, whether it be to a university official, a family member or friend, Getson encourages them to always reiterate three things: “I believe you. It’s not your fault, and there are resources available.”

“It can be hard to believe that it can happen to you or to one of your friends,” Getson said.

Though many incidents of sexual assault still go unreported — only about 34 percent of sexual assaults are reported, according to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network — Getson’s goal is that every student who chooses to report has access to the resources she or he needs.

“We want to lower the barriers so that people feel comfortable reporting and have 100 percent access to resources,” Getson said.

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— Miami Student Staff FROM SISTER » PAGE 1

“This will build on what is almost a 50 year relationship between the university and the city of Differdange and expand that relationship into people in the communities,” Guinigundo said.

She noted that this new designation is not unexpected.

“The Sister City concept has been discussed for a while, and with the reorganization of the Global Initiatives department at Miami, establishing the formal Sister City relationship has become a priority,” Guinigundo said.

Although the communities of Oxford and Differdange have many differences, Miami’s Luxembourg presence has created a certain kinship between them. Across the street from MUDEC is a bar with a Miami flag hanging from the ceiling and walls so crowded with signed tshirts from previous cohorts that the Miami student signatures number in the hundreds.

In Oxford, returning faculty and students bring home knowledge about Luxembourgish culture, new language proficiencies and a tangible bond grounded in that place.

“Both Oxford and Differdange display a great deal of integrity towards their communities and the diverse populations they host,” said junior Sophia Marcum, who attended the MUDEC program in the Spring of 2016. “I have confidence that becoming Sister Cities will only strengthen endeavors to serve their respective citizens. I hope this arrangement will create opportunities” In many ways, this announcement has served to formalize what is already known to many Oxford and Differdange residents alike; that each of these communities embody a sense of home that spans their municipal borders, and that each can provide to the other a place for cultural exposure, education and enjoyment across the world.

specifically points at them to wave.

Likewise, after a goal, a member of the band is chosen as the one to begin the chant of “Ready! 1, 2, we want mooooore goals…” and so on (this tradition being led by the most senior member).

Kraus said being a part of this band has not only given him an opportunity to travel, but to also meet some really great people whom he now calls his friends.

After speaking with many in the band, as well as the fans, it’s hard to not walk away with a deeper appreciation for the work they put into making the games so enjoyable. The band sets the tone for the game, and they keep the fans engaged throughout.

They help soften the blow of defeat, and sweeten the taste of victory.

Yonka likely said it best when he said, “The fans are led by the band.

Period.”

FROM SHOOTING » PAGE 1

drove off, Smith said. Eventually, Smith crossed the street to find her friends and saw the vehicle return.

“I was across the street by the mailbox and the car went by and they started shooting and I guess a bullet ricocheted off of something and part of it went into my finger,” she said.

Smith was quickly treated at McCollough-Hyde Memorial Hospital and went to an orthopedist the next day, but says she and her finger are fine now.

In response to the incident, Cellar Bar, also known locally as “Hole in The Wall,” is instituting a Miami University-students-only policy, according to the bar’s management staff. It is currently unknown if the individuals responsible for the firearm discharge are Miami University students.

Oxford Police Department’s investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Stay updated with details about the story on miamistudent.net

FROM HORSE » PAGE 1

splints. She tries to go to bed early because she needs more sleep than other people, and sometimes she walks with a subconscious limp.

Keara considers herself lucky, though, because her type of CMT doesn’t progress as rapidly, and she found a way to minimize the effects: horseback riding.

When Keara was 10 years old, she watched her best friend’s riding lesson and begged her mom to let her attend a summer riding camp.

She almost quit once but decided to continue when she found out it was the best thing possible for her disability.

Riding has become such an integral part of Keara’s life that she even bought her own horse, Storm.

He is a smart Quarter pony with a bit of a temper. Keara has been riding him since 2008 and made him officially hers last March. Now he lives at Miami’s equestrian center where Keara can visit him almost every day.

She has been forced to make adjustments to her riding style, though — switching from jumping horses to dressage because she can’t properly support herself.

“I can’t get my heels down, so I’ve had to compensate with other parts of my body,” Keara said.

CMT is something that will affect Keara for the rest of her life, but she tries not to think about it because it’s not something she can change.

She has accepted it, and she never lets lets it keep her from doing the things she loves.

“While sometimes it does affect my life,” Keara said, “I do my best to just overcome it.”

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HOCKEY »PAGE 12

better job tracking back. We gotta compete,” head coach Enrico Blasi said. “Our compete wasn’t very good, our details weren’t very good tonight, and when you play one of the best teams in the country they’re going to make you pay for it.”

Miami was outshot 32-20 during the game.

“They’re a very talented team and we have a plan in place and we know how we need to play and we need to do that for 60 minutes,” Lavalle said. “So, if we can do that for 60 minutes tomorrow, we’ll win.”

Saturday night’s game began differently, but ended in a similar fashion. Miami’s freshman forward Carson Meyer gave the RedHawks their first lead of the weekend 4:10 into the first period. Meyer sniped the puck into the top corner from the left circle for his eighth goal of the season.

Denver stifled Miami’s momentum with 7:04 remaining in the period when Terry skated past two men and put the puck between Larkin’s legs for the game tying goal.

Then, 42 seconds later, Romig scored on a low-angle, wrist shot that bounced off of Larkin and rolled into the net for the go-ahead goal.

Denver finished the first period leading 2-1. Miami was outshot 11-8 in the period.

The RedHawks went on a man advantage early in the second that lead to a goal scored with 4:08 gone. Hutton scored on a slapshot for his seventh goal of the season, and tied the game at 2-2.

Denver answered two minutes

BASEBALL »PAGE 12

relatively bigger schools, I think the interest would be really good. It could spread.”

There were a couple girls wearing Miami softball t-shirts, sitting at the front of the room. Towards the back sat two girls who were merely fans of the sport – one a Cubs fan and the other a Detroit Lions supporter.

Morgan Wright, a sophomore, came because her friend Maria Pappas asked her to. She would consider playing but doesn’t have experience past tee-ball. It doesn’t deter her excitement.

“It’d be cool to be a part of something like this,” Wright said.

“I’ve always loved baseball, but it’s a hard sport to love as a woman because pretty much every other sport has a women’s team.”

Pappas, also a sophomore, has played softball before and is thinking of being an officer.

“I’d really be willing to be in-

later when Terry sniped the puck past Larkin to take the lead with 13:30 remaining in the second. The second period ended with Denver leading 3-2.

“I thought for a period and a half we actually were in the game and kind of going back and forth.

Then I thought our details of the game -- faceoffs, goals against -- we started to not make hard plays with the puck,” Blasi said. “Gotta give them credit for a lot of what they do and the pressure they put on. Then some of it we’re just not making hard plays.”

Miami could not capitalize on their powerplay in the third period. Five minutes into the period, Romig scored on a feed into the slot. Towards the end of the period with five minutes remaining, junior defenseman Tariq Hammond capitalized on an odd man rush.

He ended the scoring for the night at 5-2.

“If I analyzed the weekend, they probably outplayed us for five of the six periods and deserved to win. That’s a good hockey team and maybe something we can learn from going forward with our team,” Blasi said.

Denver outshot Miami 38-25 in their 5-2 victory on Saturday to complete their two-game sweep.

Miami has been swept in their last two series. The Red and White are currently 28th on the PairWise Ranking, Denver is currently number one (uscho.com).

Miami’s next game is on Thursday, February 23 at Minnesota Duluth. Puck drop is at 8:07 p.m.

volved in something that could provide opportunities for women,” Pappas said. “It’s more about the inclusion, more of the message behind it instead of women just playing baseball.”

The meeting ended 20 minutes after it had started, a dozen PowerPoint slides later. Once Maddox had said her final remarks, everyone stood up, stretched and stayed.

Students milled about and spoke with faculty and with each other.

Regardless of age and athletic or managerial ability, the room didn’t clear out for another 15 minutes.

On a Wednesday afternoon, a select handful of individuals shared their enthusiasm for women’s club baseball.

When asked about what Professor Ruihley would tell people who couldn’t attend the meeting he said, “Show up next time.” And he laughed.

“Next time” is Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m. in 127 Phillips Hall. Enthusiasm is welcome.

WE’RE LOOKING FOR WRITERS eic@miamistudent.net

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017

9

Opinion

10

EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017

The ‘Good Samaritan’ policy: A vital but flawed rule The following piece, written by the editorial editors, reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.

A

s the memory of last weekend’s hospital palooza is still fresh in the minds of the Miami community, it is important to further discuss Miami’s alcohol policy and the effects it has on students’ behavior. Specifically, it’s vitally important to review Miami’s “Good Samaritan” policy, as it is one that can literally mean the difference between life and death.

As many students hopefully know, Miami and the Miami University Police Department have a policy which allows for students that report an emergency situation to university or hospital officials to be immune from school disciplinary action.

The exact policy, which is published on Miami’s website under the Division of Student Affairs subsite, reads that “Miami University will not arrest or take disciplinary action for a violation of Miami’s drug or alcohol policies against those students who seek emergency medical assistance for themselves or other students.”

The policy holds for reports to MUPD, 911 services, Residence Assistants and Residence Directors and McCullough Hyde Memorial Hospital, the website says.

In the context of many other policies that Miami holds with regards to student

If the university is looking for more ways to keep their students safe from the culture that this town fosters, they need to look within their policy. drinking behavior, this policy stands out as an exceptionally beneficial one. Almost no one wants students that engage in high risk or destructive behavior to simply get off the hook when it comes to facing the consequences of their actions.

However, when it comes down to an emergency situation, the safety and wellbeing of students’ lives should undoubtedly be the number one priority.

With that in mind, this policy, which reduces the incentives that a student may have to avoid reporting emergencies, is necessary to ensure that students will do the right thing in the most serious situations. One could only hope that in every case, students would opt to seek help if a friend were succumbing to alcohol poisoning instead of taking a dangerous risk to avoid punishment from university authorities.

This is the real world though, and stu-

Regardless of ACA future, MU should maintain healthcare HEALTHCARE

TO THE EDITOR: Dear Dr. Thomasson and Ms. Schilling: The Miami University Advocacy Chapter Executive Committee of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has heard numerous concerns from faculty and staff members regarding the possibility that health coverage might be adversely affected by the threatened repeal or substantial amendment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We call upon the university to make the commitment to retain the ACA’s important protections regardless of the actions taken in the U.S. Congress.

The ACA protections that must be retained include, but are not limited to: 1. Full coverage without regard to pre-existing conditions.

2. Coverage of dependents up to age 26.

3. Coverage of immunizations and other preventive care services at no cost.

4. No pre-authorization requirement for emergency services and coverage of such services on an innetwork basis.

5. No lifetime or annual limits on the dollar value of essential health benefits paid for by the plans.

6. Refraining from establishing “excessive” employee cost-sharing and deductibles.

Frankly, we hope that the ACA is not repealed or gutted. But should this occur, the university would not be compelled to follow suit and remove these important protections from our health plans. It is entirely within the power of this university to fashion health plans that go beyond minimum legal requirements to meet the health care needs of its employees.

Insofar as these provisions are already incorporated into the cost of our current health plans, their

dents will act in a manner of cost-benefit analysis in these very real situations. In essence, this policy mitigates the potential disciplinary cost of saving lives.

It is important to note that, as with many others, this policy is not perfect. To start, students that have committed any other offense (Miami’s website lists refusal of treatment, disruption and combativeness, possessing a fake I.D., committing assault and property damages as examples) during the incident in question are not eligible for the exemption.

While some of these prohibitions make sense, others may unnecessarily deter students from seeking help.

More importantly, this policy is limited in its jurisdiction. While Miami may be more lenient during times of emergency, the City of Oxford and Oxford Police Department are not and have no exception for allowing students to report emergen-

cies while remaining immune from prosecution or other legal actions.

This, of course, is something that neither Miami nor Oxford and OPD can do anything about directly, as they are bound by state and county law to uphold certain courses of action.

But therein lies a larger problem: while universities can act as safe spaces within a state, Miami’s Good Samaritan policy doesn’t necessarily protect the people in the way it’s assumed. And while Oxford and the OPD are bound by state laws (which are also subject to change, as seen with the recent “911 Good Samaritan” Ohio state law implemented in 2016 for incidents involving drug overdose), the university has more leeway.

The Miami community has experienced a curious mixture of tragedy and apathy in the past month. It’s not the first time that we’ve been through difficult times like these, and it won’t be the last.

If the university is looking for more ways to keep their students safe from the culture that this town fosters, they need to look within their policy. In these situations, the well-bring of students must be the priority. A hard stance on drinking culture needs to be accompanied by a Good Samaritan policy that students who fear repercussion can rely on, even if they are apparently guilty themselves.

A.J. NEWBERRY’S EXTROSPECTIVE FIELD JOURNAL

maintenance at this level would not impose additional costs on the university. Such a move is wise for faculty and staff health and wellbeing, morale and recruitment efforts at all levels. This translates into maintaining a healthy learning environment for our students which is, after all, the primary objective of a university.

We call on you in your role as individuals who formulate and guide Miami University’s health plans to ensure that the ACA’s protections are retained. At a time of profound uncertainty and anxiety about the future, Miami University would be wise to take this concrete and meaningful step to remove at least one source of worry for faculty and staff.

Because the AAUP believes in ensuring that all faculty and staff have as much information as possible about matters that affect the daily performance of their jobs, please note that this is an open letter that we will share with the wider constituencies of the Miami community.

Thank you for your attention.

The AAUP Executive Committee would be most willing to meet with you should there be any questions.

Respectfully, MIAMI UNIVERSITY AAUP ADVOCACY CHAPTER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: CATHY WAGNER, CO-PRESIDENT CHARLES VICTOR GANELIN, CO-PRESIDENT DEBORAH LYONS, SECRETARY AMBER FRANKLIN, TREASURER DON UICCI, CHAIR, ADVISORY COUNCIL DAVID WALSH, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

A.J. NEWBERRY NEWBERAJ@MIAMIOH.EDU

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11 OPINION

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017

EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Ask Angela: How do I get boys to notice me?

RELATIONSHIPS

Dear Angela, How do I get boys to notice me?

Just asking for a friend...

Sincerely, Not just thirsty, but dehydrated Dear Not just thirsty, but dehydrated, Look, I don’t want to be blunt here, but I lack any sort of filter and tend to just say (or write) whatever is floating around in my ole noggin. Call it reactionary, or crass, or careless, but you can’t deny that you’ll always be getting the God’s honest truth from me.

You want boys to notice you?

You shouldn’t give a flying fuck what boys think about you.

Contrary to what you may have read/heard/seen before, I’m not going to tell you to start spending two hours on your makeup everyday before class, to start going to the gym to shed some pounds and tone up, to wear your fleekest clothes to your 8:30s and I am

definitely not going to tell you to download the ESPN app so you can act like you give a damn about football (whoever founded Cosmo magazine is my least favorite human to ever exist).

Would you like to know why I’m not going to tell you any of that nonsense? I’ll tell you — even though at this point in my column, you’re probably wishing I had given you some five-step simple formula to get you a Bae-rrito instead of taking this opportunity to rant.

My friend, you should only make changes in your life that benefit you. I cannot stress enough that changing who you are just to attract some dude is going to make you feel like a shell of your former self, empty and unhappy in exchanges for a few cuddles and temporary satisfaction.

We see it time and time again in movies, young adult fiction books, etc. The girl who is a nerdy troll, but then BAM, comes out halfway in the film with some makeup and high heels and is a bombshell and

Mr. Right isn’t someone that you have to change yourself for. Mr. Right is the person that sees you, all of you — the flawed and the imperfect — ­ and still thinks to himself, “This is the person that I want to be with.”

starts dating the quarterback and they live happily ever after.

Not realistic.

Sweet little Sandy from Grease did a complete 180 and turned into a bad bitch greaser, the complete opposite of who she really is, just to win the affection of her summer flame Danny Zuko. And you know what? Her and Danny probably got hitched right after high school and then divorced five years later because Sandy was trying to be Danny’s ideal chick and lost herself along the way and stopped one day as she was in the kitchen mak-

Friends: An unlikely solution to the omnipotent drinking problem DRINKING

MICHAEL STEMMLER GUEST COLUMNIST

There has been a tremendous amount of talk around alcohol consumption recently, and rightfully so. With the tragic death of Erica Buschick and the 21 hospitalizations last week, Miami has received a wakeup call when it comes to drinking culture. Yet, while everyone points out that there is a problem, the one aspect that seems to rarely come up is the solution.

Yes, I agree that our college drinking culture should change and that students should be more responsible, but will that really happen?

Unfortunately, probably not. It’s just like the old saying: “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.” So, when we are emailed official statements warning of high alcohol consumption and the dangers of binge drinking, they tend to be extremely ineffective.

But when it comes down to the real issue — that students simply drink irresponsibly — the go-to so-

lution for the administrators and law enforcement is to pursue an authoritarian stance against drinking. While having more police out at night does scare some people away from their usual weekend festivities, for most students this method of prohibition doesn’t shift the balance on the risk-reward scale.

Especially since college is a time when individuals tend to embrace their youth and individual liberties before they are restricted to the mundane cycle of a working, adult life, this is an era where telling students “no” comes off more so as a challenge instead of a rule.

So, if the scare tactics don’t work, how do we keep students safe on campus? The best way to accomplish this is with one simple word: friends. From what I have observed and experienced, the best way to make responsible drinking decisions is to have good friends.

Good friends aren’t just people who like to have a good time, but those who look out for each other and make sure everyone in the group is safe. It’s a two-way street when it comes to friendship and

drinking. You can’t just rely on having good friends, you must be one.

Instead of thinking about what bar or party will be the next destination, good friends make sure the group stays together. Instead of searching for someone to take home, good friends make sure their friends get home at the end of the night. Instead of trying to impress others with the amount they can drink, good friends make sure their friends aren’t drinking past their limit.

Good friends keep others and themselves safer, and if we all could have friends who cared about our safety when it comes to drinking, I believe that the number of alcoholrelated incidents would greatly decrease.

However, there comes a point where no matter how wonderful your friends are, no matter how much they watch over you, personal responsibility will be the ultimate factor when it comes to being safe and smart in our very-college town.

STEMMLMF@MIAMIOH.EDU

Miami’s drinking problem: Blame the culture, not the alcohol DRINKING

MARIEL PADILLA GUEST COLUMNIST

“Love and Honor.”

Miami University drills this slogan into the students from the very beginning. These three words can be found on the admissions packets sent to prospective students in the mail, in the welcome video at freshman orientation, on the over-priced merchandise in the bookstore and in the chorus of the university’s fight song.

And even after all of this, every student who has been on campus for more than one week knows that the real motto this community lives by is: “Work hard. Play hard.”

During the day, the university is a picturesque campus swarming with motivated students shuffling from class to class with full backpacks and open minds. But when the sun goes down, the books get shelved and the pre-gaming starts.

Miami is consistently listed as one of the nation’s top party schools on reputable ranking sites.

In 2016, The Princeton Review ranked Miami as the 19th biggest party school in the United States.

In 2017, Niche placed Miami at No. 1 in Ohio and No. 1 nationwide.

The university’s Alcohol Task Force, established by former President David Hodge in 2014, discovered that 42 percent of freshmen

students admitted to drinking to the point of “blacking out,” which is significantly higher than the national average.

The Task Force found that the “most notable” Miami ritual centered around alcohol consumption. It consisted of a “weekly migration of students from the residence halls to the off-campus parties and then to the bars.”

According to the report, campus police “can predict when students will travel, when parties will end and when students will be returning to the residence halls after bar close.”

On Jan. 20, Miami’s Erica Buschick was found dead in her dorm room after a night of drinking. According to the police report, Buschick’s night followed the “ritual” almost exactly. She drank champagne in her dorm room before going to an off-campus house party where she consumed vodka.

Then, right on schedule, she accompanied the partygoers to the bars.

She was too intoxicated to actually enter the bars, according to a friend with her that night. With the help of her roommate and a taxi driver, Buschick made it back to her Morris Hall dorm room, according to the police report. She passed out on a beanbag and was found there, unmoved, the next morning.

Buschick’s tragic death is a harrowing reminder that alcohol is

a dangerous substance to “play” with. Miami students live in a constructed bubble that ignores reality, precautions and permanent consequences.

But it’s not the alcohol’s fault; blame the culture.

The excessive alcohol consumption is just a side effect. The source of the problem is the culture, the environment and the traditions.

It’s the “ritual.” It’s the daily drink specials at the bars Uptown. It’s the day parties. It’s the house names. It’s Pitchers, Beat the Clock and Broken Clock. It’s social expectations and recurring habits.

Students predictably flock to these alcohol-centric, social gatherings like clockwork. It’s the Miami way. Incoming students quickly step in line as seniors graduate, and alumni reminisce on the “good old days” when Wednesdays meant Wine Night at O’Pub and blacking out at Brick was the definition of a night well spent.

This culture is fueled by established traditions and creates a real sense of belonging. Administration can repeat the words “love and honor” all they want, but that is not the reality of the student experience.

Let’s face it: Miami University students love to have fun by honoring the school’s longstanding party reputation. And it’s fun until it’s not.

“Love and Honor.”

PADILLAR@MIAMIOH.EDU

ing him a sandwich as he sat on his ass in a recliner watching TV and was like, “What the hell am I doing, I’m not even actually happy, Danny won’t shut the hell up about the golden days and the T-Birds.” *sigh* Mr. Right isn’t someone that you have to change yourself for.

Mr. Right is the person that sees you, all of you — the flawed and the imperfect — and still thinks to himself, “This is the person that I want to be with.”

Boys may not be noticing you now and you’re right, that does

suck. Not feeling wanted is probably one of the worst feelings in the world and I wouldn’t wish anyone on this entire planet to feel that way.

But boys not noticing you isn’t attributed to something you’re doing wrong. And trust me, life is all about timing and the moment when you least expect it. The moment when you truly don’t see it coming and think it’ll never happen is the moment love will fall into your lap or hit you like a ton of bricks. You’ll realize it’s worth the wait.

You are enough. You are so so enough. Don’t go changing who you are for something superficial and fleeting.

Have a little faith in the universe and have a little love for yourself.

With love, Angela

TMSASKANGELA@GMAIL.COM

We can “be great” without being exclusionary CAMPUS

KATIE HINH

GUEST COLUMNIST

I have only ever lived here. I grew up in the picture-perfect definition of suburbia and I went to public school. I attended college and soon I will graduate and move on with my life, pursue a career and whatever else “good Americans” do.

So tell me, why do so many people hate me?

No, I don’t mean me personally, I mean why do people seem to hate immigrants, refugees and their descendents? My father escaped to America because this great country tore apart his own. He had no choice but to flee and he came here with nothing.

If the same thing happened today, I don’t think he could’ve come to America. I don’t think that he would have been welcomed here. I don’t think he could’ve stayed here.

We only make others different or “less than” because we need them to establish an identity for ourselves.

I don’t think I would be here.

The sad truth about America is that in many places nationality is equated to skin color. If someone looks a little darker or lighter than the norm, they are immediately not “us.” They have to be from somewhere else, because around here, “we don’t look like that.” They are seen as exotic and different and a thing to be scrutinized. Whether it be because you have “such a hot accent,” or you “speak English so well,” you cannot simply be an American.

I don’t think people understand what I mean when I talk about “othering.” “Othering” is when you take a group of people and completely commodify and exoticize them in a way to set them apart from you (thanks, Anthropology department). Have you ever felt so

displaced by the very institutions that you belong to? Has someone ever questioned whether or not you belong in a space? At a meeting? In a class?

Have you ever had someone look at your official documents and doubt that they were real? Have you ever had someone look at you while holding your birth certificate and legitimately ask you if it was real, and if you were really born there?

I don’t know what else I can do.

This woman was holding the only copy that I have of my birth certificate and she looked me dead in the eye and asked if I was truly born there. When someone holds one of the most legitimate documents that you own and questions it, what else can you do to prove that it is real? I mean Jesus Christ, I am half Asian, and the institutions that surround me are annoying and misinformed.

I can just imagine how much worse it gets the more “exotic” an individual gets.

We only make others different or “less than” because we need them to establish an identity for ourselves. We can’t be America unless there are people who can be denied America. I look around this country and I can still see glimpses of what we could be. We could be diverse and accepting but for some godforsaken reason we are stuck in this hole of paralyzing fear of difference.

No, I don’t think that we shouldn’t be scared. Fear can be healthy, but in the face of human suffering, as is the case with refugees, we cannot let fear deter us from helping those less fortunate. If we prize our own self-preservation over the well being of thousands because there is a minute chance that something terrible will happen, what does that make us? Everyday we make decisions that carry greater risks than helping someone escape death and torture in a country that we similarly tore apart.

We have crafted an identity of fear and paranoia, instead of crafting an identity that we can be proud of. I cannot brand myself with an identity that shuns difference. We need to embrace change, and people need to realize that we can be America, and “be great,” without using other people and cultures as a crutch.

HINHKH@MIAMIOH.EDU

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Sports

SPORTS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

12

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017

Women’s baseball club is the first in U.S. BASEBALL

EMILY SIMANSKIS SPORTS EDITOR

ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT

Freshman forward Carson Meyer celebrates a goal on Saturday night as freshman defenseman Jared Brandt looks on.

The Band of Brotherhood HOCKEY

MAX DAVIS

THE MIAMI STUDENT

At the end of a busy academic week, each student decompresses in their own way (some legal, others not). For many, weekends in October to March are for one thing: hockey. Fans make their way to Goggin in droves to watch our beloved RedHawks, ready to scream their heads off cheering. Students and locals pack into the arena and are led in cheers by the one and only Band of the Brotherhood -Miami’s Pep Band.

Even if you’re not a hockey fan, no Miami experience is complete without taking in what these student-musicians have to offer. Simply put, the band sets the tone for the fans at the game. This wacky group of musicians, fueled by pop and hot dogs between periods, is the catalysts for many of the cheers and celebrations.

On Friday night, for the first game against Denver, students were lined up to get the coveted seats in the front row, right on the glass, and they spoke about how the band livens up the game. Whether winning or losing, the students said the band keeps the crowd in high spirits.

Aaron Yonka, a fan known for proudly waving a hockey stick (adorned with lights and a Miami flag) from his seat at center ice, shared his thoughts on the spirit of the band. Yonka highlighted not only the way the band leads the fans by starting the music, but also how they are the loudest and rowdiest fans. He pointed out that games played during J-term are always much less lively without the band.

Father and son, Jamie and Bryce of Hamilton, spoke about how special the band is. Bryce, 5-years-old and too shy to talk, let his father

cut in during the interview when he spoke about how unique the game experience is with the Band of the Brotherhood.

“You never get to see a band like this at say a professional hockey game. The way they create the energy so organically is incredible,” Jamie said.

Aside from drawing the admiration of many fans young and old for their musical stylings, the band receives attention because of their antics during the game.

When asked about what people like to see other than the scripted music, freshman percussionists Chris Paxton and Casey Reazin glanced at one another and answered, “The goofiness.”

They spoke to that point by mentioning how, even when the music cuts out during play, the band continues singing and heckling the other team, always capping it off with a hearty “Sieve!”

After sitting down across the arena and watching the band, I still can’t tell if I am more impressed with the flawlessly synchronized dancing of the flutes and clarinets or the hilarious shenanigans of the tuba players in the back. If you have a chance, I would recommend just watching the band and seeing the hijinks they get into during the game.

Although plenty of fun, according to senior trumpet player Kevin Kraus, the band means infinitely more to the members. Kraus spoke to his many seasons as a part of the band. Strangely enough, he has never been to a hockey game unless it was as a part of the band.

He says one of his favorite traditions is when Mr. Shriver, the PA announcer, waves at the one minute mark. Shriver waves at everyone, but the band waits until he BAND »PAGE 8

Miami swept by No. 2 Denver HOCKEY

CONNOR MATHENY THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami men’s hockey was swept at home by the University of Denver Pioneers this weekend. The losses are their third and fourth in a row.

Miami’s record is now 9-14-6 overall, 5-10-4 in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference and 6-63 at home.

Denver came into the game ranked second in the nation. Their two wins this weekend brings their record to 22-6-4 overall, 14-3-3 in the NCHC and 10-3-2 on the road.

Friday’s contest started slow, as neither team was able to notch a goal in the first period. Denver took a penalty halfway through the period and then managed to outshoot Miami 13-6.

The game remained scoreless until Miami’s junior forward Conor Lemirande took a minor penalty for interference 3:33 into the second. Freshman goalie Ryan Larkin saved Denver’s two immediate power play shots.

Denver’s sophomore forward Dylan Gambrell drew first blood when he tipped in a loose puck in front of the crease 4:20 into the second period.

Another Miami penalty proved costly when sophomore forward Troy Terry swatted in the puck after it deflected off of Larkin’s blocker 12 seconds into the powerplay. The goal was scored at 5:32 of the second, just 72 seconds after the Pioneers’ first goal.

Denver took two penalties later in the period, however, Miami could not capitalize on either. The second period ended 2-0 Denver.

The RedHawks were outshot 23-12 in the middle period.

The third period began with a long offensive possession for Mi-

ami. The Red and White came out in the final period with intensity and focus. Miami scored their first goal 4:15 into the third when sophomore forward Zach LaValle tipped the puck into the net amidst confusion around the crease. The goal was LaValle’s first since March of last season against Minnesota Duluth. “[Sophomore forward] Kiefer [Sherwood] cycled it down low and [freshman forward] Gordie Green got it behind the net. He threw a backhand pass to the side of the net and I just crashed,” LaValle said.

Miami put the puck past junior goaltender Tanner Jaillet again with 10:29 left in regulation. Sophomore defenseman Grant Hutton’s blue line shot ricocheted off of Jaillet’s pad right to freshman defender Jared Brandt for the slapshot goal.

The goal was Brandt’s first as a RedHawk.

The Pioneers drew a penalty after a RedHawk turnover in front of their own net with 7:47 left. Denver took a penalty seven seconds later, creating a 4-on-4.

Denver put themselves back on top with 6:04 remaining after senior defenseman Will Butcher received the puck cleanly off the faceoff, skated into the slot and ripped the puck bar down for the goal.

The Pioneers scored another goal with 3:38 remaining when a backhand shot was deflected by Gambrell and floated over Larkin’s shoulder. Larkin was pulled from the net to get an extra Miami skater on the ice with 3:20 to go. However, senior forward Emil Romig scored Denver’s final goal from center ice to finish the game at 5-2.

“We gotta be better defensively.

We gotta be better with the puck.

Away from the puck, we gotta do a HOCKEY »PAGE 8

Love, Honor, Care basketball game ends in a loss WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

KYLE STEINER

THE MIAMI STUDENT

The Miami University women’s basketball team lost a tightly contested matchup against Bowling Green State University at home on Saturday afternoon by a score of 61-59.

During the game’s festivities, the Miami women’s basketball team made an effort to raise money for Luna Cares, a local organization that aims to help women and their families as they struggle with a cancer diagnosis.

The Red and White shot 80 percent from the field in the first quarter, propelling them to an early 20-12 advantage.

The Falcons would respond in the next frame, closing the second quarter on a 21-7 run to even the game at 35 apiece headed into halftime.

The two squads struggled to score in the third quarter, as MU outscored BGSU by a slim 9-7 margin. The ’Hawks found them-

selves clinging to a 44-42 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Late in the final quarter, Bowling Green had secured a 61-56 lead with only 24 seconds left to play. Yet, Miami hung tough as a three-pointer by freshman guard Lauren Dickerson brought the game to within two.

One final open three-point look from Dickerson fell short as time expired, giving Miami its second heartbreaking loss at the buzzer.

“We got to keep believing in what we’re doing. There is still plenty of basketball left to be played,” head coach Cleve Wright said.

Dickerson had 22 points, six assists, and four rebounds for the game. Sophomore forward Kendall McCoy finished with nine points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Sophomore guard Sydney Lambert led BGSU in scoring with 20 points.

With the loss, the ’Hawks now stand at 9-18 (3-11 MAC) while the Falcons improved to 7-19 (311 MAC).

Throughout Millett Hall, community members were able to participate in a silent auction and purchase T-shirts in an effort to raise proceeds for Luna Cares.

In all, 601 people took in the festivities, many of whom were cancer survivors and family members of loved ones who have struggled with the disease.

One hundred percent of the proceeds benefitted Luna Cares as the women’s basketball team strives to reach its goal of raising $20,000 for the foundation.

Miami president Gregory Crawford and his wife, ambassador and adjunct professor Renate Crawford, took in the festivities.

“It’s really to show the love and honor of Miami. We care about you [the survivors], the whole community cares about you and we wish you well,” Renate Crawford said.

Miami returns to action on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. as they square off against the University of Akron.

BRIANNA NIXON THE MIAMI STUDENT

The RedHawks lost a tough game on Saturday to BGSU while supporting Luna Cares.

Nineteen people gathered in room 123 of Phillips Hall, 13 women and six men. Three faculty members and 16 students. Several sat next to each other, some thumbed through their phones and a couple decided to introduce themselves and chat quietly until the meeting began. Callie Maddox began to talk. The room got quiet but the enthusiasm level got louder.

It was the women’s baseball club’s first meeting at 6 p.m. on a Wednesday. Week four of school and several of the attendees coughed and yawned, but all were turned to face the PowerPoint at the front of the room. Phones were face down, some had notebooks out.

The only North American women’s collegiate baseball club is in Alberta, Canada. Maddox and Assistant Professor in SLAM Brody Ruihley are trying to create the second in North America and the first in the U.S. Girls grow up playing baseball and are then forced to switch to softball – a rare occurrence in our sports world that usually offers parallel women’s leagues.

Title IX legally allows the creation of a women’s collegiate baseball league, but supporters of women’s baseball face cultural barriers and stigmas. The attendees of the interest meeting know this and it doesn’t deter them.

“First and foremost everyone is welcome. No experience necessary, this is not necessarily about baseball,” Maddox said. “It’s about empowerment. It’s about equality.

It’s about creating something new that doesn’t exist. It’s about having this attitude of ‘Why not? We can do this. Why not? Let’s try it.’”

The meeting started with recognition of the success of women’s baseball internationally (there’s a World Cup for baseball, where the U.S. team lost in the first round this year). The enthusiasm for the sport shifted to enthusiasm for a club team at Miami.

Several of the students attending have never played baseball, or softball, before. Several have.

Othello Harris, an associate professor in sociology and gerontology, teaches classes in social justice and is interested in how the club can be part of a social movement.

“The idea of empowering women using baseball as a way to change people’s attitudes about themselves, the perceptions about their lives and what they can do -- I think that’s a great thing,” Harris said. “I think it’s incredible, absolutely.”

Harris spoke up during the meeting to share a text message from the head baseball coach at Arizona State University. From Tracy Smith came enthusiasm as a Miami alumnus, as the former head coach of Miami’s baseball team and as a supporter of the creation of a women’s club baseball team. He offered to contribute equipment and used baseballs.

Jeremy O’Brien, a junior who played for Miami Hamilton’s baseball team for the past two years, now interns in communication and media relations for Miami’s Track and Field and Cross Country teams. He wants to help Maddox with publicity and media for the club. He’s also thinking of coaching.

“I really can’t explain it, but it’s something that getting it restarted at the collegiate level is an interesting task,” O’Brien said. “If we have this many girls at our first meeting at a school like Miami, a mid-sized school, having a first meeting at Cincinnati, Ohio State, Xavier, BASEBALL »PAGE 8