November 14, 2017 | The Miami Student

ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Volume 146 No. 12

Miami University — Oxford, Ohio

OXFORD OPIOID OVERDOSES LOW FOR COUNTY OPIOID CRISIS

BONNIE MEIBERS NEWS EDITOR

Despite the toll the opioid epidemic has taken on Butler County, Oxford’s administration of Narcan — the drug used to treat narcotic overdoses in emergencies — has decreased over the last three years.

Narcan was administered 25 times in 2016, 28 the year before and 35 before that, said Oxford Fire Chief John Detherage.

This year, the Oxford Fire Department has administered Narcan 10 times from January to August, Detherage said.

“I would expect the number [of times we administer Narcan] this year to end up around 20 or 25,” Detherage added.

Narcan is the more commonly known brand name of naloxone, a CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

DeWine visits Oxford today on campaign trail

STUDENTS CAME TO VOICE THEIR CONCERNS TO MIAMI ADMINISTRATORS IN MCGUFFEY HALL LAST TUESDAY. JUGAL JAIN PHOTO EDITOR

Students, administration discuss race at Miami during Black State of the Union DIVERSITY

CÉILÍ DOYLE

ASST. NEWS EDITOR

“What is Love and Honor?”

That question guided the conversation during the Black State of the Union address, led by sophomore Jermaine Thomas and senior Jerry Shepherd at 7:11 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

The significance of the 7:11 p.m. start time was because the historically black fraternity Kappa Alpha Psi was founded in 1911, which is 7:11 in military time.

In a statement at the beginning of the forum, President Greg Crawford officially charged professor and coordinator of Black World Studies Rodney Coates with heading up a task force to answer the

OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL MIKE DEWINE. WIKICOMMONS POLITICS

broader question of how Miami students can educate one another against bigotry and hatred.

Crawford also called for immediate reflection in the Miami community following public outcry over a viral screenshot of a GroupMe message, in which first year Thomas Wright used a racial slur.

After giving his speech, Crawford left to attend the Miami v. Akron football game to honor Education Health and Society (EHS) faculty and military heroes and host the Foundation Board at Yager Stadium.

Coates is expected to report back to the administration and faculty in six months. Alongside a panel of students hand-selected by Coates, he will present new initiatives, action plans, workshops

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

A cycle of minority marginalization at Miami

EMILY WILLIAMS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DIVERSITY

Ohio Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Mike DeWine is visiting Oxford to meet with voters and discuss his plan to address the opioid crisis. The campaign stop will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. today at the Oxford Community Arts Center.

At today’s appearance, DeWine, a 1969 Miami graduate, will discuss his 12-point plan to fight the opioid crisis, “Recovery Ohio,” as well as plans for educational and economic improvements, according to a release from the DeWine campaign.

Students and community members will also have the opportunity to ask DeWine questions during the hourlong appearance.

The opioid crisis has been central to DeWine’s campaign platform since he declared his candidacy in June.

Days before announcing that he would be running for governor, DeWine announced his decision to sue five major drug manufacturers for their role in the opioid epidemic.

According to the lawsuit, the companies “helped unleash a health

and policies to address the systemic racist attitudes among members of the Miami community.

“I’ve seen us come to the same place seven to eight times almost every three to four years,” Coates said to the crowd of over 100 gathered in 322 McGuffey Hall.

“We’ve had promises, we’ve had commitments, we’ve had words, it’s time for us to have some action.”

Thomas and Shepherd also organized a panel of administrators to field questions through Twitter from the audience of students, faculty and community members by using the hashtag #WhatIsLoveAndHonor.

The panel included dean of students Mike Curme, vice president of student af-

RODNEY COATES GUEST COLUMNIST

Student protests have erupted across the breadth and scope of academia over the past several years. These protests have disrupted colleges and universities from Harvard to Yale, from the University of Wisconsin to California State. These protests, orchestrated by students, reflect the full range of groups from athletes to graduate students, from conservatives to progressives, and from students of color to feminists. Students are taking a knee and raising the flag, shouting from the streets and within classrooms. The issues have ranged from gun rights to freedom of speech, from hate speech to protected speech, from national to international politics, from ecology to community, and yes, from DACA to health care, crime and punishment and racial profiling.

The fact that these protests and concerns have been so diverse suggests that the academia is doing exactly what it is supposed to do – encouraging healthy and, at times, difficult debates. On the other hand, those protests and concerns that deal with various identity groups

“...these reflect cyclical patterns of harrassment and discrimination based on one’s race...”

-Rodney Coates, Chair of Diversity and Inclusion Task Force

raise a different set of problems for institutions. I would argue that these reflect cyclical patterns of harassment and discrimination based on one’s race, ethnicity, nationality, political beliefs, religion, gender or sexuality. If we step back from this, and look at the recent set of events that have taken place at Miami University I believe these cyclical patterns can be identified here as well.

As many of you know, students at Miami University were once again shocked to read the headline in the Student: “Student’s Slur Sparked Storm on Social Media.” Charges, protests and, ultimately, a student forum was orchestrated where students confronted the university to address what some, at best, argue is insensitivity and, at worst, “a racist culture on campus.”

A search through the Student archives over the years demonstrates the cyclical pattern our current crisis reflects. Here are just a few brief examples: As early as 1968, black students challenged Miami to change its’ “Whites only” image, and a black student argued, “Miami moves only when they feel us putting on the pressure.” As a result, in April 1968, President Shriver ordered the first Racial Climate study at Miami.

They concluded Miami had a more subtle or covert form of racism where harassment and discrimination were less than obvious as they were reflected in indifference, marginalization and isolation. Ironically, similar conclusions are identifiable almost three decades later.

In 1998, after a series of racial assaults, vandalisms and the posting of racist flyers, students demanded change.

After a series of protests, the university reluctantly did a climate survey, which concluded that our campus reflects several racial, sexualized, cultural and gendered islands where like-minded/identified students congregate. In addition, when crises occur, they tend to coincide with various identity groups that are even further marginalized. In the proCONTINUED ON PAGE 3

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

NEWS P.2

OXFORD ELECTION RESULTS The results of this year’s highly contested city council race.

CULTURE P.5

FUN WITH JAPANESE COOKING Spend an evening making okonomiyaki with the JLCL.

ENTERTAINMENT P. 7

SWIFT RECLAIMS ‘REPUTATION’ Release marks the end of a year of negative headlines and public feuds.

OPINION P.10

SPORTS P.12

‘MY DISABILITY DOES NOT DEFINE ME’

FIELD HOCKEY MAKES HISTORY

An unusual interaction prompts an editor’s Opinion page debut.

The team made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.

RACE at MIAMI PAGE 3

2 NEWS

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017

COUNCIL, SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION RESULTS ELECTION

JACK EVANS JAKE GOLD

THE MIAMI STUDENT

The Butler County Board of Elections called the contentious Oxford city council race at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night. The winning candidates were the four endorsed by the Butler County

Progressive PAC: David Prytherch, an urban planning professor at Miami, won 20.24 percent of the vote.

Edna Southard, former professor at Miami and incumbent councilor, won 17.46 percent of the vote.

Chantel Raghu, an activist and veterinarian, won 15.82 percent of the vote.

Mike Smith, incumbent vice

JAKE GOLD

ASST. NEWS EDITOR

Though the reintroduced campus climate survey failed to garner the student response rate required for in-depth analysis, the employee response rate — 58 percent of staff and 60 percent of faculty — is high enough to permit the surveying agency, Rankin & Associates, to do cross-cutting demographic analyses of paid employees.

Students responded at significantly lower rates — 17.7 percent for undergraduates and 26.9 percent for graduate students — that will not allow the same demographic breakdowns.

The agency will still be able to conduct a professional analysis for next semester, said director of University News and Communications Claire Wagner.

STAY UP-TODATE ON ALL BREAKING NEWS FOLLOW @MIAMISTUDENT ON TWITTER

of Education. Incumbent Mary Jane Roberts won just over a quarter of the vote. Pat Meade, who has been a teacher for Butler Technical and Career Development Schools for 29 years and is the chair of the Oxford Police Community Relations and Review Commission, won 32 percent of the vote.

Two incumbents secured another term on Oxford Town-

ship’s council. Norma Pennock received about 36 percent of the vote and Gary R. Salmon won 30 percent. Their challengers, Matthew D. Franke and Peter McCarthy, won 14 and 21 percent of the vote, respectively.

Keep an eye on miamistudent. net for continuing coverage of the freshly-elected local officials. goldjb@miamioh.edu evansjm4@miamioh.edu

Enquirer journalists discuss ‘Seven Days of Heroin’

Climate Survey: Faculty, staff response rates to be used SURVEY

mayor, won 15.80 percent of the vote.

The published election results did not include provisional ballots, which will be counted in the coming days. However, it is unlikely that the provisional ballots will alter the outcome of the election.

One incumbent and one newcomer were elected to the Talawanda School District Board

LECTURE

BEN FINFROCK

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Journalists from The Cincinnati Enquirer visited campus Thursday to share their experience of reporting on the frontlines of Ohio’s heroin epidemic.

Dan Horn, Carrie Cochran and Amy Wilson, spoke on Thursday, Nov. 9 to discuss “Seven Days of Heroin,” a story published in September that chronicled the lives of several heroin addicts and their loved ones throughout a single week.

The inspiration behind the article came about two years prior when Horn was on assignment in a jail and saw a woman in the booking area.

She displayed distinct behaviors of a heroin addict, such as nodding her head up and down.

The woman was set to get out in a couple of hours, and when Horn asked her what she would do upon release, she replied, “I’m gonna get high.”

This incident sparked the idea for their article as well as the 30-minute documentary produced in conjunction to the story.

Scenes from this documentary, “Seven Days of Heroin, This is What an Epidemic Looks Like,” played behind the writers as they spoke, showing images of people overdosing, treatment centers and family members discovering their loved ones had died.

The Enquirer covered the heroin epidemic in Cincinnati, Middletown, West Chester, Norwood and Hamilton, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky.

Journalists at the Enquirer spent a week following the day-

DAN HORN, CARRIE COCHRAN AND AMY WILSON SPEAK TO STUDENTS IN McGUFFEY HALL. JUGAL JAIN PHOTO EDITOR

by-day habits of drug addicts, law enforcement, family members and survivors in order to present an hourly breakdown of how the heroin epidemic affects the daily lives of people in these cities.

The article was viewed over one million times during its first week, and received praise from senators Rob Portman, Sherrod Brown, and Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington.

Huffington tweeted: “Amazing and moving piece by the Cincinnati @Enquirer on the heroin epidemic. Great example of the value of local press.”

The story required a significant amount of planning before reporters were sent out to cover the epidemic.

At one point during the lecture,

Cochran presented the audience with a Google Sheet containing an hourly schedule of the Enquirer’s reporting.

“We staffed ride-alongs every day of the week to try to catch something,” Cochran said.

The reporters wanted to show the severity of the heroin epidemic and present it in a way that would impact people.

“We stopped seeing it in a human way,” said Horn. “The hope was by doing this we could just show this moment in time, with these little moments in time, within the frame of a week in time and say, ‘every week this is out there, every week people are out there doing this and living this.’”

During their week of documentation, one reporter even joked

that they could write 130 inches on their subject.

However, much of their reporting was cut during the editing process to focus on telling the story.

“We’re not here to tell the life story of people in these moments,” said Horn. “We’re here to tell a story and heroin is the protagonist of this story.”

The reporters at the Enquirer are proud of their story and its impact on readers.

They encouraged young journalists to be ambitious when searching for stories.

“It really is a matter of you saying, ‘I have a vision and this is what it looks like and it’s going to happen,’” said Wilson. finfrobd@miamioh.edu

On-campus blue lights rarely used for emergencies CAMPUS

KIRBY DAVIS

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Since Jan. 1 of this year, the blue emergency lights around campus have been used to contact the MUPD 20 times. One of these calls was to report a stray manhole cover, and several others were to request vehicle assistance or directions. None were crime-related emergencies.

But Cpt. Ben Spilman of the Miami University Police Department (MUPD) said they still serve a purpose, even if it is just to comfort current and prospective students, as well as their parents.

“I think that people expect to see them on campus,” said Spilman. “I think that if we had a campus that did not have any at all, people would wonder, where are they, why do we not have them, or what is in place to take their place?”

Director of Admissions Susan Schaurer cited the blue emergency lights as a safety measure tour guides discuss with prospective students and parents, but junior guide Vivian Drury said they’re not usually something people inquire further about.

“We always talk about them on campus and point them out,” said Drury. “Parents ask more generally just about campus safety.”

The blue light-topped structures were installed three

years ago at $10,000 apiece, replacing outdated yellow call boxes. They now stand at 17 locations across campus, from slant walk to Ditmer Field, and each has the ability to broadcast MUPD alerts and provide Wi-Fi outdoors.

“In replacing these, we wanted to make sure they served more of a purpose than just being a place where somebody would go to push a button to get help,” said Spilman, “because we knew that that didn’t happen all that often anyway.”

Spilman says he can recall the boxes being used more frequently, before everyone had a cell phone, but those instances were still “few and far between.”

They occur even less now. Spilman said he can’t recall a time when he’s responded to crime-related emergency circumstances at any of the boxes, but the MUPD is accustomed to car trouble assistance, people in need of directions and prank calls. The box that generates the most calls isn’t even on campus, but one situated in Peffer Park, and it’s usually kids pushing the button as a joke.

Even if they’re summoned to a box to find the caller gone, however, Spilman said he doesn’t see it as a total loss because it still gives the MUPD the chance to patrol the area. They’ll also likely come in handy, he said, in the case of a campus-wide emergency. In an emergency messaging system test conducted earlier this year, the MUPD found that most students were outside and would have been able to hear a message broadcasted by the call boxes if they weren’t checking their phones.

“There will probably be a time in the future where

THE BLUE EMERGENCY LIGHTS HAVE BEEN USED JUST 20 TIMES THIS YEAR. JUGAL JAIN PHOTO EDITOR

they’re just completely outdated, you know, where you don’t have something like that in public spaces,” said Spilman. “But I think right now that’s kind of what’s expected on campus.” daviskn3@miamioh.edu

V EE N N TT SS TT H H II SS W W EE EE K K EE V Bob Ross & Chill Armstrong 1066 Tuesday, 7 - 11 p.m.

Need to relax? In the mood for creative expression? Find some peace by turning errant brush strokes into happy little trees. Canvases and all supplies will be provided for free by Miami Activities & Programming. This event marks the return of the organization’s craft series.

‘Gathering Blue’ Gates-Abegglen Theatre Opens Wednesday, 7:30 - 9 p.m.

Come enjoy the Theatre Department’s performance of Lois Lowry’s novel “Gathering Blue.” Set in the same dystopian universe as Lowry’s “The Giver,” this story follows the recently-orphaned Kira as she navigates her way through a society that spurns the weak and the suffering.

Cuban Music & Fare

‘Love Letters to Ella’

Heritage Room, Shriver Center Thursday, 6 - 9 p.m.

Hall Auditorium Friday & Saturday, 7:30 - 10 p.m.

Professor Thomas George Caracas Garcia, of the Department of Music & Latin American, Latino/a and Caribbean Studies, will be giving a lecture, “Salsa Picante with Rice and Beans: Cuban Music in a New Global Context.” Following the lecture, a Cuban dinner will be served.

In a centennial tribute to famed jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, “Grand Night: Love Letters to Ella,” 28 vocalists will be joined by 18 of the region’s finest jazz musicians and renowned guest artists to provide a memorable evening celebrating the First Lady of Song.

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Race at Miami

3

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Things got a little tense last Tuesday night in McGuffey Hall. During the Black State of the Union, students and a handful of administrators had a discussion with a level of frankness we don’t often see.

People were upset. Some were angry. Overall, students wanted answers: Was the university going to take this most recent incidence of racism and others like it seriously?

That tension meant something important, though: People care — administrators, faculty and students — but there are gaps of understanding that need to

be bridged.

As Rodney Coates, professor and chair of the Presidential Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion, writes in his column, these efforts to address racism are cyclical. With each new cohort of students, we see acts of racial discrimination and injustice, and though they’re addressed in the short-term, they inevitably resurface.

So what can we do to quell that recurring wave of harassment and discrimination? How can we move past short-term solutions and affect lasting change?

We don’t know. No one person knows. But we at The Student are confident these discussions are worthwhile and can provide tangible results that can improve the campus climate for current and future students.

We want the pages of The Miami Student to be a place where this discussion continues. Do you have something to say about race at Miami? Let us know.

Go to miamistudent.net/submit or email eic@miamistudent with your questions or thoughts.

BLACK STATE OF THE UNION JERRY SHEPHERD JERMAINE THOMAS GUEST COLUMNISTS

STUDENTS JERRY SHEPHERD AND JERMAINE THOMAS LED THE DISCUSSION AT THE BLACK STATE OF THE UNION. JUGAL JAIN PHOTO EDITOR

Students, administration discuss race at Miami CONTINUED FROM P.1

fairs Jayne Brownell, assistant vice president of student affairs and ASG advisor Scott Walter and director of the office of diversity affairs Kelley Kimple.

The vice president for institutional diversity, Ronald Scott, was notably absent from the forum.

A large portion of the Q & A between the panel of administrators and the largely African-American student audience was dedicated to discussing whether or not Wright would be punished by the university for using a racial slur in a group message.

Brownell explained that, since the language was not used as a direct threat to another individual, the student’s First Amendment rights protect that speech.

“We cannot punish expression,” Brownell said. “Because it isn’t a violation of the code. There are voluntary things we can recommend or encourage, but

there isn’t a sanction we can mandate.”

Student activist and sophomore Clara Guerra disagreed with the university’s position that the university should be focusing on education over punishment.

“The norm is of that student, and that’s what we want to address, “ Guerra said.

“So, changing the conscience of this one student, it may make us feel good, but it won’t change anything. The problem is the hundreds of other students who won’t do anything about it and who think the same way as he does.”

One of the questions raised through Twitter was whether or not the Code of Love & Honor had the same power as the Code of Conduct.

“The Code of Love & Honor is an aspiration,” Curme said. “Yet, that is the expectation students and faculty should have when they come here. There is a gap, however, between that aspiration and reality.”

Several community members were

also in attendance including Oxford’s NAACP chapter president Fran Jackson as well as chairman of Oxford’s police oversight commission, Pat Meade.

Another black student, who was a junior, asked how it was possible that he had taken over 130 credit hours at Miami, yet had never sat down in a classroom and looked up to a see a professor who looked like him.

Near the end of the forum, Kimple addressed many of the students’ concerns on an optimistic note.

“You are here, you are present and we want you to have the best experience you possibly can,” Kimple said. “I’m always very honest with students. There are places where you can find your niche...we are trying to work toward making your voices be heard and I hope you will be able to help us out in trying to strive towards excellence.” doyleca3@miamioh.edu

A cycle of minority marginalization at Miami CONTINUED FROM P.1

cess, the survey documented that Miami’s culture was decidedly indifferent, insensitive, ambiguous and, particularly for students of color, produced a climate that was at best described as“chilly.”

Another task force, in 2005, concluded, “Students of color connect, for the most part, with “multicultural resources.” Women students feel they must conform to an “image,” and GLBT students remain “invisible.”

In 2010, homophobic attacks, both on and off campus, nooses in dorms and off-campus “ghetto” parties and festivals highlighted the continued and multi-pronged set of issues facing GBLT students and students of color.

Additionally, as late as 2016, a random posting of flyers surfaced which promoted racist, misogynistic and homophobic views and ideas.

All of these actions across the decades document a constancy of these incidents; it documents the constancy of the problems and concerns; and the constancy of victimization to our students. All of these actions also demonstrate a constancy of institutional responses in reaction to these events, issues and concerns. The consistent, even cyclical, patterns of these events suggest that perhaps our responses require approaches that are more deliberate, holistic and sustain-

able.

Cyclical patterns of harassment and discrimination based on one’s race, ethnicity, nationality, political beliefs, religion, gender or sexuality demonstrate that the problems are structural and not behavioral. Therefore, while many of our responses have produced difficult conversations, workshops, lecture series, etc., we have not come to grips with what appears to be the constancy of the patterns.

One thing that the cyclical patterns demonstrate is a “cohort” effect. This cohort effect, reflecting the reality that every three to four years we have a substantially new set of students at Miami, explains the patterning of these events. In addition, many of our efforts in the past have been in responses to specific incidents of harassment and discrimination, affecting a specific set of students. This also suggests a kind of fragmentation with respects to our responses. Thus, after an “event” we ramp up institutional resources to effectively educate, sensitize, and socialize a given cohort of students to the problems associated with various forms of bias. As effective as these strategies might be in the short term, they may have limited impact on the next wave of students.

President Crawford, in establishing the 2017 Presidential Task Force on Inclusion and Diversity, provided

the following charge that will guide us as we move forward: “… We need to develop a strategic vision that encompasses the entire Miami community. We have talked about this vision, which I term inclusive excellence, but now we must articulate what it means in practical, operational terms. …We need to ask a new set of questions, engaging all voices. We need to hear from the full scope of Miami. We set the stage for this initiative through our diversity statement and our overarching commitment to diversity, through events and programs. What must we do to educate others against this bigotry and division? What lessons should be required? How can our Miami Plan help educate more students to understand racism in our university and our country? How can we best leverage our faculty expertise? If you want to engage diversity and inclusion events and programs on this campus, you have many options – but how do we reach the entire Miami community. . . .”

Join us as we move forward – for Love and Honor.

RODNEY D. COATES Chair of the Presidential Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion coatesrd@miamioh.edu

We want to thank everyone who participated in the Black State of the Union last Tuesday. It was an important event for many reasons.

Mainly, we need more opportunities to speak directly with the administration. We need the administration to be more transparent with the students.

We feel that there is a disconnect between the students and the administration. We have noticed that this community feels detached from the higher-ups at Miami University.

At a school with 16,000 students, that is to be expected. At the end of the day, not everyone will have the chance to meet with the faculty members who were present on the panel this past Tuesday. And that is one reason why we felt this event was important. There are some things that our community needed to hear straight from the administration.

Specifically, we needed to hear from the administration why the student who used a racial slur in a GroupMe message could not be removed from the community.

We feel as though dean of students Mike Curme said it best when he said that removing the student from the Miami community would be the equivalent of taking a cup of water from a full tub. What he means by that is, removing a little bit of toxicity from a community will not do any good when the rest of the community still has the same issues.

We must work to change this institution from the inside out.

That means changing freshman education courses and putting racial awareness education into things like orientation and Welcome Weekend.

That’s why we believe it is important to work with the administration and not against them.

We, as members of the Kappa Delta Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. thought it was extremely important to have an event like this one.

Initially, our idea was somewhat different from the event that took place last Tuesday, although the plan was still to touch upon similar themes with regards to racism on campus. However, after the unfortunate incident, we wanted to focus on how can we turn this negative occurrence into a long-lasting positive impact for the community.

We believed it was very important to let the voices of all students be heard in a collective manner in front of administration.

Students, faculty and staff had the opportunity to voice their questions and concerns through the #WhatIsLoveAndHonor. The hashtag was monitored throughout the forum and several of the posts were presented directly to the panel.

Furthermore, we believe that it should not require an incident like this to occur to have these types of discussions. We know they have happened in the past, and they will inevitably happen again.

Therefore, our overall goal was to start the conversation once again, with the hope that others would pick it up and keep it at the forefront of the university’s mind, as opposed to discussing it in the moment and forgetting about it until the next incident.

Hopefully, we all now know that this was not the end goal, but merely the beginning to an institutional problem that must be addressed.

thomasjw@miamioh.edu shephejt@miamioh.edu

4 NEWS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

‘OXFORD EMPTY BOWLS’ FILLS PANTRY FUNDS COMMUNITY

ASHLEY HETHERINGTON THE MIAMI STUDENT

Hundreds of families and friends of the Oxford community embraced the crisp fall air on Saturday, Nov. 15, waiting for 15th annual Oxford Empty Bowls to begin. Upon entering the Community Arts Center, individuals could select one out of 1,3000 uniquely decorated bowls.

The benefit soup luncheon, led by Connie Malone, Alice Laatsch and Ann Wengler, raises money and awareness for food insecurity in the Oxford community. Each patron pays $10 and gets to enjoy a warm lunch with fellow community members.

Because this event isn’t associated with a particular group, Malone believes it helps the attendance.

“We are not part of a group, club, church, organization,” Malone said. “So consequently, I think everybody feels welcome to attend and everybody feels welcome to help out.”

About 27 years ago, John Hartom, an art teacher from Michigan, saw an opportunity to engage his students in a fun and creative service learning project. He prompted his students to make bowls and put together a simple lunch of bread and soup. With that, Empty Bowls was born.

“John told me that they owned it for about 3 hours, and now thousands of people own it,” Malone said. “They couldn’t be happier.”

In 2002, Empty Bowls sprung into the Oxford Community. Laatsch and Camilla Flinterman, started this effort,

and Malone joined a year later.

The team worked side by side for several years until Flinterman passed away. Wengler joined the team soon after and the three have been running the event together ever since.

“We made $2,000 in our first year and thought that this could be a big deal,” Laatsch said.

This year, they raised around $9,000 Malone said.

Cooks from all over the Oxford community donate soup to the effort. Around 240 volunteers eagerly greeted people and served soup, bread and desserts to hungry patrons.

Additionally, several corporate sponsors funded the communal effort such as La Rosa’s, the Miami University Credit Union, Skyline, the Knolls of Oxford, the Oxford Rotary Club and Oxford Coffee Company.

“It’s a collective, collaborative engagement,” Malone said.

You’re Fired! puts forth an avenue where different groups in the Oxford community can paint and create hand-crafted bowls. These are donated by the ACE Program (American Culture and English), Wilks Leadership Institute, Talawanda Middle School Honors Society and Church of Latter Day Saints youth group.

Laatsch believes this diverse participation unifies the community.

“We have a bowl donated from You’re Fired! and on it is a child’s name and three years written underneath,” Laatsch said. “And one of the bowls from the Bowl-A-Thon is from a former art professor in his nineties. So we have bowl-makers from three years to 93.”

Handmade bowls were pro-

vided by a Bowl-A-Thon, an event where potters, Miami students and university faculty and staff gathered for a total of 99 hours to create 308 bowls.

“I have no artistic talent whatsoever, but thank goodness so many people do,” Malone said.

Malone said she runs the event by four main goals.

“The first is to raise money for the Oxford Community Choice Pantry, to provide food for those that are hungry,” Malone said. “We also want to raise awareness for these issues both locally and globally.

We want to build community and engage the arts in a service learning project.”

In Talawanda schools alone, about one-third of students are food-insecure.

According to an article in DataUSA, 47 percent of the population in Oxford live below the poverty line, a number much higher than the national average of 14.7 percent.

“Think about going to school and eating breakfast and lunch at that school, and the next time you eat is when you go to school the next day,” Malone said. “That’s the reality we are facing here.”

Malone believes the university town and the student population conceal the harsh reality of food-insecurity in the Oxford community, making it even more important to tackle.

“This event raises awareness for the community.” Malone said. “This problem is not something you see because it’s a university town, but it’s here.”

Empty Bowls directly benefits the Oxford Community Choice Pantry to attack this issue. Laatsch has seen Oxford’s

NEIGHBORS GATHER AT OXFORD COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER FOR POTTERY SWAP CONTRIBUTED BY: DAVID MALONE

problem as a shopping assistant in the pantry, driving her passion for the local matter.

Oxford Community Choice Pantry resembles a mom-andpop grocery store. The donated assortments fit in rows based on food groups and family size, so families can choose according to needs. The pantry works

MedLife makes ‘Pads for a Purpose’ HEALTH

RACHEL BERRY

THE MIAMI STUDENT

This January, women in Ecuador will get to use pads handcrafted by students at Miami University.

Miami’s chapter of Medlife will meet in Armstrong tonight to sew reusable pads as part of the Pads for a Purpose project.

Medlife is a national organization dedicated to providing medicine, education and development for low income families both locally and globally.

Miami’s club got the idea for the project from a group of students at another university and was inspired to make them last year for a trip they took to Tanzania. The project was a success, making over a hundred pads, so they decided to continue it this year as well.

At the event, people will be given a kit with all the materials they need to make a single pad, including cotton and different layers of fabric.

“We’ll kind of layer them in the way that they need to be sown,” Ellie Sidler, Medlife president, said. “Then, once they kind of sew all the way around the edge of the pad, they kind of flip them out and stuff the cotton inside.”

Some of the Medlife students will take the finished pads on their upcoming trip to Ecuador this J-Term.

While the project is organized

by Medlife, the Women’s Center is providing financial support to buy materials.

“I’m just so glad that medlife is doing this project,” Rhonda Jackson, administration assistant at the Women’s Center, said. “I think it’s an amazing project. I think it’s a project that

engages students in a very ethereal creative way but also serves an amazing need … The work they’re doing is so essential in creating a better world and to advocate for the young girls and women.”

Medlife began this initiative because of the conditions women have to endure while on their period, especially in developing countries.

Stephanie Schmitt, secretary of Medlife, said oftentimes in certain countries, women are forced to sit in their houses by themselves for a week every month and are not allowed to come into contact with others or even to go to school, which puts them extremely behind in their education.

“I think periods are taboo in our country, but in other countries it’s basically unspeakable,” Schmitt said. “It’s hard enough already in Tanzania and other

places where women are sort of oppressed, and you take something like this that’s so unspeakable, and they can’t even go to school … They don’t have any feminine products.”

Last year the project only allowed women to participate, but this year, the men on the executive board of Medlife questioned why they were not allowed to join, leading the event to be opened to everyone.

“We were all just kind of like ‘Why didn’t guys go?’ ‘Why not?’” junior Harley Vossler said. “I don’t have a problem doing it, so now we’re like of course everybody come do it. It’s kind of silly not to. There’s just such a bigger purpose. We’re all adults.

We should be really focused on what we’re doing and how we’re helping people.” berryrd@miamioh.edu

Students buy into new Blockchain Club STUDENT ORGS

BRIANNA PORTER

THE MIAMI STUDENT

When HSBC surveyed consumers in May 2017 about recent advances in financial technologies, 59 percent had never heard of “blockchain.” Of the consumers that had, 80 percent couldn’t explain what it does.

Miami is not immune, and several students — sophomores Patrick Young and Jacob Salerno — were out to change that. They had an idea early last year that eventually became Miami University Blockchain Club, founded to increase awareness and interest in blockchain in the Miami Community.

Blockchain is a technology that keeps information about money or document exchanges. It independently verifies the identities and exchanges when transfers occur. The records are secured with strong cryptography, making blockchain an uncompromisable ledger of economic transactions.

The security and independent verification also open the door for other business use cases.

Young and Salerno wanted to spread the word about this new technology and make it accessible to students at Miami.

In order to determine whether or not people would be interested in the club, Young and Salerno got in contact with some people who knew a bit about blockchain.

One of those people was John Zottola, a junior business student.

Young introduced blockchain to to Zottola in the spring of their sophomore year, and it intrigued him.

“Over the summer, I was monitoring it, learning a little bit more about it, trying to figure out what exactly it does,” Zottola said.

They proposed the club to Jeffrey Merhout, an information systems and analytics professor, who volunteered to advise the club.

Merhout is a faculty adviser to two other clubs, ISACA and Alpha Kappa Psi. “I’m very interested in the topic of blockchain,” Merhout said. “We thought that someone from our department should be involved as an adviser because it just fits in naturally with information systems. I volunteered.”

When Young told Zottola in September that he was starting the

ILLUSTRATION BY KAT HOLLERAN THE MIAMI STUDENT

organization, he joined right away.

He was one of the initial twenty members of the club. Today, there are 115 members.

“Our initial purpose as an organization is to spread this understanding and help people conceptualize what blockchain is, how it’s playing role in our world and how it’s going to shape the world moving forward,” Young said.

MUBC hosts blockchain updates, group discussions, competitions and workshops to engage their members. One of the competitions includes a group of three to five members tracking a lesser-known cryptocurrency

throughout the year and monitoring its performance.

They also try and connect their members with business executives so they have access to internships and possible careers in the future.

“The biggest thing I’m able to get out of it is that I’m always being informed on the way this technology is moving and the impacts it’s having in everyday business,” Zottola said.

Students interested in MUBC can contact an executive member, look at their website (mubc.io) or find them on the Hub. porterb@miamioh.edu

to reduce hunger and give nutrition education to households in the Talawanda School District.

“I know what the money does,” Laatsch said. “The hunger and homeless awareness come close to my heart.” hetheram@miamioh.edu

ASG votes for flexibility of food funds ASG

JAKE GOLD

ASST. NEWS EDITOR

ASG voted on Tuesday to pass a resolution supporting “flexible” buffet swipes, where a swipe can be exchanged for up to $12 in dining dollars. The senate doesn’t have the power to unilaterally change the meal plan, but ASG is a member of the dining committee, so this bill can trigger negotiations between Dining Services and ASG. The bill, co-authored by five on-campus senators and sponsored by five senators and the secretary for on-campus affairs, proposes that ASG endorses a system where at least 25 percent of meal swipes can be converted to declining balance at the time of transaction.

The maximum value of a single swipe is $12, but the value is rounded up to the nearest swipe — anything less than $10 costs a full swipe. The remaining balance is forfeited.

Initially, the bill offered “no more than 25 percent” of swipes being eligible for flexibility and a dollar value of $10 per swipe. Sen. Zoe Douglas proposed an amendment changing the dollar value of a swipe to $12 and increasing the limit to “no less than 35 percent.” The amendment was voted down, but a follow-up amendment by Sen. Sarah Siegel that proposed $12 swipes and “no more than 25 percent,” was approved by the senate.

Brian Woodruff, the director of the H.O.M.E. Office, supported the initial version of the bill, said Sen. Mike Meleka, an author on the bill. The bill’s authors are meeting with Woodruff to discuss possibility for implementation.

The resolution passed with 43 votes for and two abstentions. goldjb@miamioh.edu @jake_gold

PERELMAK@MIAMIOH.EDU

CULTURE 5

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017

A night of celebrating culture with okonomiyaki FOOD

DUARD HEADLEY

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Would-be studiers looked on in awe last Friday as the Armstrong Community Kitchen was taken over by a gaggle of motivated Miamians — chopping cabbage, slicing shrimp and whisking batter in a flurry of culinary activity.

The cause of this unusual scene was the Miami University Japanese Culture and Language Club’s annual cooking night. In what has become a club tradition, members gathered in the Armstrong Lounge to cook, laugh and celebrate Japanese culture through authentic cuisine. This year the club also partnered with

Signal, Miami’s Chinese Culture Club, to bolster attendance and foster a connection between the two clubs.

“In past years we’ve made sushi, but not everyone is a fan of that, so this year we decided to cook something different,” said Danielle Rymers, JCLC’s president.

She describes the decided-upon dish as a savory Japanese pancake, made with stuffed cabbage, onions and various kinds of meat. Its name: Okonomiyaki.

As the cooking process continued, members of the club laughed and joked with one another, with topics ranging from Japanese onomatopoeia and the cultural origins of okonomiyaki, to the comical tragedy of the club only possessing a single knife

with which to cook an entire dish.

Members of Signal and JCLC mingled, and within the lighthearted atmosphere of the kitchen, conversations in Chinese, Japanese and English all flowed together freely.

In total there were around 15 people packed into the small kitchen, all clamoring to get a better view of the cooking taking place.

When asked about club attendance, Danielle claimed that it varied from event to event.

“Our biggest event of the year is ‘Shinnenkai,’” she said, referring to the Japanese new year celebration. “Usually around 50 people come out for that. For other events, it varies. But in general, if there’s food involved,

people will come.”

Until recently, JCLC and MU Anime Club were a single organization, before splitting apart a few years ago. After the two clubs separated, JCLC membership dropped as people interested more in Japanese pop culture left with the Anime Club.

The dip in membership certainly didn’t seem to dampen any spirits though, as the cooking night was full of people laughing and carrying on happily with casualness and camaraderie.

“The best thing about this club is the people,” said Monica, the club’s event planner. “Everyone here is really casual and fun.”

Monica said she joined JCLC after her professors recommended it, and found it a fun, welcoming environment.

Eventually, after recipies had been consulted and everything had been prepared, the okonomiyaki was completed, and people set about enjoying the fruits of their labor.

The sizzling dish was a welcome departure from dining hall meals and Easy Mac, and people tucked in eagerly after a long night of cooking.

Directly across the hall from Pulley, where students sat eating chicken tenders and cheeseburgers, a dish originating from Osaka, Japan, was cooked and consumed by a club celebrating Japanese culture.

headledd@miamioh.edu

Humans of Oxford Maeve Collins: Following familiar footsteps

Joey Royer and Joseph Ivan: Playing the same tune

SEBASTIAN NEUFUSS THE MIAMI STUDENT

PEOPLE

ZOEY BECKER

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Maeve Collins isn’t the first. Every time she takes a step on campus, she knows her parents, cousins and uncles have taken the exact same walk as her.

Every building she walks into, every club she joins and every class she attends, she isn’t the first out of her family to do so.

She feels the pressure to become a merger like her parents, to attend a top-level graduate school like her mother, to have as much fun as her uncle did on campus.

Does she want to rush a sorority like her cousin? Does she want to be here for five years like her father? She doesn’t know.

Maeve has always considered herself different than her parents. She has different ideals than them, a different personality and interests.

Her parents have been telling her the story of how they met at freshman orientation for as long as she could remember, and she got sick of the story fast. While the love story was cute, she never saw her future at Miami. She wanted to live a different life than all her relatives did.

So, when it was finally time for her to chose her own path, she applied to six schools scattered all over the country.

New Orleans, Ann Arbor, Dallas, Boulder, Memphis. She never thought she would end up in Oxford.

Yet, here she is. Life is funny like that sometimes.

She doesn’t complain anymore when she hears her parents merger story. She likes visiting her cousin and her two kids — a little Miami family.

Most of all, she likes knowing that even though she’ll never be the first to walk these halls, she will never be alone at this school as long as her family’s memories are still here. beckerzf@miamioh.edu

JUGAL JAIN PHOTO EDITOR

PEOPLE

MADDIE TOOLE

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Freshmen Joey Royer and Joseph Ivan have more in common than their first names.

Joseph Ivan was homeschooled from kindergarten to 10th grade. He participated in pep band and musical theater at Miami Valley Christian Academy throughout his first two years of high school.

Joey Royer was a student at Batavia High School when Joseph enrolled there in the 11th grade. There Joey was a member of the pep, marching, jazz and concert bands.

They attended the same high school for two years, a high school that consisted of only 170 students in the graduating class of 2017.

They also participated in College Credit Plus at University of Cincinnati’s Clermont campus at the same time.

They have both played the piano for thirteen years. Joey plays because he has always had a natural interest in music, and Joseph plays because his mother once forced him to, and he never stopped.

They attended the same Music Day at Miami and later both chose to make Miami University their home.

They now live in the same residence hall, on the same floor, next door to each other.

They both decided to be music majors — one Piano Performance and one Music Education, both with specialties in piano.

They share three of the same classes: Music Theory, History of Jazz and Piano Studio.

They say they feel like they have known each other forever. But they had never met until they moved into Miami.

And one of them said, “Hi, I’m Joseph and I am from Batavia, Ohio.”

And the other said, “No way!”

toolemb@miamioh.edu

Literary throwback sparks nostalgia in students STUDENT LIFE

HANNAH WILLIAMS THE MIAMI STUDENT

Students gathered in the new wing of Armstrong Thursday to relive a part of their childhood. The conference room boasted tables full of craft materials and beloved 90s-kid book series, while the distinct soundtrack of Smash Mouth and “...Baby One More Time”-era Britney filled the air.

The two-hour Late Night Miami event was a collaborative effort between King Library and the Oxford Lane Public Library with the ultimate goal of rekindling the nostalgic flame college students feel for the less complicated times, when “reading for fun” was the only kind of reading they had to do.

The event revolved around five key book series: “The Boxcar Children,” “The Babysitter’s Club,” “Captain Underpants,” “Dear America” and “Goosebumps.”

King librarian Laura Birkenhauer said that they wanted to choose a good mix of series, rather than single novels, so that people would be

more likely to have read them.

Each book series was displayed at a table along with the materials for the associated crafts. The craft for the diary-format “Dear America” series, for instance, was bullet journals, a trendy planner-diary hybrid.

“We wanted to pick things that were nostalgic and make them relevant and current and functional,” said Birkenhauer.

The “Babysitter’s Club” table was host to a variety of friendship bracelet materials, a staple of early childhood jewelry for many 90s kids. The “Boxcar Children” station included button-making, while attendees could make their own Captain Underpants at its table, and make a slime paint necklace for the “Goosebumps” series.

Both 90s kids themselves, Birkenhauer and Lane Library coordinator Keely Moloney said it felt nostalgic to pick out the books and crafts.

“That was like my thing, getting all the ‘Boxcar Children’ books,” Moloney said. “‘Babysitter’s Club’ was my number one,” Birkenhauer said, recalling her childhood love of

the series. “I always wanted to be Claudia, but I think I was really more of a Stacey.”

Students were also strongly affected by the throwback.

“The event was very nostalgic for me,” said junior Emily Ward.

“I hadn’t read all the books they displayed at the tables, but I recognized them all. I felt like I was back in elementary school.”

Though the selection of novels was a reminiscent bunch, there was one popular series that was noticeably missing: “Harry Potter.”

“I think it wasn’t included as a main part of the event because it’s more for all ages than it is specifically for children,” said Ward. “It’s also an obvious favorite, so they probably wanted to feature other series that are kind of taken for granted, in that everyone knows about them, but no one really talks about them anymore, which I can appreciate.”

For junior Julie Frymier, the event was not only rooted in memory, but was also a break from the monotony of studying.

“It was a nice stress reliever,” said Frymier. “Especially the bul-

A STUDENT AT THE LITERARY EVENT ENJOYS REFRESHMENTS AND A GOOD BOOK MACY WHITAKER THE MIAMI STUDENT

let journals.”

Moloney also created a recommendation list of adult-level books based on the series featured at the

event, giving participants an easy way to relive their childhood reading experiences. williahe@miamioh.edu

6 CULTURE

PERELMAK@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017

REDHAWK RADIO HOSTS SECOND ANNUAL ‘COLD SNAP’ MUSIC

MADDIE TOOLE

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Four up-and-coming artists each climbed onto the tiny stage at Kofenya Friday night for RedHawk Radio’s second annual “Cold Snap.” These talents collided at the Uptown coffee staple to produce an eclectic atmosphere perfect for a night of artsy ballads.

Last year, WMSR, or RedHawk Radio, hosted its first-ever “Cold Snap,” a mini music fest where four artists came together to create a night of musical discovery in the cozy coffee house. Nearly 100 people stopped by to listen to the band of entertainers. This year, the radio station invited Told Slant, Yowler, Molly Soda and Marjorie Lee to perform at the concert event.

The brain behind this year’s “Cold Snap” was junior Rebecca Sowell, a music director at RedHawk Radio. As a music director, she works to organize local shows and concerts around Oxford.

Sowell, a longtime fan of Told Slant, offered to host them after seeing a tweet about their desire to perform at colleges.

She became even more excited when she discovered they were touring with Yowler and internet celebrity/visual artist Molly Soda. Then she contacted Marjorie Lee to be the fourth act.

“Above all, my primary goal is for the audience to feel touched and inspired by the music,” Sowell said.

Marjorie Lee, lead singer of the Cincinnati band, The Lovers, opened the show. An Oxford native, she said it felt odd to be performing in her hometown, on such a familiar stage. She performed

MAIN ACT OF THE NIGHT, TOLD SLANT, CAPTIVATTES THE AUDIENCE AT COLD SNAP CONCERT AT KOFENYA BO BRUECK ASST. PHOTO EDITOR

heartfelt pop that captured the attention of passersby and an audience began to trickle in.

The second act of the night was Molly Soda, a visual artist and internet celebrity who explores the real meaning behind how people interact online and through mass communication. Her work often examines social media culture and cyberfeminism.

She performed through spoken word and visual art.

Next on stage was Yowler, a solo project

by Maryn Jones, who is usually the lead singer for the bands All Dogs and Saintseneca. She performed new songs from an upcoming album and several older songs.

Her sound is light and feathery, balanced by heavy bass. During her performance, the growing audience crowded around the tiny stage to listen to the slow, meaningful ballads.

The main event of the night was Told

Slant. Told Slant is a musical project by Felix Walworth. Felix played drums for larger bands Ó, previously Eskimeaux, and Bellows, but has recently been touring solo, singing and performing their own arrangements. While all the musical performances of the night could be classified as alternative, Told Slant’s slow, smooth sound is better defined as bedroom folk.

“It’s hard to write a song, but it’s easy to have the skills to write a song,” Felix stated during their time on stage. “So if anyone thinks they don’t have the skills, they’re wrong.” .

This was proven true as the drummer who masterminded Told Slant wrote and arranged every piece they performed on Friday night.

During their performance, Told Slant invited the members of the audience to sit around them in a semicircle, creating a storytime vibe. The coffee house became silent except for the sound of the guitar and vocals. They had entirely captured the attention of the room. During their song Tsunami, the audience echoed back the words to the artist.

“The primary purpose of this event is to provide an opportunity for students to listen to artists they may not otherwise discover,” said Jason Tulloch, RedHawk Radio’s general manager. “We try our best to select talented artists that are not mainstream, at least at Miami, to show students what else is out there.

WMSR hosts several concert events a year, with this very purpose. Visit RedHawk Radio’s website redhawkradio.com for more information about future events. toolemb@miamioh.edu

Miami’s African Students Union hosts ‘Taste of Africa’ STUDENT LIFE

MAIA ANDERSON

THE MIAMI STUDENT

McGuffey Hall became the setting for music, dancing and a feast of traditional African food this Saturday evening as the African Students Union hosted its annual Taste of Africa event. Held every year before Thanksgiving break, the event is meant to share African culture with the Miami community.

Described by the organization as “Thanksgiving with an African twist,” the event started 15 years ago as a way for African students who couldn’t fly home to celebrate with others.

According to Dr. Yeboah, geology professor and faculty advisor for the African Students Union, at the time the event started there were only five or six African students attending Miami University. They were among the only people left on campus while everyone else went home for the holidays.

“The organization was created as a way for African students to support themselves in the American experience,” said Yeboah.

Today, most members of the African Students Union are second-generation migrants, born in America with African heritage.

The event has evolved from a small dinner to a large event of over 100 people coming together to learn about and celebrate Afri-

can traditions.

According to Dr. Yeboah, the event serves the purpose of giving representation to the African community.

“In this era of ethnic nationalism and the rebuttal against globalisation, it is very important for organizations like this and events like these that they offer,” said Yeboah.

President Crawford and Dr. Renate Crawford, were among those in attendance. This was their second time attending the event.

“We try to attend as many events held by student organizations as possible,” said President Crawford. “We love events like this that bring different cultures together.”

When asked what he has learned through attending the Taste of Africa event, President Crawford responded, “Well, in addition to the food being spicy, which is fantastic, it’s neat to see the students talk about where they’re from directly, and to see where their ancestors are from.

It’s neat to hear those kinds of stories.”

Renate also talked about why she enjoys attending the Taste of Africa event.

“Events like these really build community, and it’s just phenomenal to see the students learning from each other,” she said.

The event began with the members of the executive board introducing and giving a brief background on themselves. They then

MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN STUDENTS UNION PERFORM AT THE ‘TASTE OF AFRICA’ EVENT ON NOV. 11 ERIK CRAIGO THE MIAMI STUDENT

held a game of “Family Feud” as an icebreaker to get everyone involved in the event. Each side of the auditorium was a team and answered questions related to Africa and African culture.

Next was a performance by the Miami University Gospel Singers, or MUGS. The seventeen singers sang two traditional gospels as the audience clapped and sang along.

The African Students Union dance team then gave a performance featuring modern music with a mix of contemporary and traditional African dance moves.

The dancers wore black clothing that featured patches of African patterns. This high-energy

performance had the audience cheering along the entire time.

Mona-Mae Juwillie, a member of the dance team and the Public Relations chair for the past two years, said the organization includes a variety of different events as a way to highlight the different aspects of African culture.

“We strive to show Africa in a light that’s not talked about very often,” said Juwillie. “A lot of ignorant assumptions are made about the continent, and we want to show our love for our motherland.”

After the dance came the main event: the food.

The members of the organization and their families volun-

teered to cook traditional African food, featuring dishes from Ghana, Senegal and Ethiopia. They set up several large tables full of plantains, rice, lamb, fish, kebabs and more. As Dr. Yeboah had warned the crowd, some of the food was very spicy, a staple of African food.

Music was played throughout the feast and people danced, talked and laughed while they enjoyed their food. When the event came to a close, the attendees left with full stomachs and a better understanding of African culture. ander198@miamioh.edu

‘Gathering Blue’: A multi-layered mix of metaphors THEATRE

EMILY DATTILO

THE MIAMI STUDENT

The Center for Performing Arts’ main stage has created the image of a dystopian society through stone scenery accented with bits of grass and a ripped canvas ceiling.

A group of kids from seven local middle and elementary schools join 17 Miami students in the Theatre Department’s upcoming performance of “Gathering Blue.”

“We’ve created a world you can step into and recognize immediately,” said Jordan Gravely, senior and assistant stage manager of the show. “It was once this beautiful place and now it’s ruined, but there is still something beautiful that exists.”

The play, adapted from the

Soon after, Kira is given the important job of mending the ‘Singer’s Robe’ — a special piece of clothing that tells the history of the world — and is permitted to stay.

“Kira wants to prove to her village that even though she has a disability, that mean ANNIE MALLAMACI AND NATE BISSINGER REHEARSE A TRIAL SCENE FOR ‘GATHERING BLUE’ doesn’t BETH PFOHL THE MIAMI STUDENT she isn’t capable of fulfilling her Born with a crippled leg, Kira is potential,” said sophomore Annie book written by Lois Lowry, follows the journey of a young girl, labeled as different and deemed Mallamaci, who plays Kira. “It Kira, in a post-apocalyptic society unnecessary. That is until society really says something about how where only the most useful people leaders, the Council of Guard- in our daily lives we each have ians, discover her weaving talent. our strengths and talents, and we are allowed to survive.

need to use the strengths we’ve been given and use them to make society a better place.”

“Gathering Blue” is a complex story with multiple layers and dynamics occurring on the same stage, often within the same scene.

“I think a lot of [the cast dynamic] comes from ideas we have about the characters and their relationships with other characters,” said junior Nate Bissinger, who plays Jamison. “Since the show isn’t that long, the spaces between scenes where characters have had interactions that the audience cannot see creates the greater story.”

The play is intense, which can present challenges since the cast is partially comprised of elementary and middle school students.

CONTINUED ON P. 9

DAVISKN3@MIAMIOH.EDU

Entertainment TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Taylor Swift reclaims her ‘Reputation’ with new album

ILLUSTRATION: CONNOR WELLS

BEN FINFROCK

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Last Friday, the world stood still for Taylor Swift fans as she released her highly anticipated album “Reputation.”

Upon first listening to the album, it’s clear that “Reputation” is a vengeful masterpiece and a vast sonical difference from her earlier work on albums like “1989” and “Fearless.” While her songs’ subject matters haven’t really changed, Swift finds ways to innovate her sound while remaining true to herself.

“Reputation’s” release marks the end of a year of negative headlines, public feuds and two very public breakups for Swift. This included a Colorado trial where Swift countersued a radio DJ for sexual assault after he claimed defamation against her (she won).

After the opening single, “Look What You Made Me Do,” many expected Swift to write an album airing her grievances.

However, she actually does the opposite. She acknowledges what has been said about her, but does not complain

about it. Rather, she embraces her drama queen image and writes from that perspective — a genius move that pulls the listener in and creates some of the album’s best songs such as “I Did Something Bad” and “Don’t Blame Me.” While many will still interpret this album as Swift griping and playing the victim, the listener must look deeper to find its true meaning. Swift embraces her public image and tells the listener that she is proud of herself and the music she has created. This album very much feels like Swift is writing music for herself, and not trying to prove her skill or talent to anyone. Swift explains to the listener that you cannot impress those who do not support you, and that you must instead find your own confidence and surround yourself with those who have your best interests in mind.

Her pure joy and confidence is evident in her music, and has been in “Reputation’s” promotion as well. She hasn’t done any press for this album, but has chosen to promote the music herself and let the fans decide what they think. This

is a risky move for Swift, but one that allows her to control the narrative with this album.

While there are many messages in this album about her public image, like any Taylor Swift album there are still love songs. Unlike previous albums, Swift’s love songs on “Reputation” are more adult, as she broaches topics like sex and drinking.

Swift also appears to sing about the same man throughout the album, and many speculate she is singing about her current boyfriend Joe Alwyn. In songs such as “Gorgeous” and “New Year’s Day,” she speaks about him more lovingly than anyone else she has dated. This is most clearly evident in the latter, a song about cleaning her house with her lover the day after a massive party.

On “Reputation,” Swift again collaborates with songwriters Max Martin, Shellback and Jack Antonoff. Martin and Shellback help create the edgy first half of the album, while Antonoff helps her on the more emotional and reflective second half. As the listener moves from the first half of the album into the second half, it goes from chaotic and action packed to softer and more emotional.

However, this style does have a few setbacks as it makes some songs on the album sound repetitive and unnecessary. Swift could have easily cut out certain songs such as “King of my Heart,” and “So it Goes . . .” or have placed on them a deluxe edition of the album for her super fans to buy.

Despite its setbacks, “Reputation” is a sonically ambitious album for Swift and an honest depiction of her personal life and fame. Swift fans will adore it and critics will debate its subjects for months to come. As for Swift, she will likely continue to do little press for this album and let the music speak for itself. As she writes in the introduction, “There will be no further explanation. There will just be reputation.”

finfrobd@miamioh.edu

‘Murder on the Orient Express’ veers off track

ILLUSTRATION: ARTHUR NEWBERRY

KIRBY DAVIS

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

“Murder on the Orient Express” is dated, in a sense that goes beyond its 1934 setting and director/star Kenneth Branagh’s exaggerated facial hair.

The film, whose title is pretty self-explanatory, starts as a zany, borderline slapstick comedy. It gradually morphs into drama once the titular crime is committed, but never fully embraces either of these genres.

It’s not a comedy, but it’s not quite a sleek period piece, either. Even if that’s the point, as a whole it just feels preachy, stilted and almost silly.

This is the second big-screen adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel by the same name. The first premiered in 1974, featuring a cast of equally staggering collective fame — Albert Finney investigated the likes of Lauren Bacall, Anthony Perkins, Ingrid Bergman and Sean Connery in the case of Richard Widmark’s murder.

Nothing much appears to have changed with Branagh’s take, except for the occasional, sweeping CGI shot to try to justify its being remade this year. Its star power is comparable to “Valentine’s Day,” “Justice League” or what I imagine “High School Musical 4” would be like; the titular train’s passengers include a demure

governess played by Daisy Ridley, a doctor (Leslie Odom Jr), a crucifix-clutching nurse (Penélope Cruz), a German professor (Willem Dafoe) and a shady accountant (Josh Gad).

Then, of course, Branagh plays Hercule Poirot, a distinctly mustached Belgian who just wants some time off from being the self proclaimed brightest detective in the world. He accepts what’s supposed to be a stress-free trip on the Orient Express, a train from Istanbul to France on which he can relax, eat perfectly proportioned eggs and cackle at Dickens novels until his next case.

Then an avalanche derails the train, and someone — Johnny Depp’s Ratchett, a slimy American art dealer — is stabbed to death one night while waiting to be rescued and continue traveling West. Poirot is all but forced to nail down the perpetrator, a seemingly elementary task for the world renowned investigator.

Spoiler alert: it’s not, despite the fact that the culprit must, by default, be one of the other few passengers.

“Murder on the Orient Express’” issue is not its cast, though a couple players are straight-up cartoonish.

It’s certainly not Branagh, who could probably carry a franchise based on his delightfully eccentric Poirot, or Bouc (Tom Bateman), Orient Express director and endearing play-

boy-turned-sidekick.

My problem with this film is the nature of the story itself, which takes its time setting up backstories that never pay off as well as ones that do (i.e. Poirot pining over a former lover who has no effect whatsoever on the plot), and can’t quite settle on a consistent pace. It starts off at a sprint, then slows while we’re bombarded with characters, their backstories and the twisty, overarching murder scheme. There are intermittent moments of violence and suspense, but not as much as one would expect from what should be a high-stakes crime thriller.

Then there’s the climax, which is reminiscent of a “Transformers” movie ending. It is 20 minutes too long, never over when you think it is, and abruptly turns a twisted tale of violent crime into a study on the contradictions of human nature. The final result (without giving too much away) is more moralizing than satisfying, as the resolution of a murder mystery should be.

Of the two classics Branagh has remade in the past few years, I liked “Cinderella” better.

daviskn3@miamioh.edu

7 ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ a zany, hilarious joyride SAM KEELING

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Early in “Thor: Ragnarok,” the third film entry of the Norse god’s solo adventures, Loki (disguised as Odin) is watching a play featuring fake Thor, Loki and Odin. It’s an exact recreation of Loki’s fake death scene in “Thor: The Dark World,” rendered hilarious here by surprising celebrity cameos. Director Taika Waititi is sending a clear message: this is not like the underwhelming, super-serious movies that came before. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite.

Anyone that’s seen the New Zealand director’s beloved cult comedy “What We Do in the Shadows” is familiar with his pension for quirky scenes, improvised dialogue and hysterical situational comedy.

However, when it was announced that Waititi would be taking on the next film in Marvel’s multi-billion dollar universe, fans developed a sort of cautious optimism. A weird buddy-comedy starring Thor and Hulk sounds funny, but could it actually be pulled off without straying from Marvel’s tried-and-true formula? And, more importantly, could these characters actually be funny? The answers are yes, and abso-freakin-lutely. “Ragnarok” is a riot and a blast, from start to finish.

The plot itself is standard heroic fare. Thor, scouring the universe for the remaining Infinity Stones, is plagued by dreams prophesying Ragnarok, the Doom of the Gods and the total destruction of his homeland Asgard. And right on time, a new foe appears: Hela, the Goddess of Death (Cate Blanchett), bent on capturing Asgard and using it to power her universal conquest. She breaks Thor’s hammer and sends him with Loki to Sakaar, a multi-dimensional dumpster where discarded items (and people) are sent to die. Here, Thor is imprisoned and forced to fight in a gladiatorial arena, where he runs into his old pal Hulk and hatches a plot to stop Hela’s reign of destruction.

As a superhero movie, this works just fine. The conflicts are clear, Hela’s villainy is boosted by a solid performance from Blanchett, and there’s a unique twist on the blockbuster formula in the third act.

However, “Ragnarok” excels in the comedic framing of this war between gods. Seeing Thor hammerless and exiled could’ve been milked for some dramatic weight (it already happened in the first movie) but here, it’s made funny. More importantly, Thor’s frenemy relationship with Loki is satirized in some very clever ways.

The primary comedic fuel in “Ragnarok” is its cast of characters. It’s miraculous how great everyone is here: there’s Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston as the feuding gods, Mark Ruffalo as a more verbose but equally angry Hulk, Tessa Thompson as the fierce (but drunken) warrior Valkyrie, national treasure Jeff Goldblum basically playing himself as the colorful, oddball Grandmaster and Waititi himself as Korg, the giant rock man so funny and charming that he might surpass Groot as Marvel’s best supporting character.

It’s remarkable how well these actors build off one another’s jokes, especially considering that most of them aren’t known for improvisational comedy. Who would’ve thought that Chris Hemsworth could be downright hilarious?

“Ragnarok” is one of Marvel Studios’ biggest, yet also most calculated, risks this side of “Ant-Man.” If you take one of the Avengers that is recognizable but not a fan favorite, pick a strange but consistent creative team, and focus on the comedy without throwing away your formula, will it work? The answer, based on the film’s impressive box office success, is yes.

In fact, “Ragnarok” may be one of Marvel’s biggest home runs thus far, which bodes well for a franchise that has now been running for over a decade. Maybe Marvel hasn’t lost its steam yet. If it can continue to make films as pleasurable, as decidedly joyful and joyous, as “Ragnarok,” then perhaps the franchise’s golden days are still ahead of it. After all, the weirdest stuff can also be the best. Thor, with the help of a funny New Zealand rock man and Jeff Goldblum, has just proven that.

keelinst@miamioh.edu @samtkeeling

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8 FYI

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017

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DeWine visit CONTINUED FROM P. 1

care crisis that has had far-reaching financial, social, and deadly consequences in the State of Ohio.” The lawsuit also accuses the companies of engaging in “fraudulent marketing” related to the risks and benefits of prescription opioids.

With Gov. Kasich’s second term set to expire at the beginning of 2019, this upcoming race has attracted an especially large pool of candidates — four Republicans and five Democrats.

DeWine will face Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor and congressman Jim Renacci in the Republican primary.

On the Democratic side are attorney and former state representative Connie Pillich, Ohio Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni, attorney and former congresswoman Betty Sutton, Dayton mayor Nan Whaley and Ohio Supreme Court Justice William O’Neill.

DeWine has been Ohio’s Attorney General since 2010. He also served as a U.S. Senator and lieutenant governor and served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

DeWine’s appearance at the Community Arts Center will be his only stop in Oxford today.

Reading in print is better for the planet if you consider the number of emissions data farms will produce in the coming decades.

willi501@miamioh.edu @emilye_williams

Possible move of Columbus Crew raises controversy CONTINUED FROM P. 12

States within 10 years except Austin, Texas.

This announcement was met by a storm of local protest against the move and of support for the history of the Columbus Crew and their fans. Within a week, there was a rally at Columbus City Hall with over 2,000 loyal fans waving banners and chanting “Save the Crew.”

Local businesses rushed to speak out in favor of keeping the Crew in Columbus,

and a group of businesses even claim to have offered to purchase 100 percent of the soccer club. These efforts were met by near silence from PSV. In the weeks since the rally, there has been a great deal of local and national support to keep the Crew in Columbus and preserve its unrivaled history.

Crew fans with “Save The Crew” banners came out in droves for College Gameday when the Buckeyes played Penn State. There have been numerous appeals to the Columbus City Council.

Further, many MLS owners from across the country have come out in support of the Crew. The Nordecke (the supporters’ section at MAPRE Stadium) was to capacity for the Crew’s 4-1 thrashing of NYCFC, while MAPRE stadium itself was nearly full on a cold, Tuesday, Halloween night.

The movement has gained momentum and will continue to grow as the Crew charges forward in the MLS playoffs. On Sunday Nov. 5, they qualified for the conference final on aggregate

goals scored, and they now look to play Toronto FC -- their rival and the best team in MLS history (based on points accumulated throughout the season) -- in two legs over the next few weeks.

The first game will be in Columbus on Tuesday Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. ET. I plan to be in section 141 with the rest of Nordecke cheering for the team that I grew up with; the team that belongs in Columbus. polinsai@miamioh.edu

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

9

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017

This is not the end

Life moves forward and you should, too.

Try: Joshua Allen (center), Deondre Daniels (bottom right), Tony Reid (top right), James Gardner (top left) and Kenny Young (bottom left) pose on the field. Head to miamistudent.net for a recap of last week’s victory against the Akron Zips. Angelo Gelfuso The Miami Student

‘Gathering Blue’ CONTINUED FROM P. 7

“There’s some censorship so the kids understand,” said sophomore ensemble member Molly Boozell. “They haven’t really seen the brutality of the world yet. In this show, they have to play kids who have experienced this brutality and see what it’s like to suffer: This is a dangerous world.”

The children in the cast add an energy that couldn’t be replicated by college actors playing younger characters. The little ones do cartwheels, chase each other around and giggle the way only a kid can.

Assistant student director, junior Maddie Mitchell, talked about how she watches scenes and finds a way to make them better.

“When I’m taking notes during rehearsals I’m looking mostly for authenticity,” Mitchell said.

Are the actors being real? Are they being true? Are they being real people? What I want is for them to be genuine, and to tell the story in the most truthful way they can. It’s in the little moments.”

While Mitchell takes notes, actors rehearse scenes and are occasionally stopped by Rosalyn Erat Benson, the show’s director, who corrects little details like the pronunciation or tone of

a particular word, the delivery time of a line or where a certain prop should be placed.

In scenes where only one or two characters are the focus, the presence of others add depth.

“I try to react to whatever’s happening in the scene at the moment as honestly as possible,” said Eleanor Alger, a freshman ensemble member. “This ends up involving facial expressions and gestures because it’s important to remain engaged in a scene even if you aren’t necessarily speaking.”

Benson reminds actors, “you’re always going somewhere,” when entering or exiting the stage, and that their movement should then be both purposeful and in character.

There is a scene when members of the society act aggressively toward Kira, but don’t move during their lines. After a couple run-throughs, blocking was changed to incorporate actors moving around Kira, personifying this aggression.

“There is no random choice that is made, which goes with the show nicely,” Boozell said.

“There’s such a feeling of cause and effect. Even in the background, tiny little nuances show such vast differences between the people and the community of people, how they fit together and how they’re different.”

The play is full of symbolism and metaphors carefully illustrated through the script, actors’ body language and the set itself.

“Obviously blue is a huge metaphor,” Mitchell said. “Kira even has a line that says ‘blue is the color of freedom.’ These people are so sheltered and shielded from the good in the world, and it’s through Kira’s journey that the characters are exposed to what could be.”

A complicated story with lots of perspectives, “Gathering Blue” evokes important messages of creativity, acceptance and awareness, contrasted by its dystopian setting.

“In real life, there is so much going on in the world and with how people are treating each other disrespectfully...we see it in the news all the time,” Mitchell said. “Shakespeare once said that theatre’s duty is to hold up a mirror to society. That’s exactly what this play does.”

“Gathering Blue” performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 1516, 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 17 and 2 p.m. on Nov. 18-19 in the Gates-Abegglen Theatre. Tickets can be purchased through the Theatre Department’s website. dattilec@miamioh.edu

STRESS MANAGEMENT SHOULD BE A NECESSARY PRIORITY FOR ALL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

takes up personal time, and when grades roll in, keeping spirits high can often be a challenge within itself.

For some, just reading about the challenges dealing with stress causes more stress, but not all is lost.

This is your wake-up call. Find what de-stresses you the most and make sure there is time within your

day to do it. It doesn’t have to be for a whole hour; even small breaks to do the things you enjoy the most can make a big difference.

So, whether you have every minute of your day planned out or you are currently reading this to push back your responsibilities for a few more minutes, prioritizing stress management doesn’t just lessen the burden on you, but makes life easier as well.

Have thoughts?

Consider writing them down.

And then maybe send them to us.

If, you know, you feel like it.

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Opioids CONTINUED FROM P. 1

prescription medication that can reverse an overdose caused by an opioid drug.

Narcan can be administered via nasal spray or in the form of an IV straight into a muscle.

If administered during an overdose, it blocks the effect of opioids on the brain and nervous system, restoring breathing. It can reverse the effects of an overdose in less than five minutes.

“When we find them, they’re laying there blue as can be,” Detherage said.

“Then we either administer Narcan through their nose or start an IV and give it to them that way. And then depending on how much they’ve had, and what they’ve had, somewhere in the area of two to four or five minutes they’ll start coming back around.”

Compared to cities like Middletown, Ohio, and cities around the country, 20 to 25 narcan administrations a year is a drop in the bucket.

In 2017 alone, 524 people in Middletown, or one percent of the population, overdosed on opioids. This is a 49 percent increase from the year before, when 352 overdose calls were made.

Martin Schneider, who works for the Butler County Coroner as an executive administrator, said opioid overdoses are the leading cause of death in Butler County.

So far, this year there have been 52 fatal overdoses in Middletown and 62 in Hamilton, but only three in Oxford.

“Most likely, we’re going to have over 200 overdose deaths in Butler County by the time this year is over,” Schneider said. “We’ve never had that before. We are setting a record every year.”

The record high in 2016 was 192 fatal overdoses, which broke the record for the previous year, 189.

In 2012 there was a total of 30 opioid related deaths in Butler County. In 2017, in the month of April alone, there were 29 opioid related deaths.

Why is Oxford bucking national and regional trends?

One reason, Detherage suggested, is that a large portion of Oxford’s population is made up of Miami University students.

“Most of them are smart enough to stay away from that stuff,” Detherage said.

“Heroin just doesn’t seem to be the drug of choice for college students, thank god.”

Oxford Police Chief John Jones also gave this as a reason.

“I don’t know the exact reason for it, but I think part of it is population size of the communities that we’re in,” Jones said. “When you compare us to a city like Middletown or Hamilton we’re smaller. We also have a large student population. That doesn’t mean there are not drugs; it just means there are different types of drugs.”

Jones said that doesn’t mean heroin is totally absent from the city of Oxford.

“It’s not that we don’t have a heroin problem here,” Jones said. “I mean there is heroin [in Oxford], our officers find needles, we’ve made arrests with it.”

“I’m surprised that we don’t have more of it,” Detherage said.

“We’re always going to have overdose deaths,” Schneider said. “But three is fairly low, especially in light of the rest of the county.

To only have three is pretty good.”

The Miami University police department received a gift of $1,250 to cover the cost of Narcan from Butler County Prosecutor, Michael Gmoser.

“We feel it’s important to be ready to save a life whenever possible, and we’re grateful for the support of Prosecutor Gmoser and his office,” Miami police chief John McCandless said.

The Miami University Police Department have only used Narcan once on a member of the community.

The Oxford Police Department does not carry Narcan, but responds with the fire department on fatal and non-fatal overdose calls.

R E A D M O R E

10 OPINION

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017

HARTJT@MIAMIOH.EDU

Combatting racism on campus requires direct action

ILLUSTRATION: KAT HOLLERAN

The following reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.

Last Tuesday, students and faculty gathered to participate in the Black State of the Union address. The event occurred after a student’s use of a racial slur in a GroupMe chat surfaced on social media.

Use of bigoted language is nothing new in this country or at Miami, so in the wake of this incident, it is encouraging to see a conversation about this type of culture on our campus. As speakers at the event said, this behavior is not limited to individual students, but it is a widespread problem that racial minorities at this school and others must deal with behind the curtain of the typical college image.

But to paraphrase Rodney Coates, coordinator of Black World Studies, who spoke at the event, conversations such as these happen on a regular basis every three to four years.

And yet, we are still left with the same type of racist behavior occurring on a campus that preaches “Love and Honor” as its pillars.

We understand that the university likely has no jurisdiction to take punitive action against this particular student that used a racial slur. However, that does not mean there

My disability does not define me: I am no victim MEGHAN ZAHNEIS MAGAZINE EDITOR

It was the first truly chilly day we’d had in Oxford, and I was taking my favorite winter coat on its first outing of the season.

I heard, “Excuse me,” as I was walking to class. Looking over my shoulder, I saw a guy straddling a bike, wearing a navy blue puffer jacket and an earnest smile.

I offered a tentative hello. Usually members of the male species don’t speak to me unless forced to, so I was in uncharted territory here.

What came next, though, would not, in my limited experience, count as a pickup line.

“I noticed you were having difficulty walking,” the guy told me.

It’s true. My gait has been variously described as “herky-jerky,” “lopsided” and “like a drunk person’s” – all accurate descriptors.

I didn’t learn how to walk until I was 3 years old, and I’d long since crossed “professional runway walker” off my list of potential careers.

I was trying to formulate a proper response to, “I noticed you were having difficulty walking,” when the guy, abandoning his bike to walk alongside me, asked a follow-up question. “Do you mind if I ask why?”

Given that we were walking past Alumni Hall and that I needed to be in class in Hiestand in 20 minutes, I decided not to give him the long answer, which is that I was born with an extremely rare neurological condition that rendered me unable to feel pain, temperature and touch. The condition, whose name consists of four long medical-ese words that sound like gibberish to the general public, is estimated to affect about 50 people in the word. My symptoms are many, but the ones relevant to this conversation are that I have a horrid sense of balance and am not able to perceive where my limbs are in space as well as most people can.

I offered the short version of this explanation to my newfound walking companion.

As he and I passed Irvin Hall, I tried to illuminate the situation a little more. Finally, he stopped walking and turned to me.

“You’re probably wondering why I stopped you.”

I was.

“I just wanted to let you know that God loves healing people, and I’d love to pray for Him to cure you, if you’d allow me,” he explained.

This is a common line people with disabili-

ties hear. But this was my first time confronting the issue with a total stranger, so I wasn’t sure exactly how to respond.

My reply wound up being something like, “Thanks, but I’m happy the way I am.”

I haven’t stopped thinking about our conversation, though, so here’s what I would have told him, if I hadn’t been quite as preoccupied with getting to class and with thoughts of the nap I was going to take afterwards: Thank you. Really. I appreciate your concern. Yes, I have a weird way of walking, and yes, sometimes, living with a disability can make things a little harder. But I’m OK. I haven’t always been – our mutual friend God knows that – but I’ve come to be happy with who I am, drunkard’s gait and all.

I’m not a victim of anything – except maybe an incredibly unhealthy sleep schedule, but I hear that’s typical among college students – and I’m definitely not a victim of my disability.

I see my disability as part of who I am, but it’s not all of me, just as my brown eyes or hatred of mathematics don’t comprise my entire being.

Some of the best friends I’ve made here at Miami are also members of the disability community, and some of the most meaningful extracurricular work I get to do here is as a founding member and co-president of Miami’s Students with Disabilities Advisory Council.

Oh, and having a disability didn’t hurt when it came to applying for college scholarships, either.

The doctors don’t know what causes my particular disability. That means there isn’t a cure for it, and there may never be.

Quite frankly, that’s fine by me. This life is the only one I’ve ever known, and this somewhat misshapen body is the one I’ve always lived in.

I’ve come to accept and to embrace that.

To the guy who stopped me that day, I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name. (Here’s where I don’t mind playing the disability card: I’m literally deaf.) But thanks for the conversation, for the handshake we ended it with and for finally giving me the courage to make my debut on the Miami Student’s opinion page.

Thanks for the offer, but I’m okay. If you really want to pray for me, put in a good word with God about my test next week. zahneime@miamioh.edu

isn’t something the university can do to try to change these trends.

The administration can begin by calling out this behavior directly instead of referring to it with generalizations. President Gregory Crawford’s statement on the matter, emailed to students Nov. 7, touted a Miami community that works hard for inclusion, but failed to even mention the event that sparked this fallout. The statement claims that, “Individuals or factions that deny our values will not and cannot define us,” but how can we even begin to address these people without defining them?

Ambiguity is a problem, but even listed goals and ideals mean nothing if this type of conversation is simply going to be needed again when the next incident occurs.

Coates, along with a panel of students, is expected to report back to the university with concrete initiatives to help this problem. The university should eagerly await his response, but in the meantime, it is up to the administration to start addressing these issues in a meaningful way besides simply disavowing the individual action of a student as not becoming of a true Miamian. This behavior is here, and it is time to take direct action against it.

Hunter S. Thompson: ‘Too weird to live, too rare to die’ MAXWELL MATSON COLUMNIST

He was “too weird to live, too rare to die,” but live he undeniably did, and death even he couldn’t escape. Hunter S. Thompson was the drugged-out, sleep-deprived, counter culture icon America needed in its awkward, adolescent and spirited young adult phase. He’s most widely remembered today for his intense originality, unyielding weirdness and humongous appetite for mind-altering substances.

But what is so often lost in our retrospective gaze is just how damn fine a writer the man truly was.

Hunter, had he not possessed an almost super-human ability to bend the English language to his whim, would have likely turned out much like Jimi Hendrix had his military discharge been the result of the loss of his left hand rather than a sprained ankle. Whether it was his genius that incited his weirdness, vice versa or some combination of the two, Hunter occupied the role of virtuosic writer first and foremost, and played the twisted up, tweaked out product of the love generation that he’s known for today in whatever space remained. That’s not to say that Hunter Thompson the writer and Hunter Thompson the man were two different people, but derivatives of the same condition which inspired both his brilliance and his incessant urge to seek out novelty. It’s unfair and inaccurate to portray him as a partier who wrote just as it’s unfair and inaccurate to portray van Gogh as an alcoholic with good brush strokes.

Hunter’s intense drive to do, to experience no matter what the personal cost, echoes men like Winston Churchill, who best summed up the personality type in his quote, “I don’t like standing near the edge of a platform when an express train is passing through. I like to stand back and, if possible, get a pillar between me and the train. I don’t like to stand by the side of a ship and look down into the water. A second’s action would end everything. A few drops of desperation.” A few drops of desperation too much were always the cattle prod at Hunter’s back, the sting from which he escaped by experiencing everything that he could, while he could.

For Hunter, partying and drug consumption weren’t fun; they were maintenance.

“What do you say, for instance, about a generation that has been taught that rain is poison and sex is death? If making love might be fatal and if a cool spring breeze on any summer afternoon can turn a crystal blue lake into a puddle of black poison right in front of your eyes, there is not much left except TV and relentless masturbation. It’s a strange world. Some people get rich and others eat shit and die.”

– HST, “The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time.”

What remains of Hunter S. Thompson today? More than a decade after his suicide it’s hard not to look around at the befouled state of the union and bemoan the absence of a voice like Thompson’s.

His greatest skill was his ability to insult his opponents with a hilariously convoluted sequence of obscenities on one page, and by the very next page, surmise their motives and reason for being with such an intense sense of empathetic intuition that it makes the reader stop in their tracks.

He was one hell of a writer, one hell of a journalist and political commentator, and I’m sure he would have been chomping at the bit to see the demise of the new Nixon if he was alive today. But personally, I wouldn’t wish it on him. I myself am not a religious man, but it gives me comfort to imagine that HST is up on a cloud somewhere trading playful barbs and tripping acid with the rest of the greats.

All that said I leave you with one final Hunter quote, pulled from the obituary he wrote for his greatest enemy, Richard Nixon, in the hope that one day soon a man or woman with a strong enough voice will tell it like it is about the new Nixon, that slippery, conniving weasel by the name of Donald Trump, and finally restore order to the universe.

“If the right people had been in charge of Nixon’s funeral, his casket would have been launched into one of those open-sewage canals that empty into the ocean just south of Los Angeles. He was a swine of a man and a jabbering dupe of a president.

Nixon was so crooked that he needed servants to help him screw his pants on every morning. Even his funeral was illegal. He was queer in the deepest way. His body should have been burned in a trash bin.” matsonrm@miamioh.edu

CRIMINALIZING DISEASE AN INEFFECTIVE PUBLIC HEALTH STRATEGY LETTER TO THE EDITOR: In response to Darcy Keenan’s Oct. 31 op-ed, “Efforts to Decriminalize Spreading of HIV Are Wrong,” we write to offer an alternative perspective: On Oct. 26, the Ohio Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold statutes that criminalize the nondisclosure of an HIV positive status as a felony, punishable with up to 180 days in jail and $1,000 in fines.

Ohio’s Revised Code § § 2903.11(B) refers specifically to HIV, however, other sections are vague enough to bring assault charges for the transmission of infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, hepatitis and herpes.

Transmitting any STD after hooking up with someone at Brick Street could land you in a courtroom by the next weekend.

Knowing your HIV and STI status is key to reducing transmission and prolonging life. A painless, 20-minute test is all it takes. HIV can be transmitted through contact with blood, semen, breast milk,

vaginal secretions, sharing needles, vertical transmission and contaminated blood products.

Even though new HIV diagnoses are falling nationwide, there are still approximately 1.1 million US citizens living with HIV. Closer to home, health departments along the Northern Kentucky-Cincinnati-Dayton corridor predict thousands of new infections, primarily from injection drug use and sharing contaminated drug paraphernalia.

Further criminalizing HIV will continue to increase infections.

According to Raymond Faller, a public defender in an ongoing HIV nondisclosure trial in Columbus, “The targeting of HIV and no other chronic illnesses reinforces the notion that HIV is a death sentence, which does not reflect the medical reality of HIV.” Criminalization of HIV transmission is out of step with modern medicine.

HIV is now a chronic, incurable, but highly treatable infection. In fact, on Sept. 27, the CDC confirmed that medication-adherent

people who are “undetectable” (fewer than 200 HIV virus copies/ml of blood) cannot transmit HIV to intimate partners. When coupled with safer-sex techniques, pre-exposure medications, and needle exchange/clean works programs, transmission is virtually impossible.

Access to testing, treatment and preventative services and accurate HIV/AIDS information is often blocked by federal and state legislation. Testing centers, non-profits, and other organizations lose funding when moral panic seeps into rational public discussion of public health issues. These defunding efforts disproportionately impact rural, poor and minority communities who otherwise lack medical access.

The CDC estimates for lifetime cost of treating HIV range from $300,000 to 500,000. Without insurance, life-saving treatment can exceed $3,000 a month. More than 30 percent of people with HIV are uninsured, while, an estimated 50 percent do not receive regular

treatment. Federal programs like the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act (CARE) help offset the costs.

The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) suggests that the best way to promote public health is not a punitive approach. Instead, governments should increase prevention efforts, and improve access to testing and treatment. The HIV Justice Network recommends achieving these goals by eliminating criminalization laws, promoting needle exchange programs, protecting privacy, and disseminating accurate information.

Open discussion about treatment and prevention is vital to destigmatizing HIV. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a daily pill for HIV-negative individuals that prevents infection. According to the CDC, PrEP reduces HIV transmission through sex by more than 90 percent and more than 70 percent through injection drug use. PrEP is covered by Miami’s student health insurance, and when combined

with Gilead’s co-pay assistance voucher it is free.

World AIDS Day is Dec. 1. Early detection, early treatment, safer sex, PrEP and lifelong adherence to medication are essential for the health of everyone. Confidential, free HIV testing will be available in the Women*s & LGBTQ* Center located in 3012 Armstrong.

There will also be an informational table on slant walk on World AIDS Day. Knowledge, not inflammatory rhetoric and misinformation, is the power with which we will end isolation, end stigma and end HIV transmission.

Written by students in WGS 370: HIV/AIDS and the Media: Alex Apicella, Laura Caudill, Elisabeth Dodd, Meg Jackson, Joshua Jones, Abigail Karr, Glynis Lonnemann, Haley Miller, Flavia Stanton, YeFan Wang, Mackey Willis, Lauren Zell, Mackenzie Zellner; Matthew Jones, WGS; Jane Goettsch, Women*s Center; Rhonda Jackson, Women*s Center; Hannah Thompson, LGBTQ* Services

OPINION 11

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017

HATCHEAM@MIAMIOH.EDU

STUDENT APOLOGIZES FOR USE OF RACIAL SLUR LETTER TO THE EDITOR: I am fortunate to have wonderful parents that have continually supported and encouraged me to live with integrity, to be honest, respectful and above reproach.

Recently my actions have not lived up to their standards. I have hurt many whom I do not know through a careless act.

Recently, while on GroupMe, I responded to a statement with a despicable word that should never have been part of that conversation. It should never have been in my consciousness much less something that I uttered, even if online.

I am not only ashamed but extremely sorry for what I said, and to the countless of others that I have hurt. I want to apologize not only to all the people I have hurt directly, I want to apologize to my parents. These past couple of weeks have been hard ones for me and I’m sure for everyone affected and involved in all of this.

However, the difficulty of the situation at hand has not discouraged me from learning from my mistakes. Beyond trying to educate myself on the literal weight of the word. I have learned that this issue is not just about one community.

Words are used to drag down a majority of racial, sexual, religious as well as other identities. The use of homophobic, racial, xenophobic or any other slur is unacceptable. Hate is unacceptable. Even though I had no hate and no hurt behind what I said I understand now that the word itself implies hate and harm, and I am gravely sorry for hurting anyone.

I want to say a thank you within my apology. To all of the people who reached out and wanted to meet for lunch or just talk. Your kindness and understanding saved me from myself and everything happening. Those who reached out are the leaders of something bigger than what I said. They are examples on how to fix the problems of this world. They came to me with love and pure intentions and most importantly forgiveness. Lastly, I want to assure the community that I am doing what feels right in my heart to help those around me and improve Miami’s campus for everyone.

THOMAS WRIGHT wrighttw@miamioh.edu

IN RESPONSE TO THE PRO-LIFE VANDAL: YOU CAN’T SILENCE US LETTER TO THE EDITOR: While I appreciated The Miami Student’s article “Students for Life Anti-Abortion Displays Vandalized,” I don’t believe it drives at the heart of the matter and what makes this event important for the whole community.

Last Friday morning, our young Students for Life club put up a table and a tri-fold outside the seal, asking passersby to take a vote on when they think human rights should begin. Many people stopped, took a post-it note, and pasted it on a laminated slide outlining one of the stages of fetal development in pregnancy. This sparked a conversation and an exchange of opinions and ideas. People ascribing to both the pro-life and prochoice cause shared their ideas and stopped to reflect on them.

In the middle of all this, our antagonist, with a calm fury, entered the scene. With surest hands, he swiped the sign. He tore it, stomped on it, and scattered the remains by the time someone got a camera out to try and record the act. The man turned and started off as if the whole ordeal made him mildly late for class. Unfortunately, this is not the only time one of our displays has been disrespected and it was not even too shocking that it had happened.

Barely anyone knows about these acts of vandalism and violence when they happen. They aren’t treated like a big deal. But here’s the thing. You don’t want to live on a

campus where a certain side or opinion is silenced. If there is a pro-choice presence on campus, then you want to be open to having a pro-life presence as well. Having multiple perspectives of one issue creates a space for dialogue, which is cultivated and maintained by organized events and a respectful attitude.

By not responding to such a clear display of narrow-mindedness, our whole community risks letting a few vocal, destructive people limit our narrative to a single story on abortion. As a challenge to the entire Miami community, I am asking that we outwardly condemn these acts of vandalism as incomprehensible and without base, in order to uphold our educational purposes as an institution and to support our code: Love and Honor.

So, to that young man, to the people who vandalized our recent display, the Cemetery of the Innocents, the person or persons who stole our sign: I’m not asking you to change your opinion. I’m just asking you to stop silencing mine.

You can do this by expressing your own beliefs in an organized, non-obstructive manner. This creates a dialogue which is the crux of campus life. We can share ideas freely and speak to those who disagree with respect.

JULIA DEMAGALL demagajf@miamioh.edu

Liberalism in the classroom more dangerous than conservatism LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Got a kick out of professor Dan Herron’s outrageously comparing, for all intents and purposes, President Trump with Hitler in Megan Zahneis’ article “Teaching after Trump: Professors reflect on changes in the classroom.” What a hoot! Also got a kick out of Herron’s saying “As academics who believe in a liberal, free environment, we have an obligation to point out when someone is threatening that freedom and open environment, on both the left or the right.” Excellent! Let me help him out with that.

Many colleges in this country have been discriminating against conservatives and conservative speech for years, like by implementing bizarre, totalitarian, Orwellian “speech codes.”

The legal group acronymed FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education), which defends conservative teachers and students who have been discriminated against by liberal bigots on various college campuses, could provide you with a lengthy list of such cases. The civil rights of conservatives are under attack on many college campuses.

And it’s no big secret many, many professors are liberal. Hopefully students are aware of all the one-sided, liberal propaganda they are manipulatively being exposed to. (And hopefully they are aware that they are essentially paying for liberal indoctrination in many

cases, and are being cheated out of a decent education.) But I fear they are not.

It would be nice to see students pushing for intellectual diversity on their campuses, and maybe even affirmative action for hiring a true minority on college campuses: conservative teachers. Until that happens, liberal college professors and administrators will feel free to continue to try to take advantage of their students, to indoctrinate them instead of educate them in order to impose their questionable values on them. That needs to change.

Trump handily beat Clinton in part because a lot of decent moral people are getting really fed up with liberal judgmentalism, liberal self-righteousness, liberal name-calling, liberal violence and hate, liberal intolerance, liberal closed-mindedness, liberal bullying, liberal bigotry and liberal discrimination.

During Obama’s eight years as president, Republicans picked up around 1000 seats on the state level. In other words, there are now about 1,000 more Republican state senators and state house representatives than there were before Obama was first elected president (Thank you Obama!). More and more people are seeing liberals for the colossal hypocrites they really are and are soundly rejecting them.

That’s a good thing.

WAYNE LELA wlela@yahoo.com

STRESS MANAGEMENT SHOULD BE A NECESSARY PRIORITY FOR ALL MICHAEL STEMMLER THE MIAMI STUDENT

There are two types of people: those who are on top of things and those who aren’t at all.

There are those whose planners are color coded, crossed out and time stamped. Then, there are those who sit around scrolling through Facebook memes, watching YouTube videos, then pulling all-nighters to crank out the homework due the next day.

In my opinion, neither type of person is superior to the other, because in the end, the work gets done. Yet the way in which both types of people go about completing their work is com-

pletely different. It’s whether you eat your vegetables at the beginning or end of the meal.

However, across both, there is one similarity that neither can escape: stress. For the organizational type, the schedule not fitting exactly or the thought of adding in a new time slot for another project, exam or commitment creates the stress of not being able to finish everything ahead of time. For the procrastinators, when lots of projects and papers just so happen to have the same due date, scrambling last minute to finish everything is the catalyst for disaster.

Even though organizing or procrastinating are the main

ways people try to minimize stress, in the end, the feeling is inevitable. There are plenty of ways to deal with it, but how easy is it for students to truly de-stress their days?

With the flurry of exams, papers and projects upon us, stress is at an all time high. We are at the make-or-break point of the semester, and for many, the heavy burden of schoolwork, social life and other aspects of college don’t positively contribute to a solution.

With stress comes plenty of side effects, and no one enjoys breaking out, receding hairlines or just that feeling of being constantly crushed under the boul-

der of responsibility. The worst part about it is that when the side effects kick in, they only cause us to stress out more – it’s a never-ending cycle that definitely doesn’t need to be here.

Now, the ways to reduce stress are extremely individualized.

For some, all it takes is a really good workout. For others, it’s spending time with friends. And if you’re like me, it just takes an old fashion date with Netflix or one nice long nap. No matter who you are, living a healthy lifestyle, taking time out of your day for personal time and remaining positive are usually the common trends among all people for stress relief.

Unfortunately, those common trends aren’t always readily available for us. Healthy living is restricted to fitness center hours, long walks in the cold and the hit-or-miss availability of healthy and tasty dining options. Not to exclude the fact that having a pizza or cookies delivered to your dorm is not only convenient, but delicious as well.

With the buildup of schoolwork, a lot of social interaction is usually through group projects or late-night study sessions.

Studying, researching or preparing for the next day’s work CONTINUED ON PAGE 9

Sports

12

SIMANSEC@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2017

FIELD HOCKEY MAKES HISTORY WITH SWEET 16 GAME

Women’s basketball dominates 91-64 in season opener

FIELD HOCKEY

CHRISTOPHER BERRY STAFF WRITER

The Miami University field hockey team defeated No. 16 Stanford University for their first NCAA tournament win on Wednesday, but fell just short against No. 2 Duke 4-2 in their Sweet 16 match-up on Saturday. While the RedHawks finish the season 129, their record doesn’t give the team enough credit for the improvement and grit they showed throughout the season.

On Wednesday, MU traveled to Palo Alto, CA to defeat the Cardinals 2-1. Miami outshot Stanford 13-8 and dominated 8-1 in penalty corners.

“I think it was an impressive performance,” head coach Inako Puzo said. “We played against a great team. We knew it was going to be physical, in good terms, but we’re going to request a lot of good fitness and running if we want to come with the result here and we wanted to compete here on this field.”

Stanford scored first in the 24th minute, but were held scoreless for the remainder of the game by Miami’s defense and two good saves by junior goalkeeper Maddie Passarella.

Junior midfielder/forward Paula Portugal scored her 19th goal of the season with less than three minutes to go in the first half. Senior midfielder/forward Henni Otten recorded her fifth assist of the season by feeding Portugal, who was able to put it away on a backhanded shot.

Within the two-minute mark of regulation, Portugal beat Stanford’s All-American goalkeeper to notch her 20th goal of the season.

Not only a personal career-high, but this was also her fourth straight game with a goal.

“I think we played great,” Otten said. “We played so hard. We played our hearts out, and I think that’s the key. You can’t just go for the game and think that you will win or lose, you just have to go for it.”

MU then made the cross-country trip to Durham, NC on Saturday for the second time this season after having lost 2-0 a few weeks ago. This game, however, was different for MU. They led in penalty corners 5-1 and were outshot by just two -- 9-7 -- after having been outshot 29-5 in their last meeting.

Duke scored the first three goals of the game, and it wasn’t until the 56th minute that sophomore midfielder Lexi Silver got the RedHawks on the board after cleanly fielding a rebound off a blocked shot by Portugal.

“I think our presence and our game was outstanding,” Puzo said.

“We knew we were going to have to play defense for a long period of time, but we were ready for that.”

With less than ten minutes to go, junior midfielder Estel Roig fed the ball to Otten on a penalty corner who put it away for her third goal of the season.

“We were disciplined and we really have different faces, different ways to play defense during the entire game,” Puzo said. “I think that was making Duke’s job more complicated. With the ball, we take care of opportunities better than in the past.”

Unfortunately, Miami’s comeback fell just short in the final three minutes when Duke was able to seal the game 4-2.

“I think the team showed great character and personality,” Puzo said. “When you are down 3-0 against the No. 2 [team], I think a lot of people would give up. Not with Miami. We don’t give up. We keep playing. We keep fighting.”

Portugal finished the season with team-highs in goals (20), assists (12), and total points (52).

Passarella averaged 1.74 goals allowed per game with almost 1,500 minutes of play in goal this season.

In seven seasons as Miami’s head coach, Puzo improved his overall record to 86-80. He also has led the field hockey program to four MAC titles with a 31-13 conference record. berrycm2@miamioh.edu

SOPHOMORE GUARD LAUREN DICKERSON (RIGHT) PASSES DETROIT-MERCY’S SOPHOMORE GUARD ZOEY OATIS ON FRIDAY AT MILLETT HALL. ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT

BASKETBALL

BEN PANZECA

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

It was stifling defense from the ‘Hawks and domination in the paint that made the difference for Miami, as they demolished the University of Detroit-Mercy 91-64 in a dream start to the women’s basketball season on Friday.

The RedHawks owned the glass, as they outrebounded the Titans 54-38, with a whopping differential of 22-9 for offensive boards.

From those offensive rebounds, the RedHawks created 25 second-chance points, killing the Titans’ hopes of victory in Oxford.

Making her official head coaching debut, Megan Duffy couldn’t have written the script better herself.

“You know, my dad has a saying that ‘You can’t win them all unless

you win the first one,’” Duffy said.

“So I told them, you know, enjoy this.”

The RedHawks certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves, as a crowd full of local elementary school children on a field trip away from the classroom filled Millett Hall with shrieks of joy at every ‘Hawks basket.

In the first quarter, the nervous energy of both teams was obvious, and play was frantic. Nonetheless, both teams got hot from beyond the arc, with Miami connecting on four three-pointers, and UDM answering with three of their own.

Tied 22-22 after the first quarter, the forecast for the rest of the game was a tense and tight offensive matchup.

Towards the beginning of the second quarter, Miami would go on one of its several offensive runs that would widen the gap between itself and the Titans. Spurred on

by the return of Redshirt junior guard Baleigh Reid -- who sat out last season with a knee injury -the RedHawks went on a 14-3 run, bringing the score to 42-31.

Reid finished with seven points and five rebounds on the day in only 11 minutes on the court.

When healthy, Reid takes the team’s offense to the next level.

Detroit would close the gap to single digits at multiple instances in the game, but 11-0 and 8-0 runs in the third quarter ensured the safety of the RedHawks’ lead.

“I think they got that confidence of, like, ‘Man, we can score if we move the basketball,” Duffy said.

“And that’s what we talked about.

It’s not necessarily the first shot, we’ve got to move the ball to get the best shot.”

Miami went on to increase their lead to 26 points in the fourth quarter, and never looked back.

The RedHawks’ defense forced

16 turnovers, while only giving the ball up six times themselves.

Sophomore forward Savannah Kluesner had a career day, with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Kluesner dominated the post, and showed off her footwork as she earned most of her points around the rim.

Last year’s Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year sophomore guard Lauren Dickerson, put up an impressive statline of 26 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Her ability to find shots for herself, and to find her teammates when she’s tightly guarded will be key to the RedHawks success this season.

Looking to continue their success, Miami travels to Purdue on Wednesday Nov. 15. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. panzecbj@miamioh.edu

Men’s basketball beats Fordham in final seconds BASKETBALL

CARTAN SUMNER STAFF WRITER

On Friday, men’s basketball upset Fordham University by the score of 55-54 in Miami’s season opener. Entering this matchup, Fordham was favored by nine and coming off a CIT Tournament appearance last year.

The RedHawks started the contest flat, finding themselves down 25-21 at the end of the first while only making 19.5 percent of their field goal attempts. However, the team showed resiliency in the second.

A pivotal moment came with 10:55 left for Miami -- within the previous two minutes Fordham had scored seven unanswered at the mercy of a battered Hawks’ de-

fense. Fordham had just extended its lead to 10 and head coach Jack Owens called for a timeout. This break provided much needed rest and sparked a resurgence in the offense, especially from freshman guard Jalen Adaway.

Within the next minute, Adaway bombarded Fordham’s defense with six consecutive points including two dunks. Adaway ultimately finished with an impressive outing of 15 points and 14 rebounds -- good for a double-double. His offensive energy set the tone for the ‘Hawks’ offense throughout the remainder of the game.

However, Fordham’s offense would put up a steady fight for the ensuing five minutes. The game ultimately hit its turning point with 2:10 left. Trailing 54-48, the Hawks’ scored seven unanswered.

Redshirt junior Jake Wright hit a long-range three at 1:31 to cut lead to three. With 42 seconds left, Adaway added a layup to put Miami within one. Inexplicably, leading by one and seemingly with the victory, Fordham junior guard Will Tavares put up a regrettably deep three which allowed Adaway to grab the defensive rebound and subsequently draw a foul.

At the line, down by one with a 1-and-1 opportunity, Adaway missed the initial free throw.

Wright regained possession from Fordham guard Joseph Chartouny in the ensuing scuffle.

Senior forward Logan McLane then passed to Adaway where he knocked down the game winning lay-up with four seconds remaining to seal a RedHawk victory.

Throughout the matchup, the

’Hawks’ displayed their tenacity on offense while making nearly half of their field goal tries in the second half. The team benefited from key performances from their freshman -- in addition to Adaway’s impressive debut, forward Dalonte Brown tallied eight and guard Isaiah Coleman-Lands scored five off the bench. McLane added nine points and 11 rebounds.

The game was the first win of Owens’ head coaching career and showed grit, as the ’Hawks’ overcame a 10-point deficit to grab the win against a tough non-conference opponent on the road.

Miami’s home opener is this Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Wright State at Millett Hall. sumnerlc@miamioh.edu

KEEP THE CREW IN COLUMBUS

ILLUSTRATION: ARTHUR NEWBERRY

COLUMN

ALEX POLINKSY

GUEST COLUMNIST

It was one of those days in late November in L.A. when the wind was strong enough to want a jacket, but hot enough to make you sweat as soon as the

long sleeves went on. But none of that fazed me, because the Columbus Crew had just won their first Major League Soccer Cup in club history. I remember club legend and forever captain, Frankie Hejduk, climbing into the stands to celebrate with the traveling fans, singing “Columbus ’til I Die.” This moment

in Crew history, and countless others, are being threatened by the current owner, Anthony Precourt of Precourt Sports Ventures (PSV), and his efforts to move the team to Austin, Texas.

The news of a potential move to Austin was announced a few weeks ago. The stated justification is business metrics, citing low attendance and inadequate corporate sponsorship. According to PSV, unless an agreement to build a stadium in downtown Columbus by 2019 is reached, the team will move forward with the relocation.

As the news of the Crew’s potential move to Austin spread, these elusive business metrics have been contested by fans and analysts alike.

In an article from Columbus Business First, Anthony Olejniczak, a Columbus executive, was cited saying, “It seems Precourt’s story behind the

proposed move away from Columbus rests heavily on a lack of sponsorship interest locally, but anecdotal evidence points to exactly the opposite, and also points to manipulation of sponsorship prices.”

Many sponsors were turned away this year because they couldn’t afford the prices Precourt was demanding.

Many speculate that this move has been in the works since Precourt bought the team in 2013. Some claim he purposely approved television deals that wouldn’t allow fans in Columbus to watch the games. Others say he didn’t advertise the games in order to bring down attendance. It’s difficult to prove either of those statements, but it is suspicious that the contract with which Precourt bought the team stated the Crew could not move to any city in the United CONTINUED ON PAGE 8