ESTABLISHED 1826 – OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
The Miami Student TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2015 Volume 144 №15
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
MIAMISTUDENT.NET
Campus capers: theft at MU Analysis of a year’s worth of campus crime shows high-risk locations, items
Parking garages resume services
CRIME
Common locations for campus theft
BRETT MILAM ONLINE EDITOR
He walked through King Library late one night, peering keenly into cubicles and study tables. He knew exactly what he was looking for — an unattended laptop or a backpack with an open zipper, revealing an iPad. When he finds one such laptop, it’s almost too easy. He approaches the shiny Macbook, no owner in sight. He leans down, places a card on the laptop and walks away. He’s a Miami University police officer, and he’s not there to steal — quite the contrary. The card he left reads, “This time it was a police officer, but maybe next time it won’t be.” They’re called “gotcha cards” and they are part of a Miami University Police Department (MUPD) initiative to reduce theft on campus. Police Chief John McCandless said he hopes the cards will cause students to keep an eye on their valuables. “It’s frustrating for the victim,” McCandless said. “They’re out something they have to replace.” Between Oct. 4, 2014 and Oct. 5, 2015, 176 reported incidences of theft occurred on the Oxford campus, according to MUPD records. The most common items taken were bicycles (29), laptops and iPads (17) and clothing (12). Under
The Rec (23 thefts) MEET Quad (17 thefts) Armstrong Student Center (10 thefts) King Library (6 thefts) Shriver Center (5 thefts) Maplestreet Station (5 thefts)
2nd
Electronics (17)
Bicycles (29)
JOEY McCLURE
3rd
THE MIAMI STUDENT
Clothing (12) KATIE HINH PAGE DESIGNER
Students, faculty and staff gather around the Hub to hang hand-painted T-shirts for the Clothesline Project to raise awareness for violence against women. the category of money, meaning either cash or a wallet, there were 25 incidences of theft. When specified in the reports, among stolen laptops and iPads, nine were unsecured and/or left unattended. Most overall thefts on campus occurred at the Recreational Sports Center (23), the Armstrong Student
Center (10), King Library (6) and the Shriver Center (5). Among the 10 thefts from ASC, three of them were couch cushions and in two of those cases, a male and female student, respectively, were arrested and the cushions returned. Among residence halls, Maplestreet Station leads the pack with
five thefts, followed by Morris Hall, Etheridge Hall and Emerson Hall, which each had four. Out of the 176 reported incidents, seven cases specified the stolen item(s) were found and returned, two cases specified individuals arrested for the theft and in one THEFT »PAGE 5
Miami football team supports 5-year-old cancer patient FOOTBALL
GRACE REMINGTON SPORTS EDITOR
When the Miami University football team signed five-year-old Liam Kaufman to the squad in June, the support didn’t end there. The RedHawks joined their newest and youngest member Thursday night at the Light the Night Walk in Cincinnati, Ohio. Liam was diagnosed with Acute
Lymphoblastic Leukemia in February and has been undergoing treatment at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. His treatment will continue for three more years. The Light the Night Walk is a fundraising campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) and its funding of research to find blood cancer cures. The walk takes place in 200 cities across the country. Jim and Heather Kaufman, Li-
am’s parents, organized a team for the walk in September, but didn’t know what to expect. Steve Brockelbank, associate athletic director for football, frequently communicates with Heather. When he found out about Light the Night, he told head coach Chuck Martin. Martin was all in. “Chuck loves to do those kinds of things,” Brockelbank said. “He’s really invested in Liam and his situation … sometimes, you need to
CONTRIBUTED BY MIAMI ATHLETICS
Fifteen varsity football players and three coaches, along with their families, support 5-year-old Liam Kaufman in his fight against Leukemia during Light the Night Walk on Thursday in Cincinnati.
After two-month stint of ‘free parking,’ fees return MONEY
Most stolen items
1st
TYLER PISTOR THE MIAMI STUDENT
look at life from someone else’s perspective. And this gives our kids the opportunity to do that. They’ve reflected on all the gifts they’ve been given and realize how fortunate they are.” It was Martin’s idea to have football team members join Liam’s team, and 113 players and coaches signed up. With their help, Team Liam raised $12,859 – far beyond the $5,000 goal. Fifteen Miami players attended Light the Night: seniors Trevan Brown, Spencer McInnis, Drew Kummer, Kent Kern, Mitch Winters, Sam Shisso and Austin Gearing; junior Grant Niemic; sophomores Zach Hovey, Kyle Row, and Luke Adams; and freshmen Evan Crabtree, Kendrell McFadden, Josh Allen and Leonard Ross. Martin, Brockelbank, cornerbacks coach John Hauser and their families also attended. “Any life experience, when you get perspective, is a good thing,” Martin said. “If you haven’t been affected by cancer, you will be, so everyone has a similar story. There’s somebody that they love, there’s somebody that they knew. It doesn’t matter where you are or where you’re from, everybody gets affected by it. When you feel people affected by it, you realize how great
Miami’s parking garages will begin charging customers for use again this week after being out of operation for months. New equipment has been installed at the gates, accepting only credit cards now. Ben Spilman, director of transportation and parking services, said the gates had been delayed longer due to technical problems with the credit card systems. “When we endeavored to update this equipment, we upgraded from some antiquated equipment to some pretty modern stuff,” said Spilman. “We are using technology that we have not yet used on campus.” Spilman is talking about the more secure credit card machine now operating on gates. “Credit card processing has to meet the highest and most current security standards,” said Spilman. Due to the delay in opening the gates, Spilman estimates the university lost about $65,000 between August and October from the two garages. Prices have also changed. They will vary for the two parking garages with the North garage listing at $1.50 per hour and the South listing at $1.00 per hour. The project to change the transaction systems at the parking garages was not completed by the end of summer. “We had to make a decision at the beginning of the semester that we knew this wasn’t going to be ready,” Spilman said. “It didn’t seem like a very a good use of the university’s resources to let that space sit empty.” Spilman decided to allow students and visitors to use the parking garages for free while the systems were replaced. For the months that the gates were free, students took advantage of the free parking services, but now that the project is complete, some are upset with its prices. “I definitely took advantage of the gates being down,” said senior Damien Coakley, who lives off campus and uses the garages while
LIAM »PAGE 8
GARAGE »PAGE 5
OPINION p. 6
SPORTS p. 10
NEWS p. 2
NEWS p. 3
STUDENTS SUFFER SLEEP DEPRIVATION
MIAMI ALUMNUS NAMED COO OF TWITTER
FILM STUDIES COMAJOR AVAILABLE AT REGISTRATION
BOARD PREFERS CLASSROOM TO ONLINE TEACHING
REDHAWKS PLACE NINTH AT PRENATIONALS
Studies show students prioritize school and social life over adequate sleep.
Miami alumnus Adam Bain (‘95) became Twitter’s Chief Operating Officer Oct. 5.
The long-awaited film studies co-major is now available, as classes are offered in spring.
Editorial Board reflects on benefits of in-class education as online learning grows.
Between men’s and women’s cross country teams, 10 runners achieved PRs.
TODAY in MIAMI HISTORY
CULTURE p. 4
In 1987, more than 30 Miami students and faculty from nine different student organizations protested at the seal, in recognition of National Human Rights Day. The demonstrators were making a statement about human rights abuses in South Africa’s apartheid.