BEST NEWS OF 2013-2014
The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
WELCOME HOME CLASS OF 2018 THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014
VOLUME 141 NO. 54
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1991, The Miami Student reported the arrival of 3,000 new students who had begun wandering campus with their maps and uncertainty. First-year Nancy Palermo pointed out the positives, “I don’t have to answer to the old folks.”
Class of 2018 ‘makes it Miami’ BY EMILY C. TATE CAMPUS EDITOR
THE MIAMI STUDENT MAKEOVER
08. 26. 14
Today, a promising group of bright-eyed students fill the redbrick residence halls of Miami University. The class of 2018 boasts some of the most acclaimed students to attend the university, officials said.
34%
GRADUATED TOP 10% “We expect it to be the most academically accomplished and geographically diverse [class] in Miami’s history,” said Susan Schaurer, interim director of Admission and Enrollment Communication. “To continue to attract students of academic caliber from all parts of Ohio, across the country and across the globe is very exciting for [the university].”
The first-years follow the trend of their predecessors. Nearly without exception, Miami has brought in classes with higher academic scores and greater ethnic diversity since 2006.
12.8%
ETHNICALLY DIVERSE Schaurer said this year’s firstyear class comprises students from 39 different U.S. states and 33 countries, and has the highest average ACT score in university history at 27.7. Each year the numbers improve slightly.
the class of 2018 has the most non-Ohio residents, 43 percent, since the class of 2006. In addition, a record-breaking 9 percent of first-years are beginning their education at Miami with enough AP credit hours to be considered sophomores and juniors.
25,302 APPLICATIONS
Though the number of applicants was higher than ever before, officials do not intend to increase the size of the student body.
57%
27.7
FROM OHIO
And according to Miami’s Office of Institutional Research,
“We are very fortunate,” she said. “We had 25,302 applications for this incoming class of
AVERAGE ACT SCORE
about 3,600 [students] — the largest number of applications received in university history.”
66%
FILED FAFSA The large applicant pool meant a more competitive, highly selective admission process than ever before.
7.6%
INTERNATIONAL “Each and every member of the class of 2018 proved themselves through their academic accomplishments and their involvement in cocurricular activities and community organizations,” Schaurer said. “We are truly excited about what they will bring to the university and what they will contribute to the campus.”
Chuck Martin joins Cradle of Coaches New Student Center opens its doors BY TOM DOWNEY SPORTS EDITOR DEC. 3, 2013
Former Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chuck Martin takes over Miami University’s football program after head coach Don Treadwell’s mid-season firing. Athletic Director David Sayler said Martin, who won two national titles as a Division-II head coach, has been given a five-year contract with a base salary of $450,000. There are also potential academic and athletic performance bonuses. Martin spent four years at Notre Dame, serving as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for two of them, and as a defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator for the other two. Before heading to South Bend,
Indiana, Martin served as the head coach at Grand Valley State University, where he replaced current Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly in 2004. Grand Valley State was nothing short of spectacular during Martin’s time at the helm. The Lakers went 74-7 under Martin, taking home a pair of Division-II National titles. Sayler said Martin fit all the criteria Sayler wanted in Miami’s 36th head football coach. “Everyone heard me say it loud and clear, what the criteria was: Someone that’s been a sitting head coach and someone that’s had experience at the Division-I level,” Sayler said. “Those were the two key factors in this process. I’m happy to report that we found someone that checks all those boxes, and then some, in terms of the belief in the academic
LAUREN OLSON PHOTO EDITOR
Martin speaks at his introductory press conference.
mission, the kinds of things they believe in personally, the family situation. It was perfect from the time I met Chuck the first time.” In addition to his offensive coordinating experience, Martin was the defensive coordinator for a year at Grand Valley State and was a defensive assistant coach there for three years.
Miami didn’t win a single game last season and have lost 16 straight games
PHOTOGRAPHER THE MIAMI STUDENT
BY EMILY C. TATE Martin called the plays for a spread offense the past two seasons at Notre Dame, and would like to install a similar offense at Miami. “We’d definitely like to spread the field and make defenses defend the length and width of the field,” Martin said. “We’d like to push the ball downfield vertically and make you defend down field to try to not let everybody be in the box. But we’d also like to stretch the field horizontally and make you defend the length and width of the field, and that’s what spread offenses do.” However, Martin said being able to win the battle in the trenches will be a priority as well, and that Miami won’t always be to air it out. Martin said recruiting the state of
COACH,
SEE PAGE 8
CAMPUS EDITOR DEC. 6, 2013
A decade-long project has finally come to fruition. Since the need for a new student center was first recognized in 2002, Miami University has been developing the idea for what is now the pristine, state-of-the-art venue. Twelve years and $46 million later, phase one the Armstrong Student Center is open to the public.
PHASE ONE - $46 MILLION 1/2 STUDENT FEE FUNDED
SEVEN EATERIES
1/2 DONOR FUNDED
HOME TO 78 STUDENT ORGS
PHASE TWO - $21.5 MILLION
2
CAMPUS
FORMER EDITORS VICTORIA SLATER REIS THEBAULT
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014
CAMPUS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET
(Left to right) Former Miami students Jaclyn Wulf, Andy Supronas, Nicole Sefton, Sean VanDyne and Jake Jarman.
Online Exclusive: Two additional students,Andrew Salsman and Courtney Short, have died since this story’s publication last December. For more information, visit www.miamistudent.net to read,“Cancer claims Courtney Short: Miami community grieves, remembers,” and “Student suicides call community to action.”
Miami reflects on five student deaths BY EMILY CRANE
FORMER NEWS EDITOR DEC. 6, 2013
The bells at St. Mary’s Catholic Church pierce the cold Oxford night with a mournful clanging. Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong. The last students file in and find seats in the church’s packed sanctuary. It is Wednesday, Nov. 20 and Jaclyn Wulf’s memorial service is about to begin. Most of the rows are filled with Jaclyn’s sisters from the Alpha Xi Delta sorority who came to know Jaclyn when she participated in rush last January. “I knew the minute we hung out she was so much more than the shy, sweet girl I met during the preference round,” Jaclyn’s “Big,” Hanna Weigel, wrote in an email interview. “I couldn’t have asked for a better ‘Little.’” It was through the process of pledging Alpha Xi Delta that Jaclyn met sophomores Jane Spooner and Brooke Sabatelli who became her close friends and roommates in Swing Hall this year. “She had a gift of being able to tell if her friends were upset just by
looking at us,” Spooner wrote. “If we were upset for whatever reason, she would do everything in her power to make us happy.” Together, the three enjoyed late-night dance parties in their room, hockey games and whole grain goldfish. “Jaclyn stood up for those around her,” Hanna wrote. “She was fiercely protective and wasn’t afraid to tell others her feelings.” Though Jaclyn always had a full social calendar, she was a driven student as well. She was a psychology major with aspirations of going on to study neuropsychology in graduate school, Brooke said. Nonetheless, she always made time for midnight ice cream runs, trips home to visit her nephews and leaving notes on her roommates’ desks. Four nights before, several of the students now crammed into St. Mary’s had been with Jaclyn at a party. The following morning, she was found unresponsive in her room. Her Resident Assistant (RA), Ashton Spann called the Miami University Police Department, reporting that she “had a lot to drink last night.” MUPD
sent the Oxford Life Squad to transport Jaclyn to the McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital where she was declared dead at 9:42 a.m. Jaclyn is the fifth Miami student to die in the last 12 months.
We can be doing a lot more. We have to be responsible for each other.” DAVID HODGE
UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT
Ding. Andy Supronas. Dong. Nicole Sefton. Ding. Sean VanDyne. Dong. Jake Jarman. Ding. Jaclyn Wulf. One last peal from St. Mary’s bells and then all is silent. A year of loss “There is nothing so horrible as the phone call that comes to tell me about a student death,” Miami University President David Hodge said. “As a president and as a parents, it’s horrible, devastating. There are no
adequate words to describe the sense of grief.” Hodge has received five such phone calls in the last year, beginning with the call about Andy Supronas Dec. 3, 2012. Andy Supronas At first glance, Ainas “Andy” Supronas may have come off as intimidating to some, weighing in at 250 pounds of pure muscle. But behind the built exterior was a man who loved his cat, Ducky, and made regular trips home to Mason, Ohio to visit him. He loved fast cars and long workouts and never missed a party, according to his roommates. Originally from Lithuania, Andy’s family moved to Ohio when he was in high school. A natural athlete, Andy started his career at Miami on the men’s swim team, but later dropped out to play water polo recreationally. As a first-year, he pledged the Phi Delta Theta fraternity where he met two of his closest friends, Thomas Goldberg and JT Corcoran. “He had a heart of gold,” Thomas said. “He was loving, kind, generous. He was always the person to go to.” Andy was the sort to look out for
his friends at any cost. “One time, there were these two girls he knew and this guy was being way too physical with them, so Andy took him on and all his friends and got two black eyes and a broken nose,” Thomas said. “He didn’t even hit the guy at first,” JT chimed in. “He was shielding the girls and the guy decked him.” Though Andy was always the life of the party, he had a quiet side he embraced in his budding career as a software engineer. He didn’t let his academics interfere with his social life but his natural affinity for learning got him good grades nonetheless. He even had an internship lined up with IBM for the summer, Thomas said. On Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, Andy had made plans to get together with JT. “I kept texting him, I thought he was just ignoring me,” JT said. “He tended to sleep really late.” Andy never woke up. On Dec. 3,
DEATHS, SEE PAGE 5
New policy urges students to ‘Just Call’ Tyman & Bata win election for help in cases of alcohol poisoning BY EMILY CRANE
FORMER NEWS EDITOR SEPT. 10, 2013
In the interest of protecting the safety and wellness of students, Miami University is piloting its new Good Samaritan Policy, which will allow students to seek emergency care for alcohol or drug abuse without fear of judicial citations, according to Director of Student Wellness Rebecca Baudry. The primary motivation behind this policy is to equip students to look out for each other and keep each other safe, Baudry said. “At its root, it’s about health and safety,” Baudry said. “Across the nation, the numbers of deaths because of alcohol have climbed. It just made a lot of sense to give students tools to look out for each other.” According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, there are an estimated
1,825 alcohol-related deaths among college students a year, a 27 percent increase since 1998. Baudry is not aware of any such deaths on Miami’s campus in recent history and said she hopes this policy allows the university to keep that track record. Under the new policy, if a student calls for himself or another seeking emergency medical assistance for alcohol or drug abuse, the incident will be reported to the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution (OESCR) but they will not receive a judicial citation, Baudry said. Instead, OESCR will seek to get the student the education or counseling they need to restore their health. However, the incident will remain on the OESCR record for one year and the student will face punitive action if they have another offense during that time. In addition, this policy will not excuse students of other crimes that may occur due to the influence of alcohol, such as belligerence or
vandalism, Baudry said. Baudry emphasized that this policy is only in place for emergency situations; it does not excuse other alcohol crimes such as open containers or underage possession. The policy was first proposed by former president of Associated Student Government (ASG) Nick Huber two years ago when it was commonly referred to as the medical amnesty bill, and was recently approved by the President’s Executive Council (PEC), according ASG President Nick Miller. “It could potentially save a life,” Miller said. “We hear so many stories of people dying from alcohol abuses. I hope to God it’s never needed but if it is ever needed, it could save a life.” Now that it has received the PEC approval, the Good Samaritan Policy is being piloted this
59% TYMAN
21% HEES
20%
KOHAN
We are so honored to have the support of the student body.”
POLICY,
SEE PAGE 5
Student on the Tweet
WRITERS WANTED The MiamiStudent is looking for beat reporters and staff writers. For more info, e-mail news@miamistudent.net.
FORMER EDITORS JANE BLAZER CHRIS CURME
COMMUNITY
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014
COMMUNITY@MIAMISTUDENT.NET
3
POLICE Trashcan tricks students’ sobriety
BEAT BEST OF ’13-’14
Male steps through two apartment ceilings At 10:37 p.m. Friday, OPD officers responded to 1007 Arrowhead Dr. Apt. 9B after a foot had erupted through a third-floor unit’s ceiling. The foot was attached to a junior male Miami student, who had been using a vacant third floor apartment to shower after his unit lost hot water, according to OPD. He had suitable permission to do so. After that shower also proved cold, saying he was tired of cold showers, the intoxicated male clothed himself and climbed into the attic to follow the hot water line. In the dark attic without a flashlight, the suspect missed a truss and stepped through the ceiling. His jeans and boot were visible to a startled Miami student in unit 9B. Attempting to return to his borrowed unit, the male again stepped through the ceiling, this time into unit 10B, occupied by another Miami student. His foot immediately collided with a floor lamp and knocked out the bulb, plunging the room into darkness. He returned to the bathroom and took his shower. He was later identified exiting the laundry room, partly by his boot and pant, according to OPD. He did not appear dirty, but had a rancid tank top stuffed in his pocket and readily admitted to being intoxicated, according to OPD. He was charged with criminal trespassing and criminal mischief, according to OPD. He was returned to his apartment.
BY CHRIS CURME
FORMER COMMUNITY EDITOR OCT. 18, 2013
The “Trashcan” is a popular alcoholic drink that can be purchased at a number of bars Uptown. Though most students have heard of it, few have an accurate idea of its alcohol content, according to a Miami Student investigation. Sophomore Brandon Champion said he goes Uptown roughly once a week and has heard the Trashcan packs a six-standarddrink punch. Others are doubtful. “I’ve heard everyone say six KYLE HAYDEN THE MIAMI STUDENT [shots in a Trashcan],” Junior Patrick Greitzer said. “I think it’s Students often overestimate the alcohol content of the popular, “Trashcan” mixed drink Uptown.The share more like four.” Carlee Gambler, general man- misperception leads them to act more intoxicated than they actually are, research shows. ager of Brick Street Bar and Grill, said Brick Street’s bar is best to about 1.5 ounces of 80-proof many drinks they had ... and they Dr. Messman-Moore, direcknown for its Trashcans. liquor, a Trashcan contains slight- say ‘yeah I had a Trashcan. Well, tor of clinical training in MiWhile holding two liquor bot- ly less than three standard drinks. I say, ‘Yeah, what was in it? Who ami’s psychology department, tles in each hand, upturned over Dr. Rose Marie Ward, associate poured it?’” often collaborates with Ward in the plastic cup, Gambler said a professor in Miami University’s Ward said students often her research. Trashcan contains vodka, gin, College of Education, Health and are unaware of what they Messman-Moore said peorum and triple sec. She then driz- Society, conducts research on the are drinking. ple’s disposition can often be zled in blue curacao, added Sprite college drinking culture. She said “There was a very low relation- determined by their perception and topped it off with a can of she collects much of her data on ship between what they thought of what they are drinking, Red Bull. High Street. their BAL was and what it actu- rather than what they are “It’s four ounces of liquor,” “I breathalyse students Up- ally was,” Ward said, indicat- actually consuming. Gambler said. town,” she said. “We ask them ing students tend to think they TRASHCAN, Considering the alcohol content to estimate their [Blood Alcohol are more inebriated than they SEE PAGE 9 of a standard drink is equivalent Level]. We also ask them how actually are.
Construction constricts incoming Oxford traffic BY DYLAN SPARKS
FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT MAY 6, 2014
Nude intruder Goldilocks self in bathroom At 1:31 a.m. Friday, OPD officers responded to a report of a burglary in process in the 100 block of South Beech Street. A resident said she was in her bed when she was awoken by an unrecognized, pants-less female standing in her doorway. The resident then roused her sleeping roommates and, upon their return to the bedroom, found the scantily-clad intruder asleep in the bed. The residents attempted to wake the female, but throughout their attempts, they claimed the girl pretended to be sleep while grinning mischievously. Eventually, the residents were successful, and, as the sleepy nudist rolled off the mattress, she sprung up and ran into another room, where she slipped into bed with another sleeping resident. Yet again, the residents returned to the now-Sisyphean task of removing the girl from a bed. Again, after being removed from the mattress, the female ran into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. At this point, residents called OPD. When officers arrived and entered the bathroom, it was empty. While taking residents’ statements, one officer noticed a similarly pants-less female running eastbound down West Collins Street. She was ordered to stop, but continued running until she arrived on a doorstep. The residents of that particular address said they did not know the female, and she was arrested and taken to Butler County Jail. She was charged with burglary and obstructing official business.
MAYOR MAKES MOVE
ANNE GARDNER THE MIAMI STUDENT
Newly elected mayor Kevin McKeehan and Vice-mayor Kate Rousmaniere are all smiles at the swearing-in ceremony.
SPRING 2014 CRIME STATISTICS OPEN CONTAINER
TOTAl CITATIONS ISSUED: 355 TOTAL PERSONS CITED: 183
RESISTING ARREST OBSTRUCTING OFFICIAL BUSINESS OFFENSES INVOLVING UNDERAGE PERSONS OVI CERTAIN ACTS PROHIBITED DISORDERLY CONDUCT SALES TO AND USE BY UNDERAGE PERSONS TOTAL MIAMI STUDENTS CITED
0
30
60
90
120
150
A two-year, $7.5 million construction project seeking to improve U.S. Route 27 is scheduled to last until May 31, 2015. Modifications to the roadway will begin at the top of the Chestnut Street and Patterson Avenue intersection and extend to Southpointe Parkway. According to the Butler County Engineer’s Office website, the U.S. 27 construction will include the addition of center turn lanes, and the widening of existing road lanes. The project is also scheduled to add full shoulders to the roadways, replace the bridge and add new traffic signals. Mark Wilson, area engineer and administrator of the construction project for the Ohio Department of Transportation, explained the construction’s effects on daily traffic. “The travel lanes will be reduced in width, which will cause traffic to slow down,” Wilson said. “There may be brief times where traffic will have to be held up, but we try to schedule those activities to avoid the morning rush and evening rush hours.” The construction project also runs along the entrance to Talawanda High School (THS) on University Park Blvd. According to Holli Morrish, Talawanda School District employee and co-chair of the Miami and Talawanda Partnership, the construction has already had an effect on students and bus drivers. “We have advised our students
to take alternate routes to Talawanda if possible, so they can avoid traffic and delays,” Morrish said. “Some employees have begun to come in earlier to avoid traffic altogether.” Morrish also said the construction traffic and delays are expected to worsen. “We just received a memo that informed us that construction is now going to begin at 7 a.m. and not 7:30 a.m.” Morris said. “The construction will only allow the highway to operate on one lane of traffic, which will obviously cause problems for students.” Victor Popescu, engineer for the City of Oxford, said there was issues with the current speed limit in the construction zone. “Our biggest concerns are maintaining traffic on the road, which will be shortened in width from 12 ft. to 10 ft.…and getting the speed limit down from 45 mph to 25 mph in the construction zone,” Popescu said. “As of now the construction will be going on at the speed limit of 45 mph, but I guarantee we get that down to 25 mph to ensure better safety.” Oxford City manager Doug Elliott said the project should ensure safety for more drivers and pedestrians. “If your car breaks down there is no shoulder to pull over to without blocking traffic,” Elliott said. “By adding sidewalks to both sides of the route from Chestnut to Southpointe, the construction
ROUTE,
SEE PAGE 9
Save the trees!
Please recycle when you’re finished
OXFORD AWAITS
Uptown Oxford remains quiet as the sun sets on High Street the week before students’ return to campus.
LAUREN OLSON PHOTO EDITOR
4
www.miamistudent.net
THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2014
LCMS U at Miami Jesus died for you if... There is no “if”. There are no conditions. The good news is that Jesus died for sinners who do not deserve His love and grace. Miami Lutheran Student Fellowship Join us each Tuesday 8 PM Irvin Hall Room 9
Sunday Divine Service 8 AM & 10:45 AM Immanuel Lutheran Church 1285 Main St. Hamilton, OH 45013 513-893-6792 immanuelhamilton.com
PRESIDENT HODGE
APRIL 1, 2014
MIAMI HERITAGE AND TRADITION KEEPERS // SENIOR WEEK // HOMECOMING HOUSE DECORATION // FAMILY WEEKEND AUCTION // STUDENT AMBASSADORS // STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS // ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT // CHICAGO BUS TRIPS // 20/20 BIKE RACE // M BOOKS // SENIOR WEEK // HOMECOMING HOUSE DECORATION // FAMILY WEEKEND AUCTION // STUDENT AMBASSADORS // STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS // ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT // CHICAGO BUS TRIPS // TRIATHLON // M BOOKS // MIAMI HERITAGE AND TRADITION KEEPERS // SENIOR WEEK & LAST SENIOR LECTURE // HOMECOMING HOUSE DECORATION GET INVOLVED! // FAMILY WEEKENDSTUDENTS AUCTION HELPING // STUDENT STUDENTS PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE AMBASSADORS // STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS a Miami heritage and tradition keeper, raise money for student scholarships, // Become ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT // CHICAGO BUS get involved in family weekend and homecoming, get involved in senior week and senior last// lecture, become an ambassador University Advancement and the Alumni TRIPS TRIATHLON //forMIAMI HERITAGE AND Association, help shape the first-year experience, become a leader in an organization TRADITION KEEPERS // SENIOR WEEK &(MUSF) LAST which has been around since 1972. The Miami University Student Foundation is recruiting students to serve as campus to Miami students andHOUSE alumni. SENIOR LECTURE // ambassadors HOMECOMING DECORATION // AND FAMILY WEEKEND AUCTION LEARN ABOUT MUSF ITS PROGR AMS THAT R AISE MONEY STUDENT SCHOL ARSHIPS AT ONE OF OUR// INFOSTUDENT SESSIONS: // FORSTUDENT AMBASSADORS SCHOLARSHIPS // ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT SEPT. 2, 3 & 4 // 6:30 P.M. // 210 HARRISON HALL // MIA MIOH.E DU/MUSF • FAC EBO// O K .CO M / M U S F 1BIKE 80 9 • @RACE M U S F 1 80 9// CHICAGO BUS TRIPS 20/20
MUSF
M BOOKS // MIAMI HERITAGE AND TRADITION KEEPERS // SENIOR WEEK // HOMECOMING HOUSE DECORATION // FAMILY WEEKEND AUCTION // STUDENT AMBASSADORS // STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS // ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT // CHICAGO BUS TRIPS // 20/20 BIKE RACE // M BOOKS // MIAMI HERITAGE AND TRADITION KEEPERS // SENIOR WEEK // HOMECOMING HOUSE DECORATION // FAMILY WEEKEND AU C T I O N // S T U D E N T A M B A S S A D O R S // S T U D E N T S C H O L A R S H I P S // A LU M N I E N G AG E M E N T // C H I C AG O B U S T R I P S // 20/20 BIKE RACE // M BOOKS // MIAMI HERITAGE AND TRADITION KEEPERS // SENIOR WEEK // HOMECOMING HOUSE DECORATION // FAMILY WEEKEND AUCTION // STUDENT
Group
Fitness
Free
WEEK August 25 - August 31 View the schedule online at MiamiOH.edu/GroupFitness
www.miamistudent.net
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013
5
CONNOR MORIARTY THE MIAMI STUDENT
SLANT WALK IN SPRING
Students stroll down Slant Walk one last time before heading home for the summer.
DEATHS, FROM PAGE 2
2012, the Oxford Police Department found Andy dead in his off-campus apartment. The toxicity report and autopsy revealed large amounts of heroin in his blood stream and determined that to be the cause of his death. He would have been 23 today. Nicole Sefton Ever since Nicole Sefton suffered a back injury playing catcher for her softball team in high school, she knew she wanted to be a physical therapist. She watched in amazement as her own therapist carefully, gently helped her gain back the ability to play her favorite sport. That is what she wanted to do. She told her mother, Tina Sefton, she had decided she wanted to work with children to restore them to physical wholeness. She never looked back. “Nikki didn’t waffle a lot,” Tina said. “She knew where she was going.” Nicole knew a long and arduous road lay ahead of her. She applied and was accepted to several universities but chose Miami because of its proximity to home. Though her parents supported her, they told her she would have to pay her own tuition, but Nicole was undaunted. She worked two jobs and commuted to Miami’s Oxford and Hamilton campuses from her home in Shandon, Ohio. “Nothing in life is free,” Tina said. “My kids have learned that if you want to achieve something, you have to work for it.” With the help of her first-year adviser, Nicole laid out her plan to one day become a physical therapist and delved into the athletic training major. “She had a great adviser,” Tina said. “I wish I knew who it was and I could tell them thank you. They were clearly in the right profession. They helped her break down her long-term goals into short-term steps.” Nicole had just paid her second tuition bill when she lost control of her car and died in a single-vehicle car crash Jan. 24, 2012. The toxicity report revealed her Blood Alcohol Content to be 0.210. Sean VanDyne Sean VanDyne could be spotted at a distance wearing his bright red Toms shoes. Hope McClain, his coworker at Skyline Chili in Hamilton, looked for those shoes whenever she had a shift. “You knew it was going to be a good day when you walked in and
saw Sean,” Hope said. His quirky sense of humor and strong work ethic made him a fun person to work with. He could often be heard spouting words in Mandarin he was learning at Miami as a part of the Farmer School of Business’ (FSB) China Business Program. “He’d come in here and talk in Chinese to the customers, yelling ‘zain jin!’ as they were leaving,” Sean’s coworker and childhood friend Jon Lee said, laughing at the memory. “He always wanted other people to have a good time.” Sean had become something of
fast,” his mother, Kathleen Jarman, wrote in an email interview. But he also had a knack for selling things, “for making people see things his way,” Kathleen wrote. As a child, he was the ringleader of the neighborhood, pulling the other children along with him in whatever endeavor came to his mind, whether it was selling lemonade and snow cones or playing street hockey on the cul-de-sac. In high school, he sold Cutco knives door-to-door and excelled at that. He loved storytelling, and was pursuing a degree in English and
We have to do something to counter the lure of drugs and alcohol.” PATRICIA NEWBERRY JOURNALISM PROFESSOR
a legend around Hamilton High, as an academic and an athlete, and he could most often be spotted with his best friend, Ben Flick and his girlfriend Rachel Hildebrand. He married her in August, 2013 after dating for five years. “He just really loved to help people,” Rachel said. “You could call him literally at 3 a.m. or 5 a.m. and he’d be there.” They moved into a house of their own in Hamilton and both enrolled at FSB, Rachel studying management and Sean studying accountancy. Sean had always dreamed of becoming an FBI agent someday, according to his parents. A few weeks into his first semester, his old friend, Ben Flick, came to Miami on the University of Cincinnati football squad to play at Yager stadium. After the game, Sean, Ben and two of Ben’s UC friends went for a drive through Hamilton’s hilly roads. They never returned. Sean, who was driving, lost control of the car when it flipped on Stahlheber Road. The crash killed Ben immediately and Sean died two days later in the hospital. The Hamilton County Coroner’s office has not yet completed his toxicity report. Jake Jarman Jake Jarman had a knack for certain things. Anything to do with mountains came naturally to him, having grown up in the mile-high city of Denver, Colorado. He loved climbing them, summiting the 14,000-foot Longs Peak with his father, and he loved zooming down them, competing in mountain ski racing and freestyle skiing. “He loved sports and anything
film at the Colorado University, but he decided to put his knack for persuasion to good use with a marketing degree and transferred to Miami after his freshman year. Getting into FSB became his first goal. “He planned his classes and Miami Plan around the goal of getting into the Farmer School of Business,” Kathleen wrote. “He wrote his GPA goal on each of his notebooks.” He had registered for a film studies course over winter term and was contemplating rushing a fraternity. “Jake was growing up and figuring things out,” Kathleen wrote. But in the early hours of the morning on Oct. 26, Jake was standing on the railroad tracks between South College and South Poplar when a CSX train came rumbling through. The impact killed him on the spot. The Oxford Police Department has not yet determined why Jake was on the tracks and the Butler County Coroner’s office is performing a toxicity report and autopsy to determine whether any substances were in his system at his time of death. Looking forward With each passing student death, Hodge has been visiting and revisiting the question, “what can we be doing?” “I’d like to believe, and still believe, that we can do something about this,” Hodge said. “The best thing we can probably do is develop bystander intervention. We can be doing a lot more. We have to be responsible for each other.” Increasing education and programming on campus about bystander intervention has become a top priority for the administration,
Hodge said. As a faculty member, journalism professor Patricia Newberry has long been demanding that the administration do more to educate its students about how to care for themselves and each other. “It is the responsibility of our institution to share information that can help us all make better decisions,” Newberry said. “For this reason, I would like to see the university be more proactive and transparent about sharing the cause of death.” This is particularly important, Newberry said, if the cause of death is substance-related, like it has been shown to be in the cases of Andy and Nicole. “We have to do something to counter the lure of drugs and alcohol, to help our bright, young students make better choices,” Newberry said. After the five deaths of this past year, Newberry has decided to take up the issue in her classes. “I am not at all adverse to talking to my students about alcohol anymore,” Newberry said. The university’s latest approach has been the “I Am Miami” initiative. “That’s what the Code of Love and Honor is all about,” Hodge said. “The student body must embrace the notion that we can help each other... I implore our students to embrace that notion.” In Andy’s case, Thomas and JT said they had no idea he had a heroin problem, though the Butler County Coroner’s report reads that he had a medical history of
ANDREW SALSMAN
FROM PAGE 2
Email Sloane Fuller at fullerse@miamioh.edu for more information.
COURTNEY SHORT
Online Exclusive: Two additional students, Andrew Salsman and Courtney Short, have died since this story’s publication last December. For more information, visit www.miamistudent.net to read, “Cancer claims Courtney Short: Miami community grieves, remembers,” and “Student suicides call community to action.”
POLICY,
PAGE DESIGNERS WANTED.
opiate dependence. “We lived in the same room sophomore year, and I never would have guessed,” JT said. But even in cases where students might be aware that a friend is in trouble, many students would choose not to get the authorities involved, Thomas said. “They’re afraid to call 911 because that medical amnesty bill isn’t always upheld,” Thomas said. “Students tend to think it’s Oxford and the university versus the students.” This is precisely what Hodge and Interim Dean of Students Mike Curme are working to change. “We must first make sure that every member of our community knows the Miami University values, and the related Code of Love and Honor. That, I think, is the easy part,” Curme said. “The harder part is empowering each of us to help prevent another from acting in ways inconsistent with those values, or to intervene when we witness concerning behavior.” In this spirit, Hodge and the office of student affairs are developing focused programming on bystander intervention, slated to appear in the standard regimen of first-year programming next fall. “There’s a lot of grief, but a lot of positive energy,” Hodge said. “Grief is a reflection of a community spirit. If every student is asking that question ‘What could I have done?’ then out of these tragedies can come a deepening of that culture [of respect].”
semester and will be fine-tuned later in the year, according to Dean of Students Dr. Mike Curme. “We’re piloting it this fall because we want a better appreciation for the nuances and gray areas that will arise because of this policy,” Curme said. “But the Good Samaritan Policy procedures are in place for these things to happen.” According to Miami University Police Chief John McCandless, this policy has already been in place in the police force for a long time. “From the police perspective, this isn’t a new way of doing business,” McCandless said. “We’ve always considered alcohol abuse as a medical emergency where we aren’t looking to arrest people. We’re looking to get them the help they need.” McCandless emphasized,
however, that this policy only concerns a pretty narrow set of circumstances. “If you were to become disorderly or violent or bust a window, the Good Samaritan Policy would no longer be in place,” McCandless said. In conjunction with the Good Samaritan Policy, the Office of Student Wellness will be launching the “Just Call” campaign next week to educate students on the signs of alcohol poisoning and drug abuse, encouraging them to call for help as soon as they identify these signs in someone, Baudry said. They will be placing educational materials on toilet stalls, bulletin boards and TV screens across campus, as well as working with HAWKS Peer Health Educators and Resident Assistants (RAs) in residence halls. “This is about saving lives,” Curme said. “What we want students to know is ‘Just Call.’”
6
OPINION
FORMER EDITORS EMILY ELDRIDGE NICOLE THEODORE
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014
EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET
EDITORIAL
The following piece, written by the editorial editors, reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.
Reflecting on progress in the newsroom, more to come Published May 9, 2014 While waiting in line for a coffee at King Café, you see a lopsided stack of newspapers overflowing from a nearby newsstand. As you walk down High Street, you catch a glimpse of a crinkled copy floating down the sidewalk. And there’s one neatly folded under a hurried professor’s arm. This clockwork process repeats itself every Tuesday and Friday as freshly printed newspapers, swapped out with different stories and new student perspectives, appear all around campus. This is the routine the Miami community has grown comfortable with. But it’s time to evolve. Seeing the newspaper twice a week may have worked for the past two hundred years, however, it’s just not enough today. The Editorial Board is not settling for the outdated rituals of traditional print news. We realize news is not something that can be put into a box one or twice a week; it is something you interact with daily, hourly. As Miami’s most prominent news source, we want to not only be available where it’s convenient on campus, but also with the click of a button or the swipe of an iPhone. We want to be a publication students rely on for fast and accurate facts. A newspaper that doesn’t provide instant coverage of events is not appropriately serving students of today’s digital age. If you can order a Chipotle burrito online, you should be able to access the latest campus news within seconds. We’ve already put many of these ideas into action. At the beginning of the year, we took an honest look at the role of The Miami Student today and how we can best serve our student body. By ramping up our storytelling techniques and the methods in which we reach our readers, we are taking huge steps to be the best student-publication possible. The most substantial change is the launch of a brand new website next fall. That’s right, say goodbye to the finicky site we
currently have and hello to a more efficient, interactive experience. Our goal is to also beef up our use of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in order to gather news, tell stories and cover live events more effectively. We believe having a more sophisticated online presence will solidify our reputation as a reliable news source and help us transition to a place we know this newspaper should be. Along with launching a new website and possibly even a corresponding app, The Miami Student is committed to improving our content and diversifying our pool of writers. So with a not-sosubtle plug, we are always welcome new writers, photographers and anyone else who is looking to get involved. We don’t want any voice to go unheard or any valuable story to go untold. As the editorial staff, we’ve implemented several changes this past year. We’ve taken on investigative pieces and written longer form articles on issues this student body cares about. When writers, professors and readers can detect a positive change in our organization and leadership — and we believe they have — we know we’re on the right track. Already, the content is better, the quality is better and the ideas are better. Just like the illustrious red bricks that surround us, The Miami Student is a staple on this campus and the print edition is here to stay. But just like the continuous construction that surrounds us, there is always a phase to rebuild. For The Miami Student, this means executing our lofty ideas. From being serious about digital reporting to an updated print image, we have tangible goals for next year. Instead of continuing in the same routine, we want to be a newspaper this entire community is proud to call a part of Miami. And whether that means picking up a paper, pitching a story idea, following us on Twitter or downloading our app, we hope you’ll be with us every step.
Rule of Thumb Class of 2018
PATRICK GEYSER THE MIAMI STUDENT
LETTER TO THE READERS
Former TMS News Editor says there is no instruction manual on covering student death I hang up the phone and sit in silence as two big tears roll down my cheeks. I wipe them away, annoyed. I’m a journalist, I’m supposed to be tough as nails, relentlessly pursuing the truth, always looking to tell the best story. Death shouldn’t phase me; it should be just another story to tell. But it isn’t. As I listen to a heart-broken mother tell me about how her daughter used to raise prize-winning goats and dreamt of working in physical therapy with children, the daughter goes from being a name in a coroner’s report to being a person. As her mother describes her to me, I see her take shape in front of me. How can I not grieve at the task in front of me-to write about her death? I have taken nearly all the journalism courses there are to take at Miami. I have written dozens of stories for The Miami Student and even worked as a reporter for a few months in Egypt, covering protests and police brutality. But no task has been harder for me than to write the stories of the students who have died this semester. They have to be written; I believe that with my whole heart. And somebody has to
write them, and I guess that somebody is me. But there is no instruction manual for how to do it. No amount of coursework can prepare you for the day you are assigned to write about the death of your fellow student. There is no guidebook for how or when to call a grieving mother, a heartbroken wife or a shocked roommate. I have been faced with a long series of ethical dilemmas: How long should I wait before contacting loved ones? What names should I include in my stories? Do I really have to ask them that? On the one hand, I have deadlines and editors wanting all the facts, and my journalistic integrity to uphold. On the other hand, I have real people, people who are hurt and angry and shocked. I have attended two memorial services this semester and have spoken to the family and friends of all five students who died. And it hasn’t gotten easier as I’ve gone along either. Writing about death is hard and I’m not sure if I’m doing it right. I’ve sort of been figuring it out as I go. Decisions made in real time are rarely perfect, but this is what I’ve
come to learn. First, my top allegiance has to be to the public. My foremost job is to report the truth accurately, fairly and to the fullest extent possible-even if that means asking a really difficult question, or printing unpleasant information. Second, I must protect the right of private citizens to privacy by not prying at them or invading their personal space. This doesn’t mean I mustn’t call grieving family members or friends; it just means that I respect them if they tell me “no.” And I must say that there has not been a case yet when I have asked someone to help me tell the deceased person’s story and they have refused. Third, even though compassion hurts, it is right. It is right to take on the grief of those I talk to, to let it affect me and my writing. Maybe it’s not objective, but at least it’s real. And finally, in telling about a person’s death, I must not fail to tell about their life. Often, it is in the life of a person that we have the most to learn.
EMILY CRANE
FORMER NEWS EDITOR DEC. 6, 2013
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014 OP ED
IF THE SHEW FITS
7
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Former TMS Opinion Editor asks audience to Editor in Chief stands by weigh the costs of U.S. involvement in Syria decision to remove names If you haven’t been following the Vietnam, isn’t an Afghanistan. with morality. from TMS Police Beat news in the last week, you need to It isn’t a conflict of questionable When, if at all, do we as a supertake a break from Instagramming photos of block parties (even though it was a nice one, Beta) to get up to speed on the rapidly evolving U.S. policy SARAH toward Syria SHEW and the background of this tragedy. If you don’t know where to begin, Al Jazeera’s “Best of the Web: Syrian War” offers a great overview of the situation and the events as they unfold. This is my seventh piece regarding the conflict in Syria. This crisis isn’t new. It began in May 2011 and although various parties dispute the current death toll, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights estimates that over 110,000 people, over 40,000 of them innocent civilians, have died. If those numbers doesn’t make you incredibly uncomfortable, the 4,000 women and 5,800 children included in them certainly should. The world has seen genocides before, atrocities committed that horrifying crimes against humanity, but this one is different. It’s not depicted through foreign correspondents and professional photojournalists. It’s coming to the world in real time, through blurry snapshots taken from smartphones and Tweets on the ground from the few daring journalists who remain near the conflict. It’s not isolated, leaving its people to suffer quietly. It’s on the verge of engulfing much of the region, and their aiding superpowers. Because it’s happening under the glaring spotlight of social media and international attention, Syria isn’t an Iraq, isn’t a
origins or ambiguities of weapons of mass destruction. There is sufficient evidence, supported by global organizations that Assad used sarin gas to slaughter his own people. The red line of chemical warfare was not one invented by Barack Obama, but instead by the international community. In 1925, Syria signed the Geneva Protocol, prohibiting “the use of chemical and biological weapons,” according to the U.N. This is why Obama said Wednesday “I didn’t set a red line. The world set a red line,” according to CNN. Regardless of what side of the political fence you’re on, in this circumstance, Obama is right. Grotesque violations of human rights and blatant disregard for international law call for a response, or we allow Bashar al-Assad to believe he can act with impunity and continue to mercilessly kill his own people. This makes U.S. policy incredibly difficult. Only 29 percent of the American public approves of air strikes on Syria, according to Pew Research. Equally precarious, France is our only European ally explicitly supporting air strikes, according to USA Today. Most disturbing of all, we are on the edge of air strikes, of supporting a group that we don’t fully understand. The ambiguity of the Syrian rebels makes the actual method of intervention equally ambiguous, but necessary in some form. Keeping this in mind, President Obama and Congress should not compare Syria to Iraq, Afghanistan or Vietnam but it should remember these previous experiences to better strategize a way to liberate the struggling Syrian people without empowering a radical, violent Islamic faction. This is their real task, one much larger than the question of simple air strikes. Our task, as the American people, is to decide where politics coincide
power have a moral obligation to protect those who cannot protect themselves? When do we not only speak support for those wanting freedom, but act upon those words? How high does a death toll climb before we’re too uncomfortable to sit still?
These concerns are deeply troubling, but even more so is inaction. I am not eager to see American lives even slightly endangered in another Middle Eastern conflict. I am incredibly worried about a Russian response to an American airstrike, as Russia is Syria’s greatest benefactor. These concerns are deeply troubling, but even more so is inaction. To not act is to not back our threats to the Assad regime, and to fall short of the principles to which we ascribe as a nation founded on supporting freedom. I, with many other people, including likely many in our government and many in Syria, wish that diplomacy could singlehandedly provide resolution, but there’s no way to longer be diplomatic with a government that systematically kills its own people. As the time drags on, more people suffer at the hands of a violently oppressive regime. How much longer will other countries let them? Will it be indefinite? In the words of our president, “Are we going to try to find a reason not to act? And if that’s the case, then I think the (world) community should admit it.” FORMER OPINION EDITOR SEPT. 6, 2013
I respect the opinions of those who have voiced their disagreement with The Miami Student’s recent policy change. However, a number of the arguments mistake the motivation behind our decision to remove names from the Police Beat. It is not our publications duty to protect or punish the public, nor is it to deter crime. The motivation behind the policy change is rooted in ethics based on the university environment in which we live, not legality. Our intention is not to spare students embarrassment. They are adults who must pay for their actions, and the public and university legal systems assure that they do. That being said, Miami University is a place where students come to start their lives. They are still young adults, and mistakes are common. Many of the incidents published in the Police Beat are first-time offenses in which the charges are dropped. Although the legal system forgives these mistakes, The Miami Student does not. Once your name goes online with publication, it’s out there forever. In the past this was not the case. Technology has made this discussion pertinent. Tradition must be re-evaluated as the world around us changes. Journalism has an obligation to the truth. With or without names, the Police Beat fails this obligation. It relies on information presented by a single source, a police officer’s ten-minute encounter with an individual. By nature, they are one-sided. They provide no follow-up, no outside perspective or investigation. They lack the integrity of a balanced news story.
Honestly speaking, the anecdotal clips have served as an entertainment installment in The Miami Student. Police Beats may have a valid function of asserting journalists’ right to publish information already in the public domain, but they have more notably serviced the prurient interest of the campus. It is my intent to redirect this service to provide the community with a sense of the type and number of violations occurring, not to offer them names of offenders they may need to avoid or stigmatize. We maintain the right to publish information in the public domain, but when an underage student has been caught holding a beer outside a bar in a community that flourishes economically due to this behavior, we will not participate in tarnishing that student’s reputation. Every minor alcohol infraction on High Street does not warrant newspaper resources to further investigate, which is what any story singling out a student should demand. The Miami Student will establish criteria to determine which infractions warrant full coverage in spite of any discomfort it may cause an individual or their family. We have faced disgruntled and plaintive requests to omit names in the past, but they are not responsible for the policy change. Rather, it is a general perception among The Miami Student staff that the community and our readership is not best served by publishing names of offenders unless the crime rises to a level that warrants thorough reporting.
KATIE TAYLOR
EDITOR IN CHIEF
NICOLE’S TWO CENTS
Maybe we should start telling more stories of failures, rather than successes The smell of fresh turquoise paint wafted through my room as wind from an open window blew in the warm and sticky air, rustling old high school pictures on a nearby bulletin board. It was the summer of 2010, and I NICOLE was lying in THEODORE my bed at two in the afternoon while the rest of the world was at work. My face was half under the covers, only my hazel eyes visible to the bedroom packed to the brim with post-college furniture and garbage bags full of clothes. As I stared blankly at the ceiling my cell phone kept buzzing on the nightstand next to me. I knew what it was saying, so I felt like I didn’t need to physically dial into what was going on three feet away from me. Unread emails were attempting to tell me some sort of disappointing news ranging from “Please send final GPA for scholarship disbursement,” “Scholarship declined,” “MIAMI UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC PROBATION WARNING,” “SCHOLARSHIP AIDE CHANGED.” I rolled over quietly to continue staring blankly at a freshly painted wall, sweating from the summer heat but unable to remove my self from under the covers. I was hiding. Hiding from my parents who were unable to look at me, as they were rightfully confused how I went from 4th in my class in high school with a 4.2 GPA, previous center midfield soccer star and bubbly blonde to the girl lying in her bed mid-afternoon, half dead to the world, all within a year at Miami. Fast forward almost three years
later, and I am standing on top of the highest mountain in Kosovo with just an ancient Nokia phone in hand and a backpack. I looked around me at the lush green mountainside that went on for miles, the wild flowers and the Gorani shepherd trying to make his unrelenting sheep listen to him. He threw his wooden cane at them after they refused to stop drinking water from a pond, cursing in a foreign language and waving his hands around, clearly upset at the lack of respect he was receiving. Laughter immediately took over my entire body. I don’t know if I was laughing so hard at the little elderly shepherd swearing in Gorani or the fact I was in Kosovo, working as an international journalist for a summer and I was just standing on top of a mountain, after I had almost failed out of college. It was so ridiculous because I once was that girl who wanted to hide in self-pity and bad grades. Now, I saw myself wearing my mistakes and my failures on my sleeve as if they were battle wounds I was proud to tell anyone about, equally eager to share them with my successes. The middle of my Miami experience is key to understanding how I got to laughing on top of a mountain in Southeast Europe. I was so lost my first year, rightfully so as I was a pre-medicine and psychology major. I couldn’t study for the microbiology or chemistry exam, couldn’t explain to my Spanish 111 teacher why I missed the first exam. I was a shell. The entire time I filled journals upon journals with notes and letters. Telling my professors that I was sorry…but never telling them in person. I failed because it wasn’t my passion, but all along right on my desk in Brandon hall, was my passion. That damn notebook and pen that I went to every day was trying to tell me something. I saw a flyer for UP Magazine at Shriver, which many of you
know as that quirky fashion magazine that comes out three times a year. I applied for a writing position in between my classes at Hughes without even giving it a second thought. Lauren Pax, the editor-in chief at the time and now a Miami alumnus, didn’t ask me about my grades. She didn’t ask me what my major was. Lauren asked me about my writing and if I had passion for it. The rest is history.
“Why the hell is this happening to me,” I kept muttering in my head as warm tears quietly lead their way down my cheek. “I should be with them.” The booming voice over the microphone pulled me from the questioning, “What if’s?” and “What if I did this differently?” thoughts in my head. It was the voice of commencement speaker Wil Haygood, a Miami alumnus and Washington Post writer.
Maybe if we told more stories of failure, we as a university and as a student body could be more accepting of each other’s flaws and weaknesses.
It was a wide open door that led to four years of writing, photography and web work that developed into something I am absolutely addicted to doing. I added journalism as a major immediately after. The classes instantly clicked for me — everything made sense. Something still kept fear locked in my head though. Whether it was the fear of failing, the fear of staying a fifth year, the fear of someone finding out about my average GPA, I am not sure. But I do know that fear held on to me tight through the end of my fourth year, the same stomach-punching-sort-of-feeling I experienced in my bedroom three years before. Tears welled up in my eyes at the 2013 graduation ceremony, right as summer was beginning and I would be making the trip to Kosovo with the journalism department in three weeks. I watched as my class that I grew up with hugged one another in a sea of red caps and gowns. I felt jealousy and anger as my best friends of four years laughed and celebrated together.
“The truth is that no one can ever really cut away your dream,” Haygood said as my attention shifted in the sticky bleacher seats. “It is lodged deep inside of you. It is a force of nature. When you lose an opportunity, don’t be afraid to circle back. Ask that person for a second chance. That’s exactly what I did. Knock on the door again. Life is about second chances, but only if you ask.” That day I left the fear of failing on Yeager field. I went to Kosovo three weeks later with a blank journal and an open heart. I figured out my past mistakes were something I shouldn’t be scared of. Because in the end that is truly what creates adversity and amazing dreams, not acing an exam or playing it safe because it often seems like the “correct” course of action. Doing well in school is so important, and I don’t advise anyone to fail freshman chemistry or miss their Spanish exam like I did, but you know what, I wouldn’t change a thing about either of those events. Not a single thing.
Take risks. Go to a country you have never heard of. Add a major that makes you happy and curious. Explore the world and take every advantage that Miami has to offer you so that one day, you can tell your kids about the amazingly complicated, adventurous, deeply challenging and academic experience you had at Miami. You didn’t just come to this school to be perfect, did you? What about messing up? What about breaking the rules and learning from it? What about bouncing back, about going out of the welldefined box we are often put in as 20-something-year olds? Learning how to pick my self up and to keep going is one of the most important lessons I will take away from my Miami experience. I am telling my story, because you know what, there should be more stories like mine told. We don’t hear the failures. The stories that aren’t so beautiful, that don’t look so black and white. Maybe if we told more stories of failure, we as a university and as a student body could be more accepting of each other’s flaws and weaknesses. I am not alone in these failures and mistakes at Miami, and part of my story, is maybe yours too. I will be going back to Yeager Stadium where I left my thoughts and delusions of fear a year earlier, to graduate with the class of 2014. I have never been more proud to say I am graduating from Miami, because I realized Miami had my back all along. I just had to get out of my own way to let them help me see what I had been overlooking. Thank you for having me as your co-editorial editor for almost two years now at the paper, and I hope this page will continue to serve as a collection of voices and different experiences that blend into a cohesive forum of respect, adversity and understanding. FORMER OPINION EDITOR MAY 9, 2014
8
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Mustn’t See TV By Andrew Reynolds Across 1) “Walking in Memphis” artist Marc 5) Chatters 9) 10th letter of the Greek alphabet 14) “Milk’s favorite cookie” 15) Bunches and bunches 16) 2006 FIFA World Cup champs 17) Twisted metal jewelry 18) Get up 19) Astral objects 20) Who’s left standing, after a tough day on FOX’s Hole in the Wall? 23) Italian tenor Bocelli 24) Barnyard noise 25) Appropriate title for any VH1 or MTV reality show winner? 32) Spend some time at Harris 35) Thin 36) Children’s sidewalk game 37) Grape-sized South American fruit 39) Jim’s fiancée, on The Office 41) Word with inner or vacuum 42) Florida governor Lawton who preceded Jeb Bush 45) Part of a deck, but not a patio? 48) Type of detailed image, “hi-___” 49) What Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meals is called by those who aren’t her biggest fans? 52) Certain chemical isomeric structure 53) Inflame with love 57) CBS show that probably sounds very discriminatory to those who have never watched it? 62) Keen in intellect 63) Indonesian island east of Java 64) Place for a cap 65) Spooky 66) Chicago Bear’s running back in the late ‘90s Curtis 67) “My goodness!” 68) Most first-year students, for one 69) One of Jacob’s wives, in Genesis 70) Bears’ lairs
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COACH, FROM PAGE 1
Ohio will remain a focal point for Miami, but that getting the right type of players is what is important. “We want to get a lot of really good players,” Martin said with a smile. “The nice thing when it comes to recruiting, we are in the top state in the Midwest as far as football. And not only football talent, but also passion for the game of football. Those are two things that we’ll be looking at for sure.” Martin has a notable recruiting pedigree, and was named one of the top-25 recruiters in the nation in 2011 by ESPN. He’ll need that ability to restore a fallen program that has lost its last 16 games and has had one winning season since 2006. Sayler said the time is now for everyone to support the Miami football program. “At Miami, we always talk about Love and Honor,” Sayler said. “It’s very important; it’s something that is the core of what we believe in here at this University at this institution. Love is unconditional. Honor stands for high moral standards of behavior. These are things that are a part of our everyday life here. It’s time for all of us involved in this football program, everybody; student-athletes, fans, alums, donors, staff, administration, everybody needs to galvanize around this coach and support this program unconditionally. We need to move forward. Those Tangerine Bowls were a long time ago. We’ve gotta start thinking about bowl games in the future and getting Chuck here and going is the first step for us.” Martin is just the second FBS head coach hired this season, joining the hiring of Steve Sarkisian at the University of Southern California. Sayler getting the right head coach hired quickly to avoid the impending chaos that is the college football
coaching carousel was all part of the plan. “It’s great when a plan comes together,” Sayler said. “When we made the change mid-year [to fire former head coach Don Treadwell], as difficult of a decision as that was, it was made in such an attempt to get a head start... and close this thing up as quickly as we can after the season is over.” Martin said he knows many will want a timetable for a turnaround, but that sticking to the process is how to build a program. “If we stick to the process and we get the right people involved in our football program, from coaches to players, we’ll get to where we want to go,” Martin said. “If that is a year, that’s awesome, if it is two years, three years, four years whatever it takes, we’re gonna keep chipping away and we’re keeping feel good about the process.” Martin doesn’t have any connections to Miami; he hasn’t coached or played at Miami before, but the aura of The Cradle of Coaches is not lost on him. “You think of the Cradle of Coaches and the people that have come through here,” Martin said. “I grew up a south side Irish Catholic and one of the biggest Notre Dame fans. I know, in this state, Woody Hayes is the king of the Cradle of Coaches. Up in Michigan, it’s Bo Schembechler. But for us in Notre Dame it was Ara Paresghian. I was getting my hair cut yesterday and (Parseghian) was in the same seat I was the day before talking about how Miami has to get this one right. ‘We’ve got to get it back.’ Just the fact that Ara Parseghian is still talking about the job I was about to take sends chills down my spine.” Miami opens the season against rival Marshall University at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, August 30 at Yager Stadium.
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TRASHCAN, FROM PAGE 3
“We hold these beliefs that alcohol will affect people in a certain way, and that when we drink, it will affect us in that way,” Messman-Moore said. An anonymous, underage sophomore said she drinks Trashcans when she wants to have a fun night. “They don’t taste bad and you can get drunk off them quickly,” she said. “But I’m sure there’s a placebo effect involved. There have been times that I’ve gone to the bar and had nothing to drink, but still feel a high from the loud music and crowd.” Messman-Moore said expec-
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2013 tancies are what allow students to feel more intoxicated than they are, be that from a misconception of the alcohol content of their drink, or any other factor. “I’ve seen Trashcans take people from being kind of tipsy and buzzed to f***ed up,” Greitzer said. “It’s the act of seeing them take four bottles at once and [pour them into the cup]. That’s what tricks you.” Sophomore Lisa Tageriello agreed. “There’s a psychological factor,” she said. “Like, ‘Oh my God; it’s a Trashcan. I’m going to get so drunk.’” Ward said that whether students are over or underestimating how much alcohol they are consuming, what’s disturbing is the
fact many of them have no idea. “[Students] really didn’t know what it meant,” Ward said, referring to her experience measuring students’ BAL Uptown. “They have a hard time understanding how much alcohol has what kind of effect on their bodies.” Ward and Messman-Moore said it is impossible to generalize since not all students drink, however, those who do, drink regularly. “What’s scary is that we’re not seeing that much of a change in who’s drinking, the prevalence of drinking, but in how much they’re drinking,” Ward said. “What’s striking is that the people who drink, drink a lot.”
ROUTE, FROM PAGE 3
project will make the route much safer, which is important with the new high school [THS] there.” Miami University sophomore Ele Contreras frequently uses U.S. 27 to journey from his Oxford home to Miami-Hamilton throughout the week. “Sometimes there are five to 10 minute delays that will cause the trip to take a little longer than I’d like,” Contreras said. “So far the construction has not been an inconvenience for me, but since it will going on for another year I will have to figure out the times when traffic is slow and work around it.”
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According to Sharon Smigielski, public information officer for District 8 of the Ohio Department of Transportation, another goal of the project is to improve the visibility of the roads so that the drivers will be able to see the around the bends and curves of U.S. 27. “This is a project to add turn lanes to U.S. 27….as well as to correct the vertical profile,” Smigielski said. “There are some dips and valleys, and they’ll be straightening out the roadway to improve sight distance (for drivers).” The Ohio State Highway Patrol website reported only four fatal car accidents on U.S. 27 since 2010.
RYAN HOLTZ THE MIAMI STUDENT
CHEER UP!
The Miami University cheerleading team leads the way onto the field before Miami takes on the University of Kentucky Saturday. The RedHawks lost 41-7.
TENNIS,
FROM PAGE 10 Guerrazzi gave Miami its next win, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-1. Following Guerrazzi’s victory, Mohan gave Miami the 3-2 match lead with her come from behind win, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. “I knew it was going to be a hard match, but I just believed I could do it,” Mohan said. With Miami in the lead, the pressure was on for Raymond and Thurman, with just one of them needing a win. Thurman and Raymond were both in their third set, as their entire team cheered them on. Thurman responded to the cheers with a 1-6,
LOCKS,
FROM PAGE 10 is a nonprofit charity that takes donations of hair as well as money to make wigs for Canadian and American children suffering from conditions causing them to lose their hair. Despite catching some grief from friends, teammates and coaches, Mooney maintains that he’s received support and praise from everyone who knows of his intentions. The 6-foot, 200-pound Mooney even points to a former RedHawk as a source of inspiration. “My close friend Ryan Jones did it,” Mooney said, referring to 2008 graduate and three-time All-Central Collegigate Hockey Association forward who now plays for the Edmonton Oilers. “I saw how he helped, and I just want to try to do something nice for people who have been touched by this truly awful disease of cancer.”
6-4, 7-6 (7-3) tiebreak win to clinch the MAC title. Thurman and Mohan were both named to the MAC All-Tournament team, with Thurman also being named MAC Tournament MVP. For Raymond and Mohan, their final match on their home court came with a MAC title. “One thing about Nimisha, her strength is that we knew we could count on her, she’s not going to give up, she’s going to fight until the end,” Rosas said. “She had a big part in the momentum change when she won that match.” With the win, the RedHawks clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to Northwestern University. Mooney’s peers think highly of the decision. Junior captain Austin Czarnik, who sports a quality hairstyle in his own right, looks at his teammate’s initiative as a great idea. “I think what Michael is going to do is great,” Czarnik said. “He’s a great kid and he wants to help kids who are in need. It really shows what kind of person he is to grow his hair out and shave it all for a cause bigger than him.” Mooney’s flow, which has been favorably compared to that of Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp, is arguably one of the most enviable styles in the locker room, but he doesn’t have many qualms with getting rid of it, and he hopes he can persuade a few others to join him as well. “It would be nice to have a couple of guys do it,” Mooney said. “Even if it’s not guys on the team, if I can inspire anyone else to help others in some way that would be nice.”
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INDOOR, FROM PAGE 10
the current practice field, to the northeast of Yager Stadium. Sayler came to Miami known for his ability to fundraise, and the Indoor Sports Center is just the start of upgrades to Miami’s athletic facilities. “The goal is to have a performance center eventually attached to this building,” Sayler said. “That would be a new housing area for the football team; locker room, a new training room, rehab center for the whole athletic
program, a new weight room for football. That would be a space that would be attached to the indoor and butting right up against the North Bleachers.” That performance center is the next thing on Sayler’s to-do list. “I think it is critical for us, because not only does it give football all the modern things that most people would have, but it gives us a state-of-the-art training/rehab center for all our of student-athletes,” Sayler said. “It also frees up all that space in Yager that football currently has that we can use for golf, and
locker rooms for track... those kids need more space and it will allow us to use that space.” Sayler said he hopes to move on to that project soon. “I’m pretty aggressive, so I’m hoping within a year we can move to that next one after getting the indoor up,” Sayler said. “The only thing that’s stopping me is getting pledge forms signed and I’m on to that right now.” Construction of 91,000 squarefoot center is already underway, with the goal of having it finished in Winter 2014, or just into 2015.
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SPORTS
EDITOR TOM DOWNEY
THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014
SPORTS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET @WHATGOINGDOWNEY
TENNIS
’Hawks capture second consecutive MAC title
MIAMI CONFERENCE TITLES REGULAR SEASON
Baseball (MAC East), Field Hockey, Tennis
POST SEASON
Field Hockey, Tennis, Women’s Cross Country
JUSTIN MASKULINSKI LINSKI’S LIST APRIL 3, 2014
WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE LOVE AND HONOR?
BEN TAYLOR DAILY KENT STATER
Miami tennis players (from left to right, back to front) Diana Suarez, Andreea Badileanu, Alix Thurman, Nimisha Mohan, Christiana Raymond, Ramona Costea, Ana Rajkovic and Christine Guerrazzi celebrate their MAC title.
BY SADIE MARTINEZ FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT APRIL 29, 2014
The Miami University tennis team defeated Eastern Michigan University 4-2 in the Mid-American Conference championship match, making the RedHawks MAC Champions for the second year in a row. “Eastern Michigan is a very good team,” assistant coach Ricardo Rosas said. “Our girls were prepared. They knew that it was going to be close, and I think that’s one quality that I see this team has developed, the ability to be tough when it really counts.” Miami (17-6, 7-1 MAC) defeated the University at Buffalo 4-0
April 26, which sent them to the MAC Championship the next day. In doubles action against Buffalo, senior Nimisha Mohan and freshman Andreea Badileanu won their match 8-4. Following their lead, senior Christiana Raymond and sophomore Ana Rajkovic took an 8-2 victory to grab the doubles point. In order for Miami to clinch its spot in the MAC Championship, the RedHawks had to win three matches in singles. Badileanu finished her match with a 6-1, 6-0 win. Rajkovic followed her lead, winning 6-4, 6-2. Raymond finished the day with a 6-4, 6-2 victory to send Miami to the MAC championship game.
Mohan and Badileanu lost their match 8-2 in doubles against EMU. Raymond and Rajkovic won their match 8-4, but junior Alix Thurman and junior Christine Guerrazzi lost their match 8-6 giving the doubles point to the Eagles. Miami vs. Eastern Michigan was a battle, as four of the six singles matches went into a third set. In order to clinch the victory, Miami needed to take four matches. The first match to finish involved Rajkovic, who fell to her Eastern Michigan opponent 7-5, 6-4. Shortly after, Badileanu defeated her opponent 6-4, 6-4.
TENNIS,
SEE PAGE 9
SOFTBALL
Miami Athletics announces plans to build $13 million Indoor Sports Center BY TOM DOWNEY SPORTS EDITOR DEC. 11, 2013
Miami University will soon have its own indoor sports facility. The $13 million Indoor Sports Center is expected to be entirely donor-funded, with no student fee attached to the project. For a school that once had to rent the University of Cincinnati’s indoor facility to practice for a bowl game, getting a center of its own was essential, athletic director David Sayler said. “It affects so many student-athletes,” Sayler said. “A number of teams are going to get some space to do something in the winter and
the tough winter months. That’s huge for us from a conditioning and practice, stay-sharp edge. And also just the recruiting piece of it. Everything on this campus that’s built is, in essence, to attract students to come to Miami. Athletics is no different. We now have something that we’re going to be able to point to that is new and say to students that athletics is important here. So that is critical to our future.” Sayler said he has identified all but $500-600,000 of the funds needed for the center, and the rest should not be a problem. The center will feature a full-length artificial turf football field, and netting area for sports such as
golf, baseball and softball. The facility will also have four 100yard sprint lanes, a long jump pit and a high jump area. Sayler said the center is not named yet, which is a nice bonus at this point. “Right now, it’s not named after anybody, that’s the beauty of it,” Sayler said. “We can still sell that, and if we do that’s just going to help us in fundraising the next phase. To get this far and not having a name slot on it is pretty unique, but it is also a great opportunity for us.” The center will be built near
INDOOR, SEE PAGE 9
HOCKEY
Luscious Lettuce for Locks of Love BY JOE GIERINGER & STEVEN PERKINS FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT APRIL 10, 2014
dqvist’s suave, Swedish shine, hockey players have their hairstyles down to a science.
Miami sophomore defenseman Michael Mooney is growing out his hair (or lettuce) so he can donate it to charity. It will likely go to either Cincinnati Children’s Hospital or Locks of Love. For decades, hair has been a quintessential part of any self-respecting hockey player’s arsenal. “Flow,” as it is referred to in the business, has and continues to be a hallmark of many a Hall of Famer. Be it Patrick Kane’s shoulder-length curls, Jaromir Jagr’s mullet (circa 1996) or Henrik Lun-
MICHAEL MOONEY
That is why it’s a little odd when one of the boys throws caution to the wind and hacks it all off in one
fell swoop. Michael Mooney has a good reason, though. The sophomore RedHawk defenseman has decided that, when it reaches the appropriate length, he will donate his hair to a charitable organization. “I’m not sure if I’ll give it to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital or Locks of Love,” the Eden Prairie, Minnesota native said. “I also don’t know exactly how long it has to be. I’m at five [inches] right now, so I’m getting there.” Ten inches is the minimum length to donate hair to Locks of Love, so he’s halfway there. Locks of Love
LOCKS,
SEE PAGE 9
“Love and honor to Miami.” What exactly do these five words mean? Simply put, the words “love” and “honor” are two words that should be expressed toward Miami University. This has been the case for many years, and will hopefully be the case for many years to come. It’s much more than five words arranged in a certain pattern though, and it ought to mean more than that to anyone lucky enough to be a part of this community. This has been a rough year for some of Miami’s bigger sports, but Miami is much more than what has been on display this year, and it can once again become much more. But it needs student support. “Our college old and grand.” Now we’re up to 10 words total, and with these next five words comes many years of greatness that have been forgotten or ignored by the current student body. There is no doubt that Miami’s academic greatness is celebrated and proudly displayed by its student body, but there can be a balance in celebrating athletic tradition in addition to academics. Both are great reasons to be proud of Miami. Miami has a rich tradition in athletics, but for brevity’s sake, this column will focus on football. Earl (Red) Blaik. Paul Brown. Woody Hayes. Ara Parseghian. Bo Schembechler. Those five coaches have at least two things in common: one, they won at least one national coach of the year award, and two, they are Miami graduates. In a three-season stretch from 1973-75, Miami had a 32-1-1 record, losing only to Michigan State (the score was 14-13). During that timeframe, the Redskins (now RedHawks) beat the following teams: Purdue, (one win, one tie), South Carolina (twice), Florida, Kentucky and Georgia. To date, Miami has 15 MidAmerican Conference Championships, four more than any other MAC school. Heading into last season, Miami was 24th in the country on the all-time wins list. “Proudly we shall ever hail thee, over all the land.” The tradition of Miami athletics is something to be proud of, there’s no doubt about that. To be at a school with not only academic greatness, but also athletic greatness is a unique opportunity that is taken for granted by many, myself included. Four years ago, a high school junior was stuck between two colleges: Miami and Cincinnati. He went to a Miami hockey game, and you can guess which one he chose. That high school junior is now a sophomore at Miami who sat in the Armstrong Student Center and observed the different college clothing walking around. Of the 27 people I saw representing a college, only 17 were representing Miami. On a larger scale, 63 percent does not look too good.
I stopped counting shortly after I saw an Ohio University shirt. Being at a Miami hockey game is a fun time, but it’s more than that. The hockey team is known as “The Brotherhood,” and the same brotherhood, sisterhood and family feeling resonates in the student section. This season, when the hockey team wasn’t doing well, the student section shrunk. There are loyal Miami students out there, but the fans became fair-weathered during this stormy season. Even when the teams aren’t succeeding, they deserve support. The athletes go to class just like the rest of us, and they put in a lot of work outside of class as well. Too much work to see people walking around campus with OSU, OU and UC shirts on. Be proud of the tradition that is Miami Athletics; you chose to go here and might as well support where your (or your parent’s) money is going. “Alma mater, now we praise thee, sing joyfully this lay.” There are numerous Miami graduates who would do anything to be in the place of a current student. They love their alma mater and they want to see it succeed, not only in the field of academia, but also in athletics. There are numerous donors who feed the athletic department with money in order to help, and they attend events too. What could they be thinking when they sit in Millett Hall and look up at the tarped-off seating, or as they sit in Yager Stadium and see the lack of student support? There are countless opportunities to drink cheap beer in college. As the years fly by, so do the opportunities to watch a (free) sporting event as a student. You can beat the clock later; go watch a game. Sports unite people. Only at a sporting event is it deemed acceptable to scream at the top of your lungs and aggressively high-five, or even hug, a stranger. If someone would like to dis the MAC, my reply would be simple: go look at Ohio University. Their student section is relentless and much better than ours, and it hurts me to say that. Just the other week Ohio visited Millett Hall and the chants of “OU, Oh Yeah.” were much louder than any Miami cheering. If even a miniscule percentage of the student body had attended the game, the Ohio travelers would have been quieted, or not loud enough. Apologies to the students who do care and attend Miami athletic events, sorry you had to read that. Apologies also go out to the Miami alumni who have to witness the lack of student support at Miami events. Lastly, I apologize for falling into the trap. I don’t even support my school as much as I should. Hopefully all of us can turn things around, and once again confidently say: “Love and honor to Miami, forever and a day.”