November 17, 2015 | The Miami Student

ESTABLISHED 1826 – OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

The Miami Student TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015 Volume 144 №23

Miami University — Oxford, Ohio

MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Athletics spends $17M in student fees Imagine this . . .

How much do students subsidize their athletic departments?

In NCAA Division I athletics programs, 180 schools must subsidize their athletic departments. Most of those subsidies come from student fees. Below is a breakdown of Ohio colleges.

A 2015 Miami graduate will have paid $3,896 to Miami athletics. With that money you could buy:

Percentages of athletic subsidies that come from student fees.

399 Trashcans at Brick Street 0%

73%

75%

81%

87%

Ohio State

Kent State

Miami University

University of Toledo

Ohio University

487 Bagel and 39 Miami Deli sandwichs hockey jerseys

KATIE HINH PAGE DESIGNER

ATHLETICS

GRACE REMINGTON SPORTS EDITOR

Four thousand dollars. For a college student, that can pay for a lot of textbooks, travel expenses or beer. But at Miami University, that’s the amount of money — $3,896, to be exact — a student graduating in 2015 will have paid the Miami athletic department in four years of mandatory fees.

Most students are unaware an athletic fee exists. Of the students who know about the fee, most don’t know what it supports. The university provides a simple itemization of how funds from the general student fee are spent, but it

takes digging to find the information.

“I have no idea what it goes toward,” senior Grant Beam said.

The RedHawks haven’t given fans much reason to celebrate. In the past three seasons, the football team has collected four wins, and they’ve had two winning seasons in the last decade.

On average, Miami filled 65.5 percent of its stadium in home games last year, which ranks 31st out of 125 Football Bowl Subdivision schools for worst attendance percentage, according to an analysis by SB Nation. Attendance is not calculated by a head count of those present, so the stadium is often empti-

er than the percentage shows.

When the stadium is empty, students foot the bill.

During the past five years, public universities pumped more than $10.3 billion in mandatory student fees, direct institutional support and other subsidies into sports programs, according to an examination by The Huffington Post and The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The review included an inflation-adjusted analysis of financial reports provided to the NCAA by 201 Division I public universities. All reports were obtained through public records requests.

Subsidies increased 16 percent in that time, even as many schools cut back

academic programs and laid off faculty in order to control costs. Student fees, which accounted for nearly half of all subsidies, increased by 10 percent.

That percentage is even higher at Miami. The athletic student fee increased 16.1 percent from $859 in 2010 to $997 in 2014. The fee made a minor drop to $977 in 2015, due to the larger enrollment.

This year, athletic fees total $17.4 million.

College sports were never intended to be completely self-sufficient.

Only 21 big-name football schools bring in so much revenue that their athletics departments are completely self-sustaining. Those

KATIE HINH PAGE DESIGNER

schools are members of the most powerful conferences — six from the Big 12, seven from Southeastern, six from the Big Ten and two from the Pacific-12.

Ohio State University, last season’s national champions, totaled $145.2 million in athletic revenue in 2014.

OSU needed $0 in subsidies, which translates to a $0 athletic fee for students.

Between Miami, Ohio University, University of Toledo and University of Cincinnati, the average net revenue before subsidies was a $19.6 million deficit in 2014.

Self-sufficient athletic programs are an exclusive group, and it’s a far different story for those not in it.

At 135 D-I programs, subsidies account for 50 percent of their athletic departments’ income. So a student athletic fee is not new, nor is it unique to Miami.

The key question is: How much is too much?

“Not much more than what they’re making us pay now,” senior Drew Harmon said. “If it’s around $1,000, that’s probably a little higher than what I would be willing to pay if I had a choice.”

Harmon and Beam, who have been attending Miami hockey, football, men’s basketball and baseball games regularly since freshman year, agreed that “profit” FEES »PAGE 5

MU to handle off-campus citations

Concussions: A prevention game

OESCR to discipline students for noise and litter violations

Brain damage, health concerns on board’s priority list

CRIME

MARISSA STIPEK OPINION EDITOR

Off-campus students who receive noise or litter citations will soon be subject not only to sanctions from the Oxford Police Department (OPD), but also from Miami — perhaps as early as next semester.

The Off-Campus Partnership workgroup of Miami’s Alcohol Task Force is creating a new initiative, in which off-campus noise and litter citations will be forwarded to the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution (OESCR). The Alcohol Task Force was created in 2014 to better understand high-risk student drinking behaviors

and evaluate potential interventions to cut back on highrisk alcohol consumption.

Upon a first offense, students will receive a letter.

Following the second citation, all residents of the home will be required to attend a meeting with university and Oxford representatives of CITATIONS »PAGE 3

HEALTH

BONNIE MEIBERS

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Concussions and the dangers associated with the brain damage they cause have been on many people’s minds as “Concussion,” a movie starring Will Smith and Alec Baldwin, is making its way to theatres

this Christmas.

The movie tells the tale of the National Football League’s (NFL) efforts to suppress publication of neurological research conducted by Dr. Bennet Omalu on concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Both types of brain damage can have serious effects on athletes,

if left untreated.

Since the NFL is a business driven by profits from its players, the league treats its players differently than colleges and universities treat their student athletes, said Dr. Stephen Dailey, Miami’s football team physician.

CONCUSSIONS »PAGE 2

Restructuring to bring six new departments to regional campuses REGIONALS

MEGAN ZAHNEIS THE MIAMI STUDENT

By the time students and staff head home for the holidays, Miami’s regional campuses could be on their way to an entirely new infrastructure.

University Senate will vote on the proposed restructuring plan at its meetings Nov. 23 and 30. If passed, the legislation would rename and reorganize many academic departments on the regional

campuses.

Process coordinator John Skillings explained that the reorganization is part of an initiative to offer more bachelor’s degrees at the regional campuses.

Skillings said that growth would necessitate a new departmental structure to house the new degree programs.

The exact structure is still under review, but last Monday’s Senate meeting included an overview of possible names for new departments.

The current regional de-

partments — Business Technology, Computer and Information Technology, Nursing, Engineering Technology, Justice and Community Studies and Integrative Studies — will remain, with Business Technology renamed Commerce and Integrative Studies renamed Interdisciplinary Studies.

The current system also features four smaller “coordinatorships,” which would become six new departments.

The English coordinatorship would become the Literature

NEWS p. 2

NEWS p. 3

LAUNDRY SERVICE CLEANS OUT STUDENT WALLETS

FIRST-YEAR STARTS ‘PEACE OF MAIL’ PROJECT

Some students pay $359 a semester for laundry service, others pay $50 to do their own

Miami student spearheads project that forwards letters of support to Syrian refugees

TODAY in MIAMI HISTORY

and Language department.

Social Science and Education would be split into two, Social and Behavior Sciences, and Education and Society. Math and Science would be incorporated into the Biological Sciences and Mathematical and Physical Sciences departments, and Humanities and Fine Arts would be rebranded as Humanities and Creative Arts.

The regional campuses would also become a single “Regional System,” with faculty members given a “dual

CULTURE p. 4

appointment” at Oxford and regional campuses.

Under the new dual appointments, faculty would have membership and voting rights in both an Oxfordbased and regional academic department, with their full teaching load coming at the regional campus. Faculty would also be able to decide whether their promotion and tenure eligibility (starting in the 2017-18 school year) would be considered through the regional department or the Oxford department.

Faculty may elect to opt out, in which case they would be assigned fully to a regional academic department.

A series of votes on the proposed changes are being carried out within each academic department. There are expected to be a total of six separate votes conducted: on the creation of new departments (done by unit), the name of the new Regional College, a governance structure for regional campuses, a REGIONALS »PAGE 5

OPINION p. 6

SPORTS p. 10

WMSR: ON THE AIR WITH MIAMI BROADCASTERS

HODGE’S EMAIL NOT ENOUGH TO COMBAT RACISM

VOLLEYBALL EARNS NO. 4 SEED, BYE IN MAC TOURNAMENT

WMSR student radio hosts talk about their love for broadcasting, plans to grow

Editorial board calls for more administrative involvement in campus racism discussion

Women’s volleyball team beat Western Michigan in a five-set thriller over the weekend

On this day in 1964, The Miami Student reported that officials were investigating nine fires that had plagued academic buildings throughout the previous evening. According to the fire department, a “small paper match” was found at the site of each fire, suggesting all incidents were connected and the cause was likely arson.

2 NEWS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Taken to the cleaners: Students Library violates Americans with Disabilities Act pay $718 a year for laundry service HOUSING

LAURA FITZGERALD SENIOR STAFF WRITER

When laundry day comes, many students lug basketfuls of dirty clothes to and from their residence hall basement, hunkering down with books and laptops to wait for the machines to stop spinning.

However, some on-campus students skip this chore and, instead, use Miami’s laundry service.

These students put their clothes in a padlocked cloth bag issued by the university and take it to their basement on a designated day every week. It returns by the afternoon, washed, folded and wrapped in plastic.

According to Director of Residential Services Stacy George, 377 students use the service this semester, which charges $359 a semester to the student’s bursar bill.

Students may check a box to sign up for the service when they sign their housing contracts or sign up on their MyCard account.

In comparison, one load of laundry cost $1.75 for the washer and dryer each, with 50 cents for extra dryer minutes, charged to the student’s Mulaa. If a student does a load of laundry in the washer and dryer once a week for 15 weeks, that is $52.50 spent on laundry a semester, plus the cost of detergent.

George said students can also add and drop the service throughout the semester. If they decide to do so, the cost changes based on how many weeks the student has used the service.

According to the H.O.M.E office website, students may also be charged a $25 fee if they overfill their laundry bag, which means employees are unable to close the bag or it weighs considerably more than the weight limit of 20 pounds.

PRAVALI KOTHAKOTA THE MIAMI STUDENT

TYLER PISTOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

A resident in Collins Hall switches her laundry from a washer to dryer. This semester, 377 students use Miami’s in-hall laundry service.

COMMUNITY

ABIGAIL KELLY

First-year Alex Foley uses the laundry service. He said it is not only convenient, but it saves him about two hours a week. It also saves his clothes, as he said he never did laundry at home and does not have to worry about mixing colors.

“It’s not just the cost of the laundry and detergent and things like that,” Foley said. “It’s the amount of time you save, not having to worry about doing it.”

Senior Daniel Saltzman used the service as a first-year. He said it was convenient, especially as he was adjusting to college life.

However, Saltzman did not use the service his sophomore year. He said he did not have a need for it anymore.

“Plan your schedule right,” Saltzman said. “You have time to do laundry.”

The service was created in 2008 as a way to generate revenue, George said. It was modeled after University of Dayton’s laundry service as a way to create jobs for Miami employees and save time

for busy students.

“We felt that it was a service that students could find value in,” George said. “Students always express that they are very busy and they don’t have enough time.”

Complaints are not reported often, but George said they range from wrinkled or stained clothes, to missing items, which could happen when clothes are accidentally mixed up.

In a previous article published in this newspaper in February 2014, several thefts of students both using and not using the laundry service were reported in the residence halls in Central Quad.

Miami employees are responsible for washing the clothes in the residents’ own laundry room, George said.

George said the laundry services are a valuable option for those who choose to use it.

“It’s not for everybody, obviously,” George said. “But for some, they find value in it and would be willing to pay to have somebody else do laundry services for them.”

Safe to sit? Long periods of sitting could affect students’ long-term health HEALTH

MORGAN NGUYEN THE MIAMI STUDENT

Class, class, meeting, lunch, office hours, class — it seems like the normal daily routine. However, there’s a link between these different activities that some experts argue could be deadly: all involve excessive sitting.

Sitting is so integrated into social order that it is an unconscious action, though its effects may become all too evident.

According to the Mayo Clinic, sitting has been linked to a host of medical concerns, including obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a collection of conditions, including increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess belly fat and abnormally high cholesterol levels.

“I think that it’s really easy to sit at your desk and not notice how much time you have actually spent sitting down,” said sophomore Olivia Callahan. “I know that I myself have sat down to work on some homework and looked at the clock only to realize I’ve been in the same spot for five hours.”

Callahan believes too much sitting can indeed be unhealthy, especially when paired with snacking.

According to a report published in the January 2015 Annals of Internal Medicine, more than half of the average person’s waking hours are spent sitting: watching television, working at a computer, commuting by car or bus, etc.

“We don’t see sitting as an intrinsically unhealthy thing to do,” said senior Rob Purgert, president of Phi Delta Epsilon Medical Fraternity.

“Yet, when you think about the fact that thousands of years of evolution built our bodies to account for long periods of standing and moving, it is easy to see you spending all day sitting is actually ‘unnatural.’”

The Rec Center on campus

Oxford’s Lane Library parking lot spaces violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. Low-fuel emitting parking spaces fill the place of handicapped spots.

IAN MARKER THE MIAMI STUDENT

A student sits at her desk to do homework. More than half of an average person’s waking hours are spent sitting, according to an Annals of Internal Medicine report. combats “all day sitting” by taking advantage of standing desks to improve health for its employees at work.

“We started standing desks here because my husband started using one when he worked here and I thought it was a great idea,” said Tara Britton, director of customer service and sponsorships at the Rec. “When I started using it, I noticed within just a few days my posture was improved, and I was more active in moving throughout the day.

It also allows for me to focus on my work as opposed to my aching neck and back.”

Britton added that standing desks at the reception and Pro Shop areas help staff interact better with patrons and move around their workspace more easily.

“Overall, we believe standing work stations have been a great addition to our health, both mentally and physically,” Britton said. “One good, healthy decision each day

leads to another.”

Professionals affirm the benefit of standing and moving in the work place. Alan Hedge, professor of ergonomics at Cornell University, recommends that for every 30 minutes spent at a desk, people should sit for 20 minutes, stand for eight and then move around and stretch for two.

Other options to increase activity throughout the day include investing in a standing desk, walking while doing errands, and holding meetings while walking instead of sitting around a table. Students can consider walking to class instead of driving or going on a run to the grocery store and doing weight lifts with the bags on the way back.

Running an extra mile at the gym isn’t necessarily the cure-all.

Research has shown that even regular exercise cannot compensate for the effects of sitting too much SITTING »PAGE 5

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Oxford residents are accusing the new Lane Public Library of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, saying the library’s parking lot puts a burden on handicapped community members.

The Americans with Disabilities Act states that handicap parking spaces must have the closest route to the door. However, at Lane, Low-Fuel Emitting parking spaces have taken those spots and pushed the handicap spaces farther down the lot. The library is currently taking the preliminary steps to resolve this issue.

Community member Jackie Berberich goes to Lane Library about once a week. She didn’t realize how far the handicap parking spots were from the door originally, but once it was brought to her attention, she was surprised by the spots’ placement.

“They should be right near the door,” Berberich said. “That is the purpose for having handicap spots.”

Senior Lauren Johnston also goes to Lane frequently to study.

FROM CONCUSSIONS »PAGE 1

“We try to treat all our kids like they’re our sons or daughters,” said Paul Eversole, Miami’s head football athletic trainer.

Dailey treats athletes from all 17 sports teams on Miami’s campus. He said he treats four or five concussions a year with football and two or three a year for each of the women’s and men’s soccer and hockey teams. That adds up to 15 to 20 concussions annually.

“A concussion is taken very seriously, whether it is mild or severe,” Dailey said. “Especially in the NCAA.” Student athletes in college are especially at risk because they are not fully cognitively developed.

Sam Morris, a sports leadership and management professor, said the ages between 18 and 22 are the most formative for young people’s brains. Morris, who coached and played football for many years, said so few people know what the risks of playing football actually are.

“This is really a prevention game, not a treatment game,” Morris said.

While concussions cannot be fully prevented by protective equipment or proper technique, diagnosing athletes and educating them about concussions can make a positive impact.

Concussion protocol starts before student athletes even get on campus, Dailey said. They must take a baseline test at the beginning of the year and then take the test again if they show signs of a concussion. If the results of the second test are different than that of the baseline test, the athlete cannot play until he or she can take the test and score at the baseline level again.

Some preventive techniques, like athletes tackling with their heads up, can protect from the ef-

She said can see how the issue could have a negative effect on the community.

“It prevents certain people from fully enjoying [the library] and all it has to offer,” Johnston said.

Lane Library’s public relations manager, Carrie Mancuso, said building the new Lane Library has been a learning process. After concerned community members came forward about the parking spot violation, the library started taking the necessary steps to resolve the issue.

“We realize this was an issue and we take it very seriously,” Mancuso said. “We are working to rectify it quickly.”

Mancuso said that the work would include cutting the curb closer to the door to accommodate for the handicap parking spaces and push the Low-Fuel Emitting parking spaces farther down. However, there is currently no specific timeline for when the work will start or be completed.

Mancuso says the project is in the process of being scheduled.

“While the timeline for the project start is unknown at this time, the process is underway and expected LIBRARY »PAGE 5

fects of a body-to-body collision, according to Dailey. The Seattle Seahawks have begun incorporating tackling techniques from rugby, which hit lower and lead with the shoulder, in an effort to prevent concussions.

Eversole said strengthening players’ neck and shoulder muscles is also a focus. He said that because kids tend to be less active today, they come into college and high school less prepared and prone to injury.

The force with which a player is hit well exceeds what they would need to incur a concussion, so, Morris said, a helmet cannot prevent a concussion.

Helmets only marginally reduce and redistribute force.

An athlete should be completely asymptomatic before getting back into the game.

However, this is not always the case, Dailey said.

Dailey, who played football for Miami from 1981 to 1984, said he probably had concussions that went undiagnosed and went back to playing before he should have.

“You just talked your way back into the game,” said Chuck Martin, head football coach and former player himself.

A pressure to excel is present in collegiate sports, regardless of wins and losses, Morris said.

This may lead to student athletes feeling pressured to play through an injury.

“Everything is happening in slow and you really shouldn’t be on the field,” Martin said. “You would never be out there anymore.”

Martin said he believes the sport is now the safest it has ever been. This is not an opinion held by all, however.

“Knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t put my son out there,” Morris said.

TMS ONLINE — MIAMISTUDENT.NET

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

NEWS 3

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015

Student sends letters to Syrian refugees GLOBAL

LIAM MAZIEKA

THE MIAMI STUDENT

CONTRIBUTED BY SARA AL-ZUBI

First-year Sara Al-Zubi with Syrian child refugees in Jordan over the summer. Al-Zubi’s father’s family lives in Ramtha, less than 3 miles from the Syrian border.

Since early September, first-year Sara Al-Zubi has been receiving hundreds of letters from all over the world. But as soon as she gets them, they’re off again — this time to the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan.

Al-Zubi forwards letters from well-wishers all across the globe — places like Singapore, India, Austria and even Ohio. The letters are sent to the refugees of the Syrian civil war as part of a humanitarian effort she started called “You’ve Got a Peace Of Mail.”

One such letter, starting with “Dear Friend,” is short and to the point.

Sent from Samantha Pomranky

in Michigan, it provides emotional and mental support when material support may not be available.

“Please know you are in our hearts,” Pomranky wrote. “We are humbled by your strength and inspired by your grace and courage.

Wishing you peace and comfort.”

Al-Zubi’s roommate, first-year Anne Lazarski, said the letters are brief and pretty standard, but they offer much-needed moral support to the refugees.

Al-Zubi, who was born in Amman, Jordan, has a personal connection to the crisis. Over the summer, when she visited her father’s family in Ramtha, less than three miles from the Syrian border, she could hear the bombs from the war, and even feel the house shake.

Being so close to the conflict en-

abled her to meet some of the people affected by it. When she was there just a few months ago, she talked to the child refugees who have known nothing but war all their lives.

“All they could think of was how to survive,” Al-Zubi said. “When I asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up, they said they had never thought about it.”

When she returned to her home in Cincinnati after her trip to Ramtha, she decided to do something about the situation she had encountered first-hand. Initially, she went to her high school, but eventually decided to expand online where she found a larger audience.

“A bunch of people are like ‘Oh my God, this is great,’” she said PEACE OF MAIL »PAGE 5

Alcohol and caffeine: opposites attract HEALTH

LISA TROWBRIDGE THE MIAMI STUDENT

“Trashcans,” and other signature Uptown drinks, are made from a potent combination of alcohol and energy drinks.

These sugary, highly caffeinated drinks, when paired with alcohol, allow students to drink more and for longer into the night.

This increase in energy also has negative consequences. The combination of alcohol and caffeine in these drinks can lead to continued drinking and riskier behavior, and could potentially lead to more serious health problems.

Psychology professor Matthew McMurray said drinking caffeinated alcoholic beverages (CABs) is risky because of the way the caffeine, a stimulant, interacts with alcohol, a depressant. Alcohol causes drowsiness and slows reaction times, but with caffeine, these effects are counteracted. Instead of getting tired after a couple drinks, one becomes increasingly active and awake, allowing them to drink more.

“This facilitates the whole concept of binge drinking, which has

FROM CITATIONS »PAGE 1

the Student-Community Relations Committee (SCRC) for a “developmental conversation.”

After the third citation, the incident will be reported to OESCR and charged with a violation of the code of conduct.

On Friday, Nov. 13, members of the workgroup met with the Interfraternity Council President Zach Scheid and Associated Student Government (ASG) President Joey Parizek, as well as off-campus student senators to discuss the proposal.

This is not hugely different from the current protocol, said Jen O’Brien, Miami’s director of OffCampus Outreach.

For the past 10 years, Miami has received copies from OPD of the noise and litter citations as a matter of public record — they just haven’t penalized offenders.

“Those citations will continue to be forwarded to Miami, so that’s not a change,” O’Brien said. “But this time, after the first citation, the residents of the house would receive a letter saying ‘Hey, we know that there was a citation here, there are community standards that you need to be aware of.’”

This letter would serve as a method to discourage students from continuing disruptive off-campus behavior.

The second violation would result in a mandatory meeting with the SCRC. If students received a third citation — a situation this stricter disciplinary process is meant to prevent — they would be subject to sanctions determined by OESCR. “It would be an OESCR process from then on,” O’Brien said.

“We have some ideas of how that would look, although it’s not explicit right now.”

The additional sanctions will serve as one way to accomplish a broader goal of the Off-Campus

a slew of known horrible side effects, including leading to addiction,” McMurray said.

Although it is unlikely that drinking CABs will lead to alcoholism, it does increase tolerance to alcohol and gives drinkers the energy to continue consuming. This feeling also inhibits drinkers’ ability to gauge how drunk they are, causing them to drink more and achieve a higher blood alcohol level more quickly, according to Assistant Director of Student Wellness Leslie Haxby McNeill.

“The caffeine masks the effects of the depressant, so a person who is relying on ‘how you feel’ to determine how much to drink is going to not have a good understanding of when to stop,” said McNeill.

Evidence of this idea was found in another study by professors in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at the University of Texas. From a survey, students who drank CABs reported drinking more alcohol and behaving more riskily than students who drank only alcohol.

Drinking CABs can also have more serious health consequences.

First-year kinesiology major Nick Williams said the effects the mix-

ture of alcohol and caffeine has on the heart is dangerous.

“Your heart beats really fast, but it should be going slower because of the depressant, so your blood pressure shoots up,” Williams said.

“Basically, it over-stimulates itself, which could result in a heart attack.”

According to McMurray, this happens because of the opposite effects that alcohol and caffeine have on the body, but in small amounts, alcohol can actually behave similarly to caffeine.

“Alcohol at low doses is actually a locomotor stimulant; it makes you run around more, it makes you more active,” McMurray said.

“You can see this after one drink, as you tend to be more socially engaged.”

But at greater amounts, and with high concentrations of both alcohol and caffeine, there can be consequences.

“The real consequence here isn’t necessarily just with the amount of alcohol you consume and the longterm problems,” McMurray said, “it’s the short-term repercussions that occur because your decisionmaking is impaired, and you’re not aware of it.”

Partnership workgroup, which is to reduce the number of front yard parties overall.

Front yard parties specifically pose a few problems — anyone, including underage students and even strangers, can wander in; they are highly visible, which contributes to a distorted perception that “everyone” is drinking; and the trash they leave becomes an eyesore for the community.

“Miami’s different in a real significant way,” said Mike Curme, Dean of Students. “We have four or five surveys that look at binge drinking rates among the students. And Miami’s binge drinking rates are higher than the national average of universities by a significant degree.”

Each year, incoming first-years take an AlcoholEdu survey, which asks them about their drinking behaviors. Based on data from the incoming class of the 2014-2015 academic year, a larger percentage of Miami students consider themselves light/moderate and high risk drinkers than students at over 500 other U.S. schools.

“In the peculiar concentrated geography of Oxford, where you have multiple front yard parties that might be going on at one time, it does have the impression . . . that deviant drinking is more common than it actually is,” Curme said.

O’Brien invited students to voice their ideas about the proposal.

“It’s currently in draft form,” O’Brien said of the new process.

“It hasn’t been submitted at this point … so if there are things that we’re concerned about, or worried, this is a great time to hear those concerns.”

Members of the committee said they do not yet know exactly how offenses would be marked on official records, but it would be different than more extreme offenses like underage drinking.

O’Brien said the offense would be

handled “on an appropriate level.”

OPD Sergeant Denny Colyer clarified how the charges would look from a legal perspective as well.

“We have what would be a misdemeanor citation ... and even on that, as far as your record, if it’s a minor misdemeanor, that doesn’t count as an arrest,” Colyer said.

“So when you’re filling out applications and you’re asked, ‘have you ever been arrested?’ a minor misdemeanor doesn’t count.”

Colyer said this new protocol is not intended to strictly punish students — rather, the idea is to be developmental and teach a lesson.

Another point made at the meeting is why all students in the house would receive the citation — this differs from the current protocol, in which the citation is issued to an individual.

This is to prevent different residents of a single house from “trading off” who accepts the blame, O’Brien explained. Under the new system, everyone will be accountable.

“This is a way to track the problem houses,” said Bob Blackburn, Oxford resident and member of City Council.

If there is a discrepancy, such as one resident being out of town when the citation is issued, or otherwise not responsible, that can be discussed during the appeals process.

The committee is still finalizing other details, like how the violation would be denoted on students’ records, and whether the time frame for accruing three strikes will be a semester, an academic year or a calendar year.

“What we’re thinking is [starting] next semester with portions of it, like maybe the letter and the meetings,” O’Brien said.

“So we have time to tell students, ‘this is a change in policy, prepare yourselves.’”

SCOTT KISSELL MIAMI MARKETING

Owner of CarStar Mike Libecap (left) and Tyler Hammerle with the rainwater collection system. Hammerle worked with three other students to design this system.

Student-designed rainwater collection helps local business SUSTAINABILITY

SARAH KNEPP

THE MIAMI STUDENT

To save money and help the environment, four students — three seniors and one 2015 graduate — worked with a local business this summer to design a rainwater collection and reusing system.

The students worked in conjunction with CarStar of Oxford Auto Body, a local all-service auto shop on College Corner Pike that operates 24/7.

This design created a system that reuses rainwater, which is collected from the business’ roof and then stored in two large plastic tanks inside the heated basement. These tanks store a combined 600 gallons of water. CarStar then uses the water to wash cars and clean up after repair work.

According to Vincent Hand, a professor in the College of Engineering and Computing, and the adviser for this project, CarStar was chosen because the owner, Mike Libecap, expressed interest in a project like this years ago.

“I have been a member of the City of Oxford Environmental Commission since 2010 and we had a project a few years ago to talk with citizens, developers, businesspeople and city officials about plans for improvement of storm water management,” Hand said.

Hand said that Libecap was one of the business owners he talked to during that meeting, and that was where the inspiration for the project was born.

“The idea of using rainwater for washing newly-repaired cars came up during that conversation,” he said. “It took several years to get a student team to do the design and implementation.”

The project began in September 2014 as part of an engineering design course, according to senior Catherine Puleo. Initially, she was the only student who signed up for this particular project, but after reaching out to the class, other students eventually got involved.

The students, with the help of their professor, got to work immediately. Their goal was to design a rainwater management system that would reduce water consumption through filtration, collection and reuse from the 4,200 square feet of

roof at the CarStar facility, Puleo said.

Another important goal of the project had to deal with the financial side of the rainwater collection program.

According to senior Tyler Hammerle, the students needed to help the business save money. Puleo echoed that and said the students created a three-year payback period for CarStar, meaning the benefits of the system will outweigh the investment costs of implementing the system three years after installation.

Once the initial goals for the project were set, the students pursued the design and implementation of it. Hammerle said coming up with a solidified design that everyone — both the students and CarStar — were happy with was a process of trial and error.

“We had proposed a different design [than what was eventually installed] in the winter, and the owner of CarStar was unsure of how much it would be collecting,” Hammerle said. “So, we came back with a different design in February or March, and that was the design he liked better and we implemented.”

The project was completed in late July, according to Hammerle.

He stayed in town over the summer to help with the installation and completion.

So far, the rainwater management system has been successful.

Puleo says that the storm water management system provides CarStar with 2,500 gallons of water per inch of rainwater.

The other goal of saving money has also been successful. According to Hammerle, CarStar is projected to save $1,000 on water bills this year alone because the owner no longer has to pay for city water.

The system the students designed has had a positive impact on CarStar, but the work the students have done could impact the community in an even larger way because it promotes sustainability.

“I think this project is a good example of sustainability for the community since it applies to all three principles of sustainability including environmental, economical and social,” Puleo said. “It reduces water consumption and also storm ENGINEERS »PAGE 5

4 CULTURE

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015

Opening Minds through Art connects with older generations ART

RILEY STEINER

THE MIAMI STUDENT

On a typical Friday afternoon at The Knolls Retirement Community, residents gather to create art with their friends. There’s something different about these friends, though, because these friends are Miami University students.

This week’s session at The Knolls begins with a song — “You Are My Sunshine.” Voices young and old rise around the room, singing the lyrics together.

This is the beginning of a session of OMA. The Opening Minds through Art (OMA) program, offered through Miami’s gerontology program, is an intergenerational art program for people with dementia. Every week, students in the program visit nursing homes in the community to create art with their partners who live there.

Elizabeth Lokon founded the program in 2007. While observing residents of nursing homes, she saw a need for increased engagement for people with dementia.

“People don’t seem to know how to tap them, how to engage them,” she said. “Most of the time, the elders are not engaged, because the tasks that are given to them are both too juvenile, too simplistic, but at the same time too difficult, because it doesn’t

take into account their condition with memory issues.”

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, dementia is not a specific disease, but instead a term referring to a decline in cognitive ability that interferes with everyday life. Memory loss is just one example of a dementia symptom.

As part of her observation, Lokon spent a summer living in a nursing home in Milwaukee. It was there that she started to think about implementing an art program for dementia patients back at Miami.

“I didn’t connect with [the nursing home residents] until I saw somebody else doing art [with them] and then suddenly they were really engaged and they were active,” Lokon said. “And I thought, that’s probably the passage to connect to them, by tapping their creativity, because that’s not affected by the disease. It’s memory that is affected by the disease, but not imagination.”

When students sign up for the program — offered each semester as a pass/fail, one-credit-hour course — they spend the first four weeks learning about the symptoms and effects of dementia, the expectations of the program and the skills they can use to communicate with their partners.

Because each student is assigned one partner for the whole semester, they can build a relationship week by week. By the end of the term, they’ve

created a friendship that lasts long after the semester ends.

“OMA’s mission is to break down barriers,” said Josie Rader, a second-year graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in gerontology.

“Through this program, their dementia and age doesn’t matter anymore.

It’s more about the relationship between the student and the adult.”

Lokon said that since artmaking is a form of risk-taking, the relationship between student and elder is important.

“People don’t want to be judged,” Lokon said. “So they have to have that comfort with a partner, and that relationship base becomes the comfort. And then with that comfort they open up, they become more confident, they flourish, and then eventually they take risks and they surprise themselves that they can be creative.”

The program emphasizes students helping the elders, not creating their art for them. The students help the artists mix paint and talk through ideas, and then the artists go to work.

“What do you think?” is a question that pops up throughout the session, encouraging participants to take creative risks and form original ideas.

Lokon said engaging through art improves the elders’ well being.

One of the OMA artists at The OMA »PAGE 8

IAN MARKER THE MIAMI STUDENT

GOOD HAIR DAY Cast members of Stage Left’s production of “Hair” perform during their shows in Wilks Theater this weekend.

‘Room’ is nauseatingly beautiful FILM

JACK RYAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

How far would you go to protect someone you love?

This question is the driving force in every moment of “Room,” a fictional tale of a captive mother, Ma, (Brie Larson) and her 5-year-old son, Jack (Jason Tremblay). Adapted by Emma Donoghue from her book of the same name and exquisitely directed by Lenny Abrahamson, “Room” is far and away one of 2015’s best films.

Ma, abducted at 17 by a stranger known only as ‘Old Nick’ (Sean Bridgers), has not seen the outside world in seven years. Jack was conceived, born and raised here, and not only has he has never been outside, he has no idea of the world past the walls of his home, nor the grim situation he is stuck in. Due to his mother’s protective teachings, all he recognizes as real is the interior of the shed, which he refers to as ‘Room.’

Split into two equally earthshattering parts, “Room” begins on Jack’s fifth birthday, deftly exploring Ma and Jack’s imprisonment and lifestyle in Room. They spend their days playing and surviving — Jack growing as a child and Ma quietly trying to devise a way out.

Following a successful escape plan — and some suspension of disbelief on our part — “Room” changes location, but not tone, revealing the unforeseen trials and long-lasting problems that affect Ma and Jack on the outside.

At its core, “Room” is a film about innocence. With her youth and future having been abruptly swept away from her, Ma is visibly struggling to preserve her son’s existence and hope for the future. Jack, having been taught that nothing exists outside the duo’s shed, is shaken by the discovery of the world outside, and struggles in his own way to realize reality.

The greatest innovation of “Room” rests in the unique perspective and narration of Jack, who sees Room not as an 80-square-foot prison, but as an entire universe of possibility. Abrahamson creates this subjective reality by filling the first half of the film with wide shots that make the condensed space feel infinitely bigger, before integrating disorienting focal lengths and skewed focuses for Jack’s entrance into the real world.

Abrahamson is masterful in his imagery, creating a tale that is horrifying in its passivity. The depravity of themes like rape and malnutrition are amplified by Jack’s lack of response, forcing the viewer to imagine what horrors could have led up to these moments.

Abrahamson manages to bring stellar performances out of his actors, providing “Room” with its true emotional axis.

Brie Larson is unbearably torn as Ma, a girl thrown from the cliff of juvenile irreverence into the gorge of bleak reality, only to be resurrected by a love for her tainted child.

At times, her ever-revealing visage makes it difficult to tell whether she is imprisoned to Room, or to

her love of Jack, echoing the film’s theme of suffocating parenthood.

Jacob Tremblay is heartbreakingly innocent as Jack, witnessing and living through atrocities that he just shakes off as a regular part of life. He is every bit a regular kid inside Room, and watching his internal evolution and tumultuous adaptation to the real world is simultaneously painful and uplifting. This is the best performance by a child (Tremblay just turned 9) since Quvenzhané Wallis in 2012’s “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

These performances, which will most likely lead to Oscar nominations, are great on their own rights, but mean nothing without Larson and Tremblay’s unspeakably real chemistry. They fight, love, play and speak like two people who know each other inside and out, allowing “Room” to transcend its medium and feel entirely real.

However, despite its underdog narrative and the central tagline, ‘love knowing no boundaries,’ “Room” is not a feel-good film and is not for the light of heart. Depression rests inside these walls and out, and characters are constantly crumbling from the film’s harsh beginning to bittersweet end.

“Room” is a ‘could you even imagine’ kind of film — beautifully nauseating in its no-holds-barred delivery and sincerely honest in its portrayal of family, creating an unparalleled air of melancholic wonder that lingers far past the credits.

PERELMBK@MIAMIOH.EDU

WMSR radio lets students take charge of the mics RADIO

MEGAN BOWERS THE MIAMI STUDENT

The WMSR radio station gives students the ability to share their love of music, sports or politics with people all across campus.

Every week, 39 shows are broadcast live and each one is different.

“The station’s a melting pot,” said Jeremy Brinling, general manager of WMSR. “About a quarter of the shows are talk shows, half are talking and music and the last quarter are just music.”

Programming Manager Luke Walker hosts a sports talk show with three of his friends on Wednesday nights.

“We’ll have a layout on Google Docs that we go through every single week, constantly updating and adding information to,” said Walker. “Then we loosely base our shows off of that.”

Shows with music are less scripted, but there are still things to be planned ahead of time.

“I write down all the songs in order, so if the computer does go out, I don’t have to worry about that,” said Jonathan Reiter, host of “Jonny Getcha Gun Country.” “I also write down some different news topics, and I normally have an artist of the week, so I’ll write a little about that as well.”

The live aspect of radio seems intimidating but none of the hosts admit to getting nervous.

“It’s something I really like to do, so it’s just kind of natural,” said Marisa Vesel, host of “Hey, it’s Marisa.” “It’s kind of just like talking to my friends because I know they are listening.”

Despite preparation, the occasional slip-up does happen.

“There was one time Okie from Muskogee by Merle Haggard was on, and I forgot to turn off my mic,” said Reiter. “I sang the entire first verse on the air.”

The station has led to some amazing opportunities for many of the hosts as well.

“The show is actually the reason I declared a sports management minor,” said Walker. “So, if we never created the show, my classes and college career as far as future plans would be drastically different right now.”

Although Jeremy Brinling has been with WMSR since his first semester on campus, he only took over as general manager this semester.

“The station was kind of left in disarray when we came in,” said Brinling. “The budget was frozen because of some missing receipts and the technology was down.”

So far, they’ve been able to host a concert with the WMSR name on it, create a partnership with Armstrong Student Center and Maplestreet Station to start broadcasting their shows and create a new website.

“We are definitely changing as a station,” said Brinling. “It’s weird to watch how much it has changed over the course of three years, not only technically and financially, but as a station that brings so many different people together.

The current promotions manager, Alexis Moten, has a lot of ideas in mind about how to upgrade the program for the coming year.

“We are a student-run radio, but I’m trying to pull away from that and become more of a media-based content,” said Moten. “Next year, we are going to start producing shows and having actual themes that people will take positions of. So we would have a politics show that will always exist. The hosts will change, but the listeners will remain consistent.”

Using this strategy, they hope more listeners will tune in every week.

“I think college radio in particular is a really great way to get people listening to a lot of different types of music,” said Vesel. “I know most of our dining halls play a lot of the more popular music, so I think it’s a good way for people who aren’t as into that to share the kind of music they like.”

Black coffee prevails over seasonal options COFFEE

HANNAH FIERLE

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Whether stopping by Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte before class on a chilly fall day or sipping black coffee while cramming for a finance exam until the wee hours of the morning, caffeine is the tried and true fuel of choice for college students at Miami University.

For some, coffee is an experience. It’s an atmosphere and a luxury. For this type of customer, the allure of a cozy coffee shop like Starbucks or Kofenya is the perfect venue for meeting up with friends or doing homework.

The line at Starbucks, in the middle of High Street, is nearly out the door at any time of the day.

The shop grows increasingly busy during the fall and winter seasons, with the introduction of seasonal flavors like pumpkin spice, peppermint mocha and toasted graham cracker.

“Going to Starbucks doesn’t feel like a chore in the same way the library does,” said junior Madyson Bender. “I like being able to sit by the window and look outside, it’s a much more upbeat and social atmosphere.”

However, for other students, coffee is nothing more than a source of energy — the needed spark for an early morning class or a little something to make it through a late night of studying.

“My days are significantly better after I’ve had some coffee,” said junior Michael Pilipovich.

“I know that it will jump-start my day and get me focused for what I need to do.”

King Café and Dividends in the

Farmer School of Business are two popular locations for students to grab coffee on-the-go — and on their meal plans.

Anna Beth Schneider, an employee at King Café, pays attention to patterns in students’ coffee habits. She estimates that, despite the many flavors and options, black coffee (hot or iced) prevails as the most popular order. For old school coffee drinkers, they tend to stick with black coffee and not be tempted by seasonal beverages and specials.

“The less popular drinks would probably be cappuccinos, the café au lait, or basically any drink that contains more milk/foam and less coffee,” said Schneider.

The busiest hours for King Café wax and wane with students’ schedules, picking up in the morning when students are going to and from class. While the library is open all night, King Café closes at 11 p.m. But, the lateness does not phase students’ caffeine habits.

“There is always a rush between 10:30-11:00 p.m., because we close at 11, so people want to get their coffee fixes for late night studying,” said Schneider.

While some rely on coffee as a quick wake-up call, others find themselves increasingly reliant on caffeine. Students’ coffee habits become dependencies, as they seem unable to function without their daily fix.

“Sometimes, if I don’t get my coffee, I get headaches about half -way through the day. But I’ll only ever drink it black,” said junior David Colston.

Whether a unique, personalized drink that takes 10 syllables to order, or an old fashioned black coffee, students all need their buzz.

WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET

5

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015

the long-term sustainability of college athletics.

“If the students decided to do a fee boycott, what would happen to the athletics program?” said Cathy Wagner, English professor and vice president of finance for Miami’s chapter of American Association of University Professors. “I think, before tensions run too high, it would be important to be really clear about where their money is going.”

Wagner suggested there’s more to the problem: the university as a whole needs to rethink its priorities. She noted that new buildings and residence halls on campus, in addition to the football program, are “curb appeal” and may be absorbing funds that should be directed elsewhere.

“How much do people walk up onto the curb and into the building and start paying tuition on the basis of the curb appeal?” Wagner said.

“It is a really tough thing to know, and I hope they’re right, because they’re going way into debt to do a lot of this stuff and exploiting the students for the student fees … [students] should be informed. If

they’re informed, then I wouldn’t use the word exploited.”

Although Wagner supports college athletics, she said she thinks the community should have a chance to discuss the fees.

“It does seem like if football is losing as much money as it seems to be, maybe that money could be redirected toward educational causes,” she said. “I think a lot of faculty would agree with that.”

Director of Athletics David Sayler said he has been working to reduce the reliance on student fees and bring in revenue from other places.

He highlighted three specific sources: television deals, ticket sales and donations.

Since Sayler’s arrival to Miami in December 2012, the ESPN television deal with the Mid-American Conference has increased from $100,000 per school in the MAC to $1 million per school.

And the ticket budget, mostly the result of hockey, has increased from $900,000 to $1.2 million in three years. The athletic department has raised more than $50

million in donations, which have funded 100 percent of the new athletic facilities.

Sayler pointed out how the size of the school affects the fee.

“We all get about the same amount of money from student fees,” Sayler said. “Our challenge is our numbers are pretty much in line with all the other MAC schools, but we have lower enrollment. Kent State’s got 42,000 students or something. Their ability to set a lower student fee is much greater than ours.”

The student fee goes toward the general operating budget for athletics. Most of that budget funds scholarships for student-athletes, which, Sayler said, brings money back to the school.

For example, baseball players receive 25 percent of their tuition in scholarship money. When studentathletes attend Miami on partial scholarships, the rest of their tuition brings $8.6 million to the school.

Sayler said even though the new indoor sports facility is not funded with student fees, the department provides open hours for club and intramural athletes to use it. Mi-

ami also provides medical care for club and recreational teams through a new relationship with Mercy Health-Cincinnati.

“Those things combine, in my mind, to make the student fee justifiable,” Sayler said. “Some people are never going to be happy that even any money is going to athletics, and I get that.”

“Some kids are never going to use those things because they choose not to, but there’s lots of things you pay to a university that not every student takes advantage of … it’s just the nature of things.”

Despite the disagreement on the level of the fee, there’s one issue on which most around campus agree: transparency.

Sayler said Miami has looked into a website with an interactive breakdown of the student fees. University at Buffalo uses a similar model.

“The students need to know what’s going on,” Wagner said. “I think the administration needs to make a case for why it’s appropriate for the students to be paying this amount of money.”

curriculum approval process and the creation and role of a Regional Senate.

Moira Casey, an associate regional dean, said that the overwhelming sentiment from faculty has been positive.

“My sense is that [faculty] have been in favor of the proposed departments, generally speaking,” Casey said. “[The vote] came with some feedback and commentary from the faculty that were summarized in short reports. And when we did that vote, we got feedback that caused us to rethink some of those departments.”

Skillings acknowledged hesita-

tion by some faculty.

Enthusiasm for the new baccalaureate programs is, he explained, tempered for some by the uncertainty that comes with change.

“The overriding concern here is to find a way to support new baccalaureate degree programs to be offered to our students in the region and to find the structures that make sense for those,” Skillings said. “I think there’s strong, very strong support for doing that. Exactly what those structures should be is something we’re working through.”

Some faculty members are more critical of the proposed changes.

Cathy Wagner said she believes the process hasn’t provided enough opportunity for faculty input. Wag-

ner is an Oxford-based English professor who serves as vice president of the advocacy committee of Miami’s American Association of University Professor (AAUP) chapter.

“The principle of shared governance that AAUP supports is [that] the university works better when faculty who have a lot of on-theground knowledge about how things work and what students want when their opinions can be convincingly heard and clearly heard,” she said.

“We want to make sure that there’s clarity about what the regional faculty are for.”

Theresa Kulbaga and John Krafft, both associate professors of English on the Hamilton campus, expressed their discontent with the process.

“We have been differentiated against our will,” Kulbaga said.

“Now faculty are in a position where we don’t know what department we’re going to be in. We don’t know what degrees we’re going to be offering. And it creates this sense of real instability in terms of what our role is and even in terms of our jobs. I think that rushing creates a kind of panic that leads to faculty feeling disempowered.”

Krafft, a Miami alum who has taught here for 25 years, sees the proposed changes as a harbinger of things to come.

“The buzzword is granting us semi-autonomous status. I call it semi-orphaned status or semi-stepchild status,” Krafft said. “I think, in

fact, it may destroy the regional campus, I they may not survive very long after this spinoff.”

Provost Phyllis Callahan feels that the new departmental infrastructure will better reflect the population served by regional campuses.

“We want to provide the structure that gives them the opportunity to offer more fouryear degrees, which is what they have been doing,” Callahan said. “This is a really exciting time for them to develop programs that we think will really serve the population well. New departments that were already formed, and have already been approved, offer degrees that serve the population very well.”

FROM LIBRARY »PAGE 2

FROM PEACE OF MAIL »PAGE 3

to be completed in the next several weeks,” Mancuso said.

Johnston said she is glad that the library is responding to the issue.

“It shows that people are concerned and that they care about Oxford residents,” she said.

Although the details of the project are not finalized, Berberich said she’s looking forward to the work being done to the parking lot.

“I wouldn’t doubt that [the library] would fix it if someone brought it up to them,” Berberich said. “I’m glad they are going to fix it.”

about the online reaction to her campaign. “That’s the power of the Internet.”

She’s already received around 350 letters, but she is hoping to receive more.

“Hopefully I’ll expand into something bigger,” Al-Zubi said.

Al-Zubi is currently paying outof-pocket for her program, so ex-

pansion will be a challenge. She hopes either the program she’s working with, Syria Bright Future, or Miami will help her out.

At the moment, she’s still trying to reach Syria Bright Future, but Miami has helped her expand Peace of Mail. She’s working with her residence hall to organize a program to write letters, and the Honors Student Advisory Board has also been trying to help her project

get traction with the student body.

Lazarski said they’ve been successful promoting the project and sharing information through word of mouth.

Despite being constrained to a dorm room in rural Ohio, Al-Zubi is still determined to do what she can to help the refugees suffering thousands of miles away.

“I need to do something,” she said.

FROM FEES »PAGE 1

from successful sports teams may manifest itself in an increase in attendance at games or positive PR for the school, rather than money.

The two seniors view Miami’s overall subsidy as an investment, which makes the student fee more bearable for them.

“As athletics grow, your university grows,” Harmon said. “I think that by putting money into athletics, it’s an investment that might not immediately pay off, but it has the benefits of paying off in the future.”

But those who aren’t RedHawks sports enthusiasts like Harmon and Beam, aren’t as understanding about the student fees.

“My first thought was the hockey team gets new uniforms every year, don’t they?” junior Landon Drumm said. “I pay $1,000 for food. Food is necessary for life. What the hell is athletics ever doing for me?”

Miami’s reliance on subsidies is alarming to some faculty members and raises questions about REGIONALS »PAGE 1

FROM SITTING »PAGE 2

throughout the day. This is because sitting causes physiological changes in the body. The solution is even simpler than going for a run — just stand. Standing activates muscles so excess amounts of blood glucose are absorbed in the muscle instead of fat, according to the University of Chester.

The little habits seem to add

up, as evidenced in multiple studies and the opinion of students.

“I think it is important to focus on little ways that we can reduce sitting time,” Purgert said. “For example, walking to class instead of driving, or pacing around your room while talking on the phone, if you can change little habits throughout your day, you can soon find yourself taking on a whole new lifestyle.”

TMS ONLINE M I A M I S T U D E N T . N E T

FROM ENGINEERS »PAGE 3

water runoff, making local streams and natural water sources cleaner.”

Both students said this unconventional classroom project has taught them a lot.

“I gained insight from storm water management principles and practices that have been completed around the world,” Puleo said. “I became experienced in project management through interacting with my team and working toward the deliverables so the project would be finished in time and be successful.”

Hammerle said he learned a lot, too, but the biggest insight he gained was how to successfully work with a client.

“Communication is key,” he said. “You need to keep your client informed on what you’re working on so they know what you’re doing.”

6 OPINION

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015

EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Hodge’s #MIAMI4MIZZOU email leaves editorial board wanting more EDITORIAL

Last Friday, in response to the #MIAMI4MIZZOU demonstration in Armstrong, Miami University President David Hodge sent an email to the student body regarding diversity and inclusion . . . at least we think that’s what it was about.

At no point were the words race or racism used in the email. Instead, Hodge employed extremely vague language to dance around the heart of the issue — there is a problem with racism and racial inequality at Miami.

The tone of the email was detached and disingenuous, making us feel as though this email was sent as a formality, not as a true call to action.

The elusive description of a very clear problem is a disservice to students who might not be informed about current events. Here, Hodge missed an opportunity to educate those who are unaware of what is happening. In fact, if the short passage referencing the events at Mizzou and here at Miami were removed,

The following piece, written by the editorial editors, reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board. this message could be written about ident Hodge? knowledging the problem is a good or applied to any controversial topic.

Imagine how powerful it could first step, it is not a solution in and of Wouldn’t it be more effective for have been to say: “I know what’s go- itself.

Hodge to have sent an email explic- ing on here. I am disappointed in the One option offered in the emil was itly citing problems, such as the in- students responsible for these hate- to vist three of Miami’s websites that tolerance and offensive comments ful messages. I am embarrassed that tell student show to recognize hateful posted to Yik Yak each day on this these views are present in our com- or biased behavior. But what is the campus? munity. Those responsible should be point if the administration doesn’t In contrast, in an email sent to the ashamed of themselves.” react to and recognize that behavior?

Miami comAnother opmunity last tion offered in the April concernemail was to ating a bulletin At no point were the words race or racism used tend a “Let’s Talk board in Wells Dialogue” event Hall, Hodge in the email. hosted by the Ofwrote, “Regretfice of Diversity tably, a bulletin Affairs (ODA) board in Wells last night.

Hall was defaced over the weekend While the email recognized MiInstead of encouraging students to with profane racist, sexist, anti-Se- ami’s problems, it simultaneously attend a specific organization’s gathmitic, and homophobic graffiti … I downplayed them, through claims ering, why couldn’t the administraam deeply disappointed that any of that “a few” people hold these views, tion host something itself? our students would choose deliber- or that this is a problem throughout More recognition from the adminately to behave in such a reprehen- “our nation’s colleges and universi- istration would legitimize the rallies sible way.” ties.” that are already occurring. Instead of Where was such poignant and Racism is a problem at Miami viewing the demonstration as a group genuine vocabulary last Friday, Pres- University and while an email ac- yelling in Armstrong and thinking,

“Who are these people and what are they doing?” students would see a university-backed program meant to educate the community about an important issue.

What if the leaders of our university gave these oppressed students a platform from which to project their views? To share their experiences, and to tell their stories?

At Missouri, a chief complaint was that protestors felt ignored by the administration. So far, Hodge’s removed email does little to prove that Miami will act any differently.

We urge the administration of Miami not to make the same mistakes and not to allow any students to feel that they, too, are being ignored.

Hopefully, this email is an initial step in a series of improvements that will be made at Miami. Hopefully, this is not the end of the administration’s involvement, because it is certainly not the end of the ever-present racial tensions on this campus.

University, students need to take a step back and check their privileges RACE

MILAM’S MUSINGS There is no race problem at Miami University: one of the most homogenous public universities in the country. That is to say, most everyone on campus and in the classroom — more than 81 percent — will look like me: white.

There is no race problem at Miami University: where clear tensions exist between its white student body population and its slightly less than 10 percent international student body population.

Last November’s anonymous letter to the editor about admitting international students demonstrated that.

There is no race problem at Miami University: the university that ranks No. 9 in the Princeton Review’s little Race/Class Interaction list, which asks students, “Do different types of students (black/ white, rich/poor) interact frequently and easily at your school?”

There is no race problem at Miami University: the university where, in 2010, the Alpha Xi Delta sorority was suspended for two years after deplorable behavior at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, one partygoer was found trying to urinate on the 19th century Slave Pen exhibit.

There is no race problem at Miami University: where some alumni pine for the days when students and their mascot were Redskins instead of Redhawks.

There is no race problem at Miami University: where social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Yik Yak and the comment sections at The Miami Student are replete with reactionary, hold-to-tradition, thinly-veiled racism.

In response to Miami students standing with Mizzou, comments like, “Good idea — be more intentional — transfer to Missouri,”

receive nine likes on Facebook (the same commenter also wanted an analysis of the NAACP in response to an article on the KKK).

Where comments like, “There’s no evidence that three of the four incidents of racism actually happened [at Mizzou],” receive six likes.

Despite, you know, the evidence.

Not only is there a picture of the poop swastika, but also a police report indicating its existence.

Despite other incidents unremarked upon, like the two white male students arrested at the end of February in 2010 for spreading cotton balls on the grounds in front of the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center at Mizzou. Or that the racial issues with black student athletes at Mizzou stretch back decades.

Then there are the anecdotes of racism, like Mizzou journalism professor Cynthia Frisby, who said she had been called the n-word too many times to count. She recounted in a widely shared Facebook incident after incident.

But people won’t believe her.

Just as they won’t believe the other anecdotes from other black people about the racism they’ve encountered, including the recent letter to the editor in The Miami Student from Miami graduate Brandon Patterson.

That’s nothing new, unfortunately. When encountering stories of

The number of racial complaints reported on college campuses has nearly doubled from 555 in 2009 to 939 in 2014.

racism, whites tend to turn a skeptical ear; black people must be lying or exaggerating or misinterpreting the situation, they say.

There just can’t be any sort of race problem at Miami University; such would impinge upon the beautiful white bubble and “tradition.”

The University of Missouri’s

new interim system president, Michael Middleton, said he felt marginalized every day because of his race when he was a student and now as an administrator.

Are we to discount that? Are we to say, ‘nah, that can’t be?’

“It’s so subtle,” he said. “I think women understand it. I think people with a sexual orientation [that is not straight] understand it. I think other people of color understand it ... it is just the feeling of not being heard, not being respected and being placed on the margins of what’s happening in the world.”

He’s right. It’s hard for white, heterosexual and often males, to consider the margins. White, masculine heterosexuality is the norm.

I don’t consider my whiteness because I don’t have to. Our institutions and our people demand that black people think about their skin whenever they maneuver through society.

There were 565 undergraduate black students on the Oxford campus in 2013, the last year for which enrollment records are available on Miami’s web site. Or, put another way, black students represent 3.6 percent of the student body population, far below the 13.4 percent of blacks in Ohio as of 2010.

Just consider what it would look like for you to sit inside a classroom and most of the people around you don’t look anything like you?

It should come as no surprise, then, that according to the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, students at low-diversity institutions reported more instances of stereotyping, discrimination and harassment on campus at 22.7 percent. Most incidents go unreported, however.

One of the linchpins of the narrative that race is a yesteryear problem was the election of Barack Obama to the presidency. His election surely indicated the ushering in of a post-racial society, right?

Actually, according to the Department of Education, the number of racial complaints reported on college campuses has nearly doubled from 555 in 2009 to 939

in 2014.

While these numbers may not seem like a lot, although the increase is certainly worth noting, it’s not as if there needs to be lynching in front of Bell Tower to constitute a need to confront racism on campus.

Miami is incredibly white — more so than comparably sized universities.

Higher education ought to be the place where we are challenged and encounter new ideas and new ways of thinking. At Miami, that’s certainly possible in some respects, but with how overwhelmingly white and upper middle-class the student body population is, it’s a self-protecting bubble.

Any cries of a problem, along race or class lines, is derided as either untrue or merely an isolated, non-representational example.

None of this has anything to do with being oversensitive, a social justice warrior or buying into the “increasing Marxism of college campuses.”

There are absolutely valid concerns to be had about upholding free speech on college campuses or the worry over helicopter parenting and the coddling of students.

All of those discussions can and should be had. But the race discussion is one of those valid areas of concern.

I’m also more in favor of these discussions happening at the community level. We can’t expect President Hodge to wave a magic wand and make minority students on campus feel welcome. We cannot and definitely should not expect MUPD to police hateful speech.

The problem with living in a bubble is that you’re not aware of doing so and when someone threatens the integrity of the bubble, you

react defensively. It does not have to be that way. Listen, engage and try to understand the experiences of people that aren’t like you.

Maybe you, considerate reader, think it’s unfair to extrapolate and then generalize from Yik Yak or some choice Facebook comments.

There are more than 15,000 students, after all, right? It’s true that it’s hard to truly gauge what the racial climate is on Miami’s campus, especially since the student body is often characterized as apathetic, but there are two things that are indisputable: One, Miami is incredibly white — more so than comparably sized universities. Being so homogenous is inherently going to create blinders to different perspectives and experiences, i.e., the bubble.

Secondly, Patterson spoke in this publication about his experience on campus as a black man. It would be wrong to say he speaks for all black experiences on campus, as the black experience is not monolithic, but it was his experience.

Other minority students have also spoken to similar feelings of being unwelcome or marginalized. We ignore that at our own peril.

A guest column in this paper by the Black Student Action Association titled, “Racism is alive and well at Miami,” from Nov. 16, 1979, starts, “All too often, we ‘contemporary’ blacks tend to believe that racism is a thing of the past. We have been and are being told that racism is dead, with, of course, the exception of a few misguided souls still advocating it racially. We are told that they are inconsequential.”

It’s profound that 36 years later, almost to the date, we are still being told that racism is a thing of the past, that it is dead and that there are only a few misguided exceptions of inconsequential concern.

Miami, the credo “love and honor” demands that we can and ought to do better.

BRETT MILAM

MILAMBC@MIAMIOH.EDU

Diversity Affairs Council supports victims of ongoing terrorism, abroad and at home GLOBAL

TO THE EDITOR: The Diversity Affairs Council (DAC) extends our deepest condolences to those affected by the recent attacks in Paris, Beirut, Baghdad and Syria, as well as our utmost compassion to those in Japan and Mexico shaken by natural disasters. We realize that many of our students — as we all try to prepare for these stressful final weeks of class — will be doing so with a heavy heart, and we offer our love and support.

In light of the selective mourning that has been much criticized in the media over the weekend,

we feel that we must affirm that our thoughts are with all of the victims of last week’s attacks and disasters, as well as the people who must unfairly suffer the consequences of these extreme actions that were meant to cause division and incite fear.

As the events of Friday night were unfolding, anti-Islamic and/or anti-refugee sentiments fuelled the reactions of many.

Ohio is among the list of states whose governors are seeking to refuse asylum to Syrian refugees.

We, as a council, will not stand for this type of discrimination or prejudice in our community and beyond.

We want to emphasize how crucial it is to support each other during times of mourning and distress.

Let us remind ourselves that the same people responsible for the attack on Friday were also responsible for the lives claimed in Baghdad, Beirut, Paris and Syria.

Let us remind ourselves that the same people responsible for these attacks are the very people refugees are fleeing from, that these

people have killed over 200,000 cerned Students Union of Miami innocent Syrian people, displac- and students who feel attacked ing many more. We stand firmly here at home. with these refugees and the corWe believe that standing with responding communities affected the victims of international terrorin the United States. ism and standing with our peers We want to emphasize how against anti-Black racism domescrucial it is to support each other tically are not mutually exclusive. during times of mourning and As DAC, we support multiple distress. We not only express our communities who may feel discondolences in the face of lives advantaged and/or judged. We lost, but also express our support encourage our fellow students to for the Muslim community here share our sentiments and support and worldwide who are now tar- all communities that face injusgeted for the actions of a group tices here and around the world. that they do not condone. While we support these communities that are under attack overseas, DIVERSITY AFFAIRS COUNCIL we also strongly support the Con- 3032 ARMSTRONG STUDENT CENTER

EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

OPINION 7

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015

A neglected skill: Encouraging the art of small talk on college campuses LIFE

GRAHAM VON CARLOWITZ THE MIAMI STUDENT

Before I enter the kinds of conversations I expect will exceed more than just a few fake laughs — let’s say two minutes’ worth — I tell myself I need a few go-to comments or jokes to sustain the interaction.

In my conversational back pocket, I’ll have handy thoughts like, “Isn’t it funny how we say kneecap and not kneehat?” or an even more childish thought such as, “I like blowing my nose when someone is rambling so I don’t hear them, don’t you?”

If the discussion insists that I sound a little more intelligent, I revert to my well-rehearsed facts that often involve coffee. “Did you know that coffee beans are the bean babies of small coffee berries?” or “I get really energetic after seven cups of coffee, is that weird?” and my personal favorite, “The little saucers that hold coffee cups used to function as a means to drink cooled coffee, they aren’t useless after

all.”

Okay, so some of the facts tend to border oddball comments, but they’re better than nothing at all. Really, imagine engaging in a talk expected to run around 10 minutes with neither party willing to offer interesting tidbits.

Personally, I’d start commenting on something like shoes.

“The soles of ours shoes tend to have intricate designs, yet we never see them. What’s the point?”

And pretty soon, I’ll have exhausted discussing the anatomy of the shoe. So, where do I go from there?

One way I’ve learned to steer simple talk is to point to facts learned in school. So, for those of us still roaming the halls of academic buildings (that might be used for hide-andseek, if not for studies), one subject has been so strongly ignored, it falls in line with the neglected history of the bicycle — or the wheel — for that matter.

This subject could save the lives of countless, suffering talks, and learning material is

literally at the doorstep of some Americans.

Do I speak of railings? No. Who would discuss those? What about mailboxes? Again, I’m trying to revive conversations, not suffocate them.

This subject could save the lives of countless, suffering talks ...

The subject that need be explored, especially on college campuses (where, mind you, seminars on jogging are offered), is none other than the history of Canada! Eh? Someone once asked me what the most interesting thing I heard all day was. Yes, only once was this asked, and it just so happened to fall on the same day of one professor’s attempt at an epiphany. She was standing there, apparently channeling some extra-terrestrial

inspiration, which led to the very terrestrial announcement that our university should offer a course on Canada.

The person who asked me the right question on the right day certainly got an earful of how brilliant Canada would be to study. My question is, where do I find this course?

I need to know more about the mystery of Canadian bacon, but how do I begin to understand? Cookbooks just won’t cut it, only teachers and textbooks will satisfy me.

I don’t mean to complain. I know university studies wield more usages than supplying people like me, the social equivalent of the tortoise (slow and humdrum), with things to talk about. I know they try their darndest to prepare us students for the real world.

I know a third thing, though, and so does virtually every other human life force. The ability to bullshit for a hot minute is a condition that must be met these days, and while not officially deemed as such, Canadian Facts 185 (arbitrarily numbered, of course) could be considered a critical communications class.

League of Women Voters of Oxford behind Stanton Bonham House status LOCAL

TO THE EDITOR: On behalf of the League of Women Voters of Oxford, I thank you for covering our event on Monday, Nov. 9, the dedication of the Ohio Historical Marker for the Stanton Bonham House. We very much appreciate the attention you gave to the program and the front-page placement of your fine article.

There is a lack of specificity, however, in the second paragraph that states, “This weekend, the house was granted historical status in Ohio after officials applied for the designation in April.”

Readers might wonder, “Who were those “officials’?” They were a committee comprised of members of the League of Women Voters of Oxford.

The marker results from that committee’s persistent work and the League’s support. We would

like your readers to know this.

The League of Women Voters was founded in 1920 when women were finally granted the constitutional right to vote. It is a non-partisan, national, grassroots organization that promotes voter registration and citizen participation in our democracy.

The Oxford chapter counts Miami students, staff and faculty among its members, along with men and women from the Oxford area. Because Elizabeth Cady Stanton launched the organized movement for votes for women in the 19th century, the Stanton Bonham House helps us tell her story and carry on her legacy.

TONI SALDIVAR

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLICITY, LEAGUE OF WOMAN VOTERS OF OXFORD SALDIVAR@MSMC.EDU

RULE OF THUMB PEACE OF MAIL One Miami student’s project forwards letters from around the globe to refugees in a Syrian camp. The letters offer inspirational messages to Syrians living through the civil war.

WORD OF THE YEAR State parks in Minnesota offer free admission on Black Friday. The state wants to provide people an alternative to the day’s notoriously crazy shopping scene, and encourage them to spend time in nature.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES Merriam-Webster announces the word of the year for 2015... and it’s not even a word. The “tears of laughter” emoji becomes the first symbol to join the annual list of terms.

REFUGEES UNWELCOME In the wake of attacks in Paris, United States governors refuse to accept Syrian refugees.

Governors of 23 states, including Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio and Texas, are seeking to prevent refugees from entering.

ATHLETIC COSTS This year’s graduating class has paid $3,896 over their college career to support Miami’s athletic program. Many of us don’t even attend the games and think the money could be better spent elsewhere.

A.J. NEWBERRY NEWBERAJ@MIAMIOH.EDU

Miami cannot ignore existence of male sexual assault SEXUAL ASSAULT

CARLEIGH TURNER WEB DESIGNER

On Nov. 6, students received a crime alert email notifying them a male had been sexually assaulted near Cook Field and that the male perpetrator was still at large.

After staring at the email and spending some time wondering if the victim was okay, I wondered what he was to do next.

One in 33 men will experience rape in their lifetime, as opposed to one in four women on college campuses, according to the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN). Because men are statistically less likely to be assaulted, I wondered who this man would turn to, or if his friends would understand.

Miami currently has 16,387 undergraduate students, 8,746 of whom are male. Which would mean approximately 265 male students at Miami have been sexually assaulted or abused at some point in their lives, if RAINN’s statistics hold true on this campus.

I began to research the support group options for male survivors at Miami and found there were none.

If a man is sexually assaulted on Miami’s campus, they may seek out resources, including Miami’s counseling services or an advocate at Women Helping Women. However, there are no male-specific sexual assault survivor support groups at either locations.

Laura Wonsik, case manager for counseling services at Miami, said at an It’s On Us event on Nov. 10 that Miami does not have a male support group because it has not been requested frequently enough.

Miami currently has one support group for female sexual assault survivors called “Circle of Hope” that meets Mondays from 3:00 p.m to 4:30 p.m.

I believe Miami University would benefit by taking a hint from

Field of Dreams.

“If you build it, he will come.”

If support groups are at least made available to these students, it may make them feel more comfortable in getting adequate psychological support, hopefully minimizing the potential for developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), according to an article by Ellen McGrath in Psychology Today.

of a sexual assault.

For survivors that may not feel comfortable going to group therapy, or do not have that option available to them, studies have shown that processing trauma through writing has actually improved immune function.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), in a study conducted by Josh Pen-

As of Nov. 6, the student population knows a man was brave enough to come out and share that he was sexually violated. It is now the university’s time to respond.

The effects of PTSD can be devastating. Intrusive flashbacks, dissociating, hypervigilance and terrifying nightmares are just some of the common symptoms of PTSD. Although men are less likely to develop PTSD than women, it does not give anyone license to ignore the male population that will develop the disorder by not providing support groups due to a lack of demand.

Miami cannot sweep male sexual assault under the rug any longer. As of Nov. 6, the student population knows a man was brave enough to come out and share he was sexually violated. It is now the university’s time to respond.

Miami does have sexual assault awareness groups on campus, like WAVES and MARS. However, they do not provide the psychological support that group therapy offers.

In group therapy, male identifying and female identifying survivors are able to see they are not alone and, with the help of a licensed psychologist, are able to work through the painful memories

TMS ONLINE M I A M I S T U D E N T. N E T

nebaker and Keith Petrie, 37 patients were asked to write about negative experiences or about their daily schedules. The patients who wrote about their life experiences had improved immune functioning better than the control group. Their writing helped decrease their stress related to being diagnosed with HIV. Pennebaker also said that suppressing trauma-related thoughts compromises immune functioning, and those who choose to write about their stressors visit the doctor less often.

That being said, if the university is not able to provide male sexual assault survivors with a support group, then they should provide them with a journal and some writing utensils.

The university should be focusing on taking care of all its survivors, not just the majority.

When we deny male students the opportunity to receive the benefits of group therapy, we are saying we do not care about what happened to them. We are letting down our community, and it needs to stop.

8 FYI

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015

The Miami Student

Reis Thebault Editor-in-Chief

Victoria Slater, Emily Tate Managing Editors

Thomas Briggs Business Manager

Kyle Hayden Design Editor

Ali Hackman Asst. Business Manager

Carleigh Turner Web Designer

Sydney Medema, Charles Cucco, Mike Coutre Advertising Representatives

Abbey Gingras, Grace Moody News Editors Britton Perelman Culture Editor James Steinbauer, Marissa Stipek Opinion Editors Grace Remington Sports Editor

James Tobin Adviser Drew Davis Business Adviser WDJ Inc. - Bill Dedden Distributor

Connor Moriarty Photo Editor Assistant News Editors Emily Williams, Justin Maskulinski

Julie Norehad Katie Hinh

Opinion Columnists Crime Beat Writer Brett Milam

Senior Staff Writers Bonnie Meibers Emily O’Connor Rebecca Huff Abigail Kelly Laura Fitzgerald

Designers Will Fagan

Brett Milam Greta Halberg Madeleine LaPlante-Dube Gretchen Shelby

Sports Columnists Jack Reyering Ryan McSheffery

Photography Staff Jalen Walker Angelo Gelfuso Emily Sabanegh

Ian Marker Jing Long A.J. Newberry Amanda Wang Jennifer Mills Marek Kuspan Pravali Kothakota Tyler Pistor Jacklyn Hayes Beth Pfohl

Cartoonists A.J. Newberry Chris Curme

WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET

NOTICE

FOR RENT

ROBERTS APARTMENTS Great Location! Close to uptown/ campus. 1 to 5 Bedroom Apartments Available for 20162017. Also 1 Bedroom for Spring only 2016 Available. Parking/ Laundry! 513-839-1426 or 513461-1165 www.roberts-apts.com info@roberts-apts.com

SUBLET FOR SPRING 2016 Private room in 4 bedroom 2 bathroom house available for spring 2016.

Fully furnished. 2 blocks from Uptown and a 7 minute walk from campus. $2,500 for the semester but willing to negotiate. If interested, contact Franny at 708-271-5528

APARTMENTS COURTYARDS The Courtyards of Miami, located across from Miami’s Rec, on the corner of East Central Ave. and South Main St. offers two bedroom $2500. per person Heat and water included. 1 bedroom $3700.

Free Summer available, parking included. Great location, and excellent upgrades, make the Courtyards worth looking at. Visit web thecourtyardsofmiami.com or call 513-659-5671

FROM OMA »PAGE 4

Knolls agrees.

“You do not have to be an artist,” the resident said. “You just use your mind. I think that’s what’s good for people. I know it’s good for me.”

Lokon said students benefit from the program, too — learning compassion, patience, communication and listening skills. It pushes them out of their comfort zone by allowing them to build a genuine relationship with someone they never would have interacted with otherwise.

As Friday’s session wraps up, projects are hung to dry — each uniquely different from the rest.

One artist has created a pattern of multicolored stripes. Another finishes a blue-and-gold beach scene, complete with birds and clouds. She calls it “Along the Seashore.”

The session closes with another song. This time, it’s “This Little Light of Mine,” and, once again, the room is filled with voices singing together — young and old.

Website: www.miamistudent.net For advertising information: miamistudent@gmail.com

The Miami Student (Tuesday/Friday) is published during the school year by the students of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

The content of The Miami Student is the sole responsibility of The Miami

Student staff. Opinions expressed in The Miami Student are not necessarily those of Miami University, its students or staff.

CORRECTIONS POLICY

The Miami Student is committed to providing the Miami University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

SPRING BREAK 2016

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND

South Padre Island is the place to be for Spring Break 2016 if you're looking for an affordable option in the United States with wild day parties and awesome beach bars.

TMS ONLINE M I A M I S T U D E N T . N E T

CANCUN

Cancun is the definition of Spring Break. From the day parties at our headquarters hotels to our very own EDM festival, Inception Fest, every aspect of your Spring Break trip will be taken care of.

Get More Info at studentcity.com/Miami-Ohio or Call 855-813-4390

WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET

9

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015

Garden Commons

November 17th 5pm–8pm

Western Dining Commons November 18th 5pm–8pm

Harris Dining Center November 19th 5pm–8pm MiamiOH.edu/Dining

Campus Commons • Campus Courts

New & Used Vehicle Purchasing Service A Free Credit Union Service Since 2001

No time to Car Shop ?

Take advantage of:

• Our extensive dealership network • Access to most new makes and models • Our vehicle shopping

expertise • Pre-arranged dealer visits • No loan payments for 90 days • Discounts on new and used vehicles • Free CARFAX vehicle history report Call Kristine at 513-523-8888

Membership is open for anyone who Lives, Works, Worships or attends School in Buter County.

Miami University and Community Federal Credit Union 5120 College Corner Pike, Oxford, OH 45056 www.muccu.org are subject to individual credit worthiness, subject to daily change without notice.

MUCFCU is not a legal entity of the University. Federally insured with the NCUA

NOW RENTING FOR 16-17 SCHOOL YEAR Limited Availability • Contact Office for details

(513) 523-1647 THE PERFECT PLACE TO LIVE AND ENTERTAIN

SCAN TO VISIT US ONLINE!

10 SPORTS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2015

“Self-inflicted wounds” plague MU in loss FOOTBALL

GRACE REMINGTON SPORTS EDITOR

Despite scoring 21 unanswered points in the second half, turnovers, penalties and errors kept the Miami University football team from completing a comeback Saturday in its 3728 loss to Akron University.

“Frustrating,” head coach Chuck Martin said. “Frustrating – that’s the best word I can use to describe that day.”

Martin gave credit to Akron (5-5, 3-3 Mid-American Conference), but said Miami (2-9, 1-6 MAC) lost via “self-inflicted wounds.”

The most noticeable of those wounds were two illegal block in the back penalties on kickoff returns.

Freshman running back Maurice Thomas returned a second quarter kickoff to around Akron’s 30-yard line, but freshman DB Josh Allen’s illegal block sent Miami back to its own 7.

Four plays later, freshman RB Alonzo Smith coughed up the ball, and Akron recovered at Miami’s 16.

The Zips capitalized on the turnover, reaching the end zone in two plays.

“We fumble too much,” Martin said. “It’s been a problem.”

The second return penalty came on the second half’s opening kickoff.

Thomas returned the ball the length of the field for a touchdown, but this time, it was redshirt junior defensive end Austin Gearing called for the block in the back, nullifying the return.

“We’re our own worst enemy,” Martin said. “We still have kids who aren’t mentally tough enough to play Division I football the right way … it’s like come on, guys. At some point, take the gun off your head. Quit shooting yourself in the head. It’s that simple.”

Starting at the Miami 7-yard

line, freshman QB Billy Bahl was almost sacked for a safety. When he tried to throw the ball away, it was intercepted by Akron senior linebacker Jatavis Brown.

Two plays later, senior running back Conor Hundley walked into the end zone, giving the Zips a 34-7 lead less than one minute into the half. It was Hundley’s third TD of the day.

“Instead of throwing the ball out of bounds – our young quarterback doesn’t like to throw the ball out of bounds apparently – he flips it up in the air and it’s a disaster,” Martin said.

Bahl answered with a 78-yard touchdown pass to redshirt junior WR Rokeem Williams. It breathed some life into the RedHawks, and that’s when Miami’s defense stepped up.

Akron’s next four possessions ended in a punt, a failed fake field goal, an interception and a blocked punt.

“We have a lot of confidence in our defense that they’re gonna get stops,” Bahl said. “When they get stops … it’s on us to go get scores.”

Bahl completed a 6-yard TD pass to sophomore tight end Ryan Smith, and redshirt junior corner back Marshall Taylor returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown.

Down 34-28 with 8:37 left in the game, the defense forced a three-andout from Akron.

“I was just ready to win,” redshirt senior safety Brison Burris said. “We were down in the beginning … but to me, it was 7-0.”

Miami went three-and-out on its next possession, and Akron senior kicker Robert Stein extended MU’s deficit with a 50-yard field goal.

“If we just punt the ball normal … if we punted the ball 40 yards like everybody else in America, they wouldn’t have even been in field goal range and we got another chance to score,” Mar-

tin said.

After redshirt freshman Gus Ragland was injured earlier in the fourth quarter, redshirt senior quarterback Drew Kummer – who hadn’t played since Week 5 – came in under center with 2:45 left in the game.

He moved the RedHawks 41 yards to the Akron 23, but a 12-yard sack for loss set Miami at a fourth-and-22. MU couldn’t convert a fake field goal for the first down.

Despite the loss, Martin was pleased with the way his team fought.

“It’s one thing when you’re a championship team,” Martin said. “But we haven’t had a lot of wins around here lately, so for our kids to keep battling, it says a lot about our kids and a lot about our staff. I said at halftime I thought we were gonna win the game.”

The loss was tougher for Burris and his fellow seniors, who were honored in a pre-game ceremony for senior day.

“It was pretty emotional, the last game at Yager,” Burris said. “That was a tough time to get a loss.”

Burris led the defense with eight tackles (four solo) and one interception. The INT was his fourth of the season.

Bahl finished 11-for-25 for 206 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Ragland completed 7 of 10 passes for 69 yards and a touchdown and ran for 65 yards on 12 carries.

Sophomore WR Sam Martin, Miami’s leading receiver, had one catch for 1 yard before leaving the game with a lower body injury late in the second quarter. Junior right tackle Collin Buchanan, junior outside linebacker TJ Williams and sophomore safety Buchi Okafor also left with injuries.

The RedHawks close out the regular season next weekend at University of Massachusetts.

ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT

Sophomore outside hitter Olivia Rusek attacks the ball against Western Michigan. She had 21 kills and four errors.

SPORTS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

FOOTBALL INJURY REPORT

ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT

Sophomore WR Sam Martin leaves Saturday’s game against Akron with a leg injury. Martin, redshirt freshman QB Gus Ragland and freshman RB Leonard Ross are out for the season. The statuses of junior safety Buchi Okafor and junior linebacker TJ Williams are to be determined.

’Hawks fall to Xavier, 81-72 BEN MOLNAR

THE MIAMI STUDENT

The Miami RedHawks men’s basketball team lost to the defending Sweet 16-qualifying Xavier Musketeers on Friday 81-72.

Though the RedHawks didn’t come away with a win, many predicted a blowout, but Miami held on. The ‘Hawks trailed by just five at halftime, stunning the NBA-like atmosphere of Xavier’s Cintas Center.

The Red and White used outside shooting to gain an edge on Xavier in the first half. Miami connected on 45 percent (5 for 11) of its three pointers in the first half, as opposed to Xavier’s 30 percent (3 for 10).

Early three pointers by guards Dion Wade and Eric Washington gave the RedHawks early momentum. They rode that momentum into the half.

Miami’s downfall was on the boards and second-chance points.

The Red and White were out rebounded 42-25 and trailed by 11 rebounds at the half.

“They dominated us on the boards, so that obviously posed a problem throughout the game,” said Miami head coach John Cooper.

Miami didn’t have much of a down low presence in the first half

Miami earns No. 4 seed, bye in conference tournament VOLLEYBALL

BEN BLANCHARD THE MIAMI STUDENT

Last season, Western Michigan crushed the Miami University volleyball team’s NCAA tournament dreams. That made the contentious five-set Senior Day victory over the Broncos even sweeter for the RedHawks.

With the win, Miami improves to 20-9 overall and 12-4 in the Mid-American Conference, and earns a first-round bye in next week’s MAC Tournament.

Western Michigan falls to 1417 overall and 10-6 in the MAC. Seniors Jenny Ingle and Annie Reiswig were honored in a ceremony before the match.

The match was a battle from the get-go. After several long rallies and lead changes, Miami came back to win the first set 2624 off a set play from sophomore outside hitter Olivia Rusek.

WMU overpowered the RedHawks in a heated second set, earning a 25-23 win to tie the

match at 1-1.

Miami regained control in the third set, winning the least contested set of the match 2519. Reiswig finished off the Broncos with a strong kill to win the set point.

“It felt great, I just wanted to do whatever I could to help the team,” Reiswig said.

The RedHawks looked to end the match in the fourth set by jumping out to a 7-2 lead, but the Broncos came roaring back to win the set 27-25.

In the decisive fifth set, the Broncos came out swinging, earning a 5-2 lead. However, the RedHawks would not be denied, and a 5-1 Miami run propelled the Red and White to a 15-11 set victory, and a satisfying 3-2 match win.

Rusek led the RedHawks offense with an extraordinary 21 kills.

The victory over WMU came on the heels of Miami’s 3-1 (2518, 19-25, 25-10, 28-26) win over Bowling Green State University

(7-21 overall, 3-12 MAC) Thursday night.

Against BGSU, Ingle led the Miami offense with 13 kills, no errors, and an incredible hitting percentage of .867. However, Ingle was not the lone contributor, as the team earned a sterling hitting percentage of .313 for the match.

Miami’s setters were key to success on both sides of the ball, as both freshman Mackenzie Zielinski and junior Krista Brakauskas earned a double-double. Zielinski recorded 22 assists and a careerbest 19 digs, while Brakauskas finished with 27 assists and 14 digs. Brakauskas became only the 12th setter in Miami history to earn 2,000 career assists.

After a 25-18 first set Miami victory, the Falcons used an 11-1 run to take control, eventually winning the set 25-19.

After dropping the second set, the RedHawks played with a new vigor, jumping out to a 12-2 lead in the third set.

During the 12-2 streak, junior

ICE SKATING

Friday Noon Skates; 12:10-1pm; Just $4!!

Thanksgiving Holiday Skates; Nov. 25-29; Wed-Fri-Sat: 4-7pm, Sun:3-5pm; Just $6.50!!

WEEKEND PUBLIC SESSIONS Fri/Sat: 7:30-9:00p & Sat/Sun: 3-5pm MU student - $4.75; HS & younger - $6.75

but made up for that with outside shooting and midrange jumpers.

But Miami’s shooting cooled off after halftime. Trailing by five point to start the second half, the Red and White were sluggish, hitting just 2-of-7 field goals, while Xavier made 5-of-6 to gain a steady 5743 lead. Miami answered though, with an 11-0 run with outstanding defense, holding Xavier scoreless for 7:08 to get within three at 57-54.

Two fierce LJ Livingston dunks and a three-pointer by guard Geovonie McKnight helped the run.

The RedHawks were in striking distance, trailing 61-60 with 6:57 remaining, before Xavier stretched its lead to 11 points at 71-60 with less than four minutes to play. Miami was scoreless for 4:20 before a pair of free throws by Eric Washington ended the drought. Miami was able to pull within eight points with 13 seconds remaining, but that was the closest the game would get before the final whistle.

Washington paced Miami in scoring with 19 points and seven assists. McKnight and forward Jere Vucica scored 11 each.

Nine different RedHawks scored in the contest.

The RedHawks face Kenyon at home 7 p.m. Tuesday.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

TODAY IN HISTORY

middle hitter Paige Hill recorded three kills, while Ingle earned two. Bowling Green closed the gap to eight at 6-14, but Rusek put the set out of reach with three kills to help push the RedHawk lead to 22-9.

The fourth set was another close call for the RedHawks, as the teams traded the lead five times before they were tied at 15. BGSU then scored three straight, then Miami responded with a three-point streak of their own. The teams continued to trade the lead until sophomore libero Maeve McDonald won the set (28-26) and the match with a service ace.

In the MAC tournament, Miami enters as the fourth seed, and will face the winner of Eastern Michigan versus WMU. The tournament begins Thursday and takes place in Athens, Ohio.

“We’re really looking forward to the tournament. This was a great win, and getting a tournament bye is huge for us” Ingle said.

1991

Detriot Lions offensive lineman Mike Utley is paralyzed during a game versus the Los Angeles Rams in a freak collision.

Once a quadriplegic, Utley has learned to operate a custom car and has gone skydiving, kayaking and scuba diving.

SIDELINE NFL TEXANS

10

BENGALS

6

Moonlight Skates

9:30- 11:30pm (see dates below)

Fri. Nov. 20 - Food Drive Skate Fri. Dec. 4 -“Ugly Sweater” Skate Sat. Dec. 5 -“Break the Tension of Finals” *FREE with Miami ID *$2.75 Skate Rental

Come Play at GOGGIN!

513.529.9800 MiamiOH.edu/ICE