The Miami Student Established 1826
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015
VOLUME 142 NO. 35
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET
Miami in three-way tie for first in NCHC MEN’S HOCKEY
GRACE REMINGTON STAFF WRITER
A sweep of Colorado College was enough to launch the Miami University men’s hockey team to the top of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference. The RedHawks are tied with North Dakota University and the University of Nebraska Omaha for first place with 35 points with three weekends left in conference play. After a 3-1 win Friday night and a 2-1 win Saturday, the RedHawks (18-9-1, 11-6-1-1 NCHC) jump to the No. 6 spot in the USCHO. com poll and USA Today polls. It is the RedHawks’ first regular season road sweep since joining the NCHC last year. Junior forward Sean Kuraly picked up yet another gamewinner in Saturday’s contest. It was his ninth of the season, a school record. “I think the record is really cool,” Kuraly said. “That’s just something that has come along with doing some of the things correctly … but I know there’s a lot of area I can improve in my game. I’m just trying to get better every day.” Kuraly is now just one game-
stackingUP With three weekends left in NCHC play, the race for the Penrose Cup is heating up. The top five teams are separated by just six points.
Miami:
vs. Duluth at Denver vs. North Dakota
Omaha:
at St. Cloud at Duluth vs. Colorado
1st Place 35 pts. each 4th Place 31 pts.
5th Place 29 pts.
North Dakota:
at Western Michigan vs. St. Cloud at Miami
Duluth:
at Miami vs. Omaha at Western Michigan
Denver:
at Colorado vs. Miami at St. Cloud
winner shy of matching the NCAA single season record. Freshman defenseman Louis Belpedio and junior goaltender Jay Williams took home NCHC honors for their efforts. Belpedio was named Rookie of the Week and Williams was tabbed Goalie of the Week. William stopped 48 of 50 shots over both nights and
improves to 16-4 on the year. Five different RedHawks scored in both games. “Any time you go on the road and are able to get a couple of wins, that’s a pretty good deal,” head coach Enrico Blasi said. The Tigers (5-21-1, 1-16-1 NCHC) were first to draw blood Friday night, but Miami scored
three unanswered goals to skate away with the win. MU outshot Colorado 34-23 and went 1 for 4 on the power play, while killing off all three CC man advantages. Saturday’s game brought much closer play. After a scoreless first period in which each team mustered only five shots, a power play goal from Belpedio put Miami on
the board at the 5:01 mark. Kuraly then came through on another power play with his 14th goal of the season. The ’Hawks outshot the Tigers 33-27 for the night and converted on 2 of 4 power plays, while killing of 1 of 5 Tiger man advantages. The sweep extends the ’Hawks season-long unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1). “We’re getting into the crunch of the season,” Blasi said. “It really is important to focus your attention on preparing well and playing your best on the weekend … at this point you don’t look at anything but your game and what you’re capable of doing. And all the teams are going to do that. So again, our focus is being ready to play on Friday, and we’ll go from there.” Miami returns home for the first time since Jan. 24 for a two game series with No. 7 University of Minnesota Duluth. Friday’s puck drop is 7:35 p.m. and Saturday’s is set for 7:05 p.m. “Obviously it’s really important, first place is on the line,” Kuraly said. “The last six games for us will be huge. There’s so much that can be determined with these last six games. We’re excited for it, it’s really important to keep this momentum going.”
Spectrum fights for increased gender identification awareness at Miami MEMORIAL SARAH EMERY
THE MIAMI STUDENT
Members of Spectrum — a student-led organization devoted to raising awareness of all sexual and gender identities, which has experienced low participation as of late — spent Feb. 14 not on a date at Paesano’s Pasta House or with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, but at the annual Midwest Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Ally College Conference. Held at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, the conference included many workshops and speeches covering a wide breadth of subjects related to the conference theme of “Narrating a New Normal.” Sophomores Jackie Heikes, Angel McCabe, Amalia Stevens and Spencer Aitken said Spectrum attended the conference to help build stronger leadership within the group and to diversify educational materials and leadership strategies that will help the organization in the future. “The biggest takeaway from the conference was the amazing feeling of being accepted for who you are, whatever that is or how you define it, and knowing that everyone around you was understanding … one impact this had on all of us was the re-
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY UNIVERSITY
STUDENTS BREAK ICE WITH EMPLOYERS »PAGE 2
alization of how heteronormative this campus is and feels to us as LGBTQ+ students at Miami, and it strengthened any want we each had to change the Miami community for the better,” the group said. Sophomore Anna Lucia Feldmann said she attended sessions
The current executive members of Spectrum cite many issues that have impeded the organization from making the impact that similar organizations have had at other college campuses. Although the organization has 85 members on the Hub and a few hundred recipients on their List-
Not a single professor has [asked how I would like to be referred to] in four years here at Miami” TROY FLEISCHMAN
MIAMI UNIVERSITY SENIOR
on topics such as intersectionality and hookup preferences and was particularly impressed with the keynote address by actress and black transgender actress Laverne Cox. “I gained a deeper understanding of a lot of gender and sexuality topics and how our identities and social positions are shaped by many different factors, like race, class and ability level,” Feldmann said. “Trans women of color are at an astonishingly high risk for violence and murder, and the queer community is trying to support and center their stories.” Feldmann said she hopes to take what she learned at the conference to help create a tighter and more trusting relationship for all students at Miami.
Serv, only about 15 to 30 members regularly attend meetings. The lack of participation, along with a loss of connections with other campus organizations over the years, has made recruiting new members to the organization difficult. Current members also attribute the conservative nature of Miami University and the state of Ohio to why participation in Spectrum and other LGTBQ+ are lower than other universities. Aitken, Heikes, McCabe and Stevens said that many students at Miami have no conceptualization of LGBTQ+ issues, and they hope to create events that reach out to many communities across campus, particularly Greek orga-
HARD IN THE PAINT Junior Geovonie McKnight takes it to the rim against an OU defender. McKnight finished with 17 points, helping Miami to a 77-66 victory over their rivals.
SPECTRUM »PAGE 9
In 1945, The Miami Student reported the death of former university president, Alfred H. Upham. He died after being rushed to a local hospital on Miami’s 136th anniversary. After 52 years of service at the university, he was planning on retiring at the end of the school year. COMMUNITY
CULTURE
OPINION
SPORTS
PRINCESS PLANS PERSIST
“BREAKING BAD” SPINOFF SUCCESS
MU DEBT RAISES QUESTIONS
MENS BASKETBALL
»PAGE 4
»PAGE 4
»PAGE 6
»PAGE 12