September 27, 2016 | The Miami Student

ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

Volume 145 №8

Miami University — Oxford, Ohio

BCRTA paratransit faces criticism

EQUAL PAY LAWSUIT UNDECIDED

Late rides, lack of drivers hinder students

MU UNETHICAL, SAYS ALLY IN FSB

TRANSPORTATION

LAWSUIT

GRACE MOODY

MEGAN ZAHNEIS

In a presentation to the Board of Trustees Academic and Student Affairs committee last Thursday, Dean of Libraries Jerome Conley outlined the libraries’ recent advances, including a new textbook initiative and the purchase of a Nature package that will add 80 scientific journals to the libraries’ col-

Miami students with disabilities may not have access to adequate on-campus transportation this fall semester.

Last spring, the Students with Disabilities Advisory Council invited a Butler County Regional Transit Authority (BCRTA) representative to a meeting in order to share grievances about Miami’s Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Paratransit service – ­ a complimentary door-to-door resource for students whose disabilities would otherwise make them unable to use the fixed-route public transportation.

Since that meeting, however, no changes have been made to Miami’s ADA Paratransit service.

Junior Rachel Reeves, a member of the Students with Disabilities Advisory Council, regularly uses this service because of a permanent disability.

Due to a high demand for rides, particularly in the mornings, she said, students with disabilities sometimes have a hard time making appointments for the door-to-door transportation service. This often leads to Reeves, and other students, arriving late to some of their classes.

“I would love for them to get another bus,” Reeves said. “We just need more people driving because there are a lot of us and often we can’t get the rides that we need. We also need to make sure the dispatchers know where exactly the buildings are on campus.”

Reeves said many stu-

LIBRARIES »PAGE 2

BCRTA »PAGE 2

Dark clouds moved behind the Music Hall and around Washington Park.

The forecast that night had predicted rain throughout the day, and if it had been accurate, water would have drenched the whole of the park and the city into the night. For the small group forming on the north side of the park, water was precisely what was on their minds.

Just before 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 17, pockets of two-to-eight people sat

Despite an ongoing gender discrimination lawsuit against Miami University, one male professor of finance believes the third floor of the Farmer School still constitutes a toxic work environment for his female colleagues.

Kelly Brunarski and Yvette Harman, both associate professors of finance who have been at Miami since 1999 and 2000, respectively, accused the university of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and violation of the Equal Pay Act in a lawsuit filed Feb. 15 in the Southern District Court of Ohio.

Both Brunarski and Harmon declined The Student’s request for comment.

The only allegation remaining is the Equal Pay Act violation claim in federal court.

Essentially the pay discrimination claim states that although their research and their abilities as professors and their seniority and tenure are equal or better than male counterparts, Brunarski and Harman have been paid significantly less.

“Miami University has, in fact, increased their pay somewhat, but has not completely adjusted their back pay for differences that have persisted for several years,” said attorney Robert Croskery, who is representing Brunarski and Harmon.

“Nor have they completely brought their pay up to what we believe it ought to be.”

The university’s lawyer, Christina Corl of Plunkett and Cooney law firm, said Miami moved to dismiss each claim — hostile work environment, discrimination and retaliation — in federal court in March.

Corl said that Harman and Brunarski voluntarily dismissed those charges in federal court, then filed in state court in May. Miami moved to dismiss the charges in state court and the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed those in June.

That lawsuit is currently in the discovery phase, in which Miami and the plaintiffs exchange written documents, conduct depositions and identify witnesses. The discovery process, Corl said, will end in mid-January 2017.

Brunarski and Harman’s colleague, professor of business legal studies Dan Herron, said the culture of gender bias in his department has been prevalent throughout his 25 years at Miami. Herron expressed

PIPELINE »PAGE 5

LAWSUIT »PAGE 5

THE MIAMI STUDENT

RYAN TERHUNE THE MIAMI STUDENT

Due to a high demand for rides, students with disabilities sometimes have a hard time making appointments with BCRTA’s Paratransit service.

Miami libraries cut approval plan Inflation in periodicals, flat budget lead to erosion of purchasing power FINANCE

JAMES STEINBAUER

Erosion of purchasing power

While the budget for Miami’s libraries has remained stagnant for the last six years, the costs of academic journals and other serials have skyrocketed.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Inflated prices and a stagnant budget have led to a significant cut in funding that is diminishing the book-buying power of Miami University’s libraries.

While the budget for Miami’s libraries has remained flat since 2010, at around $4.7 million, the cost of periodicals and academic journals has increased by about 6 percent per year over that same period.

In response, the libraries have completely cut what they spend under their “approval plan,” which allowed select publishers and university presses to automatically send books that met specified research or curriculum needs. Miami Libraries spent nearly $488,000 on such purchases in 2010 and $210,000 last school year.

This year, the “approval plan” budget is zero.

SOURCE: MIAMI UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES THE MIAMI STUDENT

The decision to buy books has now been shifted solely to what are called the librarians’ discretionary budgets.

However, those discretionary budgets have been cut by 40 to 50 percent since 2010, further diminishing each librarian’s ability to meet the requests of faculty and students. The libraries have budgeted close to $292,000 for such purchases this year,

down from $564,000 in 2010.

“When you combine a flat budget with journal costs that are hyperinflated, you’ve got a pretty toxic cocktail,” said Aaron Shrimplin, associate dean of Miami University Libraries. “That really means erosion of purchasing power.

So, the only way to survive in this kind of environment is to cut some of your resources.”

Trigger warnings spark debate in class STUDENT LIFE

LAURA FITZGERALD

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Professors and students are expressing mixed opinions on the use of trigger warnings in the classroom.

Trigger warnings are verbal or written warnings that warn students of content that might be emotionally distressing and trigger an extreme emotional reaction.

Violent and sexually abusive content are usually accompanied by most trigger warnings.

According to a recent National Public Radio (NPR) survey, about half of 841 professors surveyed at public four-year institutions give trigger warnings. The

overwhelming majority used trigger warnings of their own free will, not because of an administrative policy.

John Ward, associate director of clinical services at Miami University, said trigger warnings are helpful because it allows students to make their own decisions surrounding material that may be emotionally distressing to them.

Trigger warnings may also help students deal with difficult topics by giving them time to prepare for the content ahead of time.

“So instead of the information being launched upon them, they have a trigger warning to prepare their TRIGGERS »PAGE 5

Rally fights for pipeline protesters COMMUNITY

TESS SOHNGEN

OVER-THE-RHINE CORRESPONDENT

RYAN TERHUNE THE MIAMI STUDENT

The Miami University’s College Democrats and College Republicans held viewing parties for the first presidential debate last night at Uptown bars.

NEWS p. 2

CULTURE p. 3

EDITORIAL p. 6

OP-ED p. 7

SPORTS p. 8

SYRIA AT A CROSSROADS

MEMORIZING THE MESSIE KATIE

FLAT IS NOT THE NEW UP

THE MILLENNIAL MARRIAGE MINDSET

VOLLEYBALL BEATS MAC OPPONENT

Center for American and World Cultural Studies host lecture tonight.

Sandwhich studies: How Bagel & Deli employees learn the menu.

Miami University should help its libraries cover the inflated costs of journals.

“Here it is: marriage is stupid and I’ll tell you why.”

Miami’s volleyball team picks up it’s ninth straight win against Western Michigan.

NEWS EDITOR

2 NEWS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

Syria at a crossroads lecture tonight RELATIONSHIPS

SAMANTHA BRUNN THE MIAMI STUDENT

Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016, the Center for American and World Cultures will host a lecture featuring Jonathan Shannon, associate professor of anthropology at Hunter College in New York.

Shannon’s lecture,“Syrian Migrants in Istanbul: Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay,” will take place in Dolibois Rooms B and C in the Shriver Center from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Mary Jane Berman, director of the Center for American and World Cultures, believes the Syrian refugee crisis is a grave concern to the global community as a whole and hopes the event will educate Miami students on the impact of the “near genocidal conditions of the crisis.”

“I think we’ve all been very troubled by the news and the images that have been coming out of Syria, as well as the areas where people are trying to flee, and I work very closely with an advisory council who makes recommendations about the kinds of programs we offer here at the center,” Berman said.

“One of the suggestions that came up pretty powerfully last winter was the need to educate the Miami University community about what is going on in Syria.”

John P. R. Schaefer, assistant professor of anthropology at Miami University Middletown and member of the Refugee Action Committee there, is also involved in putting

together the lecture series. “ Since 9/11, but especially since 2011-2012 with the Arab Spring, Arabs and Muslims in the U.S. have faced tremendously escalated scrutiny and racialization.,” said Schaefer. “A lot of this is political, but it is also fact, so we are just responding to that.”

Berman feels it is important for people to understand the plight of the Syrian refugees.

“It would be irresponsible of us to not look at the plight of these people,” Berman said.

Schaefer thinks Shannon is the ideal candidate to best demonstrate to the Miami community not only the sadness experienced by the people of Syria but their resilience in the face of the crisis as well.

“He’s one of those people who has spent years and years studying Aleppo. He knows it like the back of his hand,” said Schaefer.

“I thought if someone can do both, if someone can speak to the pain and loss of seeing the city you love bombed into oblivion, while at the same time speak to the resilience of the Syrian spirit and their love for beauty, Jonathan can.”

Mary Shoufan, a Syrian graduate student of Miami, is excited to have the attention placed upon her homeland and its current struggle.

“An event like this is addressing an issue about the place where I came from, so that means a lot to me.” said Shoufan. “I will always be curious about what people are saying about the area and why they feel the need to finally address

what’s been going on.”

The hope is that the three part lecture series will help the Miami community see the refugees as integral contributors to the global community before immediately victimizing them due to the inhumane circumstances they have experienced.

“People have a very bad image of [the refugee crisis] as people coming out of the sea, dirty, in bad condition health-wise and mentally.” said Shoufan. “Lots of these people are very educated, lots of these people are doctors, engineers, students... The only solution is to risk their lives and their families’ lives and go through the sea. They wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t the only option.”

Additionally, Shoufan said, “Syrian refugees, or any refugees, should not be treated as animals. They have dreams, they have hopes, they have ambitions. It’s not a matter of giving them a chance at life in solely a physical way. It’s a matter of giving them life in its full meaning.”

When asked how students and members of the community can better understand the refugee crisis, Shoufan said, “You can’t really get it until you live it… I don’t really believe the news, because most of it is lies. In my opinion, and from my own experience, the best way to know what’s going on in any place is to talk to a native person.”

Students and community members have a chance to join the conversation by attending the first lecture in the series on Tuesday.

RENEE FARELL PHOTO EDITOR

A scenic sunset over Miami campus as fall begins and the last vestigages of summer fade away.

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

FROM LIBRARIES » PAGE 1

lection.

But his presentation also acknowledged that the libraries’ bookbuying budget will remain under pressure because of the rising costs of academic journals, periodicals and other materials considered “serial.”

“For years, we as a library profession have said that we would buy certain books just in case someone wants to check them out,” Conley said. “This is now causing us to move from that ‘just in case’ model to a ‘just in time’ model.”

The problem is not exclusive to Miami. The price of serials has skyrocketed — up by more than 105 percent since 2001. In what’s become known as the “Serials Crisis,” librarians throughout the United States are struggling to figure out how to reconcile their flat budgets with the rising costs.

“Those of us who’ve been ordering resources for the libraries for a long time have seen how the prices have gone up,” said Ken Grabach, Miami’s geography, geology, mathematics and maps librarian. “It’s like hiking an upper slope of the Himalayas. If one wanted to get aggravated with anybody about this, it’s really the publishers.”

However, there are some faculty members at Miami who believe cutting the book-buying budget to cover the costs of periodicals and journals will disproportionately hurt fields outside of the sciences.

“The libraries administration has noted that it was ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul,’” Director of the Humanities Center Timothy Melley told The Miami Student. “Well, unfortunately, the humanities are Peter in this scenario. The libraries are increasingly robbing the book purchasing budget to pay for scholarly journals.”

Keith Tuma, a professor of English and editor of the Miami University Press, said he takes the libraries’ cut to the book-buying budget as a snub to the humanities faculty.

“There is no research in the humanities without an up-to-date library,” Tuma said. “It’s a direct insult to the idea that one of the chief roles of a university is the production and circulation of knowledge.”

The decision to cut funding to Miami’s libraries came at the peak of the economic recession near the beginning of the 2007-08 school year.

The libraries’ budget decreased from a high of almost $5.2 million to its current amount in 2010 and has remained flat ever since.

David Creamer, the vice president of finance for Miami, said the discussion of whether or not to make an additional funding allocation to the libraries, is currently on the table.

“I think the provost and the deans will probably make some improvement in the budget for the library,” Creamer said. “But if we don’t find ways to avoid such large cost increases in the future, we’ll find ourselves back in the same situation probably not very far down the road.”

This story was produced in cooperation with patch.com, a community-focused website with content produced by Miami journalism students.

FROM BCRTA » PAGE 1

dents with disabilities are concerned about the lack of drivers, but also the drivers’ navigational abilities. There are drivers in both Hamilton and Oxford, so when a Hamilton driver is transferred to Oxford, often they aren’t sure where many of the buildings on campus are located.

Getting lost is a frequent occurrence, said Reeves.

BCRTA’s Interim Operations Manager for Paratransit Services, Sherry Hawley, was present at the Disability Advisory Council’s meeting last spring to answer students’ questions about the service.

Hawley said BCRTA’s Paratransit service employs three primary drivers, who drive the ADA Paratransit bus in shifts.

Andrew Zeisler, director of Student Disability Services, said students with concerns about Paratransit busing typically contact BCRTA directly. Zeisler directs students who approach him to Capt. Ben Spilman, Miami University Police Department’s parking services and BCRTA liaison, who, Zeisler said, is responsive to feedback.

“Probably the concern that I’ve heard the most often is that students have waited longer than they should have for a ride,” Zeisler said. “Sometimes people don’t get to their classes on time.

It all depends on the time of day and the levels of use.”

Spilman said students offered very constructive feedback during the Students with Disabilities Advisory Council meeting. Overall, he said, the system tends to work well in serving students’ mobility needs on campus.

“In large, the feedback has been fairly positive to neutral,” Spilman said. “There have been a couple of instances where there have been [issues], but overall I would say that the system works well.”

He said it’s not just students that the Paratransit system serves; it’s also university employees and the general public of Oxford.

“I think it’s certainly an asset to the resources that we provide here on campus, as it provides mobility options for students who otherwise would not be able to use the bus system,” Spilman said. “It plays a big role in making Miami’s campus mobile.”

MIAMI STUDENT

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NET

DANIELLA MUNOZ PERALES THE MIAMI STUDENT

Students enjoy the newly renovated outdoor patio space outside of Martin Hall. North quad recently reopened after several-semesters closure for updates and renovations.

SHUMANDB@MIAMIOH.EDU

CULTURE 3

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

Sandwich studies: How Bagel & Deli employees memorize the menu FOOD

KELLY BURNS

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Bagel & Deli is a madhouse on Friday nights.

Dozens of college kids pack the small restaurant and yell their orders to the employees. The employees rush around behind the counter, slapping ingredients onto bagels and making multiple sandwiches at a time. They don’t have time to stop and figure out what goes into which sandwich.

But they’re still expected to know every recipe.

The small shop is covered in pictures, posters and descriptions of all of the bagels. The Pizza Bagel, Messy Katie, Jeopardy Bagel and Pig in the Mud are just some examples. Without looking at the description, no one would have a guess as to what is in most of them.

More than that, most of the recipes contain several ingredients and are completely different from the other bagels.

A Pizza Bagel is on a plain bun, with pizza sauce, provolone and pepperoni. Pretty simple.

A Crunch and Munch, on the other hand, isn’t as easy to remember. It’s an everything bagel with turkey, smoked cheddar, Parmesan peppercorn, honey mustard, lettuce and Doritos.

Even regular customers might look at the menu and find a new bagel they didn’t know existed.

BRIANNA NIXON THE MIAMI STUDENT

Bagel & Deli employees must learn what goes on each bagel in order to prepare for busy weekend evenings.

Junior Natalie Boyle doesn’t think she could handle the variety.

“Oh God no, I could never work there,” she said. “I would mess up all the details of the bagels.”

Javier Salas and Adrian Kimmett, though, are veterans in the Bagel & Deli world.

Salas has three years of experience behind the counter, and Kimmett has four.

Now, making the bagels is almost second nature to the pair, and they have no trouble putting together bagels even on the busiest of nights.

“Now it’s like, people ask me what’s in things, and I’m like, ‘You

know, I couldn’t tell you. I just grab things at this point,’” Salas said.

That wasn’t always the case.

The application process at Bagel & Deli is relatively laid back. Usually, an applicant comes in when one of the owners is around and is interviewed on the spot.

“I think most people know someone who works here,” Kimmett said.

“It’s basically a recommendation at that point,” Salas added.

If the applicant is hired, they have only an hour-long training session before their first shift.

“We try to train people in the morning or afternoon when it’s not

“Mr. Robot” continues its tale of harrowing hacktivism with second season TELEVISION

DEVON SHUMAN CULTURE EDITOR

Contains minor spoilers for Season two of “Mr. Robot” I don’t know much about hacking.

Sure, I took a half-semester BASIC programming course in high school, but unless all it takes is a few nested if statements, I’m probably not going to be hacking into any major networks anytime soon.

That being said, as an entertainment critic, what I do know is this — when it comes to hacking, Hollywood gets it horribly wrong.

For years, I’ve watched plenty of films and television programs that feature computer “experts,” stereotypically clad in thick glasses and full-zip sweatshirts, magically hacking into large databases by mashing away at the keyboard for a few seconds before heroically tapping the enter key.

This isn’t just horribly inaccurate.

This is screenwriting at its laziest. It’s rare to find a story in which the hackers are more than miraculous nerds that the writers can use to bring the plot wherever they want.

Enter “Mr. Robot,” Sam Esmail’s show about a socially inept computer whiz named Elliot (Rami Malek, who just won an Emmy for the role), who works as a cyber-security engineer.

His company’s main client is E Corp, a massive financial corporation. Elliot teams up with a group of hackers named FSociety, which aims to initiate a worldwide social revolution by taking down E Corp.

Part of what makes this show so good is its commitment to real-life

computer programming. Nowhere here will you find any button-mashing Hollywood hackers. The techniques used in “Mr. Robot” are realistic. Like anything on the big screen, they’re probably not 100 percent accurate. But Esmail at least takes the time to construct believable hacking scenes.

However, the show itself is about so much more than just a bunch of hackers. It uses its central hacktivism storyline to explore such topics as mental illness, corporatism and society’s escapist nature. Elliot may be a prodigy with computers, but he’s also a deeply troubled individual.

This struggle creates for wonderfully compelling television.

During an election season that saw the far left calling for the breakup of large corporations, “Mr. Robot” could be criticized as a socialist’s fantasy of creating a utopia by taking down the top capitalist institutions.

However, Esmail deftly steers his story away from such a narrative. After a first season finale in which FSociety pulled off their first major hack on E Corp, one might have expected a second season filled with a blissful, financially stable society. This is not the case.

We soon find that the post-hack world of “Mr. Robot” is a desolate place, filled with economic devastation and paranoia. Revolution, it seems, is not always a seamless solution.

Esmail captures these themes through a distinct visual style. If nothing else, “Mr. Robot” is refreshingly fun to look at. Esmail defies cinematic norms, often placing his characters far to the edge of the screen to create a claustrophobic sense of fear.

He captures key scenes, such as a heist or an FBI shootout, by tracking his subjects closely, keeping enemies and obstacles ominously hidden from view.

As the cinematography shows, Esmail is not afraid to take big stylistic risks. Each episode plays like its own movie, and the viewer is never completely certain what they’re going to see.

It might be a dream sequence in which the main characters sit down for a family-style dinner in the middle of a New York City avenue, or it could be a 20-minute opening filmed like a laugh track-filled multi-camera sitcom (a macabre one, at that). Often, Esmail oversteps his boundaries and tries to go too big, but he does so with so much confidence that it still works. In the hands of a lesser director, these moves might come off as pretentious. But Esmail is sure of what he’s doing, and that poise emanates through the screen.

Part of what makes the second season so much fun is its distortion of reality. The twist-filled first season revealed Elliot as an unreliable narrator. This leaves the viewer always wondering if what they’re seeing is real or not. When a similar midseason big twist occurs, it’s not as shocking, as you’re already aware that something might be up. But it’s still executed so flawlessly that it’s equally as satisfying.

The plot itself drags at times, and the showy dialogue often feels overly abstract. But the show’s masterful cinematic qualities and marvelous performances across the board help to keep the viewer engaged.

ROBOT »PAGE 4

as busy,” Kimmett said, gesturing to the near empty room around her.

“I got thrown right in on a Friday night,” she continued with a laugh.

At no point during this training, though, does the new employee learn about the bagels.

That’s part of the reason that Bagel & Deli tries to work their new employees during slow hours instead of busy Friday nights like Kimmett’s first shift.

They have time to look and see what goes into each unique bagel without a dozen drunken college kids yelling at them.

To help with the learning pro-

cess, the employees use a technique that many college kids are familiar with.

“I was always taught, from the first shift, I had to just make flashcards,” Salas said.

Kimmett and Salas agree that the more an employee studies and learns about what goes into the bagels, the easier their job gets.

“You just treat it like another class,” Salas said. “So then on busy nights with 30 people screaming at you, you don’t have to keep looking up what’s in the bagels.”

Many of the new employees quiz themselves in order to become as familiar with the bagels as veterans like Salas and Kimmett are. Even new bagels pose no problem to workers after they learn the menu.

The new bagels are few enough and are around for, generally, a short enough time that employees don’t worry about memorizing them.

The easiest way to learn, Kimmett and Salas said, is simply through experience.

“It’s easier once you start making them with your hands rather than just reading them off,” Kimmett said. “It’s a different kind of memory.”

Even with the challenges of memorizing the dozens of bagels that Bagel & Deli sells, Salas and Kimmett truly enjoy where they work.

“I love this job,” Salas said. “I don’t think I would ever want another job.”

“Don’t Breathe” will make you hold your breath FILM

JOEY MCCLURE

THE MIAMI STUDENT

A classic horror film trope is the disabled monster. Whether it be the legless zombie, the deformed inbred man or the mentally deranged serial killer, the horror genre uses disabilities to distance the able-bodied audience from the monster’s identity.

“Don’t Breathe,” the home invasion horror directed by Fede Alvarez, plays with this trope. The film follows three young adults breaking into wealthy suburban homes of Detroit, stealing valuables and selling them on the black market.

One of the delinquents, Alex (Dylan Minnette), uses the house keys of the customers of his father’s security company to break into the homes without setting off the alarm.

After the three are done stealing watches and jewelry, Alex throws a rock through the window to stage a less sophisticated break-in and keep his father’s company innocent.

Once the crew gets wind of a resident hiding $300,000 in his home, they know that this break-in has a large enough reward to be their last.

However, there is a twist. The resident of the house is a blind veteran (Stephen Lang) and he never leaves his home in an empty, rundown Detroit neighborhood.

When the group discovers the man’s disability, it creates a moral dilemma for Alex. He asks, “It’s kinda messed up to rob a blind guy, isn’t it?” The most criminal of the group, Money (Daniel Zovatto), retorts, “Just because he is blind doesn’t make him a saint, bro.”

In many ways, these two lines sum

up the genius of “Don’t Breathe” and the way the film explores the genre’s conventions. Initially, the viewer feels sympathetic for the blind man and questions the morality of the three hoodlums. But once the crew breaks into the house and the audience learns more and more about the resident, the blind man slowly becomes the monster that we are so used to.

This simultaneously presents and solves one of the big problems with horror films today. Many horror films present a villain that is evil just for the hell of it. Instead, Alvarez presents a fleshed out character, and his actions, although disgusting, are weirdly understandable.

This is what is so terrifying about “Don’t Breathe.” Even though the resident is an evil man and his disability distances himself even further from the able-bodied audience, the viewer can still identify with the monster.

The film is also a technical achievement. It has a masterful sound design that imitates the blind man’s hearing. Since he relies heavily on sound to make up for his disability, loud noises, such as a drying machine, are amplified and show how the lack of silence completely disorients him. The sound design also allows the audience to hear every character’s breath. This not only builds incredible amounts of tensions, but it causes the audience themselves to literally not breathe in the film’s quiet scenes. Thus, the title is very fitting.

“Don’t Breathe” has a dazzling long shot moving freely throughout BREATHE »PAGE 4

Editors’ pop culture picks The things we watched, listened to, read and streamed as summer changed to fall ARTISTS ON INSTAGRAM

Most students don’t have the time or desire to go to an art museum, but thanks to social media they don’t have to. Some of my favorite artists who have Instagrams right now are Ron English (@ronenglishart), Romina Ressia (@rominaressia) and Seth Armstrong (@setharmstrongart). You might have heard of English. He is a provocateur of gross renditions of pop culture in the form of sculptures and murals, famous for creating a diabetic Ronald McDonald. Romina is a 20-something devotee of Renaissance portraiture with a twist, adding details like vespa helmets to traditional costumes. Lastly, Armstrong takes after Edward Hopper with voyeuristic cityscapes set in the contemporary era, suggesting we’re as bored as ever. (A.J. Newberry, Cartoonist)

“MODERN LOVERS” BY EMMA STRAUB

It’s a simple story, beautifully told — friends and neighbors, adolescents and adults, falling simultaneously in and out of love. Elizabeth, Andrew and Zoe, 40-something Brooklynite parents, are presented with an opportu

-nity — a large film studio wants to make a movie about their former bandmate, Lydia.

Elizabeth and Andrew are now (somewhat) happily married with a teenage son, Harry.

And Zoe, mother to wild-child Ruby, is struggling through a deteriorating relationship with her partner Jane. Straub’s novel is as Brooklyn as it gets, from the new age yoga collective Andrew secretly attends to Zoe and Jane’s trendy neighborhood restaurant “Hyacinth.” The idea of fleeting youthful optimism drives Straub’s bittersweet story.

(Emily Williams, Managing Editor)

“THE SIXTH EXTINCTION” BY ELIZABTH KOLBERT

Over the last half billion years, there have been five mass extinctions — times when the earth saw a sudden and dramatic decline in biodiversity. Now, scientists are beginning to think that the world may be experiencing another. The culprit?

Us. Are humans causing a sixth mass extinction? If so, how? And should we even care?

In this 2015 Pulitzer winner for general nonfiction, journalist and author Elizabeth Kolbert introduces the reader to biologists, ecologists and geologists from Peru, Italy, the Great Barrier Reef and throughout history in her attempt to find the answers. (James Steinbauer, Editor-in-Chief)

4 FYI

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

MIAMISTUDENT.NET

much missed tackles as much as they were poor angles,” Martin said.

UC was led offensively by running back Tion Green who rushed for 83 yards, including one 19-yard touchdown. On defense, sophomore safety Malik Clements led the Bearcats with nine tackles.

UC’s 11-game streak is the longest such run by either program. Miami last beat the Bearcats in 2005, but still leads the series, 59-55-7.

This week, Miami will play host to the Ohio University Bobcats in another rivalry game. The RedHawks kick off their Mid-American Conference season 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Yager Stadium.

FROM FOOTBALL »PAGE 8

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season, four more than the closest RedHawk pass catcher.

Defensively, Miami was paced by sophomore linebacker Junior McMullen with 14. Sophomore linebacker Brad Koenig chipped in as well with his first career interception.

The ‘Hawks defense, while keeping the high octane Bearcats offense mostly in check, had several miscues in the tackling aspect of the game.

“Most of the tackles on the perimeter we gotta take better angles.

A lot of those were poor angles on the football and they weren’t so

FROM ROBOT »PAGE 3

Add in a haunting, tension-filled score from Mac Quayle, and what you have is a one-of-a-kind, wellrounded show.

Echoing his character’s narration,

Malek opened his Emmy acceptance speech by saying, “Please tell me you’re seeing this too.”

We’re seeing it, Rami. And we’re loving it.

FROM BREATHE »PAGE 3

the house that sets the stage by revealing all of the house’s props, an idea borrowed from David Fincher’s home invasion thriller “Panic Room.”

Yet, the best and most terrifying scene in the movie is the 10-minute chase in complete darkness. Alvarez uses an infrared camera to show the young criminals stumbling around in a pitch black basement with their pupils dilated, looking completely hopeless.

“Don’t Breathe” has its faults, however. The performances are split. Rocky, the last of the criminals, is played excellently by Jane Levy, and Lang’s villain is a horrifying and

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realistic portrayal of a wicked blind man. However, the performances from Minnette and Zovatto feel very forced.

In fact, anything before and after the break-in feels forced. Rocky has an incredibly generic relationship with her little sister and her abusive, alcoholic mother. Money’s character is too corrupt to be hanging with the other two moral young adults. And the film’s ending does not make any sense as it tries to make a statement about how our world is so unjust.

Where “Don’t Breathe” really succeeds is in the blind man’s home where the tense, breath-holding scenes take place.

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from triggers »PAGE 1

feelings and their thoughts ahead of time,” Ward said. “It might actually facilitate in some instances a student’s’ ability to express themselves in the classroom.”

Glenn Hartong, visiting faculty of photojournalism, uses verbal trigger warnings on extremely graphic images because he said he views it as a courtesy to students who may have personal trauma.

“Sometimes you don’t know the history of a person. Somebody may have had a family member killed in an accident, some may have been killed in a fire,” Hartong said. “It may be disturbing for them because it triggers memories.”

Hartong said that of the hundreds of pictures he has shown in class, he has used a verbal warning for only a few pictures. He thinks trigger warnings should be used very sparingly and only when the material warrants it.

“It should be a very high bar for when you have a trigger warning,” Hartong said. “It should be something very graphic, showing death, disfigurement, burns.”

Despite whether an image has a trigger warning or not, difficult images should be viewed because it is the only way for students to truly

from lawsuit »PAGE 1

his concern to his superiors in Farmer and then to Miami’s Office of Equity and Equal Opportunity (OEEO) and was met, he said, with little response.

“The first thing that Miami should have done is say, ‘We recognize there is a gender issue.’

Whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter, because the women in the finance department, all of them, believe there’s an issue,” Herron said. “[The university should have said,] ‘We need to deal with this. We need to prove that we’re committed to diversity.’ And instead, what does Miami do? They deny it, they hide, they won’t give information, they won’t be transparent, and they hope that it goes away.

“That is not an ethical organization.”

Herron added that he expects Harman and Brunarski to refile

5

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

learn about the reality of our world, Hartong said.

Hartong has not had a student walk out of a classroom or opt out of viewing disturbing images because of a trigger warning, and some students were actually more interested in the content when Hartong warned them of an upcoming graphic image.

William Flint, associate professor of sociology, does not use trigger warnings because he said it gives students a chance to retreat from reality.

“It’s important that if you care about people that you help them understand they have to go out and make the world and face it and be responsible for it regardless of how uncomfortable it is,” Flint said.

Flint said students should face their fears and the trauma they may have dealt with, instead of turning away from it. He believes students can deal with trauma better if they learn to face it and that universities are responsible for exposing students to reality and a diverse range of ideas, even if those ideas are challenging.

“Public universities are supposed to be honest enough to leave everything open to discussion,” Flint said.

Other universities are opening up debate on trigger warnings. The dean of the University of Chicago sent a letter to incoming freshmen stating there would be no trigger warnings

or safe spaces on campus, sparking controversy over the role of trigger warnings in student learning.

Senior Amber Taylor uses trigger warnings on the writing she posts for her creative writing classes because she would not want to trigger an emotional reaction in one of her classmates.

Taylor said professors should use trigger warnings because if a student is triggered by class material, it actually inhibits learning.

When considering trigger warnings, she said it is important that students understand mental illness.

Taylor herself has had panic attacks and took off two semesters from school to deal with anxiety and depression.

She said when she had panic attacks and anxiety she couldn’t focus on school. Panic attacks and anxiety look different for everyone, and could range from not eating to being distracted.

Trigger warnings can prevent students from having extreme emotional reactions like panic attacks, Taylor said.

“Some people just can’t eat or just can’t focus, can’t pay attention to anything,” Taylor said. “And you don’t want your students to be that way because they won’t be able to learn anything.”

other claims at a later date, saying that the non-pay-related charges were dropped merely for procedural reasons. Herron also said that the university made an offer to settle, which Harman and Brunarski rejected.

In the meantime, Herron said, the culture of the finance department has remained the same, with the exception of Provost Phyllis Callahan appointing Rebecca Luzadis interim department chair.

“I have essentially taken myself out of the department interactions.

I really don’t want to have anything to do with it, because it is a toxic environment,” Herron said. “[Removing myself] is my way of keeping my blood pressure down. It’s selfpreservation. I do what my job says, I do my scholarship, my teaching, my service, but I do not engage with this department very much.”

Croskery said that his aim is simple.

“The main goal [of this lawsuit] is to eliminate the idea that an old boys’ network or old boys’ club should somehow prevent someone from advancement if they’re meritorious and worthy of advancement,” Croskery said. “The end goal is [that] it doesn’t make any difference if you’re a gentleman or a lady that your pay and your treatment at Miami University as a professor is exactly the same.”

And if he’s correct, Croskery said, the case could turn out to be a “seminal” one.

“I know that Miami University does give lip service to having such equal treatment and to having a general atmosphere where gender is not taken into account,” Croskery said. “But if the allegations of the complaint are true, then Miami University has failed in practice to carry out the lofty goals that are expressed in its policies.”

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FROM PIPELINE » PAGE 1

and stood around the performance stage. They looked to the sky, but the clouds did not scare them. Water would make their reason for being there all the more important. If they were concerned about the rain, they did not show it – instead they embraced, smiled, and kissed each other on the cheek.

By 4:30 p.m. the group had tripled to almost fifty and condensed around the speakers taking their place on the stage.

They were college students with posters reading “Water Is Life”.

They were community leaders wearing “Black Lives Matter” on their T-shirts. They were Muslim women in color hijabs that billowed in the breeze. They were Christians and atheists who believed water to be a sacred resource. They were Native Americans, one wearing a red-black-and-white feathered headdress. They were in overalls and dresses and tank tops and tennis shoes. They wore white shirts with green lettering saying, “Stop the Dakota access pipeline.”

Black Lives Matter Cincinnati and the American Indian Movement (KY and IN) organized a rally to raise awareness and support for those protesting at Standing Rock, the gathering place where thousands of Native Americans and protesters have set up camp in an effort to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Joining them in solidarity were the Cincinnati Palestine Coalition, Fossil Free UC, and an imam khatib representing his Muslim branch in the city.

“Mni Wiconi! Mni Wiconi! Mni Wiconi!” they all chanted. Water is life.

The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation straddles the border between North and South Dakota and borders the Missouri River. The pipeline would run under the Missouri River, which the native people fear is too close to their land and would ruin their drinking water if the pipe were to break.

If it were to break, resulting in another oil spill, “within five minutes the town of Cannon Ball will be a dead zone. Within 30 minutes, Standing Rock will have no clean water,” said Albert Ortiz, a member of the American Indian Movement Chapter of Indiana and Kentucky.

Ortiz had gone to Standing Rock earlier in September to deliver donated supplies and to support the protests. He was awed by what he saw and experiences – a picture with different colors and shades than what people see in the media.

Describing the gathering of people

as beautiful, peaceful, and spiritual, Ortiz said that he has never seen or experienced anything like this in his lifetime.

“To see everyone up there in peaceful spirits – I didn’t want to leave,” said Ortiz.

“These camps are not filled with criminals and violence,” said Jhari Nrei another member of the American Indian Movement with Ortiz.

No drugs, weapons, or alcohol are allowed on the site.

“The media and government would like to label the resistance as an occupation. Let me make myself clear. What the Europeans and the US government did to us and what they continue to do to us, that is the occupation… We are not the occupiers. We are the original people of this land,” said Nrei.

What began as a handful of young tribe members in April has grown to 4,000 people camping around the site in Standing Rock, including over 100 tribes. In over 150 years there has never been a gathering of this many tribes and people.

“It is not enough to be mad,” said Brian Taylor, organizer from Black Lives Matters who orchestrated the event. He and the other speakers encouraged the audience to spread the word about the protest at Standing Rock and offer donations if possible.

“The youth of Standing Rock started this protest. This is your time. You are the seventh generation,” said Guy Jones, a speaker and member of the Native American Movement who accompanied Ortiz to Standing Rock. “Be the revolution you are waiting for.”

But the protest was short-lived and quickly retitled as an informational meeting when two police officers arrived at the scene. It turned out that Washington Park is not the public park many believe it is: the group needed to obtain a permit through developer 3CDC to host an event at the park, so they were limited to one hour.

For Ortiz, the protesters at Standing Rock, and those in support at Washington Park, the fight still continues. While President Obama’s executive order delayed construction of the pipeline, the speakers and Ortiz know that the protests will continue into the winter and those at Standing Rock do not have the resources to make it through winter.

“We’ve been looking for the answers, but we haven’t been asking the right questions,” said Jones.

“It’s not a question of blackness or Indian-ness or whiteness. It’s a question about humanity.”

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6 OPINION

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Limited funding for Miami libraries shows flat is not the new up The following piece, written by the editorial editors, reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.

T

our season is in full swing right now, as throngs of Miami hopefuls march about the campus behind their omniscient tour guides each hour.

Here’s the romantic Upham Arch, here’s Slant Walk, there’s the everexpanding population of squirrels, oh, and here’s King Library — let’s have a look inside.

Being the truthful students Miami should be proud of, the tour guides enter King’s lobby and tell their groups about all it has to offer: an appreciated 24-hour service, a flourishing café in the basement, printing and scanning access, rentable MacBooks, iPhone and MacBook chargers, digital cameras and recording devices and, oh, books. Them, too.

The tour guides aren’t so wrong to overlook the library’s fundamental purpose. Not after the Dean of Miami Libraries Jerome Conley reported to the Board of Trustees Academic & Student Affairs Committee last Thursday that students checked out more computers and digital equipment than books. Libraries as a hold-

ing place for books might be an antiquated notion, something that should be amended, if not eradicated altogether, in this technological age. Miami’s administration seems to agree.

For the last six years, the budget for Miami’s libraries has remained stagnant and has not accounted for the inflated prices of scholarly journals.

To this, we say: cut costs elsewhere.

Whereas the budget for Miami’s libraries, $4.7 million, has remained the same since 2010, the cost of periodicals and academic journals has increased by about 6 percent per year over that same period.

Flat, Conley said in his presentation, is the new up.

Consequently, this has left the libraries with less and less finan-

For first years, Miami gives mixed experience LIFE

HANNAH MEIBERS GUEST COLUMNIST

One of the best parts of becoming a Redhawk is all the advertising you receive in the mail. From brochures to car stickers, it’s hard not to love Miami from the beginning.

As seniors in high school transition into freshmen in college, they’re enveloped with the excitement of freedom. They hear of all the diversity and fun experiences that college has to offer. However, Redhawks are in for a surprise, for Miami University is an incredibly unique campus.

Little-almost-freshman-Hannah was so eager. Not only did the fact that her older sister and boyfriend were already attending Miami excite her, she couldn’t wait to experience independence and everything college was all about. With freedom on her brain, Hannah dialed the HOME Office phone number, wondering when she’d be getting assigned her dorm room. The woman answered the phone with a chipper tune to her voice. However, that voice quickly became out of tune when she became annoyed with Hannah’s eager questions. Littlealmost-freshman-Hannah was not expecting such ambivalence. Why wasn’t everything rainbows and butterflies? Although this negative experience occurred before Hannah had even set foot on the campus, she still had hope for her future home.

Little-now-a-freshman-Hannah wandered through her residence hall, excited to meet kids from all different backgrounds and cultures. Unfortunately, Hannah found herself seeing the same faces. The girls’ pockets were longer than the actual shorts they were wearing. The boys’ outfits were all the same: Patagonia, Simply Southern, Vineyard Vines. The Caucasian skin that decorated the majority of the campus was oh-too-familiar for Hannah, someone who attended a predominately white elementary and high school. Hannah was now confused as to what “diversity” meant.

With her boyfriend by her side, Hannah felt extra comfortable on campus. Hand-in-hand, they headed Uptown for Hannah’s first weekend on Miami University’s campus. Uptown was so lively, just like Hannah. However, the aspects that came with the weekend were not what Hannah expected.

The police sirens.

The filings of sexual assault.

The drunk, wandering hands in

cial flexibility, or “book-buying” power.

In 2010, Miami Libraries spent close to $488,000 on book and book related purchases, while last year they only spent $210,000.

The “approval plan” budget for this year is zero.

It is understandable that the budget is tight when it comes to many aspects of the university’s

the bars.

The stench of alcohol on everyone’s breath.

The aggressive words and actions toward strangers.

Since when was this fun?

Of course this wasn’t fun. However, Miami University can’t control what occurs off campus.

Hannah had no idea that Miami University was a different kind of diverse and a different kind of fun.

Miami University defies the world’s view of college. From all corners of Miami’s campus, Miami bleeds international students. They bring such a unique and strong character to the campus.

Inside and outside the classroom, they play an important role in discussing different cultures and backgrounds. Miami also boils over

It’s exciting to see so many different kinds of people blend in one place: Miami.

with diverse personalities.

Hannah has yet to meet someone whose characteristics match another’s. It’s exciting to see so many different kinds of people blend in one place: Miami.

Hannah and her boyfriend are an interracial couple, her skin pastel cream and his dark chocolate. She never thought she would fear holding her boyfriend’s hand in public, but sometimes the world can be cruel.

However, the stares and grimaces vanished once the couple walked across Miami’s campus.

No one seemed to notice the difference between their skin, and if they did, they actually applauded the bravery. Hannah felt more confident than ever before walking hand-in-hand with her boyfriend.

Miami University is not like any other college out there. One of the best parts of becoming a Redhawk, is all the advertising you receive in the mail. From brochures to car stickers, it’s hard not to love Miami from the beginning. As seniors in high school transitioned into freshmen in college, they were enveloped with the excitement of freedom. They encounter all the unique diversities and fun experiences that Miami has offered since 1809.

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costs. Further, it is impossible to control certain factors such as inflation, and this factor has certainly been a main component of the current predicament. However, the fact remains that education is the primary purpose of the institution of this university (despite what some athletic department budgets will have you understand).

Books are still a central component to this purpose, even in the digital age. Therefore, a greater effort must be made to retain the same level of purchasing power for physical books that we have had in the past.

Not every student may see the benefit to keeping books around, but for those in humanities fields, it is a necessity. History, art, English and other likewise majors all require a large resource pool of literature, text and databases at their disposal, a pool that cannot be displaced by the web.

In a world that is increasingly reliant on the Internet, higher education should be one of the havens for books to continue to have a use and a home. That is simply why we have colleges and libraries in the first place.

President Hodge made sure that the “Miami Experience” was emphasized in order to attract students. To keep those students and to provide them with the education and resources that Miami is so well-known for, we hope that in this new year and under new lead-

ership, Miami will start to emphasize the undergraduate education again. Library funding (or lack thereof) is a direct reflection of what the university values as most important to its students. We did not apply to Miami because we heard it had a nice student center.

We applied here because we want a valuable education and a legitimate degree to help us get a job.

David Creamer, the vice president of finance at Miami, says that he thinks Miami Provost Phyllis Callahan will “probably make some improvement” in the library budget. He cites concerns over large cost increases in the future as his and the Board’s only stopping point.

To this, we say: cut costs elsewhere. A probable improvement is not good enough. Miami University’s administration should allocate additional funds to its libraries.

Students need the resources libraries provide as much as libraries need the money that will help them thrive. For the libraries, flat, we at The Miami Student all agree, is not the new up.

Down ballot boost: How Republicans in key senate races are saving Trump & the GOP POLITICS

ANTHONY MASSA GUEST COLUMNIST

As presidential polls continue to shift week after week, the race for the White House is clearly too close to call. The lead switches almost daily depending on which polls are looked at, making it impossible to put either Clinton or Trump at an advantage.

Yet, while no clear frontrunner has emerged in the race, more and more polls have shown that Trump has gained a significant amount of support in key battleground states.

This follows his near self-destruction episode in early August, when the Real Clear Politics average of polls had him down nearly eight points nationally.

Although Trump has certainly cleaned up his act since bringing on pollster Kellyanne Conway to run his campaign in mid-August, neither he nor his campaign should receive the entirety of credit for his significant gains, even leads, in key battleground states, including Ohio, Florida, Norsth Carolina, and Iowa.

A significant amount of credit needs to go to a group of individuals who were thought at one point to be dead in the water, striking the misfortune of running on the same ticket as the most unlikable candidate ever to seek the presidency, being pulled down by the wave of Republican resentment brought about by a Trump nomination.

These individuals are the ten or so Republican senators facing tightly contested reelection races in key states that will determine which party holds the majority of the Senate for at least the first two years of the next presidential administration. The leaning of the Senate will play an extremely large role in determining how effective Washington will be in achieving its goals, no matter who is in the White House come January.

And for much of the summer, Republicans seemed sure to be down and out, with hopes of keep-

ing their four seat Senate majority looking slimmer every time Trump opened his mouth.

Since early August, however, most of these Republicans have made the decision to campaign away from their nominee and focus on building their own successful campaigns, reaching out to voters one by one and earning the trust of their constituents while the candidates above them on the

presidential election years, the senatorial success has led many to reconsider voting Republican in November, as they have been inspired by the individual messages of optimism that these campaigns are spreading across their states.

Rob Portman, Marco Rubio, Kelly Ayotte, Mark Kirk, John McCain and others have become the heroes of the Republican party in 2016, refusing to let the unpopularity of

These senators are not giving up hope on the Republican Party while others have. That is why they are convincing so many voters not to give up on the party, either.

ballot seemed to be giving Americans reason to trust them less. And for most, the results have been nothing but successful. In Ohio, incumbent Senator Rob Portman, who was once believed to be vulnerable in his race against former Gov. Ted Strickland, is now up over 13 points,according to RCP averages.

In Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio’s entrance into the senate race has quieted Democratic hopes of gaining a seat in that state, with Rubio leading comfortably in recent polling. In Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, incumbents Pat Toomey and Kelly Ayotte, respectively, seemed to be sure to lose as recently as late August. Yet polling within recent weeks has put them ahead of their respective opponents, however narrowly, but with momentum on their side.

Even Illinois Senator Mark Kirk, who is considered by many experts to be the most vulnerable of the Republican incumbents, has seen significant race tightening since distancing himself from Trump.

While these candidates have distanced themselves from their nominee, not appearing onstage with him at rallies or campaigning together as is traditional in

their nominee dictate their chances of winning elections. By giving many voters an opportunity to see a Republican Party very different from the one portrayed by the national media, these senators have in turn helped the candidate that they have campaigned away from, as Trump has started to take leads in many of their respective states.

These senators are not giving up hope on the Republican Party while others have. That is why they are convincing so many voters not to give up on the party, either.

In an election when voters are more dissatisfied than ever, they are finding satisfaction in their candidates for Senate, and are energized to wake up on Nov. 8 and go to the polls, when they may have otherwise stayed home seeing no good option on the top of the ticket.

Trump needs to be grateful for these senators and their campaigns, because without the energy and optimism they are providing the GOP, he will not receive the voter turnout in the battlegrounds that he needs to claim victory on November 8.

MASSAAM2@MIAMIOH.EDU

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EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Looking back: Former president reminisces “the good old times” SATIRE

JOEY HART ASSISTANT EDITORIAL EDITOR Former Miami President David Hodge was spotted on campus Sunday in a letterman jacket, walking around the school and reminiscing on what he referred to as “the glory days.”

“These were the good old times,” Hodge said, tossing a football in the air and catching it as it came down.

“These were the best days of my life.”

Hodge, who retired from the position of president last spring, was replaced by now-President Gregory Crawford. His tenure as President began in the summer of 2006, and he is officially listed as the 21st President of Miami University.

“Back in the day, I could sign 10 commendations in one hour,” he said, speaking passionately. “I could go to 15 public fundraisers in one day.”

As part of his homecoming, Hodge walked from Armstrong Student Center to South Quad, then all the way back toward North Quad and the baseball field. He stopped to look at some of the fraternity houses houses on the way.

“We were all just boys back then,” he said, laughing, looking down at

his feet and shaking his head.

Later, Hodge tried talking to a few campus administrators who walked by him, regaling tales of his time at Miami, rattling off statistics of his tenure and repeatedly mentioning how close he was to “going pro.”

“How much you do want to bet I can throw a pigskin over them dorms?” he asked them.

They just smiled.

Hodge said that now he is working in his uncle’s garage on the edge of town, helping to move equipment and tools while also learning a few technical skills. His apartment, he explained, is adorned with clippings of newspaper articles about him and other university paraphernalia.

“I make decent money, and it’s enough to pay the bills,” he said, “but I would give anything to relive just one day as Miami’s President.”

Sources said that Hodge was spotted in Wilks Theater at the end of the day, speaking at the podium to an empty room.

“God bless America,” he shouted into the microphone, pumping his fists into the air and making fake crowd noises to himself. “And God bless Miami University!”

HARTJT@MIAMIOH.EDU

The millenial mindset: Marriage might be outdated LIFE

MADDIE LAPLANTE-DUBE EDITORIAL EDITOR “Do it while you’re young.”

Contrived advice, yes, but I hear it at every family gathering, during every grand soliloquy from my parents, from every professor and mentor. Do it while you’re young, travel, have fun, go crazy, they say, because once you settle it gets hard.

You don’t get to do all of the things you want to do when you get married and have a family.

Naturally, growing up with this information meant that I believed marriage and personal goals to be mutually exclusive. I always said that I wanted to accomplish all of my goals before I ever considered getting married. Back in the day, women my age would be stressing about finding a lifelong partner. I’m stressed about it too. I’m stressed about having a partner who is actually lifelong.

I’m not the only millennial (which is such a loaded label at this point) who feels this way. Statistics aside, there are 7.1 billion people in the world and counting. There is no way that picking one of them and sticking with them for the rest of your life is the only right way to do things. In fact, with divorce rate skyrocketing not just in the U.S. but all over the world, millennials questioning whether or not marriage is the right path has more than enough validity.

Here it is: marriage is stupid, and I’ll tell you why.

Traditionally up until the mid1800s, marriage was a business transaction or a way to continue bloodlines. The Church was the first to monopolize and monogamize marriage in the name of God, so polygamy was struck from the ballot right away in the early fifth and sixth centuries, at least for those under Catholic rule. But only in the Enlightenment, during which the pursuit of happiness was pioneered, did the idea of a union based on love become more accepted.

Until then, love was either a product of a marriage or thought of as incompatible with marriage (in the 12th and 13th centuries in Europe, extramarital affairs were considered normal and necessary in the aristocracy, with the higher ups thinking that an affair was the highest form of romance). The Industrial Revolution helped men afford a wedding, which allowed them to marry a woman regardless of whether or not their families

OPINION 7

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

approved. Women’s rights movements in the 20th century brought marriage to a mostly equal ground.

So love has only just become synonymous with marriage. Not only that, but marriage has evolved with movements. It’s entirely reliant on present social constructs and radicalisms/de-radicalisms. Families haven’t always been based on “when a mommy and daddy love each other very much.” They were more based on “when a mommy and daddy need workers in a field” or “when a mommy cheats on a daddy because that is what’s socially acceptable.”

But we all know marriage is a social construct. The thing we are not explicitly told is that marriage is only one option for a full life. Because as it turns out, millennials are the ones ruining the sanctity of marriage (sorry, conservative homophobes). We have the lowest marriage rate in history, at just 70 percent according to a study done

by Bentley University. Not only that, but according to a Pew Research study, about 25 percent of millennials are likely to never be married. For those that do, the median marriage age has gone up to almost 30 years old for both sexes.

There are multiple levels to this issue. Does millennials’ blatant rejection of marriage trivialize the fight that the LGBTQ+ community has been waging with governments worldwide? Is millennial disapproval of monogamy or their unwillingness to commit further prove how internet-trashy we are?

Or are the overall marriage rates dropping because of something else, something bigger? A Gallup survey shows that young single people are still into getting married, but the growing gap between classes makes marriage an economic institution that is simply impossible to obtain. Besides the tax cuts, what’s the point?

I’m not a cynic. I think falling in love and staying in love is beautiful and not outside the realm of possibility. But millennials, including myself, are starting to think of marriage in a different way. And as with all institutions, this one is subject to change.

Who knows, maybe the marriage rate in the future will go all the way down to zero and society will be a free-for-all once more.

LAPLANMM@MIAMIOH.EDU

I wrote this essay by hand EDUCATION

KYLE HAYDEN COLUMNIST

When was the last time you did just one thing for a half-hour that wasn’t sex? How about for a full hour? I bet you didn’t read or write for an hour without looking up, or looking at a screen or responding to a message.

It all seems to be speeding up.

Students do more things in less time, faster still. So, too, education becomes an accelerated process.

The speed of higher education today discounts and destroys experiences of contemplation, carefulness and quality.

We are not between a rock and hard place: today we are between two screens closing in on us from both sides. Like one of those adventure films where the wall has spikes and is closing in on the unfortunate characters in the center.

Today, I gather it would be impossible to handwrite all essays, assignments, research papers and homework.

Neither do our professors have time to read and respond to each paper individually, something I discussed at length in a previous column.

“Instructors,” as they are called, can’t take the time to read handwritten assignments because the speed of the institution is such that it makes it impossible.

It seems as though the speed at which we operate today are layers of assumption around technology and access and rarely do we question their effects on our thinking.

The scariest part is that students and professors think it’s great.

No one stops to ask if the technics in the classroom are having an adverse effect on learning or if the speed of instruction is making the assignments feel more or less like ghosts passing through us rather than bits of useful material that stick.

Lectures change from the spoken word to the downright sadness of reading directly from a PowerPoint presentation.

I had an instructor two years ago who purchased all the “slides” for the class from Pearson Educational and the format of lecture was to read us every bit of each slide. This course should have been compelling and interesting, but instead I was doodling, trying to burn the

In an age of hyper-acellerated learning, handwriting can feel impossible. minutes off and get the hell out of there.

Last year in September, Guardian columnist Andrew Smith wrote a piece titled “How PowerPoint is killing critical thought.”

In it, Smith wrote about a college philosophy professor, Thomas Baldwin, who never had ‘slides’ or screen lectures. But Baldwin would “Pace slowly around the room, lecturing. On occasion he would stop altogether, appearing lost, a moment in which all the world’s logic seemed at stake, before somehow refinding his path to another thrilling proposition.”

Students would watch with rapt attention to the professor’s movements and listen to his words: forming in their minds an imaginative understanding of the material.

There lies a crucial difference between screen culture and literary exposition.

Students must understand the difference.

Literary culture relies on rhetoric and exposition. This allows a reader or a listener time to pause, think or develop responses to the material.

Image culture is different in that a PowerPoint presentation for instance dulls the range of thought by presenting us with bulleted summaries of information and does not provoke the imagination, leading students down a path of rote memorization and sound bites instead of complex thought.

This was detailed much better than I’ve said it here in Neil

Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” a book which desperately needs to return to MAC 143 (if it ever was part of the curriculum).

Students go out of their minds if there isn’t a digital trail documenting everything that was said in class.

“Is this going to be in a PowerPoint online?” They ask with desperation, having been shopping online for the last 50 minutes.

Their only hope of learning for passing the class is not through sincerely learning, but loading up on caffeine for seven days straight before finals week and staring at the presentations for 10 hours a day.

School is not a pile of flashcards or a computer application that makes your screen look like a notebook that you take notes in. It is not a series of videos on Canvas you must “learn on your own” (I’m looking at you, STA 261).

It is thought.

This speed fragments learning, reducing experience to events flying past on a computer screen.

It’s almost useless to critique the speed of digital learning when everyone seems to be headed in the same direction.

It’s utterly crushing how these questions are reduced merely to concerns. No longer is it even taken seriously when the current state of affairs is treated as the inevitable, the logical conclusion, the preferred end.

HAYDENKA@MIAMIOH.EDU

A.J. NEWBERRY NEWBERAJ@MIAMIOH.EDU

The art department is hiring.

miamistudent.net online!

contact design editor haydenka@miamioh.edu

The art department is hiring.

contact design editor haydenka@miamioh.edu

interested in design or illustration?

interested in design or illustration?

8 SPORTS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

SPORTS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Victory Bell drought extended to 11 years Miami football falls to rival Cincinnati, 27-20 FOOTBALL

COBURN GILLIES

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

The Victory Bell will ring in Cincinnati for the 11th straight year, as the Miami University football team dropped its fourth consecutive game to start off the season. The RedHawks fell 27-20 on the road against the University of Cincinnati (3-1) in the 121st meeting between the programs.

Once again this season, Miami kept it close, holding the lead entering the fourth quarter. Yet, UC was able to storm back with 10 fourthquarter points, courtesy of a field goal by senior Josh Pasley and a two-yard rush by senior running back Tion Green, to seal the victory.

Despite coming up short Saturday at Nippert Stadium, Miami head coach Chuck Martin believes that the scoreline proves that the ‘Hawks can hang around against a nationally competitive team like the Bearcats.

“I really felt like physically we could go toe-to-toe with Cincinnati.

Not just at a couple of positions but across the board. I know they’re really, really gifted athletically,” Mar-

ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT

Redshirt junior wide receiver Jared Murphy (88) carries the ball against Eastern Illinois. Murphy had one reception, a 58-yard touchdown, against Cincinnati. tin said.

Miami’s defense carried the load for much of the game, forcing three turnovers and keeping the score close despite UC’s major advantage in time of possession.

The disparity in time of possession between the two programs

influenced the flow of the game, as the Bearcats had the ball 13 minutes longer than Miami, 36:29 to 23:21.

Additionally, UC doubled Miami’s first down output of 14 with 28 first downs of its own.

“I’m proud of a lot of our guys.

They stepped up. We had a bunch of

Cross country faces in-state competition CROSS COUNTRY

PATRICK KECK

THE MIAMI STUDENT

After a week away from competition, the Miami University men and women’s cross country teams look forward to their next contest Friday. This meet will feature universities residing within Ohio’s borders, meaning the meet is critical not only for in-state bragging rights, but for recruiting as well.

Many elite Ohio high school runners will stay in-state to continue their education and running careers, so this race attracts their attention to Ohio’s best collegiate programs.

However, cross country director Tom Chorny does not believe that Ohio State University, the University of Akron or the University of Cincinnati will be in attendance.

“This race will show how Miami stacks up with the smaller schools, so it should be good exposure for us,” Chorny said.

Last year, the men finished third out of 46 teams. OSU dominated with a winning score of 39 points, placing four runners in the top 10.

Akron would finish second with 75 points, due to a tiny 12-second gap between their first and fifth runners.

Without these teams, the ‘Hawks would seem likely to have less trouble bringing home some more hardware than last year, but MU has big shoes to fill.

Two of Miami’s top male runners last season, Joe Stewart and Zack McBride, graduated last spring.

Stewart was last year’s race winner in 24 minutes and 18 seconds, while

McBride finished seventh.

Although the ‘Hawks put two runners in the top ten, the large gap of one minute and 12 seconds between their first and fifth runners denied them the victory. Yet, so far this season, the men have appeared to work more as a team in their races.

“This year it is definitely going to be a lot closer between our teammates. We have a good group of seniors and freshmen and you’re going to see a great result this week,” senior and top returner Andrew Dusing said.

That group of freshmen was ranked in FloSports’ 2016 NCAA Recruiting Class Rankings as the sixth best class in the nation.

“As much talent as they have, they have a lot of room to improve” Chorny said, “Many of them put in good work over the summer, and it shows as they are handling the volume of work well.”

Tiffin University’s junior James Ngandu and Ohio University’s senior Mike McKean look to be front runners this season. Ngandu competes for the Kenyan National Team and is arguably the best Division II runner in the country.

Last year, the Miami women duked it out with rival Ohio University, ultimately losing by only seven points to place second out of 47 teams.

Similar to the men, the women lost their two front runners from last year, Laura Bess and Brenna Poulsen, to graduation. In last year’s all-Ohio meet, Bess finished third overall while Poulsen took seventh.

While the RedHawks must step

up to replace last year’s standouts, junior Maria Scavuzzo is excited by the youth of her team.

“It’s awesome that our team is so young. A young team is one that has a lot of room for improvement, and we all try to help each other out in practices and races,” Scavuzzo said.

The All-Ohio Championships are a big step in achieving Miami’s season objectives, but the MidAmerican Conference Championship in late October remains the RedHawks’ focus.

“We are still progressing to the MAC Championships, where our races are more like workouts and are taken into our grand scheme of the training plan,” Chorny said.

The All-Ohio Championships begin in Cedarville 2 p.m. Saturday with the Women’s Championship 6K race, followed by the Men’s Championship 8K race at 2:45 p.m.

guys leave the game again. We were down to 3’s at some positions. We had some kids who started the year on scout team and they were forced into duty,” Martin said.

Sophomore starting quarterback Billy Bahl continued his recent success, completing 13 of 24 passes for

248 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

One of Bahl’s six-point connections was to sophomore wide receiver James Gardner. This was Gardner’s fifth touchdown of the FOOTBALL »PAGE 4

BRIEFS VOLLEYBALL PICKS UP NINTH STRAIGHT WIN AT W. MICHIGAN The Miami University volleyball team stretched its winning streak to nine consecutive matches with a dominant 3-0 (25-21, 25-12, 25-16) victory over host and MAC opponent Western Michigan on Sunday afternoon. This was the RedHawks’ fifth straight 3-0 victory, as they have dropped only three sets in the past eight matches.

With the win, MU improves to 10-4 overall and 2-0 in conference, while WMU falls to 5-10 and 0-2.

The RedHawks finished with only 10 attack errors for a hitting percentage of .308, while the Broncos were held to an attacking percentage of .141.

Junior libero Maeve McDonald led Miami’s defense with 16 digs, while sophomore outside hitter Stela Kukoc led the offensive charge with 10 kills. Junior outside hitter Katie Tomasic and senior outside hitter Maris Below each had nine kills, while junior outside hitter Olivia Rusek finished with eight. Senior middle hitter Paige Hill anchored the RedHawks’ defensive front with four blocks. Senior setter Krista Brakauskas facilitated the Miami offense, finishing with 21 assists.

The Red and White return to action at home 7 p.m. Thursday against archrival Ohio University. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

SIDELINE MLB INDIANS

7

TIGERS

4

REDS

15

CARDINALS

2

Headlines beyond Oxford:

September 25, 2016 was a tragic day in the sports world, as both golf legend Arnold Palmer and all-star Miami Marlins’ pitcher Jose Fernandez passed away.

Palmer’s 62 PGA Tour victories ranks fifth all-time, and “The King” almost singlehandedly popularized golf through his humble background and plain-spoken manner.

Palmer was a seven-time major champion and two-time player of the year.

Fernandez, 24, was an incredibly popular personality in Miami and one of baseball’s brightest stars. Fernandez, who appeared in his second All Star game this season, successfully defected from Cuba in 2008 as a 15-year-old prodigy after his fourth attempt. Fernandez, who was an expecting father, saved his mother from drowning

during their treacherous escape. Fernandez had a 95 mph fastball, a wicked slider and a 38-17 record with a 2.58 E.R.A. through four seasons.

ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT

Junior middle hitter Meredith Stutz elevates and strikes in search of a kill. Stutz has 75 kills and 11 blocks through 14 games this season.

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