ESTABLISHED 1826 – OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
The Miami Student TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2015 WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET
VOLUME 144 NO. 8
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
Oxford in the a.m.: What goes down as the sun comes up Visit us online to see the full photo story associated with this story. miamistudent.net UPTOWN
JAMES STEINBAUER OPINION EDITOR
In Oxford, the break of day is trumpeted not by a rooster’s crow, but by the roar of a half dozen Rumpke garbage and recycling trucks rumbling down the red bricks, washing away the evidence of what was yet another night of citywide partying. It’s 6 a.m. on a Friday and at no other time does Oxford sound and smell more like a crowded metropolitan area than it does now. The stench of garbage — a mixture of stale beer, stinking Skyline chili and bodily fluids — permeates the air surrounding Oxford’s now quiet bars and restaurants. Running amid the scurry of garbage trucks, a seemingly endless conveyor belt of workers transport foodstuffs from semi trucks parked up and down High Street. If a finance professor wanted to demonstrate input/output economics at work, then Oxford in the a.m. would be a good place to start. Less than four hours after last call, the bars and restaurants are in an arms race, stockpiling food and alcohol for the night ahead. a 7:30 a.m., Ohio Eagle Distribution employee Jeff Rice has transported nearly two-dozen trolley loads of beer into Brick Street and still hasn’t touched the kegs. “This is my biggest stop,” Rice says, his eyes widening in near-admiration. “By the time I leave, the fridge is full from floor to ceiling. [Kegs] are stacked three high!” On any given week, Rice will transport 175 to 225 cases and more than 65 kegs of beer. And that’s only counting Anheuser-Busch brand. Among the bustle of garbage trucks and food distributors, several silent runaways flee the scene. Whether shame is behind it or not, some of the earliest risers are girls stealing away from their boyfriends, hook-ups or onenight-stands. Against the backdrop of a brightening horizon, the fleeting silhouettes of their stilettos and tousled hair move away from apartment buildings toward dorm rooms and houses. At 8 a.m., the sun now in the sky, some opt for a more covert means of transportation. “I’ve been doing this for a year and a half now, and it’s the same every morning,” says James Brooks, Oxford Taxi driver. “I get about eight or 10 girls who stay out late and need to get home and take a shower before classes start. Of course they all claim they were staying with their brother or girlfriends.” At 8:30 a.m., the stench is gone, carried away by garbage trucks and the wind, but the debris and shrapnel
left from Thursday night’s assault on the bars is still present. Oxford municipal workers are walking up and down the sidewalks sweeping cigarette butts, uneaten bagels and used cups and napkins into waste bags. Gail Paveza, the manager at Follett’s Bookstore, is sweeping the storefront herself. “You have to keep your business good-looking and welcoming for customers,” she says. Paveza said that the dirtiest day used to be Friday and weekend mornings, but with the advent of ’90s and country night at Brick Street, Wednesday and Thursday mornings are just as bad. “A lot of [wristbands] this morning,” she says. “I guess there just aren’t enough trash cans. But I’ll even see [wristbands] on the ground next to trash cans. Maybe they just aren’t big enough.” At around 9 a.m., a rusting, navy blue pickup truck delivers the first bass blare, marking the transition from a small town morning to a college town day. The students are coming. Among Oxford’s coffee shops, Oxford Taxi driver James Brooks (lower left) and Starbucks “Coffee Master” Dale Plank (middle right).
Less than four hours after last call, the bars and restaurants are in an arms race, stockpiling food and alcohol for the night ahead.
Counseling services sees spike in visits Studies show college students more anxious, depressed
Four weeks into the semester, Miami University Student Counseling Services (SCS) has received a record-breaking number of students, with 13 percent more students receiving counseling this year than last year. That is up from 9.3 percent in 2013, and aligns with an annual increase in the national percentage of college students using counseling services for anxiety or depression, according to Director of SCS Kip Alishio. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, more than 1 percent of college students were diagnosed or treated for anxiety within the past year, and more than 10 percent reported being diagnosed or treated for depression. These numbers have been increasing each year for the past decade. Since 2007, Miami has participated in a national study called The Healthy Mind Survey. Since then, students who reported they were doing well psychologically and emotionally have decreased from 62 percent to 47 percent. The percentage of the student
body who have screened positive for depression has gone from 18 percent to 20 percent in the past decade. Those who have scored positive for anxiety problems reported increasing 10 percent to 20 percent. In tandem with the growing trends, students are on a wait list to use counseling services at Miami, Alishio said. The number of new patients to seek treatment has increased by 63 percent this year. “There is no unified research that proves why students are feeling this way more frequently,” Alishio said. “Some research supports that it is because this generation of students were raised by helicopter parenting.” Alishio described helicopter parenting as parents who have done everything for their kids, over-protected them and didn’t allow them to work through frustration, loss and disappointment on their own. “They never developed their internal rough skin,” he said. As more students begin to feel anxious and depressed, they seek help at the counseling services. Many have mixed feelings about their experience. Sophomore Olivia Williams visited the counseling services during the spring semester.
“I went to the individual counseling and I didn’t feel like it really helped,” she said. Williams said she would recommend students to go for depression, but not for anxiety. “I think the only issue was that it was done by grad students not by doctors,” Williams said. “I do think they have useful things, like their workshops and stuff.” The graduate students who work at the counseling services are intraining to become psychologists, Alishio said. All of the clinical services are provided by licensed therapists or by staff who are supervised by licensed therapists. Other students feel the counseling services benefitted them, and said would go again if they ever felt the pressures of anxiety and depression. Sophomore Hailey Barr said she recommends the services to anyone, even if they aren’t sure what they are feeling or whether they should seek counseling. “My experience was great,” Barr said. “I had a counselor who helped me through a lot. I had a lot to deal with but she made it so much easier.”
CULTURE p. 4
OPINION p. 6
SPORTS p. 10
MENTAL HEALTH
EMILY O’CONNOR SENIOR STAFF WRITER
the arms preparation ended long ago — the local coffee clutches began before the delivery trucks even left the breweries. “From about 5:30 to 6, it’s just a handful of regulars, but by 10, it’s out the door with students,” says Dale Plank, Starbucks’ “Coffee Master.” Plank, a retired Talawanda teacher, was always among the first Starbucks customers in the morning. He has since been the first face many Miami University students see every morning. Across the street at Kofenya, university retirees Chuck Schuler, Charlie Watson and Mike McVey are having their morning coffee with a side of peace and quiet and crossword puzzles in pen. “We’ve only been having coffee together for about 30 years,” Schuler says. “We wouldn’t come up here in the afternoon,” Watson added. “There are people who are better in the afternoon and better in the morning. Us … well, we don’t see any use in wasting good daylight.”
CONNOR MORIARTY PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
COUNSELING »PAGE 9
NEWS p. 2
NEWS p. 3
OXFORD HOME TO 12 NATIONAL HISTORIC SITES
OXFORD PARENTS RAISE KIDS IN A COLLEGE TOWN
TRAVEL: STUDENT FINDS CLARITY IN IRELAND
MENTAL HEALTH STIGMAS NEED IMPROVEMENT
REDHAWKS THROW GAME AGAINST BEARCATS
From McGuffey Museum to Langstroth Cottage, Oxford boasts a dozen historic sites
Oxford residents reflect on benefits of raising a family in a town surrounded by students
Columnist reflects on study abroad, visit to Cliffs of Moher last semester
Editorial board calls for an attitude change regarding mental health on campus
After a close game Saturday, Cincinnati Bearcats come out on top with 37-33 win
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY
In 1970, The Miami Student reported that Oxford’s eight-man police force was threatened by increasing crime rates, inflation and legislative changes. The department was understaffed, underpaid, overworked and misunderstood, according to then-Police Chief Joseph Statum, who had been requesting better equipment and higher wages for over two years.