ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2016
Volume 144 №48
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
Friends memorialize Tim Fresch
Senate supports new Preferred Name Policy
Death calls attention to college party culture
International, LGBTQ+ students to benefit
DEATH
POLICY
SOPHIE WHORF
AUDREY DAVIS NEWS EDITOR
THE MIAMI STUDENT
Tim Fresch, a junior at Miami University, was known for his larger than life personality. His friends described him as being the life of the party. He was never a complainer. He was the one who tried to cheer everyone up and tell them that things weren’t actually that bad. He brightened everyone’s mood. That’s why so many people were shocked to hear he had passed out on the afternoon of April 9 and died four days later after being taken off life support at Bethesda North Hospital in Cincinnati. Vince DiMichele attended The Hotchkiss School, a boarding school in Connecticut, with Fresch and the two became close friends, despite the fact that DiMichele was a year older. “With Tim, it was just late nights hanging out in the dorm and playing Xbox and almost getting in trouble for staying up too late and things like that are what really stand out,” said DiMi-
Kappa Tau members. The complaint alleged that new members were involved in workouts, provided servitude to active members and were held against their will. Nigro declined to comment on Phi Kappa Tau’s suspension. Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity is suspended until Jan. 1, 2020. Records show that on March 8, a witness testified that a classmate said he could not attend a study group
Many students at Miami prefer not to be addressed by their legal first name. While Miami does grant students the opportunity to use their preferred name in certain university files, the process is informal, incomplete and unknown to many. Starting in August 2017, however, Miami students who go by a preferred name will be able to ensure that these names are used within almost all university settings. This is the result of the “Preferred Name Project,” a proposal that has been long underway and was met with support from University Senate yesterday. This new policy guarantees that students’ preferred name will be used by the university whenever feasible, including on Miami ID cards, class rosters, course scheduling and study abroad registration. However, not all documentation used by the university will revert to a
suspensions » PAGE 3
name » PAGE 8
FRESCH » PAGE 3
A.J. NEWBERRY THE MIAMI STUDENT
THREE FRATERNITIES SUSPENDED HAZING ALLEGATIONS LEAD TO INVESTIGATIONS OF FIVE MORE GREEK
JAMES STEINBAUER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
A new spate of hazing allegations against Miami University fraternities has exposed accusations of paddling, forced drinking and servitude and has led to the suspension of three fraternities and investigations into five more. A Miami Student records
request last week revealed that since Feb. 25, fraternities Alpha Delta Phi, Delta Sigma Phi, Delta Tau Delta, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Delta Theta, and Sigma Pi have all been investigated or are currently under investigation for hazing, among other allegations. Three fraternities, including Phi Kappa Tau, Pi Kappa Alpha and Pi Kappa Phi, have been suspended after investi-
gations found they violated the Miami Code of Student Conduct for hazing, bringing the list of unrecognized Greek organizations to 10. Phi Kappa Tau fraternity is suspended from Miami University until May 15, 2020. On March 3, Kelly Ramsey, associate director of Miami’s Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution (OESCR), notified Robert Nigro, president of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, of an anonymous complaint that included screenshots of a GroupMe exchange between new Phi
Graduate students petition loss of partial healthcare subsidy
MU Fashion rebrands at annual show EVENT
HEALTHCARE
MACKENZIE ROSSERO
MEGAN ZAHNEIS
Miami University Fashion and Design hosted their 10th Annual Fashion Show on Saturday, April 16 in Millett Hall. This event marked their official transition from the Miami University Club of Fashion and Design to Miami University Fashion and Design. The change, symbolized in the show’s opening video featuring the destruction of the “C” in their former title, defines MUFD as more than a club. In fall 2014, Miami introduced the fashion design minor, created through a collaboration of the art and business programs offered at Miami. A fashion co-major will be launched this fall. As a result, MUFD now encompasses the fashion
A group of graduate students are protesting the recent revoking of a healthcare subsidy from the university. Since purchasing health insurance became a requirement for graduate students not covered by their parents’ plan, the provost and graduate school dean have provided each student enrolling in Miami’s healthcare plan with a small subsidy to help offset the cost. But in June, all graduate students were notified that effective for the 2015-16 school year, the university could no longer offer the subsidy, which usually amounted to about 25 percent of the total cost of health insurance, or roughly $335. The funds came from a pool and were split among all graduate stu-
NEWS EDITOR
THE MIAMI STUDENT
CONNOR MORIARTY THE MIAMI STUDENT
Gwen Chan models a colorful gown in Miami University’s annual fashion show. academic tracks in addition to the fashion and design club. As a result, the former name, MUCFD, is no longer appropriate. The fashion show, Est. 2006, featured 20 student designers and 64 student
models. As the 10th anniversary of the MUFD annual fashion show, plenty of anticipation surrounded this year’s production. fashion » PAGE 3
dents enrolled in university healthcare plans. The news came as an unwelcome surprise to graduate students who often depend on the subsidy to make ends meet. “There was no discussion whatsoever, with any graduate students, that this change could even be coming,” said Kelly McHugh, a graduate student of geology and president-elect of Miami’s Graduate Student Association for the 2016-17 academic year. “We were really kind of blindsided by it. “The money that had belonged to us went somewhere else and dried up.” For McHugh, the first step in protesting the cut was to band together, so along with GSA vice presidents-elect Michelle Veite, a graduate student of chemistry and Wladyslaw Betkowski, a graduate student of geology,
and Elise Conte and Alex Kugler, who also study geology, she established an ad hoc GSA committee to explore the issue. “Part of our constitution is to be a voice and advocate for graduate students,” McHugh explained. “I think graduate students are pretty siloed in our department[s] and doing our own thing and not talking to each other very much.” The first act of the committee was to circulate a survey to graduate students to find out what the $335 meant to them. The survey garnered 146 responses, about half of which came from graduate students insured through Miami. Carly Plank, a graduate student of English, wrote in the survey comments that the new policy will affect her next year, when she is no lonhealth » PAGE 3
NEWS p. 2
NEWS p. 2
CULTURE p. 4
OPINION p. 6
SPORTS p. 10
HAVIGHURST CENTER TALKS RUSSIA, UKRAINE
MIAMI STUDENTS OVERUSE UBER SERVICE
SUMMER CLASS TEACHES POKEMON GLOBALIZATION
EDITORIAL BOARD ON GAY BLOOD DONATION BAN
REDHAWKS WIN BIG AT BALL STATE CHALLENGE
Colloquia series focuses on Russian, Ukranian religion and identity
Students unable to find available Uber drivers around Oxford campus
Course offers students chance to connect with Japanese culture, globalization
The Student editors weigh in on discriminatory blood donation restrictions
Miami wins 14 track and field events inlcuding 100 meter dash and women’s javelin
Bell Tower Place
April 19, 2016
4–7:30PM