ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
Volume 145 №2
MU PASSES NEW POLICY
‘Don’t make me cry’
CHANGES AFFECT TUITION PROMISE, MOTHERS, WEED
For parents of first-years, a sad goodbye
ADMINISTRATION
LIFE
JACK EVANS
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
ALISON PERELMAN
NEWS EDITOR
ASST. CULTURE EDITOR
Coinciding with the legalization of medical marijuana in Ohio on Sept. 8, Miami University has clarified its pot policy. Even though medical marijuana will be legalized on a state level, it is still classified as a schedule one substance and illegal according to federal law. As a public university that receives federal funding accepts federal loans, Miami is obligated to follow the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act. This means that the “manufacture, dispensation, possession, use, or distribution of marijuana in any form on any University-owned property, in the conduct of University business or as part of any University activity” is still very much prohibited by the university and punishable as a crime, according to Miami University Policy and Information Manual 3.18.C. However, the new policy does allow for marijuanarelated research to take place on campus under the approval of several government organizations including the United States Department of Defense, The Drug Enforcement Administration and The National Institutes of Health, among others. The marijuana policy joins several other new universitywide policies that recently kicked into effect for the 2016-2017 school year, including policies on nursing mothers and Miami’s Tuition Promise program. The creation of designated nursing areas for mothers on the Oxford and regional campuses marks another policy update for the school year. Though Miami human resources departments have been historically supportive and flexible of nursing mothers, this year the policy has been officially uploaded to the Miami University Policy Library, said director of university news and communications Claire Wagner. The designated “mother” rooms on the Oxford Campus are Upham Hall room 52A, Cole Services Building room 144 and Health Services Center room 160, according to MUPIM 4.14. An extension appeals committee for Miami’s Tuition Promise policy was also created this year. The committee offers a way for students who are covered by the Cohort Tuition Promise to extend their promise past the guaranteed four years. Extensions are considered for reasons like lack of availability in classes, serious injury or illness or enrollment in a program that requires more than 128 hours to graduate. The first class to be affected by the Miami Tuition Promise, and therefore the appeals committee, is this year’s freshman class of 2020. The full versions of these policies, along with hundreds of other administrative policies and procedures, can be reviewed online at Miami’s policy library.
Half of room 369 in Havighurst Hall is already moved in and set up. Lauren Stifelman moves around the other half, making sure the bed is made and in the best spot. Her husband, Glen, and son, Matthew shuffle around, finding other productive things to do. “This is our last one and we’re probably gonna have to peel her off of him when we leave,” Glen explains with a chuckle. “He’s our youngest. It’s very, very difficult. He’s ultra-independent, so — excuse me,” Lauren interrupts herself and Matthew moves out of the way. “Although, I am doing this for him ‘cause I’m very anal. So it’s even harder ‘cause he can do it on his own.” She continues to make the bed — one last motherly act. The Stifelmans are from Long Island, New York, an 11-hour drive. Their older daughter went to college much closer to home, so this is a whole new experience. “We knew we had somebody at home, so we still had another child, you know,” Lauren says. “So it’s kinda different. You knew you were coming home and you still had a full house. But I always knew I had Matthew at home and now there’s nobody else.” “Excuse me, there’s still somebody else at home,” Glen says, offended. Leaving Matthew and going home to an empty nest will be the hardest part. “Don’t make me cry now,” Lauren says, trying not to think of the moment when she’ll have to say goodbye. But they know he chose a good school and are excited for what’s to come. “I think he picked the right school for himself. I think he’ll be very happy here,” Glen says. “There will always be times when he has trouble. Maybe if he was a little closer I’d feel a little bit better, but I don’t feel uncomfortable leaving him here.” “I am so super excited for him and I think this is gonna be like the start of all new wonderful things for him,” Lauren says proudly. “But I will miss him, a lot. So he’s gotta call a lot, or Facetime, something — text! But I’m excited for him and I can’t wait to hear all the great things he’s doing.” Julia Burkholder moved in to Emerson Hall on Wednesday, August 26. Her roommate’s parents helped unload, but then left her
ELIZABETH HANSEN ASST. CULTURE EDITOR
Miami Student staff members spent part of their summer in Cuba, where farmers have spent the last 50 years working without machinery. Some want to maintain this historic rural lifestyle. See Pg. 2 for the full story.
Miami Middletown celebrates 50th REGIONALS
MEGAN ZAHNEIS NEWS EDITOR
On the heels of a restructuring campaign that brought in five new bachelor’s degree programs and its first master’s degree offering, Miami University’s Middletown campus will celebrate its 50th anniversary next week with a full slate of celebratory activities.
Monday will mark the date in 1966 when Miami University Middletown (MUM) opened its doors, becoming the first permanent university branch campus in Ohio. But the festivities will kick off Saturday, with an official ceremony, live music, food trucks and an on-site remote broadcast by local radio station K 99.1 FM. Organizers have been preparing for the anniversary
Humans of Oxford
MEGAN ZAHNEIS NEWS EDITOR
It was a roundabout journey, one that started in Turkey in the 1960s, winding its way through Greece, an Army base near the Panama Canal, southern Florida, New York City, Italy, Philadelphia and Baltimore. But it’s the journey that brought Gael Montgomery to a small, secluded college town in southwestern Ohio
GOODBYE »PAGE 4
to teach Italian. Yet Montgomery didn’t start learning in earnest the language she’s now paid to teach until she was in her early thirties. That’s because, at one point or another, Montgomery worked as a legal secretary, waitress, freelance writer and maid, all while harboring passions for art, music, dance and theater. She’s a cultured woman, a PROFILE »PAGE 4
MEGAN ZAHNEIS NEWS EDITOR
Italian professor Gael Montgomery puts on her game face before waltzing into the classroom.
lasting physical impact on the Middletown campus. Funds are being solicited to retrofit its basketball court in honor of widely respected former athletic director and men’s basketball coach Lynn Darbyshire. A local foundation has pledged to cover half the cost of the renovations — $75,000 — provided donors and the university can raise MIDDLETOWN »PAGE 4
Altman series to bridge medicine, the humanities
The free-spirited teacher PROFILE
since the beginning of the year by featuring Middletown alumni success stories and a series of written historical vignettes on a dedicated webpage. They’ve staged monthly themed “Sweet MUMories” events as a means of compiling an oral history of the campus from its alumni, with the help of a professional videographer. The university hopes one legacy project will have a
LECTURE
BONNIE MEIBERS
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
at complex medical issues through a holistic humanist lens could help doctors make sense of some ethical decisions they frequently face. “Medicine definitely needs a softer side to it,” Ellie Sidler, a junior biology major who attended the lecture, said. “One
Miami’s 2016-17 Altman Lecture series, sponsored by the Humanities Center, kicked off Thursday evening with John McGowan as its first speaker. McGowan, professor of English and comparative literature at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, discussed the medical humanities with students, faculty and community members in the Dolibois Room in Shriver Center. Conversations and collaborations are the idea behind UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS the Altman Fellows Program, John McGowan which produces the Altman Lecture Series. Named for of the biggest apprehensions John W. Altman, a graduate that I have going into medical of Miami University who was school is how I am going to the first person to be inducted feel as a doctor.” into the Miami University To that end, McGowan said Academy of Entrepreneurs, that many medical schools the recurring lecture series is have started to recognize the the Humanities Center’s sig- importance of the medical hunature program. manities by adding literature The medical humanities, and sociology sections to their he said, are essentially a mar- entrance exams. riage of the “hard” sciences “The medical humanities that come with medical edu- depend on conversations and cation and an understanding collaborations across disciof “soft” science. Balancing plines,” McGowan said. the two, McGowan said, can Other topics discussed help medical students foster throughout this year’s lecture better bedside manners and series will deal with how the improve empathy. He also said that looking ALTMAN »PAGE 4
NEWS p. 2
CULTURE p. 3
OPINION p. 7
SPORTS p. 8
CAFE CUBANO: A TASTE OF CUBAN COFFEE
CONQUERING VERMONT’S LONG TRAIL
BREXIT BRINGS UNCERTAINTY FOR STUDENTS
BEER EXPECTED TO BE SOLD AT FIRST HOME GAME
Despite embargo, government allows Cuban coffee to be sold in the U.S.
Culture editor recalls his harrowing three weeks on Vermont’s famous footpath.
Great Britain’s exit from the EU causes concern for British college students.
Starting with the ‘Hawks game against Eastern Illinois, beer could be sold at Yager Stadium.