ESTABLISHED 1826 – OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
The Miami Student FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015 VOLUME 144 NO. 14
WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
BETH PFOHL, ANGELO GELFUSO, IAN MARKER, JENNIFER MILLS THE MIAMI STUDENT
During some of the most beautiful weeks of the year in Oxford., temperatures drop and leaves begin to change from summer green to the deep reds and brilliant oranges of fall
A student’s struggle with mental illness MENTAL HEALTH
EMILY TATE
MANAGING EDITOR
Jack Yungblut turned 20 years old last week. But if he had been a little less drunk that Tuesday night in late August, if he had looped his belt just a little tighter around his neck, Jack might not have made it to his birthday. On that night during Welcome Week at Miami, Jack tried to hang himself from a bridge in the Formal Gardens, not far from his dorm. Many college students in recent years have not been so lucky. Suicide has become a leading cause of death on U.S. campuses, and an estimated 7 percent of college students have considered trying to take
their own lives in the last year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). NAMI also found that one in four adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have a diagnosable mental illness, and 73 percent of those affected have experienced a mental health crisis while at college. For Jack Yungblut, emotional difficulties began early. He remembers feeling something was wrong as early as third grade. When Jack was 7, his uncle committed suicide. His mother, Emily Yungblut, said she and her husband tried to be open and honest about it with their children — Jack and his three younger sisters — and explained it to them as they got older. “In our family, there’s never been
anything to be ashamed of or embarrassed of,” Emily Yungblut said. It was during his time at Turpin High School in Cincinnati that Jack told his parents of his own depression. His symptoms became more serious in high school, but there were plenty of distractions, like playing lacrosse, to keep his mind off it. Then they escalated when he entered Miami in the fall of 2014. At first he took Zoloft, an antidepressant, but he soon gave that up. He hated the way it made him feel — numb, fuzzy, shaky and unaware. “Instead of having really high highs and really low lows, [I was] just kind of flat-lined,” Jack said. When he stopped taking the an-
MU names Presidential Search Committee PRESIDENT
This week, Miami University announced the nine members of its Presidential Search Committee — the group tasked with selecting the university’s next president. The committee includes two members of the Board of Trustees, Chair David Budig (’84) and Vice Chair Mark Ridenour (’82), as well as Senior Vice President of Financial and Business Services David Creamer, who is assuming the senior administrator position on the search committee. The committee also includes three faculty representatives and one undergraduate student. The three faculty members are Linda Marchant, a professor of anthropology; Glenn Platt, marketing professor and director of the Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies; and Ann Rypstra, biology professor and director of the Ecology Research Center. All three faculty have been teaching at Miami for nearly two decades — 1996, 1993 and 1982, respectively. Two of these — Marchant and Rypsta — are members of the Miami chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). The AAUP slated Marchant and Rypstra as the faculty rep-
resentatives. Karen Dawisha, political science professor and co-president of the AAUP, said she is pleased to see the AAUP represented on the committee. “I think we are extremely well served by the three faculty,” Dawisha said. “They are all well regarded, with excellent reputations internationally.” Although the AAUP did not slate Platt, Dawisha said he is a strong representative of the values many faculty hope the committee will prioritize in the search. Already, the AAUP has been particularly active in the presidential search. The group submitted a petition to the Board of Trustees earlier this semester, in which the 143 faculty signers requested the board invite at least two finalists to campus in the spring. Rypstra and Marchant both endorsed the terms of the petition. Budig denied the request for multiple finalists at the Sept. 25 board meeting, but the AAUP remains dedicated to its involvement in the search. The undergraduate representative on the search committee is junior Ifeolu Claytor, a political science and social justice studies major. Claytor is also involved in Miami’s Associated Student Government, serving as secretary for
NEWS p. 2
NEWS p. 3
STUDENT DESIGNS BUTTERFIELD CORN MAZE
ADMINISTRATOR FEELS IMPACT FROM CHINA VISIT
An engineering student was selected to design the corn maze for Butterfield Farm.
VP of student affairs gained a new outlook, understanding of Chinese students after trip.
EMILY TATE
MANAGING EDITOR
TODAY in MIAMI HISTORY
diversity affairs. As the sole student voice on the committee, Claytor said he will do his best to represent the entire student body during the search. “It is my goal to represent the students by taking in ideas from anyone who would like to offer it,” he said. “I expect and welcome students’ input.” Claytor said he is confident in the makeup of the search committee, as most are alumni and have Miami’s best interest in mind. Others on the committee include Susan Naus (’67), Miami University Foundation Chair and former member of the Miami University Alumni Association’s (MUAA) board of directors, and alumni representative Ted Downing (’68). Downing is a former MUAA president and has served on the College of Education, Health and Society Advisory Council. The announcement Tuesday came later than anticipated. At the Sept. 25 Board of Trustees meeting, Budig said the committee composition would be announced the following week. “At the June meeting of this board, we established the composition of the search committee, and we expect to name the members by early next week,” he
tidepressant, his bad days began to outnumber the good ones. “It wouldn’t even have to be something big or traumatizing to set me off,” he said. “Some little thing would bring me down for, like, two weeks.” And instead of lacrosse, Jack got involved with other things, like drinking and partying. “At school, the distractions were a little more self-destructive,” he said. During winter break last year, Jack was in a bad place. He picked out the day he was going to commit suicide. But when that day came, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He had set a date like that several
Mental health resources available: Student Counseling Services, Oxford (513) 529-4634 Lindner Center of Hope, Cincinnati (888) 536-4673 Netcare Corporation, Columbus (614) 276-2273 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, United States 1(800) 273-8255
JACK »PAGE 8
Seth Meyers gives the Family ‘Weekend Update’ EVENT
ABBEY GINGRAS NEWS EDITOR
COMMITTEE »PAGE 8
Late night talk show host and Saturday Night Live (SNL) veteran Seth Meyers will perform at Millet Hall tomorrow evening for Family Weekend. In an interview, Meyers said he is excited to switch up his normal comedy style for the show. “The nice thing about stand up is it’s all stuff that you’ve written yourself and it’s great to have a full hour with the audience,” Meyers said. “You get to know them and they get to know you in a way that they’re not going to when it’s a talk show with commercials.” Director of Performing Arts Patti Liberatore helped choose Meyers for Family Weekend. She said he was a popular choice for people of all ages. “It is a great way to entertain the students and their parents,” she said. “It bridges the generation gap. He doesn’t do [stand up] a lot so it’s kind of a coup for us to get him now because he just started his show and people knew him from Saturday Night Live.” Currently, Meyers hosts Late Night with Seth Meyers on NBC.
CULTURE p. 4
OPINION p. 6
SPORTS p. 10
TWO HUMANS OF OXFORD SHARE OLD STORIES
BOARD COMMENTS ON LONG OVERDUE ADVISING CHANGE
CROSS COUNTRY TEAM TRAVELS FOR PRE-NATIONALS
Two students — one raised in Spain, another still a kid at heart — share their stories.
With improvements coming to academic advising, the Editorial Board looks ahead.
Joe Stewart and Brenna Poulsen have high expectations for both teams.
CREATIVE COMMONS PHOTO
Seth Meyers will perform at 8:30 p.m. Saturday in Millett Hall.
He left SNL in 2014 after 13 years. During his time on SNL, he was well known for hosting the regular segment Weekend Update — first with Amy Poehler, then by himself. “[Amy] was one of the best communicators I ever worked with and certainly one of the best team players,” Meyers said. “These can be really high pressure and high stress environments, and when you have someone like Amy around who is everybody’s friend at the same time, you remember you can do these jobs and SETH MEYERS »PAGE 5
On this day in 1913, the Girls Athletic Association proposed a girls’ exclusive gymnasium. They had to secure a fund — a grand total of $500 — to finance the gym, which they planned to earn from basketball tickets.