NIGHTCRAWLING
‘HALLOWEEN HOMOCOMING’ ‘Queeraoke’, costumes and dancing during LGBTQ event
Jake Gyllenhaal’s role might be creepiest yet
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THE NEWS RECORD
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
NEWSRECORD.ORG
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014
LGBTQ Center teaches students acceptance during Trans* 101 seminar Seminar echoes goals of recent Safe Training 101, focuses on inclusivness PATRICK MURPHY | STAFF REPORTER
The LGBTQ center continued its new educational seminars concerning the acceptance of all individuals regardless of sexuality or gender identification and gender expression Thursday in McMicken College. While it is similar to the Safe Zone Training 101, a program the center offered previously to advocate for inclusive language, the Trans* 101 seminar sought to express more of the difficulties transgender and gender nonconforming individuals experience. The asterisk signifies that all gender identifications fall under the term. The program touched on such subjects as cisgender privilege, the concept that individuals who identify as the gender they were assigned at birth have the benefit of being easily perceived by others as the gender they identify with. The seminar offered an educational
Students with disabilities conduct field study alongside UC professor
PowerPoint, videos detailing the experiences of transgender individuals and a discussion regarding transgender and gender-nonconforming issues. T. N. Vaught — a University of Cincinnati graduate student in the master’s program for Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies and the program coordinator for the LGBTQ center — instructed the Trans* 101 training. The instructional training seminars offered by the LGBTQ center are part of a four-part series that spans four years. Jason Hettesheimer, a first-year undecided undergraduate student who had also attended the Safe Zone Training 101, said the training was well executed. “Trans* 101 lies a really good foundation, especially with stuff that is going on around campus. I think it’s handled in a really respectful way as well, especially when it comes to showing the gauntlet of different pronouns and making sure to include non-binary issues, because a lot of the times those issues are left out,” Hettesheimer said. PATRICK MURPHY | STAFF REPORTER
SEE TRANS* 101 PG 3
About 40 members of the UC community attended the Trans* 101 educational seminar Thursday.
UNIVERSITY HOSTS ANNUAL 5K TO SUPPORT MILITARY
CINCINNATI RUNS FOR SOLDIERS
CASSIE MERINO | CHIEF REPORTER
Students with disabilities were given a once in a lifetime opportunity to participate in a field study to Canada thanks to a University of Cincinnati science faculty member. “There are a lot people who are just as talented, if not more talented, than a lot of the colleagues I have, especially from a technological stand point, but they don’t get to showcase that,” said Christopher Atchinson, UC assistant professor of science education and geology. Atchinson coordinated the trip, which allowed 14 students with various disabilities, and one student who works with disabled students, to study the geography of Vancouver, a city in British Columbia, Canada. Julie Hendricks, a support team member and a third-year special education student, helped the other students throughout the trip. Atchinson said that seeing Hendricks interact with students who she had never met before was refreshing. Hendricks used sandpaper to design tactile maps for the blind students involved in the field study. The students could feel the different types of sandpaper, which correlated to the different rock types across regions. Hendricks also assisted the deaf students who attended the field study. The students’ main form of communication was typing, where Hendricks would type what the instructors were saying and distribute the information electronically to deaf students. “I have learned a lot,” Hendricks said. “I have never worked with someone who was blind, so this was a real eye opener to see what kind of assistance they need and how to work with service animals.” Hendricks’s favorite memory from the trip was sharing a room with one of the blind female participants. “We would just stay up and talk about our lives and what things have been like for her,” Hendricks said. “I got a lot of insight on how her life has been different than mine growing up.” The students traveled to six deferent stops between Vancouver and Whistler to look at different geology. “Of all the STEM disciplines, geosciences are the most difficult to participate in because there is so much field work and so much requirement to get out into an uncontrolled natural environment and learn,” Atchinson said. SEE FIELD STUDY PG 3
DAVID WATKINS | CONTRIBUTOR
Fifty-nine people ran in UC’s third annual Run for the Fallen 5K to raise money and awareness for prisoners of war and those missing in action.
UC raises money, awareness for ‘unspoken heroes,’ remembers fallen DAVID WATKINS | CONTRIBUTOR
Despite the early call time, frigid weather and post-Halloween festivities, 59 Ohioans traveled to the University of Cincinnati Saturday morning to run the third annual Run for the Fallen 5K. UC’s Hap Arnold Squadron of Arnold Air Society orchestrated the event in 2011 to raise money and awareness for prisoners of war (POW) and those missing in action (MIA). There are 83,388 U.S. soldiers who are unaccounted for today, according to UC’s Hap Arnold Squadron of Arnold Air Society. This number represents the number of families, friends, loved ones and American citizens who mourn the missing state of these soldiers on a daily basis. “We started this event for the POW/MIA,” said Josephine Kane, a second-year criminal
justice student.“They are the unspoken heroes. A lot of people forget about them, and we just want to make sure that they are not forgotten.” Kane and Laura Bennett, a second-year math and sociology student, were in charge of the 5K. “One of our main focuses is service and giving back to others,” Bennett said.“POW/ MIA are the heroes that did not get to come home. For us, and AAS as a whole, this is a big event to show our support to the families that lost their loved ones even if they aren’t here. We want to bring them back home through the money we raise.” It was $25 to enter the race, but only $20 to “ruck” it, which is when soldiers in the army or marines carry equipment on their backs. Kane and Bennett suggested a 35-pound minimum for those who chose to ruck it, which is normal for ROTC students. Funds will be calculated and donated to pow-miafamilies.org, which has an office based in Columbus.
Although Bennett was worried about the race’s attendance with Halloween being the night before, students from various universities participated in the race. “We were a little worried at the beginning, but people started to show up before it began, so it was refreshing,” Bennett said. Out of the 59 runners from UC, Ohio State University and Wright State University, there was one winner that came out on top. “My watch says 15:50 and I usually run a 5K in 16:50,” said third-year information technology student Kyle Klinger, who belong to the UC Running Club.“We run five to eight miles around the city, like down to the river and around the Reds Stadium, but we’re always looking for local races. This was on campus and we heard about what the money goes to, so we definitely wanted to run it.” Despite their worries, Kane and Bennett foresee a large sum, as this year’s 5K was the most attended thus far.
Professor determined to lengthen HIV patients’ lives with medicine ELYSSE WINGET | STAFF REPORTER
PROVIDED
Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum is the vice chair of a national study researcing medications for HIV patients.
The University of Cincinnati is participating in a federally funded clinical trial involving 6,500 people nationally that tests the affect of certain medications on individuals with HIV. Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum, professor of infectious diseases at UC’s College of Medicine, serves as the vice chair of this national study. The study is funded partially by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “Even though we’re controlling HIV, we haven’t gotten rid of it completely,” Fichtenbaum said. “We want to look at a group of medications called statins that are very commonly used to prevent heart attacks and heart disease.” Fichtenbaum described the current state of HIV patients as people who live a near-normal lifespan but are two to five times more likely to have heart disease. According to Fichtenbaum, HIV patients have an elevated risk of heart disease
and stroke. Fichtenbaum is determined to find a medication that will lower patients’ heart rates to produce healthier, longer lives for individuals with HIV. The statin that is being used in this clinical trial is called pitavastatin, which is a common medication for heart disease prevention. KOWA Pharmaceuticals America Inc. is donating pitavastatin for use during the study. The clinical trial will study men and women ages 40-75 who have HIV but do not have a history of heart attacks, and those who have lower cholesterol and would not typically be recommended for the statin. Fichtenbaum said he hopes to see how these statins affect the patients. “If we give these people a statin who otherwise we wouldn’t recommend it for, is this going to help prevent more heart attacks? Is this going to help prevent heart disease?” Fichtenbaum said. The goal is to involve 6,500 people
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nationally, 150 of who will be enrolled locally. These individuals may vary between patients, doctors and students looking to get involved in the research and assistance of the trial. “People are going to be randomized by the flip of a coin,” Fichtenbaum explained. “Half of the people will get the active medicine and half the people will get a pill that looks like a matching pill but is really a placebo or a sugar pill.” The study is blind, meaning that neither the doctors nor the patients will know who is receiving which pill. This study is federally funded and in collaboration with other universities, including Harvard University. UC is one of the major collaborating institutions. “In the last three years, three of my own patients have passed away suddenly from heart attacks,” Fichtenbaum said. “I have several other patients of mine with known heart disease and heart problems that fortunately we caught them in time, so I think this has real value to people here living locally with HIV.” FREE • ADDITIONAL COPIES $1
2 / ARTS
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FOX SEARCHLIGHT
Michael Keaton (above) plays Riggan Thompson, a has-been Hollywood actor who struggles with his fame. Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki is famous for his handheld camerawork.
‘Birdman’ creates ambiguous portrait of humanity Michael Keaton stars in what could be most ambitious movie of 2014 TONY JOHNSON | STAFF REPORTER
“Birdman, or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” is not a superhero movie. It’s not a laugh-out loud comedy, and it isn’t depressingly self-serious. It is a self-aware, visually striking, thematically ambitious and original observation on the cult of celebrity portrayed at a painfully personal level. “Birdman” soars on the backs of awesome direction and inspirational acting performances. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu pressure-cooks audiences with a triumphantly ugly yet painfully comic depiction of a man risking all the dignity that he has left in order to gain respect in his field. Emmanuel Lubezki, who won just about every cinematography award in the universe for his work on Alfonso Cuaron’s 2013 sci-fi epic “Gravity,” captures our imaginations with careful camerawork, all cut and edited to appear as though the film was shot in a single, continuous take. Michael Keaton stars as the washed-up Hollywood actor Riggan Thompson, who takes it upon himself to write, direct and star in a Broadway play in order to feel
validated as a respectable, truly talented actor. For those of you who aren’t aware, the casting of Keaton is impossible to understate because he is the man mostly known as “the man who used to be Batman” in the Tim Burton comic book adaptations “Batman” (1989) and “Batman Returns” (1992). Keaton appears natural throughout the film, as if he is not acting. This may be the role he has waited for to present himself as a respected performer. Thompson is constantly in the shadow of his fame-sake, a superhero called “Birdman,” which, in the movie’s alternate history, carried Thompson’s name as the lead man for three installments. The film is shot and edited to appear as a single, relentless take. There are no fadeouts and fade-ins, just like Thompson’s life-story. As much as he wants to be known as Riggan Thompson, actor, we are subjected to the truth of his public image from insensitive journalists and passersby as “the guy who used to be Birdman.” This public image is manifested in Thompson’s own mind as well. During the course of the movie, whenever we see Riggan Thompson alone, the voice of Birdman follows, never leaving him alone, constantly mocking his efforts to recreate himself.
While Keaton effortlessly pulls out our heartstrings and provokes us to chuckle in the least cheerful of situations, the supporting ensemble cast is brilliant as a band of characters all similarly out of touch with themselves, or their loved ones, or their place in the world. Emma Stone kicks the audience in the gut and pulls no punches as Thompson’s daughter, Sam. She is a foul-mouthed, brash, selfloathing reformed addict that works as her father’s assistant, whose socially aggressive tendencies put off everyone other than Mike, the rude and critically adored hotshot actor. Famous for his role in “Fight Club,” Edward Norton brings Mike to life on the silver screen. In a movie full of shining stars, Norton just may be the brightest. He is ice-cold, understated, subtle but hilarious, and his chemistry with Stone makes me hope that they reunite in the future. Along with Keaton, Stone and Norton’s dynamite performances, Zach Galifianakis is predictably funny but surprisingly touching as Thompson’s best friend and lawyer. Amy Ryan is sweet and sincere as Thompson’s perhaps still heartbroken ex-wife, while Andrea Riseborough and Naomi Watts round out the ensemble cast with honest, heartfelt performances as young Broadway actresses eager to
establish themselves. Every character shows a subtle juxtaposition to the subject of the story, Riggan Thompson. Thompson is a man trying to reclaim a past that he never had – a level of respect he has never achieved. Sam is young and trying to figure out the future and if she even wants one at all. Thompson’s co-star Mike (Norton) is a respected actor but can’t find himself an identity as a man off the stage. The female leads (Riseborough and Watts) of Thompson’s play aspire for the sort of fame that Thompson has acquired and now resents, lost in the blinding lights of Broadway. And Thompson’s best friend/lawyer (Galifianakis) and ex-wife (Ryan) are apparently left to pick up the pieces and endure the emotional and financial aftershock of whatever comes of Thompson’s play by the end of his journey. The film, as complemented by the continuous, cut-free camerawork of director Iñárritu, is a constant ride through the life of Riggan Thompson. Hilarious yet heavy, heartwarming and heartbreaking, “Birdman” is the epitome of an anti-superhero movie. The hero is human and flawed, the ending is obscure and optimistic, and the story leaves us tearful in hope, having faith that the show must go on.
The Wonder Years takes Bogart’s for World Tour CELIE SHAFFER | CONTRIBUTOR
As part of The Greatest Generation World Tour, The Wonder Years headlined at Bogart’s Wednesday night, along with Gnarwolves, Modern Baseball and The Story So Far. It was any pop punk fan’s dream concert. The Wonder Years, from Philadelphia, opened its set with the well-known song “Local Man Ruins Everything” from the band’s 2011 album “Suburbia.”The crowd yelled along with Dan “Soupy” Campbell, “I’m not a self-help book, I’m just a f----up kid,” getting amped to sing their lungs out until they had no voice left. Band members Matt Brasch and Josh Martin said they take inspiration for their music from Alkaline Trio, Motion City Soundtrack, The Starting Line (from a neighboring high school in Philadelphia) and Less Than Jake. The Wonder Years want to make an impact on its fans and hopes that people find meaning in the songs. “What’s great about art is that you can gather from it anything that you see,” Campbell said. “So it allows you to align it up with your life in a lot more ways. I do think that there’s a sense of responsibility that comes with playing in a band and like, that you are, for better or worse, playing to somewhat impressionable people. “I’m not saying that every young person is impressionable, but those are the years of your life in which you decide who you’re going to be. And all external stimuli are going to affect that. And so we are external stimuli. And I would like to affect it as positively as I can.” The band displays that in its song “My Last Semester,” the first song on its album “The Upsides” (2010). Some of the first lyrics in the song are, “The homophobic bulls--- that’s somehow okay just because you didn’t mean it that way.” Campbell brought the crowd to its knees with his favorite song, “The Devil In My Bloodstream,” a song about his grandfather’s depression as well as his own and how it affects him. With lighters in the air and lumps in their throats, the crowd members choked out the lyrics with Campbell as they shared their pain and experiences without saying a word. The show ended with “I Just Want to Sell Out My Funeral,” a compilation of the songs on 2013’s album “The Greatest Generation.” By then, no one had a voice left to sing, but they tried anyway. Fans crowd-surfed to the front or jumped around in the circle pit as they all helped The Wonder Years finish off its electric show. In the end, fans left The Greatest Generation World Tour with no voice, but with hope or inspiration — maybe even both.
OPEN ROAD FILMS
Lou (Jake Gyllenhaal, left) arrives at a crime scene to shoot graphic footage for TV. He hires Rick (Riz Ahmed, right) to help him navigate the L.A. streets.
‘Nightcrawler’ captures obsession with new lens Jake Gyllenhaal’s neurotic role provides commentary on violence ZACK HATFIELD | ARTS EDITOR
The opening shot of “Nightcrawler” is of a white billboard in the outskirts of Los Angeles, and it could easily represent our disturbing protagonist, Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal) — a blank slate on the edge of nothing. That changes though when Lou comes across a smoldering automobile accident on the highway, where a freelance videographer named Joe (Bill Paxton) is filming the gruesome wreckage and the policemen who are saving a life. Instead of admiring the policemen, Lou admires Joe, a longtime nightcrawler, another name for someone who sells video — mostly grisly footage of crimes and accidents — to local TV news outlets for a good profit. “Nightcrawler” is Dan Gilroy’s directorial debut, and although he’s tied to action-thrillers like the “The Bourne Legacy” as a screenwriter, “Nightcrawler” is promising for Gilroy’s directing career because of its character study and insight into the depths of humanity’s flaws. Armed with a police scanner and a cheap camcorder, Lou becomes obsessed with filming crime as well as forming a company. He quickly makes his way to the top, monopolizing the nightcrawling business by selling to the lowest-rated news channel in the city, an outlet void of any journalistic integrity and willing to show
the most graphic images even on its early morning show. Gyllenhaal plays Lou with painstaking tension, and his character’s odd way of communicating is accentuated with facial tics, threatening smiles and an overall glazed-over look. As his skill rises so does his mania, and he takes nightcrawling to illegal levels as he tampers with evidence and trespasses crime scenes, becoming unstoppable in his goal to be the best. Rene Russo plays Nina, a news editor desperate for the next violent story (“If it bleeds it leads,” as Joe says early in the film). Russo puts on a great performance, balancing her character’s vulnerabilities toward Lou and her relentless decisionmaking in the newsroom with dramatic dexterity. The suspense in “Nightcrawler” reaches incredible levels due to the unique premise. We’ve seen films exploring journalistic ethics (take 1940’s “His Girl Friday” or 2008’s “Nothing But the Truth” for example) and this isn’t the first film about the American audience’s fascination with violence, but the framing of the story through Lou’s unusual profession allows the film to explore uncharted territory. A soundtrack from James Newton Howard supplies a textured and ’80s-esque layer to the nighttime ventures, at times reminiscent of another L.A. crime thriller, 2011’s “Drive.” Gyllenhaal is fascinating in his role because we never know what extreme lengths Lou’s capable of, and when we finally think we do, he proves us wrong.
Lou becomes an antihero we’re secretly rooting for throughout his descent into L.A.’s crime-ridden urban and suburban netherworld. Gyllenhaal lost 20 pounds for the role, and his eyes bulge out at us with an eeriness paralleled only by Patrick Bateman of “American Psycho.” The setting of the dark, labyrinthine city is perfect to accompany the atmosphere of crime news, fraught with chaos and violence. Although there are car chases, they’re rescued from cliché by the unconventional cinematography trick of viewing them through the video camera’s viewfinder. “Nightcrawler” isn’t exactly subtle with its themes of violence in media and its commentary on journalistic morality, but it’s hard to be subtle with the savage materials given and still succeed. Lou’s motto is “If you want to win the lottery, you have to make the money to buy a ticket,” and this is adhered to as we watch Gyllenhaal go to heart-pounding measures to rise to the top. But at times the movie reaches almost satirical proportions with Lou, sacrificing believability for outlandish extremes to heighten the message. “It looks so real on TV,” Lou says to Nina in a poignant moment, staring at the fake background of a glimmering Los Angeles in the news set. This relates to the movie’s subject as a whole, because although what the film depicts and what the characters do isn’t reality, it’s pretty close, and that’s what ultimately gives the traumatic story its adrenaline and dramatic anxiety.
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FROM TRANS* 101 PG 1
The LGBTQ center came out with two programs in 2014 — Safe Zone 101 and Trans* 101 — and will continue to update its programming each year, as the material can “expire,” after an extended period of time, according to Vaught. After a year, the information in the program is susceptible to requiring updates and must change as the LGBTQ movement advances. “[The curriculum would require you] to show up to an event or listen to a speaker to kind of keep your ally statues,”Vaught said. “So much changes so quickly, so we want to make sure our participants are keeping up with it.” The Trans* 101 seminar detailed the extensive spectrums of preference and identification that make up the unique identity of individuals not only in the local LGBTQ community, but abroad. These spectrums of identification include biological sex, gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation – components of the revolutionary gender model, a model that breaks away from the traditional gender-binary model which believes these identifiers are a straight line rather than an assortment of the characteristics. Jyl Shaffer, UC’s newly hired Title IX coordinator, was present at the training. Title IX is a federal civil rights law part of the educational amendments passed in 1972 that states no one in the United
States can be discriminated against or denied access to programs or services on federally funded educational institutions on the basis of their sex or gender. Every public university is required by law to assign one faculty member to handling possible cases of Title IX compliance. “Every University that gets federal funding must comply with this law,” Shaffer said. “We have to have programs on educational outreach such as gender discrimination, sex discrimination, gender identity, gender expression and gender orientation discrimination.” The seminar concluded with optional contracts for the participants to sign and affirm that they would either become allies or continue to be allies to the LGBTQ community. The contract also allowed them to promise that they will establish a safe zone in their own living spaces. Shaffer says that the accepting attitudes found in the safe zone trainings can also be found in UC’s faculty and administration. “From all the way down to students tonight talking about equity to [president Santa Ono] to the people who are advising the president, our provost [Beverly Davenport], our brand new dean of students, the vice president of student affairs, everyone I’ve talked to — this is something that they’re passionate about,” Shaffer said. “I want the rest of the student body to join in on that passion.”
FROM FIELD STUDY PG 1
“A lot of people who are blind or even in wheel chairs, that’s very difficult.” Atchinson started planning the field study a year ago with the grant from the National Science Foundation. The field study was open to high school and college students at various learning levels and disabilities. Atchinson said that no high school students participated in the field study because of the lack of advertisement for the field study on high school campuses. They plan on making more of an effort in the future to include more high school students in these opportunities. Fifteen faculty members attended the trip to help teach the students, five of who are also disabled. “Teaming them up with a faculty member gave them the opportunity to learn about the science but yet it also gave the faculty an opportunity to learn about their students’ abilities,” Atchinson said. “That was the purpose: to not only learn the science but also learn what it takes to get into the field for some of these students.” Atchinson’s primary focus is access and inclusion in the geo-science community. He knew what obstacles he would have to tackle to make the trip as successful as possible. “I have been doing this enough that there was a lot of things that I knew
were going to happen and a lot of things that I was able to prepare for, and as a result of that the students and faculty were a lot more comfortable about having this opportunity,” Atchinson said. While on the trip, Atchinson said he also learned more about students learning. “What I started to learn more of was that there is a spectrum of instructor rigor, so when you go into the field to learn anything, a lot of the time people want to make it as hard as possible,” he said. “What I’m finding more of is that that’s detrimental to the learning process.” Atchinson said that students’ learning is increased if they are learning together in a community and as a part of a community, because it is easier to cross over a tough terrain to see things up close together. “If a student is uncomfortable then they are more focused on the unpleasantness than the actual learning,” Atchinson added. Atchinson said that students are already asking when the next trip will occur. “I hope that as a result of this trip the community will keep expanding, and people will work to create accessible opportunities and offer assemble opportunities for students with disabilities.”
Warning in climate change report is loudest yet by scientists MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON — Climate change driven by the burning of fossil fuels is already affecting life on every continent and in the oceans, and the window is closing rapidly for governments to avert the worst damage expected to occur later this century, scientists warned in one of the loudest alarms yet sounded by the international scientific community. The report, issued Sunday, arrives as international negotiators prepare to meet in Lima, Peru, in December to establish parameters for an eventual agreement on cutting heat-trapping emissions, a goal that has eluded the international community since talks began more than 20 years ago on the necessity of action. Negotiators are aiming to sign a deal in Paris in December 2015. Written by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, which regularly reviews and synthesizes the latest climate research, the report says there are more heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere than at any time in at least the last 800,000 years, and that most of them came from the combustion of fossil fuels since the advent of widespread industrialization in the late 1800s. The effects of global warming are already being felt in rising sea levels, ocean acidification and more extreme weather events, especially heat waves and droughts, which have begun to affect crop yields and water availability. The steps taken so far by countries to reduce or mitigate emissions are not enough, the scientists said, and under the business-as-usual scenario, the world runs the risk of consequences so grave
MCCLATCHY
The Monroe Power Plant in Michigan is a large source of emissions of carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas that accumulates in the atmosphere.
that they are irreversible and cannot be adapted to. “Without additional mitigation efforts beyond those in place today, and even with adaptation, warming by the end of the 21st century will lead to high to very high risk of severe, widespread and irreversible impacts globally,” the report says. The IPCC assessment is one of the bluntest to date after years of reports that have warned the global community about climate change. Actions by the world’s governments over the next year will reveal if the science has ignited meaningful action on cutting emissions. In crafting the report, a key summary of findings that would have made it easier to understand was cut because the governments that sign off on the document could not agree on what should be included. That raises questions about whether they can agree on something much more complex, such as reductions in pollution. “This is the strongest statement yet of the risks of climate change and the steps we need to take,” said Tim Profeta, director of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University. “But at what point does the stridency of the report affect policymaking, so that we take steps commensurate with the risks? Will it change the debate in Peru and in Paris?” In the United States, proponents of cutting heat-trapping emissions welcomed the forceful report. “We can’t prevent a large-scale disaster if we don’t heed this kind of hard science,” said Secretary of State John F. Kerry. “The longer we are stuck in a debate over ideology and politics, the more the costs of inaction grow and grow.” Two weeks ago, the State Department’s top climate envoy, Todd Stern, said the U.S. was considering a proposal to combat climate change that would require countries to offer plans for curtailing greenhouse gas emissions on a certain schedule but would leave it to individual nations to determine how deep their cuts would be. Earlier approaches taken by the international community to mandate certain levels of emission cuts got little buy-in from large polluters such as the United States and China. But some countries fear that with the approach the U.S. now backs, countries will not make the kinds of reductions needed to keep the average global temperature from rising beyond 2 degrees on the Celsius scale, or 3.6 degrees on the Fahrenheit scale, from pre-industrial levels. The 2-degrees-Celsius threshold is the point beyond which scientists estimate certain catastrophic, irreversible changes would occur.
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Bobby Mackey’s home to more than country music
EMILY BEGLEY | COLLEGE LIFE EDITOR
Bobby Mackey’s, a bar that’s acquired the unique distinction of “the world’s most haunted honkytonk,” comes to life every weekend with country music, ghost tours and more. EMILY BEGLEY | COLLEGE LIFE EDITOR
T
o the unknowing eye, there is nothing particularly strange about an old honky-tonk bar on the outskirts of Newport, Kentucky. The little white building sits right off of Licking Pike, but motorists rarely give it a second glance as they make their ways into the city. But for those who know its history, Bobby Mackey’s Music World is home to much more than a country bar. The site is brimming with the residue of gruesome events and rumors of restless spirits — including those of a murdered pregnant woman and an actress who committed suicide — earning it the distinction as “the world’s most haunted honky-tonk.” A bright-yellow sign even stands guard by the entrance, brazenly addressing tales of the hauntings within. “WARNING TO OUR PATRONS,” it reads. “THIS ESTABLISHMENT IS PURPORTED TO BE HAUNTED. MANAGEMENT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE AND CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY ACTIONS OF ANY GHOSTS/ SPIRITS ON THIS PREMISS.” Mob activity, satanic rituals and murders have taken place in and around the building since its construction in 1850. It was originally used as a slaughterhouse servicing Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, and has since transformed into several nightclubs, many of which were particularly popular with mobsters. Headless ghosts, dark masses and more are said to poke, scratch and even push patrons and employees. But whether or not the building is truly abounding in spirits is up to interpretation.
A Tangible Vision
“It all depends on where your head’s at,” said Bobby Mackey, bar owner and namesake, of the spirits that supposedly mingle with his patrons. Mackey reclined in the building’s notorious Green Room on a fittingly rainy October night. His fingers were still pink from his performance in the bar, during which he passionately strummed his guitar and crooned soulful country songs. As for whether or not Mackey believes in the paranormal — “It bores me,” he said, taking a sip of a drink on the table beside him. “I don’t want nothing to do with it.” Interestingly, the only thing at the bar Mackey considers ethereal is country music, which he said has withstood the test of time. The singer refers to the genre as the “new old music,” referring to its appeal to listeners of all ages. “It’s all about the music for me. That’s all,” Mackey said of his bar. The singer has been drawn to country music for as long as he can remember. “When I heard Hank Williams sing, my life changed forever,” Mackey said of one of his biggest inspirations. Mackey recalled singing “30 Pieces of Silver,” an old spiritual song, for his father when he was 4 years old. “My mom tells me she stood me on top of the bathtub and had me sing for him,”
he said. “He couldn’t believe that I had grown a little more than he thought.” From there, Mackey couldn’t be stopped. The singer played at bars in and around Cincinnati for years, regularly performing at the Apple in Middletown, the Boulevard in Springdale and Julie’s in Sharonville. Then, friends encouraged him to found his own bar in Northern Kentucky, where country nightclubs were scarce. They lived a few miles up the road from the building that is now Bobby Mackey’s and inspired the singer to look into it. Mackey said he knew about the place already — in the fall of 1966, he worked on the railroad and passed the building when he was called to work on certain trains. At that time, he knew it as the old Latin Quarter, a casino that was popular with mobsters. “I knew it was an old gambling casino back in the ’30s and ’40s and all that — and it was notorious, all that stuff — and I could kind of visualize what it would look like in here,” he said. “I just had this premonition about it; there was just something about it I kind of just had to have.” Carl Lawson, then a teenager who lived up the street from the building, offered to help refurbish the site to get it open for business. Lawson grew up in the area and began telling Mackey about its history. “When I finally got the idea about what he was talking about, I said, ‘I don’t want to hear that,’ ” Mackey said. “I’ve got to get open here and I’ve got everything I have sunk in here. This has got to work for me, and I don’t want no ghost stories.” After painting, furnishing and adjusting the building — including ripping up a runway that was a throwback to the gambling days and replacing it with a dance floor — Bobby Mackey’s officially opened its doors in September 1978. “Thiry-six years later, it’s working just like the vision I had then,” Mackey said. “That’s a fact.”
Embracing the Tales
Despite Mackey’s trepidation, paranormal tales continued to surround the building. “Where I came from, up in Louis County, Kentucky, growing up as a kid, whenever anybody talked about a haunted house somewhere, I wouldn’t go near the place,” Mackey said. “So that was my thinking — I don’t want that out there. Nobody will want to come here.” But customers frequently asked to visit the building’s basement — the site of the slaughterhouse’s drainage well and where satanic rituals were said to occur. So seven years ago, the owner cleaned out, preserved and organized the basement, hired a tour guide, and opened up for ghost tours. The nightclub even caught the attention of the Travel Channel’s popular “Ghost Adventures,” a series in which a trio of paranormal investigators attempt to document evidence of the supernatural. The team investigated the bar in October 2008 and, after purportedly being physically attacked and followed home by the residence’s spirits, returned to Bobby Mackey’s in October 2010.
Paranormal tours are available by appointment or by signing up at the bar. Guides lead groups through the building’s basement, where most of the bar’s strange activity is said to occur. “Everybody just got fascinated with it,” Mackey said of the building’s history. Although there is never a shortage of thrill-seekers, guides see the biggest groups near and on Halloween. According to guides, ghosts are equally active year-round. Mark Moore, paranormal tour guide at Bobby Mackey’s, was forced to cap his group at 30 people on the October evening on which I found myself about to descend into the depths of the bar. The tour drew an eclectic crowd — some wore shirts covered in images of ghosts and skulls, while others wore the cowboy garb many patrons wore to the smoky country bar. One woman even wielded a giant inflatable penis, wearing a fluffy pink “bride-to-be” crown on her head. Moore corralled his group through the bar’s front doors and led the way outside of the building. The group followed him through the uneven gravel parking lot, and at the end of the slope, Moore pried open a heavy wooden door and brought the basement into view. Although the country music above could be faintly heard through the rafters, the basement festered in near silence and dull yellow lighting. The little furniture decorating the room was antiquated. Soft wooden floorboards creaked under the group, and everyone jumped when a bartender sent a glass bottle crashing down from the bar through a shoot to be recycled. To the right, an empty window looked over the bar’s supposed Portal to Hell, a dust-filled hole originally used as a drain to dispose of animal remains during the building’s slaughterhouse days. Contributing to the hole’s hellish identity is satanic activity that supposedly took place at the site of the well. Enter Pearl Bryan, a 22-year-old from Indiana whose dead body was discovered in a field less than two miles away from the slaughterhouse. The corpse was discovered on Feb. 1, 1896 without a head, which was never recovered. Pearl was pregnant at the time of her death, and her boyfriend Scott Jackson, a Cincinnati dental student, allegedly attempted to perform an abortion alongside roommate Alonzo Walling. The surgery was botched, and Pearl died in the process. To conceal her identity, Jackson and Walling removed her head and dumped her body in the field, but Pearl was later identified by her shoes. Rumor says Jackson was involved in a satanic cult, and a popular theory is that he disposed of Pearl’s head in the well. Guests have reported visions of a headless woman wandering the basement, according to Moore. Pearl is considered one of the building’s most active spirits. The guide struggled to regain the attention of the group as many members leaned into the window frame to get a better look at the portal. Promising to stop at the portal later in the tour, Moore led the group to a small room ahead, which glowed in red light. The room was the dressing room of Johanna Jewel, the daughter of the building’s owner when Bobby Mackey’s was a nightclub called the Latin Quarter. The year was 1950, and Johanna had fallen in love with a young country singer named Robert Randall. Moore explained that Johanna became pregnant, and when her father found out, he had Randall killed. The bar was a predominant site of mob activity in the 1920s, when it was serving primarily as a casino. Johanna’s father purportedly used his connections with the mob to have Randall murdered. After her lover’s death, Johanna killed herself in her dressing room with poison. A few braver tour-goers ventured into the room, becoming bathed in red light as they stepped around a single black chair that sat in the corner. A vase of fake roses was displayed in the middle of a shallow counter, which was erected in front of a wall-length mirror. On previous tours, participants have claimed to smell roses — a favorite flower
of Johanna, Moore explained. Johanna used to keep the dressing room decorated with fresh bouquets. Other participants have said they were not reflected in the mirror when they stood in front of it. When stragglers ventured out of the room, Moore maneuvered the group back toward the entrance to the basement and led them down a narrow hallway, leading to the room of the slaughterhouse drain.
By the Portal
In the room of the portal, chatter died down and members moved closer to the guide as he regaled them about the building’s slaughterhouse days, sparing little detail. Mackey himself was unaware of its existence for several years. He discovered it when he was down in the basement — he couldn’t remember why — with Carl Lawson. They stood in the China Room — where Chinese food was served at the Latin Quarter — and the ground was covered with asphalt. “I look and there was holes chopped in the floor,” Mackey said. “Like a pick axe — not an axe, but a pick axe. Like holes, like just holes, holes, holes, chopped right there.” Mackey shined a flashlight through the holes and discovered the well. “It was perfectly round, and it was full of dirt,” he said. “But through the years, with trains going by on the railroad track, it kind of sifted it. It was powder, it was like powder dirt. It had sunk down about a foot. You could see the powder dirt, and you could see a perfect mouth of a well.” The drain was used to dispose of blood from animals slaughtered. The remains would run under the railroad tracks and deposit into the Licking River, Mackey said. The portal even inspired author Douglas Hensley to write a novel entitled “Hell’s Gate,” which focuses on the drain and the stories that surround it. Mackey said Hensley’s book was even more inspiration to his customers to inquire about the building’s paranormal aspects. Today, a small wooden fence sanctions off the portal. Broken floorboards give way to the hole, which is settled deep in the earth. Some people leaned over to snap a picture of the well, while others simply listened to Moore and kept their distance from the fence. The portal marked the final stop on the tour, and as the guide finished his spiel, excited talk amongst group members escalated. A teenager wandered to the left and began to climb the “stairway to nowhere” — an odd staircase trailing right into the ceiling — while a cluster of middle-aged women poked each other, hoping to scare a jump out of their friends. Sensing the groups’ restlessness, Moore gathered participants and ushered them out of the door. A few, however, stayed behind. With the rest of the group out of sight, a young woman peeked up the stairway, quietly analyzing the structure. A girl held her iPhone above the Portal to Hell, snapping a picture before quickly moving the phone back to safety. The quiet in the room became deafening, and in the absence of a crowd, the building seemed to come alive with muffled bumps and knocks. Thousands continue to flock to the nightclub every year, hoping to find evidence of the establishment’s haunted past. For some, hearing the building creek and groan is all the evidence they need. Bobby Mackey would say it’s just the pipes.
EMILY BEGLEY | COLLEGE LIFE EDITOR
A well previously used to dispose of animal remains is among the tours’ most popular stops.
Relient K visits Cincy for nostaglic 10th anniversary tour CHANDLER BONN | STAFF REPORTER
Neither the chilly, uncomfortable weather nor the temptations of spookythemed parties deterred the crowd of fans who waited outside under Bogart’s marquee Halloween night to see Relient K play during its Mmhmm 10th Anniversary Tour. If the long-running Ohio native power pop band Relient K has a seminal album, it’s their fourth, “Mmhmm”. The oddly titled pop punk masterpiece is what broke the band out of the insular bubble that is the Christian music industry, which it is so often associated with, and into the mainstream with tracks like “Be My Escape” and “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been.” The album is the band’s most cohesive, with a sound focused on fast tempos, quick, catchy guitar riffs and driving drums. Primary songwriter and vocalist, Matt Thiessen, wrote some of his strongest lyrical hooks on the record, which pluck at the listener’s vocal chords, forcing them to sing along. Relient K didn’t celebrate the birth of its most pivotal album alone. Opening for them was From Indian Lakes and Blondefire, the former sounding almost like a softer version of Circa Survive and the later a female-led mid-tempo pop rock
group. The crowd warmly received both acts, particularly From Indian Lakes, as many attendees were garbed in shirts from the band. The crowd was noticeably different in appearance from the kinds of crowds that show up for EDM or hardcore punk shows. Rather than multicolored hair and glow sticks or baldheads and tattoos, the crowd largely had an unthreatening look. The mostly white, 20-somethings in attendance looked as if they grew up in church youth groups, listening to Relient K 10 years ago, with girls dressed modestly and almost no one holding beer cans. Although the packed house was energetic and enthusiastic, jumping on beat and yelling back every word sung to them, there was little moshing and no crowd surfing to be had. When Relient K walked on stage around 9:30 p.m., the musicians jumped straight into the first track off of “Mmhmm,”“The One I’m Waiting For,” followed by the second track, “Be My Escape,” and then the third, “Sunny With the High of 75,” not pausing to converse with the crowd. It was clear at that point that the band was going to grant every longtime fan’s dream of seeing the album played from start to finish. Finally taking a break, the band
acknowledged the reason everyone was there. “So this is the 10th anniversary tour for the ‘Mmhmm’ album. That doesn’t make us feel old at all!”Thiessen said with a raised inflection, punctuating his sarcasm. The band continued playing through the fast-paced, intensive album nearly flawlessly, every note being played correctly and, aside from intentional variants, every word being accentuated like it was on the recording. Relient K, having been on the road since the members were fresh out of high school, seems to have perfected the art of playing live. Notable standouts included “My Girl’s Ex-Boyfriend,” simply because it was never played live until this tour and “More Than Useless” due to the emotion seen on lead guitarist’s Matt Hoopes’ face as he swayed his head to his own riffs. By the time they reached the final song off of the 14-track album, “When I Go Down” — a low tempo acoustic track — Thiessen looked worn out with his singing, his voice shaking and sweat soaking his token button up collared shirt. The band left the stage and reconvened refreshed, wearing goofy pajama onesies in the spirit of the holiday. The band went on to play a short, goofy Halloween song, preceded by several hits off of other
albums. Standouts during this encore included “Look on Up,” a new unreleased ballad-like acoustic number with a catchy chorus and entertaining metaphors about moons and photographs. “Forget and Not Slow Down,” the title track from another fan-favorite album also stood out as being particularly well performed, sounding identical to the recording. Noticeably absent were songs from the poorly received 2013 release, “Collapsible Lung.”Thiessen complimented the only song they played off of it “Don’t Blink,” which they closed the night with, as being “the most important song [we’ve] written as a band.” The lack of newer songs highlighted what the Mmhmm 10th Anniversary Tour was about and who it was for. This was about Relient K’s heritage as a band, celebrating its most important album. This wasn’t for newer fans or casual listeners. This was for the people who were elated to hear the announcement that former drummer, Dave Douglas, was returning for the tour. This was for the kids, now young adults, who sang “Sadie Hawkins Dance” at youth group meetings, with their mid-pubescent voices cracking. This was for the people who will always have a place in their music libraries for Relient K, whether it’s a new record being spun or an old one continued to be celebrated.
SPORTS / 5 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014 / NEWSRECORD.ORG
Bearcats to honor Lauren Hill at half
Women’s basketball will dedicate Friday’s exhibition game to local athlete, raise awareness of pediatric brain cancer DAVID WYSONG | STAFF REPORTER
FILE ART
Jamie Netisingha (2), with the ball at Fifth Third Arena during the women’s volleyball 3-2 win against Central Florida Oct. 17.
Volleyball drops fourth straight PATRICK LAAKE | STAFF REPORTER
The University of Cincinnati volleyball team’s woes continued Friday night, as it dropped its fourth straight match. The five-setter ended 23-25, 24-26, 26-24, 25-19, 11-15. The University of Connecticut Huskies (10-12, 3-8) played desperately, having lost their previous eight matches, dating back to Sept. 26 (3-1 victory over ECU). In the first set, the Bearcats self-destructed with eight errors and a .128 attack percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Ciara Hill led the Bearcats with five errors and finished the set with a negative .17 attack percentage. The Bearcats are 1-8 in the matches where they lost the first set. Despite the errors, Cincinnati held a 19-16 lead late in the set. UConn rallied to even it up at 20 before finishing the Bearcats, 25-23. The Huskies rode that momentum into the second set. Huskies junior middle blocker Immanuella Anagu woke up after a slow first set, recording five kills and three assisted blocks in the second. Anagu finished the match with 14 kills and a .364 attack percentage. Anagu was the spark the Huskies needed to hang on, after blowing a five point lead late in the set. They would sneak out a 26-24 win and take a 2-0 lead into halftime. With things looking bleak, the Bearcats came out of the locker room looking to take it one set at a time. UConn took a 22-17 lead late in the third set and were ready to finish the Bearcats off. Then it all fell apart.
Cincinnati climbed back into the game and tied it at 24. After what appeared to be a double hit that went uncalled, Cincinnati capitalized and took the set 26-24. The fourth set was not as climactic. The Huskies’ only lead of the set was 4-3. After that, the Bearcats cruised to a 25-19 win that forced a fifth and deciding set. With all the momentum on their side, the Bearcats just needed 15 more to finish off an amazing comeback, but the Huskies were in a spoiling mood. Cincinnati battled to stay in the final set and showed life towards the end but to no avail. UConn scored the final three points en route to a 15-11 victory. Junior Erika Thomas scorched the final ball past two diving Bearcats to put the final nail in the coffin. “Overall, we showed great resiliency. [We] just need to show it earlier in the match,” UC head coach Molly Alvey said. “We led in almost every category statistically.” Redshirt junior setter Caitlin Ogletree, who leads the team in assists this season, did not play. Senior setter Madi Lang started in her place and finished with a game-high 39 assists. With the loss, the Bearcats remain sixth in the American Conference and are a game behind Tulsa University for fifth place. The Bearcats finished the weekend hosting Temple University Sunday with a 3-1 loss. For full-coverage of UC’s match against Temple, pick up Wednesday’s edition of For the Record.
Legaux returns, impresses on home turf GLEN HARVEY | STAFF REPORTER
LeBron James wasn’t the only athlete this week coming back to play in front of his home crowd. Fifthyear senior quarterback Munchie Legaux saw the most playing time in more than a year after missing most of last season due to a leg injury that led doctors to believe he may not be able to walk again, let alone play football. After receiving a fifth year of eligibility from the NCAA, Legaux pushed to beat the odds after having multiple surgeries. This would mean months of rehab that took a toll physically and mentally to make his goal possible. Fast-forward to Halloween night in a conference game against Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Bearcats needed a win to have a chance at winning the American Athletic Conference. After a one-play, one-interception scenario for starting quarterback Gunner Kiel, Munchie Legaux’s name was called to lead the Bearcats to victory. The Bearcats defense set the tone in the first half with goal line stops and a forced missed field goal, not allowing any points while senior running back Rod Moore’s 61-yard carry sparked the offense as the team gained momentum that led to a 24-0 halftime lead, scoring on the first three drives after Legaux entered the game. The Bearcats took the lead and never looked back. Tulane made plays early in the third quarter with two touchdowns making the score 24-14, but the dominant running attack of Moore and freshman running back
Mike Boone racked up a combined 214 rushing yards that kept the lead safe and Legaux’s homecoming a winning one. Legaux completed 66 percent of his passes, throwing 16-24 with 211 passing yards and three touchdowns — one of them to junior wide receiver Shaq Washington, which ended up number two on ESPN SportsCenter’s top 10 plays. “I threw it to a guy that I knew would make a play for me. He made a great catch in the end zone and made us both look good on National Television,” Legaux said, reflecting on the touchdown late in the third quarter that all but sealed the win for his team. “I didn’t expect to throw three touchdowns or anything like that, but I will take it, especially in front of my family,” Legaux said. Legaux has seen limited playing time this season with Kiel being named the starter since the beginning of the season. “It feels good to contribute to a team win. I scored my first rushing touchdown last week and now I throw three touchdowns — great moment to be back in New Orleans and to play in front of my people and against players I went to high school with,” Legaux said. The Bearcats have a bye this week as they prepare to host conference leader Eastern Carolina which is ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press poll. The winner of this game will take control as the frontrunner in the conference. This primetime game will air on ESPN2 Nov. 13 at 6 p.m.
When Lauren Hill turned 18, she officially chose to play basketball at Mount Saint Joseph University’s at nearby Lawrenceburg High School. What she did not know was how difficult it would be to make that possible. Forty-nine days after her 18th birthday, Hill’s parents took her to the doctor. She had not been playing basketball at the level that everyone was accustomed to during her senior season at Lawrenceburg and everyone close to her started to think that something was wrong. Once she visited the doctor, Hill learned the cause of her declined level of play. She was diagnosed with diffused intrinsic pentene gleoma (DIPG). DIPG is an inoperable form of brain cancer and Hill was given a zero percent chance to live. Doctors said that Hill had two years left, at the most. Hill’s life might have been at stake but she never stopped living. She continued to play basketball at Lawrenceburg through chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Hill showed everyone around her the strength she had by never giving up and by continuing to live her life to the fullest. Last month, Hill had another MRI. Despite her strength, she could not seem to conquer DIPG. The doctors told her that she was not going to make it past December. December may be next month, but that still leaves time for Hill to fulfill her dream — to play a college basketball game at Mount Saint Joseph. On Sunday, Lauren played her first college game against Hiram University in Xavier University’s Cintas Center after the NCAA made an exception to allow the teams to move the game to an earlier date for Hill. She scored the first two points of the NCAA season with an easy lay-up against the Terriers.
“Lauren’s story is one of incredible courage and bravery and our team is so amazed by her commitment and dedication to the game of basketball and life.” —Jamelle Elliott, UC women’s basketball head coach
The University of Cincinnati women’s basketball program decided to do its part in giving recognition to Hill for her unbelievable fight and to raise awareness for pediatric brain cancer. UC will present Hill with an honorary game jersey during halftime and she will also speak to the crowd about her battle with cancer. The awareness color for pediatric brain cancer is gray, so the Bearcat’s will also wear special gray warmup T-shirts and Bearcat fans are encouraged to wear grey to the game. Bearcats head coach Jamelle Elliott spoke about Hill’s strength and how it is an honor to have her join them on Friday. “Lauren’s story is one of incredible courage and bravery and our team is so amazed by her commitment and dedication to the game of basketball and life,” Elliott said. “It will be an honor to have her join us on November 7th.” Bearcat sophomore forward Marley Hill also elaborated on Lauren Hill and the strength she has shown to everyone. “Being able to play through chemotherapy and radiation makes her really strong. It talks about her character and who she is as a person because some people would just give up if they were in her shoes,” Marley Hill said. Marley Hill also spoke about why she thinks the UC women’s basketball program took its time to honor Lauren Hill’s story. “I feel like we are all one team together,” Marley Hill said. “So if somebody is going through something difficult we are all going through it together with them and that is because we are all one.” Once the Bearcat’s game is over, Marley Hill hopes that everyone leaves the game with one thing. “Knowledge is what is key. I want people to know what it is like to actually go through cancer. There is all of the chemotherapy and radiation treatments that you have to do. I just hope everyone gains knowledge about the cancer in itself,” Marley Hill said. The Bearcat’s 7 p.m. exhibition game Friday in Fifth Third Arena is more than just a regular exhibition. It is in honor of everyone dealing with pediatric brain cancer, and in support of Lauren Hill’s fight.
6 / COLLEGE LIFE
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014 / NEWSRECORD.ORG
University celebrates 100 years of Bearcat mascot
LISA VENTRE | UC CREATIVE SERVICES
The Bearcat mascot bumps noses with Lucy, the binturong from the Cincinnati Zoo, during Friday morning’s centennial celebration. Students, staff and visitors came together on the steps of TUC to commemorate 100 years of being Bearcats.
Lucy comes to campus to join in with students, staff at centennial event FERNANDA CRESCENTE | STAFF REPORTER
The University of Cincinnati’s Bearcat mascot hung up his characteristic football jersey Friday morning. Instead, he wore a tailored tuxedo and red bow tie, dressing to impress the crowd that joined him in celebration of his 100th birthday. The university threw a two-hour party for the mascot on the steps of Tangeman University Center, opening with speeches from president Santa Ono and Tom Humes, UC Board of Trustees chair. Shivam Shah, student body vice president and a third-year neuropsychology student, was also at the event, representing student government and helping to organize the celebration. “This Bearcat centennial is a really big deal,” Ono said in the beginning of his speech. “It encourages us to reflect on what it means to be a Bearcat, and why that matters so much, whether it is high-profile sports, competition or as a unifying force that unites all the faculty, students, staff and alumni across generations.” The Bearcat became UC’s mascot in 1914, following a 14-7 football victory over the University of Kentucky Wildcats. UC fullback Leonard “Teddy” Baehr took the ball, prompting cheerleader Norman “Pat” Lyon to chant “They may be Wildcats,
but we have a Baehr-cat on our side,” according to the university. The next morning, a drawing by cartoonist John “Paddy” Reece appeared on the front page of the university’s student newspaper. Cookies depicting this original drawing were distributed to students, faculty and
visitors during the centennial party. Ono also used the celebration to announce a new initiative: the Bearcat Mascot Fund. The money raised will be awarded as scholarships to students who wear the Bearcat costume, Ono said. The initiative’s initial goal is to reach 100 donors to
COURTESY OF UNIVERSITY OF CICNINNATI
A cartoon by John “Paddy” Reece appears on the front page of UC’s student newspaper in 1914 after the school takes home a victory over the Kentucky Wildcats.
represent 100 years of the Bearcat. Humes, who attended UC and served as mascot in the ’70s, donated $1,000 to the initiative. He also brought one of his most prized possessions to the celebration — an old, crusty Bearcat head from the late ’60s. “To look out of this hat, it’s amazing,” Humes said. “When you put this on, it’s amazing how you see the world differently. You see people smile, you see people that have challenges and troubles. The troubles just went away.” After talking about some of his experiences as the Bearcat, Humes invited Ono to try on the old Bearcat costume. As the president proudly donned the suit, students and faculty admired Ono’s spirit. “The most fun I have ever had, and the greatest job I have ever had in my life, was the year I was the Bearcat mascot,” Humes said. “I prefer to think of our bear as a warm and fuzzy friendly guy, who happens to be the most fierce, toughest competitor you could ever find.” Shah talked about how incredible the organization of the event was. Many departments pitched in, including the President’s Office and the Alumni Association. “We are getting more and more spirited,” Shah said. “We are feeling better about the university, more prideful. Our university is on the rise. Celebrating something like this just kind of continues that upward projection.” The celebration also featured Lucy the Bearcat from the Cincinnati Zoo. Lucy interacted with the mascot and took several pictures with excited students. Grace Hiltz, a first-year biomedical student, admitted having a picture with Lucy was high on her priority list. She also talked about how she loved watching Ono pose next to the Bearcat while wearing the old headpiece. “Just the fact that we have so much legacy here is something really special,” Hiltz said.
LISA VENTRE | UC CREATIVE SERVICES
The Bearcat mascot trades in his characteristic jersey for a red and black tuxedo.
Students dress up, get down at first homocoming party
MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR
Daniel Wilson, left, and Jojo Azevedo, UC alumni, participate in UC Alliance’s homocoming. The event brought together UC Alliance and LGBTQ members for games, beer and karaoke.
LGBTQ event entertains with costumes, karaoke, raises support for Equal Housing & Employment Act CASSIE LIPP | STAFF REPORTER
Students descended into the Catskeller Halloween night for a homecoming party that was the first of its kind. About 30 students participated in UC Alliance’s first Halloween Homocoming, a dance filled with love, laughter, karaoke and drag. Alliance focuses on developing interpersonal relationships through events and activities for the LGBTQ community and its allies. The Halloween social included dancing, a costume contest and “queeraoke”—the Alliance’s special version of karaoke that involves comical background dancing and drag. “We’re pretty excited and anxious to see how it goes,” said Ashley West, a fourth-year nursing student and Alliance president, before the event. “There’s a first time for everything.” To get into the event students were required to write a letter to local senators requesting support for Senate Bill 125, or the Equal Housing and Employment Act. The bill expands anti-discrimination laws to protect the LGBTQ community. “I’m bi, but I’m also human,” said Rebecca Tian, a firstyear industrial design student. Tian said she supports the bill because she wants to make sure she will be able to support her family in the future.
The idea for Halloween Homocoming came from St. Louis University’s LGBTQ student group, according to John Barno, Alliance director of operations and fourthyear English student. Barno, a transfer student from St. Louis University, said the other school’s homocoming was more like a formal dance. “It was an opportunity for the members of the LGBTQ community to finally ask out someone of their same sex if they wanted to, and they wouldn’t have any fear of repercussions or being told no,” Barno said. Barno said he wanted to bring this idea to UC, but the board members had trouble finding a space large enough to hold a formal dance, so they opted to have a Halloween social instead. “We hope that as the years go on it gets bigger, and then it can become a tradition for people to go to a formal dance and just have no inhibitions about their sexual orientation or identity or anything like that and just be themselves, finally, at a school dance,” Barno said. Mel Jeffries, a fourth-year biochemistry student, said she was able to be her girlfriend’s first date to a school dance at the Halloween Homocoming. “I wanted to be her first date,” Jeffries said. “There’s nothing like a homocoming to bring us together for our first dance.” Jeffries and her girlfriend Rachel Fenton, a fourth-year psychology student, were dubbed “Homocoming Royalty” at the end of the event because they won the costume contest with their shark costumes.
Grant Fischesser, a second-year finance student, kicked off queeraoke by singing Kanye West’s “Gold Digger” while dressed as a nun. Other queeraoke highlights included a performance of The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Do You Believe in Magic” performed by Taylor Lovett, internal vice president of Alliance. Lovett was dressed in drag as a magician she named Ferdinand the Phenomenal. Barno — also dressed in drag as Lovett’s lovely assistant — provided backup dancing. Tori Roloson, a fourth-year electronic media student and external vice president of Alliance, said the event was a fun take on homecoming. “Some queer people don’t get to go to homecoming with who they want to go with, so it’s just a comfortable, safe place for queer people to come have fun,” Roloson said, before she sang — or rather, yelled — a duet of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” with Lovett. Barno said he likes being a part of Alliance because there is something about being LGBTQ that brings everyone together. “We really bond on a deeper level beyond any other person’s understanding if you’re not in the community,” Barno said. “There’s something to say about people that bond over something that’s so central to themselves.” Joey Meeks, a third-year health science student who dressed as Prince Charming, said Alliance is one of the only groups on campus that really embraces the idea of a social group. “We’re literally in it to be accepting of other groups and talk about our problems,” Meeks said. Meeks added that Alliance is a fun and safe way to be introduced into the LGBTQ community. “In the LGBT community, if you get introduced in the wrong way, you can get stuck in this spiral of materialism and just getting drunk and having sex with people,” Meeks said. “Alliance is a good way to meet people, be friends with them, and start to understand yourself in a healthy way outside of all that.”
MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR
Spooky decorations hang in the Catskeller Friday night during UC’s first homocoming put on by UC Alliance.