Jan. 16, 2019 - The News Record at University of Cincinnati

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Wednesday, January 16, 2019 Welcome Back Edition

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pg. 4 | Gov. shutdown: Could it affect you?

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pg. 9 | Meet the 2019 Bearcats football signees

Brass Tap replaced by whiskey-focused bar ELIZABETH SCHMITT | FEATURES EDITOR

The goals of the Uptown Innovation Corridor include improving pedestrian and bicycle transportation better connecting main campus to Uptown, help stablize existing residents and businesses and create a new identity for Uptown Cincinnati. PROVIDED BY UPTOWN CONSORTIUM, INC.

Uptown: The next Silicon Valley?

MITCHELL PARTON | NEWS EDITOR Stanford University faced a dilemma in 1950: it had lots of land and nothing to do with it.

That changed when Frederick Terman, the university’s then-provost and dean of engineering, conceived his idea for the Stanford Business Park — a university-owned space near the school where businesses could grow and tap into Stanford’s resources for help along the way. What Terman didn’t know is that his idea would transform Santa Clara County and the surrounding region into Silicon Valley — an epicenter of development for the modern world.

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On New Year’s Eve, the Clifton Heights community bid farewell to The Brass Tap, a craft beer bar franchise formerly located at 251 Calhoun St. near the University of Cincinnati’s uptown campus.

Nine days later, coowner Mic Foster opened Hop Scotch Craft Beer & Whiskey in its place.

“We have enjoyed our partnership with The Brass Tap, and are now ready to do something unique and new,” the owners wrote in a Dec. 27 post on the Hop Scotch website. “We love the Clifton neighborhood and all of our loyal customers.”

On opening night, Hop

Scotch debuted its extended cocktail menu, including a wide selection of whiskey, bourbon and scotch. Patrons were given free samples of gourmet grilled cheeses — a new addition to the food menu. Hop Scotch also offers more than 60 beers on tap and a broad selection of wines.

For some loyal patrons, the sudden closure of The Brass Tap came as a shock.

But according to Foster, Hop Scotch has been in the works for quite a while.

The agreement with the Brass Tap franchise expired in 2018, which allowed the 5F Group —comprised of Foster, his father, Mike;

Hop Scotch Continued on Page 4

David Adams, the University of Cincinnati’s chief innovation officer, envisions the same concept materializing just steps from UC’s campus.

The Uptown Innovation Corridor is a mixed-use development in Avondale in which the city hopes to attract businesses to open offices, retail spaces and residential accommodations. UC currently operates one building in the district, the 1819 Innovation Hub; and plans to open a second building, dubbed the Digital Futures Building, in 2021.

Uptown Consortium, Inc., a group comprised of leaders Innovation Continued on Page 3

Shop & save close to campus at 235 Calhoun St

A bartender prepares drinks for customers at Hop Scotch on Calhoun Street. ELIZABETH SCHMITT | FEATURES EDITOR

UC kicks off bicentennial with Charter Week DAVID REES | CHIEF REPORTER Neville Pinto, president of the University of Cincinnati, officially kicked off UC’s bicentennial year with a celebratory reception in the CARE/ Crawley Atrium at the College of Medicine.

The reception marked the start of Charter Week, which commemorates the signing of the charters that founded the Medical College of Ohio and Cincinnati College — both of which would eventually become the University of Cincinnati.

“Our ceremony today will celebrate UC’s past, present and future,” Pinto said in his opening remarks. “Just as our predecessors did, it will look ahead to create a better tomorrow for the generations to come.”

Pinto also launched UC’s five newest virtual reality experiences, which were designed specifically for the bicentennial. The technology offers users five different vignettes of UC’s history.

Permanent installations of the experiences will be found at University Pavilion, Tangeman University Center and the CARE/Crawley building on Medical Campus. Additionally, mobile units will travel to UC Blue Ash, the Campus Recreation Center (CRC) and

UC Clermont throughout the year.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley ended his visit by naming Jan. 15 Bicentennial Day in Cincinnati. To end the opening celebration, Kelly Gardner, area sales coordinator for Apple Inc., presented the College of Nursing with the Apple Distinguished School Award.

President Pinto also announced the recipients of $100,000 in community engagement grants. Of 150 applicants, 15 local organizations were selected: • Breakthrough Cincinnati • Give Like a Mother • God’s Favor Mobile Meals Ministry • Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati • Hughes STEM High School • Interfaith Hospitality Network of Greater Cincinnati • Keep Cincinnati Beautiful • Lockland High Schools • Nurturing Educational Readiness and Development from The Start (NERDS) • Sidestreams • St. Francis Seraph Ministries • St. Vincent de Paul – Cincinnati • Super Seeds • Sweet Cheeks Diaper • UC Early Learning Center Beyond the virtual reality immersive experiences, students will be able

to discover and attend various bicentennial events through the whole year.

Executive director of the UC Alumni Association Jennifer Heisey explained how students can also participate online through the UC Mobile app’s bicentennial module on social media by using #BoldlyBearcat and sporting bicentennial gear, which can be found at the UC Bookstore.

Heisey encouraged students to get creative with FlatCat, a printed image of a cartoon Bearcat, by taking pictures of it in different situations or posing with it. The UC community can download and print the image. Heisey said the goal is to get FlatCat to all fifty states and all seven continents.

“You’re fortunate to be in school at this monumental time,” Heisey said. “Sample whatever bicentennial opportunities you can. Think about UC’s fascinating story that has taken 200 years to write, and consider the fact that you’ll be writing this story as we move into our next 200 years because on a fundamental level, a university is what its people do, and how they do it. This week and this year, we celebrate how far UC has come, and everything that is yet to come. The bicentennial is owned by all of us.”

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University of Cincinnati’s president Neville Pinto speaks at the Bicentennial event on Tuesday, January 15, 2019, at the CARE/Crawley Atrium on UC’s medical campus. ABBY SHOYAT | PHOTO EDITOR

University, city leaders to transform Uptown into next Silicon Valley

Innovation Continued from Cover

from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the Cincinnati Zoo, UC Health, TriHealth, Inc. and the University of Cincinnati, has been working to revitalize Uptown since 2004.

The collection of these organizations, which the consortium calls “anchor institutions,” already create an attractive location for potential talent upon which the Innovation Cooridor aims to expand.

“The goal and what we’re achieving is to attract highgrowth tech and creative companies to Cincinnati,” said Brooke Duncan, community development manager for the Uptown Consortium.

Before Adams was hired as UC’s chief innovation officer in 2017, construction was already being done on the former Sears department store that would later become the 1819 Innovation Hub. “When I arrived, this building was just a shell,” Adams said. “You had a lot of work and a lot of construction going on, but there wasn’t anything here.”

Now, the building includes tenants such as Cincinnati Bell, Kroger, CincyTech, Village Life Outreach Project and Live Well Collaborative. It also houses

the Office of Innovation and the UC Simulation Center.

“The Innovation Hub is really a microcosm of the kinds of innovation that can occur,” Adams said. “Think about this as being the front door not only to the university, but an anchor within the overall Uptown Innovation Corridor and our developing innovation district.”

The building is geared toward promoting nontraditional learning experiences and collaborations between students and businesses.

One of the most of exciting examples of this, Adams said, is Cincinnati Bell — one of the first companies to commit to the project.

In November, the company hosted an event at the Innovation Hub which challenged students to build the next generation of its “Connect Cincinnati” app.

Fifty students — graduates and undergraduates alike — participated in the event.

“The students came from everything, from the urban planning department to our fine arts department, marketing, psychology, economics, computer science and electrical engineering,” Adams said. “We provided an opportunity with Cincinnati Bell to really allow students across many different

disciplines to collaborate in some pretty unique ways to work on some challenges that Cincinnati Bell has within their business. That’s a pretty exciting opportunity for our students.”

UC plans for the Digital Futures Building to expand the university’s presence in the Innovation Corridor by providing more dedicated research space.

UC President Neville Pinto described the building as a “digital research commons” with 180,000 square feet that will allow faculty and students to work together with industry leaders on the digital future. “[The building] will bring together our advanced capabilities in computer hardware and software, data sciences, digital expression, and human factors to interface with our external partners,” Pinto said at the opening event of the 1819 Innovation Hub in October.

“If you think about the world we live in today and the connection across many different disciplines that occur in the ‘real-world’ environment, what the Digital Futures Building allows us to do is bring researchers across our 14 different colleges to actually collaborate in ways that most universities don’t do

The 1819 Innovation Hub is located on Reading Road in what will be part of the Innovation Corridor.

ADAM DOTY | CONTRIBUTOR

The Uptown Consortium, Inc. is at the helm of the project and has acquired 100+ properties worth $25 million for the new development. PROVIDED BY UPTOWN CONSORTIUM, INC.

today,” Adams said.

Adams believes transdisciplinary research could usher a wave of lifechanging possibilities. When catastrophic events happen, like when Hurricane Michael devastated the southeast coast of Florida a few months ago, insurance companies need to assess the damage.

“Given the power lines are down, trees are down and homes are destroyed, that becomes a difficult task,” Adams said. If a similar disaster happened in Cincinnati, the Innovation Corridor would enable the university to connect with experts to deploy drones, assess the damage and use data analytics and artificial intelligence to assess the damage.

“If you think about that simple example, we’re connecting an industry problem with many different departments and the University of Cincinnati.”

Even Kroger, an established grocery powerhouse, needs access to the most innovative, high-tech individuals. The company is experimenting with the latest technology from drones to autonomous vehicles, personalization and digitization. “[Kroger] is no longer a retail company doing digital, but a digital company that’s doing retail,” Adams said. Kroger is already identifying the many challenges it faces each day, and the company wants the university’s

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students and faculty to help solve them.

After Pinto arrived at the university, he tasked Adams with creating a new “front door” for companies like Kroger, Procter & Gamble and local startups to tap into the school’s resources. While many companies have already flocked to the Innovation Hub, Adams admitted that growth needs to accelerate to compete with similar ventures in other cities, like the Oakland Innovation

District in Pittsburgh near Carnegie Mellon or Kendall Square in Boston near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“We need to move as a community,” Adams said.

“Those things are 20 to 30 years ahead of where we’re currently at. So, we’ve got a lot of work to do to accelerate what we’re doing here, and we’re going to do that through partnering with organizations to help us move this along.”

“Uptown Gateway will be a mixed-use development located by the I-71 interchange in Uptown’s Innovation Corridor,” according to uptowncincinnati.com. PROVIDED BY UPTOWN CONSORTIUM, INC.

Government shutdown: What you need to know GABRIELLA MULISANO | CHIEF REPORTER MITCHELL PARTON | NEWS EDITOR NOELLE ZIELINSKI | MANAGING EDITOR

How did the shutdown happen?

Hop Scotch replaced The Brass Tap storefront on Calhoun Street. ELIZABETH SCHMITT | FEATURES EDITOR

Tapped out? Meet Hop Scotch Hop Scotch Continued from Cover

and his mother, Marta — to pursue their vision of launching a new concept bar and restaurant.

“We wanted to do a concept that involved craft beer, but we see a big transition towards whiskey drinking,” Foster said.

Although Foster sees whiskey as a timeless drink, he has noticed a sharp increase in young adults who are interested in

bourbon and whiskey-based drinks. He said he wanted to provide an approachable space for that exploration.

“I think whiskey, for a long time, was something you drank in your 40s or 50s,” he said. “But now, we are having 22-year-old students come in and want to try different things.”

The reimagined drink menu features several whiskey-based classic cocktails, including the Manhattan and the Old

Customers enjoy drinks at Hop Scotch, the newest bar near campus.

ELIZABETH SCHMITT | FEATURES EDITOR

Fashioned.

Foster said he is also excited about the bar’s newest signature cocktail, the boilermaker — a pint of beer accompanied with a shot of whiskey.

“I respect students’ ability to come in and have a more upscale time,” Foster said.

“I think there are some real intense party bars in the area, and I think it’s sometimes nice to come and maybe order a little nicer drink and relax in a slightly different atmosphere.”

Hop Scotch still honors its $3 select craft beer and wine pour happy hour specials.

The bar also expanded its happy hour selection to include $3 select whiskey pours and $3 gourmet American-style grilled cheeses.

The expansion of the food menu, Foster said, is one of the most exciting aspects of the new bar.

“When you’re drinking whiskey, I think it’s good to have something in your stomach,” he said. “I really like grilled cheese, because there is a lot of bread and unique flavors that pair well with whiskey and beer.”

Operating hours are 3 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Saturday and Sunday.

The government shutdown happened because Congress could not agree on a budget.

As a result, the federal government ceased funding on all “nonessential” services. Nonessential services and departments, like national park rangers and NASA staff, have been temporarily dismissed.

Services like mail delivery, military activity, tax collection and Medicare, all of which are considered essential services, will continue to operate.

Why should I care?

Keep reading.

Are my student loans affected?

No — at least not yet.

The shutdown could make it difficult for millions of U.S. students — roughly 71.4 percent of them nationwide — who rely on federal aid to receive it. Peter Bandrowsky, a third-year economics and political science student and the president of College Democrats, explained that the shutdown could be disastrous for these students.

“As the parts of the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security that

verify information on financial aid requests are closed, students who did not file their Federal Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) before the shutdown cannot currently be awarded aid,” Bandrowsky said.

For now, the shutdown impacts only students who were unable to file their FAFSA before the shutdown began. However, if the shutdown continues through the spring and summer months, enrolled students who still need to renew their FAFSA application could be affected.

Are planes still being inspected?

Yes, but not by federal employees. You’re safe to travel, but expect delays from the TSA.

Is food still being inspected?

Yes, but inspectors are not getting paid, and only important food inspections, like meat, are getting priority. “This was a major functional accomplishment amidst one of the biggest operational challenges in FDA’s modern history, and it was fully enabled by the leadership of FDA’s field force and the colleagues who serve the country on the front lines of that mission,” Scott Gottlieb, M.D., commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, wrote

Monday on Twitter.

Are any academics affected by the shutdown?

Not directly. However, research that relies on government databases may not be possible with some of these sites shut down.

Some professors that work at government agencies may not be able to access their email addresses or government-sponsored equipment.

Is this the longest shutdown ever?

Yup. This shutdown became the longest in U.S. history on Sunday, surpassing the previous record of 21 days.

How close are we to ending the shutdown?

At the moment, not close.

Any bill passed by the House or the Senate needs to go through President Trump, and the president isn’t too keen on signing anything without a $5 billion guarantee to build a wall on the southern border.

Is there a national emergency?

Nope. President Trump has not yet declared a national emergency. Many federal employees are missing payments and looking for other work, but Trump’s main focus is on immigration.

President Trump is leaving Washington D.C. in disarray, but UC students shouldn’t just lie back and relax.

WIKIMEDIA

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Get out and do something: Jan. 18 to Jan. 20 ERIN COUCH | SENIOR REPORTER

Friday, Dec. 18 Fiddler on the Roof at the Aronoff: This Tony awardwinning musical follows the story of a Jewish family in a Russian shtetl before the Russian Revolution. Reb Tevye is a poor milkman who is struggling to make ends meet and find suitors for his five daughters.

The show features classic Broadway songs, including “Tradition,”“If I Were a Rich Man,”“Sunrise, Sunset” and more. The show will run almost every day Jan. 1527, so be sure to check for show times on the Aronoff website.

8 p.m. Friday. Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut St., Over-the-Rhine. $31-$114.

Queen City Dance: Celebrate pride at the

Queen City Exchange this Friday. This stock marketinspired craft beer bar hosts a monthly dance party called “Spectrum” in which each month corresponds to a different color theme and caters to a select Cincinnati LGBTQ+ organization.

Absolut Vodka is sponsoring the event, so all Absolut drinks are on sale.

10 p.m.-2 a.m. Friday.

Queen City Exchange, 32 W. Court St., Downtown. Cover charge may apply.

Saturday, Dec. 19 Penguin Days: Half-Price Zoo Admission: This winter, pay just half the price of general admission when you visit the Cincinnati Zoo during operating hours.

Most of the cold-weather zoo animals will be outside, and if the weather dips below 50 degrees, you

can check out a parade of penguins waddling through the park. There will be special animal encounters Saturdays and Sundays, so be sure to stop by on the weekends.

Daily through Feb. 22. Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, 3400 Vine St., Corryville. $6 child admission; $9.50 adults The Friends’ Winter Warehouse Sale: Calling all bookworms: This weekend, check out the Cincinnati Public Library for a warehouse sale featuring tons of used books. Random pop-up carts with super clearance items will appear throughout the sale, so keep an eye out. There will also be CDs, vinyl, DVDs, VHS tapes, audiobooks and more, so if you’re a musiclover or cinephile, there’s something here for you too.

10 a.m. Friday and

Saturday; noon Sunday.

Friends of the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County.

Sunday, Dec. 20 Art on Vine: Art on Vine returns for its 2019 debut this weekend. The monthly art show will feature more than 70 local artists who will be selling their artwork, handmade goods and more.

Food from Satre OTR will be available for purchase. This month, Rhinegeist is hosting the show, so you can shield yourself from the cold and grab some craft beer while you enjoy the local art.

Noon-7 p.m. Sunday.

Rhinegeist, 1910 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. Free.

Lunar Eclipse at the Cincinnati Observatory: Total lunar eclipses are a rarity that occur only when the moon, sun and Earth

align perfectly, and this year, the Greater Cincinnati area has a decent view of it.

The eclipse starts at 10:33 p.m. Sunday, and by 11:41 p.m., the moon will be in Earth’s shadow. Apparently,

the moon appears to change colors during the eclipse, so be sure to check it out.

10 p.m. – midnight. Sunday.

Cincinnati Observatory, 3489 Observatory Place, Hyde Park. $5.

Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher presents “Fiddler on the Roof” at the Aronoff Center in downtown Cincinnati. Opening night is January 15 and the show runs until January 27. ABBY SHOYAT | PHOTO EDITOR

How one UC alum turned his college hobby into a profitable business venture BOYA SUN | CONTRIBUTOR

Past and present University of Cincinnati students Will Sims, Jake Cain and Griffin Witzel run a local shoe boutique called Sole by Style opened in July of 2018. BOYA SUN | CONTRIBUTOR

Sole by Style has defied the odds and have earned $100,000 in their first four months of business. They resell shoes and streetwear, inspired by the culture of consignment shopping found in cities such as Chicago. BOYA SUN | CONTRIBUTOR

In the Amazon era, most startup retailers are doomed to fail. But a local boutique is bucking this trend, having earned more than $100,000 reselling sneakers and streetwear since its opening in Covington, Kentucky, just four months ago.

Jake Cain, a University of Cincinnati alumnus who graduated last spring, opened Sole By Style in July 2018.

“I just felt a lot of potential in this area — a lot of kids and people were into that kind of thing,” Cain said. “I knew people needed a place to sell their stuff and to buy stuff.”

His vision of launching a consignment shop, Cain said, stemmed from his travel experience.

“I frequently go to Chicago and [consignment stores] are pretty common in Chicago,” he said. “I want to bring that atmosphere to here.”

Cain began his business in 2016 by reselling sneakers online while he was still enrolled at UC. He began to form connections with people who were already in the business, and from there, he

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decided to focus more heavily on the retail side.

In recent years, brick-andmortar retail markets have begun competing more heavily with growing e-commerce brands. According to Business Insider, e-commerce is growing almost five times faster than instore retail.

As a local retail business, Sole

By Style is facing many online competitors, like StockX and Goat — the two biggest sneaker reselling platforms in the United States. Despite this, Sole By Style has netted more than $100,000 since its establishment.

The viability of Cain’s business could be attributed to his close attention to consumer needs. Before opening of the retail store, Cain launched an Instagram page to encourage digital engagement and local exposure. As a result, Sole

By Style quickly gained a large following from sneaker enthusiasts.

Sole By Style has not abandoned its digital operations entirely, however. The company still shares its products on social media and on its website.

Shoppers can place orders online or over the phone, and

orders can either be shipped to a home address or picked up in-store.

“A lot of inventory [in the shop] is mine,” said Griffin Witzel, a third-year entrepreneurship student and a Sole By Style buyer.

“At first it was just a hobby so I could afford what I wanted,” Witzel said. “I would just get one of what I wanted and then get couple more on the side, and then just sell those to pay for what I bought.”

Wil Sims, a marketing student, began reselling sneakers to continue expanding his shoe collection.

“It is a passion, and fashion is also something I care about,” Sims said. “It ties in very well.”

To remain competitive, Sole

By Style tracks online retail markets to monitor fluctuations in market prices.

“We mostly look at a lot of different marketplaces like eBay, Goat and some other secondary marketplaces,” Sims said. “We are trying to keep our prices as close to the market pricing as possible.”

For more information, check out the Sole By Style website.

UC improved to 15-3, 4-1 in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). USF fell to 12-5, 2-3 in the AAC. The Bearcats held a 43-31 lead at halftime behind 19 points from Cumberland. UC forced USF into 15 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

UC junior guard Jarron Cumberland finished with a game-high and career-high 34 points on 9-of-20 shooting to go along with three assists. He also knocked down 14-of-16 free throws.

USF was led by redshirt junior guard LaQuincy Rideau, who contributed 26 points on 9-of-17 shooting and four assists.

Below are a few takeaways from the win:

Cronin ejected

Jarron Cumberland reacts to scoring his 1,000th career point Tuesday evening in UC’s 82-74 win at Fifth Third Arena. JUSTIN HILES | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Takeaways from Bearcats’ 82-74 taming of the Bulls MATT HUFFMON | SPORTS EDITOR

The University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team proved to have enough

energy to outlast the University of South Florida (USF) Bulls 82-74 Tuesday evening inside Fifth Third Arena. The game was the third in six days for the Bearcats.

UC head coach Mick Cronin was ejected for the first time in his career with 18 minutes left in the second-half while arguing a foul called on junior center Nysier Brooks as he battled for a rebound.

Associate head coach Darren Savino filled in for the remainder of the game.

“The guy said I [got a technical foul] because I put my hands up,” Cronin said.

“When he said that, I obviously was upset, because what are you T’ing [giving me a technical] for? So when I showed that I was upset about that, his tough guy buddy threw me out. What they did is they almost penalized a group of kids and they should be suspended.”

Savino steps up

Despite losing their head coach, the UC players didn’t lose confidence in their gameplan.

“I wasn’t too much worried about [losing

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Cronin],” redshirt junior forward Trevon Scott said. “I know the guys weren’t either.

Coach Savino is a great guy. He’s a great coach and he knows what he’s doing. I knew we were in good hands.

Cronin had nothing but praise for Savino’s ability to lead the team to a victory in the second-half, even going as far as saying he should have a head coaching position.

“I want to congratulate Coach Savino,” Cronin said. “He should’ve been a head coach a long time ago. Every year, I try to get him a job. So, other people’s loss is Cincinnati’s gain — that he’s on our staff.

It’s not a secret. He’s been back with me eight years, and we’ve been to eight straight [NCAA] tournaments.”

Cumberland’s milestone

With a three-pointer in the first-half, Cumberland became the 53rd UC player in school history to score 1,000 career points.

“It means a lot,” Cumberland said. “I’m proud of myself. It was a lot of work, and there’s still more to come. It’s what I wanted, but I want more. I want to go to the NCAA tournament and take the conference [championship].”

The Bearcats head to Wichita, Kansas, Saturday to face the 7-8 (0-3) Wichita State University Shockers. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. CBS and 700 WLW will provide coverage.

“It’s a grind,” Cronin said. “I’m sure Wichita State can’t wait to see us. Their fans love us.

They’ve got a great home-court. Every game is going to be like this. We’re an evolving team.”

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Bearcats football signs 14 on early signing day MATT HUFFMON | SPORTS EDITOR

The University of Cincinnati football team was the third-youngest NCAA FBS team this past season, which makes the 11-2 record and Military Bowl win even more impressive.

Second-year head coach Luke Fickell secured 14 fresh faces over winter break during the NCAA’s early signing period Dec. 19, 2018.

“We signed 13 guys, which still gives us a lot of flexibility for January and February,” Fickell said. “We

University of Cincinnat’s head football coach watches UC win at their bowl game at the Naval Academy against Virginia Tech on Sunday, December 31, 2018, closing out a winning season for the Bearcats.

ABBY SHOYAT | PHOTO EDITOR

weren’t going to jump into taking some of these extra slots.”

The Bearcats received 13 National Letters of Intent from high school players, and Fickell announced the addition of transfer James Hudson from the University of Michigan. He appeared in three games for the Wolverines this past season.

Hudson is a 6-foot-5, 255-pound offensive tackle who graduated from Toledo Central Catholic in 2017 alongside current UC running back Michael Warren II. Coming out of high school, Hudson was a 4-star prospect according to 247Sports.com and the ninth overall recruit in Ohio.

“I think James realized and saw something here that made him believe he could thrive in this environment and this culture,” Fickell said. “He believes he can reach his goals and dreams doing it here.”

Eight of the 14 signees are from Ohio, with two

each from Kentucky and Illinois along with one from Indiana and Florida.

“We recognize there’s great football here,” Fickell said. “That’s where everything starts for us, within that 50-mile radius we call the ‘State of Cincinnati.’ It extends to the state of Ohio. Thirteen of the 14 are from a 300-mile radius, which is really what we sell everything we’ve got on. We know those people the best, and they play the brand of football we think fits best walking in the door here.”

UC’s 2019 recruiting class is currently ranked 73rd nationally and sixth in the American Athletic Conference by 247Sports. com.

Cornerback Justin Harris from Wayne High School in Huber Heights, Ohio, earned a consensus three-star ranking from 247Sports.com, ESPN.com and Rivals.com and is the highest-rated recruit to sign with UC so far. He earned first-team All-Greater Western Ohio Conference

Sports rundown: What happened over winter break SPENCER SCHULTZ | STAFF REPORTER AARON SARY | CONTRIBUTOR Men’s Basketball won five of seven, including four at home Head coach Mick Cronin and his team had an upand-down break, as the Bearcats won five games and lost two. UC suffered its first road loss on the season to Mississippi State University 70-59 Dec. 15.

Still, the team won its next three games at Fifth Third Arena by an average margin of 27.3 points. Junior guard Jarron Cumberland led the Bearcats in scoring in four of the seven games.

UC travels to Wichita, Kansas, Jan. 19 to face the Wichita State University Shockers. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. EST, and CBS Sports will provide coverage.

Women’s Basketball defended home court, lost on road

The Bearcats were dominant at home over break, defeating Xavier University, Howard University and Southern Methodist University all by double digits. Sophomore Iimar’I Thomas led the way for UC, scoring at least 20 points per game and shooting an average of 76 percent on field goal attempts. But the Bearcats struggled away from home, dropping road games to the No. 3 ranked UConn Huskies and the University of Central Florida Knights.

Cincinnati hosts Temple University Jan. 16. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., and ESPN2 will provide coverage.

events with seven race podium sweeps, the men won by a score of 222.5071.50, while the women won 209.50-84.50.

UC junior diver Claire Schuermann received the best scores of 287.05 in the 1-meter and 289.25 in the 3-meter. Sophomore Tai Sims scored the best dive for the men with a 268.95 on the 3-meter. The swimming team finished first place in 16 single events and four relay events.

The Bearcats travel to Virginia Tech University for a quad meet this weekend before returning home for senior day Jan. 26 against Northwestern.

Swimming and Diving swept crosstown rival The Bearcats saw success at the Keating Aquatic Center Jan. 12, as the program dominated the Xavier Musketeers.

Alongside winning 23

Football victorious in Military Bowl thriller Luke Fickell won his first bowl game as Bearcats head coach New Year’s Eve, defeating the Virginia Tech Hokies 35-31.

The game didn’t go as

planned for Cincinnati, as starting quarterback Desmond Ridder suffered a right ankle injury in the first-half. Senior Hayden Moore picked up where Ridder left off, passing for 86 yards and rushing for 64 to go along with two total touchdowns. Sophomore running back Michael Warren II didn’t miss a beat, finding the end-zone twice on 166 rushing yards.

Reds pulled off huge trade with Dodgers On Dec. 21, the Cincinnati Reds finalized a major trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Reds received pitcher Alex Wood, outfielders Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp, and catcher Kyle Farmer in exchange for pitcher Homer Bailey and prospects Jeter Downs and Josiah Gray.

The acquisition of Wood, a former all-star, helps the

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honors as a senior.

“I think Justin’s going to be a great player for us,” Fickell said. “He’s a guy that can come in right away and provide some value right off the bat with speed and athleticism. We looked at him as one of the best guys we’ve had in camp since we’ve been here. So, we’re really excited about what he can do.”

Notable area players who pledged to the Bearcats include defensive end Eric Phillips from Colerain High School and linebacker Brody Ingle from LaSalle High School.

Phillips earned firstteam All-Greater Miami Conference as a senior, while Ingle was named first-team All-Greater Catholic League.

The regular period National Signing Day for Division I football is Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019.

Early signees:

OT James Hudson – Toledo Central Catholic (Toledo, Ohio) (transfer from Michigan) Reds bolster their pitching rotation, which was the team’s biggest Achilles heel last season. The acquisition also provides the Reds with two capable everyday outfielders in Puig and

DE Eric Phillips – Colerain (Cincinnati, Ohio) LB Brody Ingle – LaSalle (Cincinnati, Ohio) CB Justin Harris – Wayne (Huber Heights, Ohio) QB Cameron Jones – Frederick Douglass (Lexington, Kentucky) QB Michael Lindauer – Reitz Memorial (Evansville, Indiana) DE Steven Hawthorne – De La Salle Institute (Chicago, Illinois) ATH Zach Hummel – Hilliard Bradley (Hilliard, Ohio) DE Izaiah Ruffin – Oak Park River Forest (Oak Park, Illinois) WR Tre Tucker – Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) CB Ahmad Gardner – Martin Luther King (Detroit, Michigan) S Jacob Dingle – Trinity (Louisville, Kentucky) LB Dorian Holloway – Marion-Franklin (Columbus, Ohio) WR Ja’Quan Sheppard – Zephyrhills (Zephyrhills, Florida)

Kemp, both of whom are former all-stars. Farmer has been a backup for the Dodgers and will likely assume the same role in Cincinnati.

University of Cincinnati sports fans cheer on the men’s basketball team during their game against the University of Conneticut on Saturday, January 12, 2018. The bearcats won by two points in overtime. JUSTIN HILES | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The never-ending government shutdown SAMUEL SCHELL-OLSEN | STAFF REPORTER

It’s not even halfway through January, and our newly elected Congress has already shattered the previous record of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The current shutdown has lasted for 25 days to date, surpassing the previous 21-day record set in January 1996.

Last Friday, 800,000 federal employees had their paychecks furloughed. Various federal departments, including the Homeland Security, Justice and Treasury departments, have been affected by the shutdown.

So how did we get here? The general consensus is that President Trump refuses to reopen the government until he receives $5 billion for his border wall. Democratic politicians, like newly sworn Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), claim Trump is holding the government hostage because he promised Mexico would pay for the wall, and that money has yet to be seen. Most Americans agree that it was a ludicrous promise. The Trump Administration and Republican politicians claim that Democrats in the House and Senate are being unreasonable by choosing not to fund any form of border security.

The Democrats, led by Pelosi, have shown no signs of compromising. Before she was sworn in, Pelosi was asked Dec. 6 if she would agree to “some degree of wall funding” in exchange for “a permanent, bona fide solution” on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Pelosi declined and justified her answer by claiming that funding for the border wall

and DACA are “two different subjects.” But why not kill two birds with one stone?

On Jan. 3, Pelosi called plans to build a wall “an immorality. It’s not who we are as a nation,” she said. Yet the Vatican is surrounded by 30-foot walls. Is the Vatican immoral for having giant walls? Of course not.

Still, Trump is not doing himself any favors. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) proposed a compromise that would provide money for Trump’s wall and offer protection to Dreamers. Even Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) voiced support for Graham’s proposal to reopen the government, calling it a “great place to start.”

In classic fashion, Trump rejected the proposal. “I’m not interested,”Trump told reporters. “I want to get it solved. I don’t want to just delay it. I don’t know if we’re closer to a deal. This should be the easiest deal that I’ve ever seen. We’re talking about border security. Who could be against it?”

Apparently, a lot of people are against it, Mr. President. As the author of “The Art of the Deal,” can’t you — oh, I don’t know — make a deal?

Instead, we’re stuck with a group of newly elected government politicians who believe it is their job to resist the president at all costs, even if it means turning their backs on undocumented immigrants to prove their point. We also have a so-called “master negotiator” in office who can’t accept an actual proposal from his allies. It’s business as usual in Washington, and the neverending government shutdown shows no signs of stopping.

The Environmental Protection Agency will be included in the national government shutdown that started in December of 2018. ABBY SHOYAT | PHOTO EDITOR

According to Netflix, 45 million people have watched the new phenomena “Bird Box.” ABBY SHOYAT | PHOTO EDITOR

‘Bird Box’ delivers, despite the hype SAMI STEWART | OPINION EDITOR I finally gave in to the hype. I watched “Bird Box.” I had been staving off the trailers and ambiguous tweets telling me that I wouldn’t regret it. Netflix’s inability to consistently produce good, watchable films had me worried it had cast Sandra Bullock into yet another original movie that would end up falling flat, despite the hype. But I couldn’t hold out much longer. I was dying to know what all the birds and the blindfolds were all about. I embarked on the two-plushour journey and came out impressed and humbled at my lack of faith in this film.

Boy, was I wrong; and boy, was the hype right.

Without spoiling anything, I can tell you this much: prepare to be stressed for two hours straight. I mean, all-your-finals-weekscombined-and-multiplied stressed. I was expecting this to be a true horror film.

I prepared myself for the jump scares that would leave me on edge with spicy armpits. I was ready to lay wide-awake at night

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bargaining with my inner wuss to let me get some sleep. But I was pleasantly surprised to not have to deal with that kind of stress.

It’s not a horror film at all; rather, an excellently written psychological thriller that leaves just enough to the imagination for the ending to resonate dissonantly. Some viewers weren’t thrilled with the lack of description of the “monster.” Don’t bother waiting for a glimpse, because you’re not going to get one. But that’s what makes the movie different.

It’s uncomfortable not having a tangible grasp of the antagonist. You feel just as lost as the characters trying to blindly navigate their way out of a seemingly endless, impossible situation.

Sandra Bullock, as always, put on an outstanding performance that made me fall in love with her like it was the first time I watched “Miss Congeniality.” Except this time, she shed her charming, rom-com persona to embody a pissed, scared, gritty female lead guided by a shred of hope and

raging maternal instincts.

As an apocalyptic storyline, I can’t say I truly relate to these characters — I have minimal survival skills and significantly less trauma, but the film induced a great deal of emotion in me, which is more than I can say of most films. There’s something to be said for a piece of work that, in its most simplified form, can move a person to feel a certain way, whether it be stress or anxiety or sadness — and this one makes me feel all those things.

To my fellow horror haters, watch this movie. You won’t be scared. Instead, you’ll be surprised at the complexity of a film — produced by Netflix of all platforms — that manages to keep you on the edge of your seat and drudge up emotions within you that weren’t there before. To my fellow horror fanatics, watch this movie. You may not get the adrenaline rush from those dreadful jump scares you love so much, but you’ll get your fair share of suspense accompanied by a deep, unsettling fear of the unknown.

ACROSS 1 Came across a record concerning journalist 6 Language of old city belonging to the French 9 They’ll get wrongly blamed for heading off escape by animals 10 There’s potato in Mum’s pudding 12 Style of cooking providing contrasts 15 Country-loving Irishman in charge of containing disturbance 17 Giving note to terrorists makes one angry 18 One who latches on to another is a sucker 19 Sailor’s intent perhaps is to be self-restrained 20 A comment sure upset in due proportion 24 Man told to get on his knees?

25 Boundary rope may produce such a decision 26 E.g. dogs returning from walk 27 Not quite one’s best friend on the ship

DOWN 1 Pretty girl gets some food 2 Animal found in sea location 3 Fat little Edward is biased 4 The First Lady touring Oklahoma will awaken memories 5 The thresholds of delights 7 Heartless robbers go off with a pet. The villains!

8 Below, below, below 11 Managed to get clergyman in dead awkward situation 13 They are

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Share it with us! The News Record prides itself as the student voice of the University of Cincinnati, and your input fuels our content. If there’s anything you think our staff should cover, we want to know about it. Letters to the editor are strongly encouraged and will be published in print or online, subject to review by our staff.

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seeking work after demolition of aspic plant 14 Steam railway takes on head of Railtrack to improve efficiency 16 To perform in a different key, one’s parts must be arranged 21 Went on horseback round cowboy show 22 Junk mail from the capital 23 Nothing but a lake

WEBSITE newsrecord.org FACEBOOK /TheNewsRecord TWITTER @NewsRecord_UC INSTAGRAM @thenewsrecord The News Record is an independent, student-run news organization of the University of Cincinnati. The free tabloid-size newspaper is published on Wednesdays during the school year except on holidays and during final examinations and is distributed to more than 100 locations on and near the UC campus. The News Record’s website, newsrecord.org, is updated continuously and offers e-newsletters, video, audio and interactive features. The Communications Board of the University of Cincinnati is responsible for operating and policymaking activities of The News Record and its affiliated media, including oversight of fiscal operations, sound educational experience for students, protection of press freedoms and adherence to University rules and regulations.

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