The News Record 03.06.14

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THE NEWS RECORD THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI’S INDEPENDENT, STUDENT-RUN NEWS ORGANIZATION / THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014

WHEN SURVIVORS

ARE SILENCED “I was instantly filled with shame and embarrassment”

Sexual assault survivor finds strength through Reclaim response program, no longer feels silent bedroom with her leggings pulled down, the male student hovered over her, laughing. She had been drinking

Editor’s note: To protect the identity of the sexual assault survivor, for hours, and could barely move, let alone have sex. her name has been changed to “I’m too drunk,” she said.

“Magnolia.”

Magnolia has blurred visions of Flask in hand, a student in her first some of her closest friends walking year of college mingled with a pack in and out of the room, staring in of similarly unfledged freshmen in bewilderment at the sight of the a residence hall at the University of assault. They thought the two were Cincinnati. The group had hyped up having sex, she said. the party for days in anticipation of “It was in front of a lot of people their best friend’s birthday. who came in and out of the room,” As she got ready for the night, she she said. “So, they thought, ‘God, slipped a red poncho on with black leggings and combat boots. Her eye- [she] must’ve wanted to do that.’”

Magnolia woke up with a splitting liner was drawn neatly on her lids and her wispy blond hair fell over her headache and the overwhelming feeling that something wasn’t right. shoulders.

In the days, weeks and months They drank cheap alcohol, the only that followed, she spent the next kind they could get their hands on several months staying in bed all as underage students. The thrill of day, experiencing night terrors, and taking shots and turning the stereo vomiting — all classic symptoms of up just a little bit louder escalated Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after as the students tried to mask their a sexual assault. drunkenness from the resident adviser down the hall.

How she met her assaulter The weekend started out like any Magnolia immediately noticed the other for the tight-knit group; they male student at freshmen orientation. got drunk and bonded over new He was wearing the same striped friendships. But Magnolia’s college shirt from Pac Sun that she owned. experience changed drastically with They immediately struck up a the uttering of just one sentence. relationship, and spent much of the “Why can’t you move?” he said. first month of the semester together.

Sprawled on the ground of a dorm KARA DRISCOLL | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

CONTINUE READING ON PAGE 5

“Sexual assault will happen on college campuses, and it’s not OK to dictate how survivors go about reaching out for help.”

CHIEF.NEWSRECORD@GMAIL.COM / 513.556.5908

2 / COLLEGE LIFE

THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

Excitement heats up during Mardi Gras celebration Tuesday ALEXIS O’BRIEN NEWS EDITOR

When fire alarms went off in the University of Cincinnati Teachers College Tuesday morning, a woman cooking ten pounds of spaghetti in the college’s kitchen refused to evacuate before her dish was done.

She was preparing food for the Mardi Gras celebration in the Max Kade Cultural Center across campus, and she “was going down with the pasta.”

Joyce Miller, faculty adviser of the Italian Club (and woman who made it out of Teachers College with all the food), helped organize the annual Mardi Gras celebration hosted by the Romance Languages Department.

She, along with the Italian, French and Latin clubs, gave UC students a taste of the worldwide, pre-Lent celebration through cultural dishes, music, crafts and dancing.

“What’s the most fun about Mardi Gras in this country is that it’s intercultural,” said Catherine White, faculty adviser of the French Club. “In that sense, it’s really neat because it brings cultures and countries together.”

From 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the French Club offered sweet crepes to students while Latinos in Acción provided salsa lessons and the Italian Club served homemade pizza and spaghetti.

“It’s important for all of these clubs, especially in the romance languages, to kind of band together because a lot of people don’t know about them unless they’re taking that language, but we want to welcome anyone,” said Natalie Coleman, Italian Club president. “We just want to teach people about these cultures they might not know about.”

Members of the Italian Club got more exposure to Italian culture than they initially anticipated when budgetary issues restricted their ability to have the event catered.

“We went to her house on Sunday … and [Miller] taught us how to cook the sauce, how to sauté the garlic and everything,” Coleman said. “So we’re kind of getting this traditional Italian cooking lesson. We ended up cooking it and it was a lot more fun anyway.”

LAUREN KREMER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Students craft a variety of colorful masks during a Mardi Gras celebrationTuesday afternoon.

Provost Beverly Davenport spoke about the importance of women embracing their true selves during Tuesday’s event, which celebrated International Women’s Day.

PHIL DIDION PHOTO EDITOR

Speakers share journeys to leadership Influential women discuss overcoming obstacles amidst male-dominated fields HEATHER THURMAN CONTRIBUTOR

Three influential women from the University of Cincinnati told their stories Tuesday in recognition of International Women’s Day, a worldwide celebration of the accomplishments and evolution of women’s rights and equality.

The Women’s Leadership Symposium was hosted by non-profit organization The Academic, Administrative and Professional Women, which works to bring together women of academic qualification to engage in topics surrounding the importance of women in the professional world.

Speakers Awatef Hamed, Karen Bankston and Beverly Davenport discussed the struggles and accomplishments regarding their roles in male-dominated workplaces. Each speaker shared their own unique story and discussed their journey into the world of leadership.

Many audience members took notes on the speakers, and while the topics were serious in nature, the meeting was filled with humor.

Hamed, a Brian Rowe professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering focused on the challenges she faced when money became an issue in programs that were dominated by male superiors.

Her solutions were marked with outstanding scholarships and rewards used to bring opportunities to women in the aerospace engineering track.

When asked why women face inequality in all-male professions, Hamed said, “I think the problem is [men] don’t understand what we have done for humanity.”

Hamed strived to help women realize

their potential and ended her speech with an uplifting piece of advice: “Have fun and be passionate.”

While Hamed discussed the financial side of being a woman, Bankston, associate dean of clinical practice, partnership and community engagement, introduced challenges revolving around a concept she called “gender unconsciousness.”

She incorporated humor to make women realize that they have to stand up for themselves and take control.

“Understand your values as a woman and never deny your feminine identity,” Bankston said.

Davenport, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, focused on the importance of women realizing their own self. Davenport’s main focus was for women to accept their womanhood in leadership positions.

“Be proud about being a woman and embrace it,” Davenport said. “It’s liberating to be who you really are.”

PHIL DIDION PHOTO EDITOR Associate Dean of clinical practice, partnership and community engagement Karen Bankston was one of three speakers who addressed audience members during Tuesday’s Women’s Leadership Symposium.

University project aims to free wrongly convicted locals Students, law professors work together to pinpoint cases as part of ongoing Ohio Innocence Project AMONA REFAEI STAFF REPORTER

Individuals across the state who have been wrongly convicted are receiving assistance from an organization comprised of University of Cincinnati law professors and students.

Co-founded by law professor Mark A. Godsey in 2003, the Ohio Innocence Project was established as part of the Rosenthal Institute for Justice thanks to a significant grant from local philanthropists Richard and Lois Rosenthal. Godsey and mayor John Cranley were the project’s founding directors.

Caster joined the Ohio Innocence Project as a staff attorney in August 2012.

“I wanted to be part of the project because of the tremendous professional opportunity OIP offers: the chance to choose one’s own clients, litigating only on behalf of the people who are truly innocent of the crime for which they are incarcerated,” Caster said.

Godsey, who is the institute director for the Ohio Innocence Project, has actively participated in the project since he helped found it.

“Personally, Mark is also one of the nicest, most caring people you could hope to know,” Caster said. “He also has a good sense of humor, which always helps when you’re working long hours on some very serious cases.”

The University of Cincinnati’s College of Law is the physical home of the OIP. There are similar projects in 46 other states and a number of countries, which all share the goal of freeing wrongly convicted individuals.

Unlike other projects, the Ohio Innocence Project does not limit itself to cases with available DNA evidence.

Some students choose to attend UC Law specifically because of its connection to the OIP. Emily Gallagher, UC Law Juris Doctor candidate 2015, is one of those students who attended UC for that reason. Gallagher has been serving as one of the project’s fellows since May. “The work of OIP appealed to me because we have an opportunity to put a stop to the tremendous injustice of

depriving someone of his freedom for something that he didn’t do,” Gallagher said. “More than that, though, I believe that the dramatic stories that come to light through the work of OIP draw attention to fundamental problems with the criminal justice system and may prompt reform.”

Fellowships for the Ohio Innocence Project are a oneyear commitment with students working full time over the summer and part time throughout the school year.

UC Law students who participate in the program play a vital role in finding inmates in Ohio prisons who are innocent of the crimes they are convicted of committing.

“You are able to impact the lives of your clients and their families through your work and dedication to seeking the truth,” said Courtney DiVincenzo, a current OIP fellow.

“Very rarely do law students get the opportunity to meet with their clients, let alone be the ones directing the investigation.”

- Rachel Hensley, OIP fellow

The Ohio Innocence Project selects up to 20 law students to become fellows for the project each year.

They typically begin in the summer and continue through the end of the following school year.

“The most appealing thing about the project was that I would be able to impact someone’s life,” said Rachel Hensley, OIP fellow. “The work done by OIP is often the last chance for inmates seeking exoneration because they have exhausted other appellate procedures available to them.”

This year’s fellows work on a number of cases. In many cases, the students will investigate and determine if there is any evidence to prove innocence.

“We also have four hours per week designated as our office hours when inmates can call in to talk with us about their cases,” Gallagher said. “I have also had the opportunity to visit two of our clients in prison to discuss the cases with them in person. We present updates on our work in cases to our staff attorney at a weekly meeting.”

Additionally, the fellows have an opportunity to

research legal issues and draft motions for new trials or request for DNA testing after a case is accepted by the OIP. “If we have a case where we think there may be DNA testing available to us and it could help prove the inmate’s innocence or guilt … then I write up a motion to submit to the court,” Hensley said.

Some of the fellows’ other responsibilities include contacting the inmates and their families for additional information, requesting public records, reading appellate opinions, talking to their trial and appellate attorneys, contacting witnesses and reading trial transcripts.

“The fellows are the life-blood of OIP,” Caster said.

“They are our principal investigators.”

The students who participate in the fellowship are responsible for getting in contact with the project’s inmate clients. These students receive grants from a fund at the law school for students who are working for public interest.

“Very rarely do law students get the opportunity to meet with their clients, let alone be the ones directing the investigation; OIP has made this a daily responsibility of mine,” Hensley said.

All three of OIP’s staff attorneys are UC Law graduates.

“There are also several faculty members who routinely help prepare the staff attorneys for court, usually by conducting a ‘moot court’ session,” Caster said.

Jodi Shorr, OIP administrative director, supervises students, proofreads briefs and coordinates the logistics for the various court appearances.

“Without Jodi’s herculean efforts, OIP just wouldn’t function,” Caster said.

Some of the most prominent cases, according to the College of Law’s website, include that of Clarence Elkins, who was exonerated in 2005 and released from a life sentence for murder and double rape. Another case is that of Raymond Towler, who was exonerated in 2010 through DNA evidence after serving 29 years for rape.

In addition to these notable cases, OIP has been responsible for the release of 17 wrongly convicted individuals.

3 / SPORTS Seniors set for emotional Fifth Third Arena farewell THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

Kilpatrick, fellow seniors look to defeat Memphis in final home game JOSHUA MILLER SPORTS EDITOR

In spring of 2013, when Sean Kilpatrick was contemplating whether or not to return for his fifth and final year at the University of Cincinnati, he decided that he’d stick around to see men’s head basketball coach Mick Cronin cry on senior night.

“With me and Justin [Jackson] leaving, hopefully [he’ll cry],” Kilpatrick said. “I’ve never really seen him cry like that, so with us being his favorite guys I hope he will. It’s been such a pleasure playing for him for four years and being able to have grown to the person I’ve grown into.”

Kilpatrick said that Thursday’s game against Memphis, regardless of the outcome, would be one of the top-five moments of his UC career.

With Kilpatrick, Jackson and Titus Rubles — the three best senior leaders in the country according to Cronin — all playing in their final game at Fifth Third Arena, it will likely be a top-five moment for Cronin as well. But Cronin said he won’t cry, at least not until the season is over.

“Oh I’m going to cry but it won’t be senior night,” Cronin said. “Hopefully we don’t lose our last game this year. What he doesn’t realize is that every night that I let my mind wander to life without him, I cry in bed. Sammie (Cronin’s daughter) comes in and says ‘dad what’s wrong?’

SK is graduating Sammie (he says).”

As far as Cronin is concerned, Thursday is a celebration for his seniors, who — with two regular-season games remaining — have led UC to 24 wins, just two shy of Cronin’s highest win total at UC. “The whole senior night thing for me, I don’t get real nostalgic about it because the season’s not over,” Cronin said. “I’m planning on being with them at least another month I hope. Also, it’s not like I’m never going to see them again; I’m close with my guys. I talk to them all the time. It’s not a funeral; it’s a celebration for them. Hopefully our fans come to the game early and make sure that we’re celebrating those guys.”

When asked what his three senior leaders will mean to the program years from now, Cronin first spoke to the importance of Titus Rubles joining two years ago after spending two years in junior college.

Overshadowed by Kilpatrick’s scoring and Jackson’s “mean face,” Rubles, who Kilpatrick called “the glue that holds UC together,” has quietly been a driving force behind Cincinnati’s success with his constant defensive presence and relentless rebounding.

Although both games resulted in losses for UC, Rubles kept the Bearcats close against Louisville and UConn, pulling down 14 and 13 rebounds in the two contests.

“Titus has made as much of an impact as any two-year player has here in a long time,” Cronin said. “He has given us heart and soul. Titus Rubles gives you everything coaches talk about that fans don’t understand. Coaches talk about toughness, and let me tell you something, Titus Rubles’ toughness is a big reason were sitting at 24-5 and tied for first [in the AAC].”

But Kilpatrick and Jackson are two of Cronin’s original projects at UC, the two that best embody Cronin’s revival of the program since taking over eight years ago.

The duo — both of whom were barely recruited coming out of high school — have overachieved by all measures at UC, with Kilpatrick joining Oscar Robertson as the only 2,000-point scorers in school history and Jackson transforming into one of UC’s most imposing defensive presences of all time. More importantly, they’ve pushed those around them as integral leaders in UC’s return to national prominence. “[Kilpatrick] and Justin are going to go to four-straight NCAA tournaments.

It says a lot about who they are,” Cronin said. “They’ve elevated the guys around them. That’s one thing about SK, not only has he had an unbelievable career he’s made the guys around him better.”

But, after back-to-back losses marred by turnovers and an anemic offense, the Bearcats have quite a few problems to address if they wish to end with a victory in their final game at Fifth Third Arena.

Cronin believes much of that can be

FILE ART

Sean Kilpatrick (far left) and Justin Jackson celebrate after defeating the University of Louisville in Fifth Third Arena 63-54 on Feb. 16,2011. Thursday, more than three years later, they will play their final home game at UC.

addressed by refocusing his team.

“My job is to make sure my guys are focused on the process and not the result,” Cronin said. “That’s what we spent our time talking about the last few days, getting back to embracing the things it takes to be a good team.

Winning games will take care of itself.”

After winning 15-straight games, including their first 11 in the AAC, the Bearcats have lost three of their last five games, with turnovers and Jackson’s foul trouble being overarching downfalls.

“In our three conference losses [turnovers are] the common denominator,” Cronin said. “We have got to practice against the types of defenses that we saw against SMU, UConn and Louisville.”

UC has committed 41 accumulative turnovers in its three conference losses — SMU (18), Louisville (13) and UConn (20) — and in each of those games Jackson missed the majority of the first half with foul trouble.

“He’s an aggressive player and the

opposing coach has an iPad as well,” Cronin said. “Justin has a few bad habits, and if you know that as a coach you try to put him in a situation where he can’t resist the foul.”

In all five of UC’s losses this season, Jackson’s influence has been taken away from UC; he hasn’t played more than 11 first-half minutes in any UC loss and has finished below his scoring average in each of the games.

Much like the turnover problem, Cronin has been working in practice to give Jackson the types of defensive looks he’s been seeing in games, as the turnover issue and UC’s lack of scoring can all be traced directly to Jackson’s absence in the offense.

“We haven’t been getting him involved in our offense the way he needs to be involved,” Cronin said. “He’s a playmaker for us. He’s an assist guy out of the low post and a finisher out of the low post.

We can’t let teams take that away from us.”

Olympic skier, bronze medalist speaks to UC students Local skiing prodigy shares tales of Sochi Olympic experience with student body, faculty members CHARLES GROVE STAFF WRITER

LAUREN KREMER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Olympic medalist Nick Goepper (left) speaks with UC students in Zimmer auditorium Wednesday.

Olympic bronze medalist Nick Goepper spoke Wednesday about his experiences as an Olympic athlete and how his life has changed since the Sochi winter games.

The 19-year-old skier from Lawrenceburg, Ind., took home a bronze medal in the slopestyle competition, finishing behind American counterparts Joss Christensen and Gus Kenworthy for Team USA’s sweep of the competition.

“It feels absolutely amazing the things that have happened the past couple of weeks,” Goepper said to the crowd of students inside the Zimmer Hall auditorium. “It’s just been awesome.”

Goepper has been skiing since before the age of 11, when he entered his first big-air competition. He claims he has been “hooked ever since,” going so far as to enroll in Windells Academy in Mt. Hood, Ore., so he could ski year round while focusing on academics.

Olympic bronze wasn’t the first medal Goepper has earned in his young career. In addition to the bronze, Goepper also has won a silver medal and two golds in slopestlye X Games competitions since 2012.

Standing on an Olympic podium with your national anthem playing is the moment many athletes dream of, but Goepper admitted that moment wasn’t a pivotal one for him.

“It almost wasn’t even that big of a deal because [Christensen and Kenworthy] all have been so tight,” Goepper said. “For the three of us [it wasn’t that big] because we had finished together the past couple of years.”

Goepper says he gravitated toward slopestyle from the beginning because of the creative nature of it; no run is ever exactly the same.

“Slopestyle has an element of freedom that you don’t get in nearly any other Olympic event like football or track or even ski-racing where there’s always some element that’s the same,” Goepper said. “I was never really one to follow the track.”

His Olympic success has earned Goepper the nickname “Heartthrob,” which was coined after his medal-winning run Feb. 13. The nickname helped spark a social media frenzy in a competition to win a date with Goepper. He finally selected a Kent State student named Annie Rogers. Goepper said he plans to take her to the Big Apple for the first date.

“The plan is to go to New York City and you know, just live it up,” Goepper said.

The Olympic villages, where athletes from around the world are housed during the games, have garnered a few reputations from the past two Olympic games.

Athletes this year took to social media to complain about the poor conditions of the buildings and plumbing facilities.

“My bathroom was always overflowing and there was always water on the floor,” Goepper said.

The village also earned a reputation of rampant partying and sex during the 2012 Olympics in London, which Goepper neither declined nor affirmed happened this year.

“The Olympic village was honestly pretty boring,” Goepper said. “After our event was over we all had like two days of media and then we had to fly back to New York so we really only had one or two days where we could actually kick back and enjoy it. But what happens in the Olympic village stays in the Olympic village.”

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4 / ARTS

THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

Melancholy genius of Morrissey gets reissued

‘Your Arsenal’ reminds contemporary listeners that it is still as relevant as today’s music JORDAN CASSINI STAFF REPORTER

Morrissey’s reissue of “Your Arsenal” from 1992 is a testament to the rock star’s endurance. He prospered as the singer in The Smiths in the ’80s and has continued with a solo career.

“Your Arsenal” opens with an in-your-face jam. “You’re Gonna Need Someone on Your Side” is Morrissey telling someone that they’ve fallen off the wagon and are in need of some help, which he is willing to give. He mixes it up with some humor and sings, “And here I am, well you don’t need to look so pleased.”

The album is woven together by a guitar and drum track that could very easily fill a stadium with sound, no matter how repetitious it may be.

The result is a rocking, yet still somewhat crooning opening track that prepares the rest of this diverse album for delivery.

The second track “Glamorous Glue” is a mysterious exploration of life with some jar, maybe alcohol, which makes you realize some not-so-happy truths. “Everyone lies, nobody minds/Third week with the jar, you find,

everything dies,” reminds us that Morrissey’s a thinker.

Instrumentally, this track is tighter than the opener and doesn’t have Morrissey singing over the guitar and drums as heavily.

In some spots, it’s just his matter-of-fact voice and a driving drumbeat. Toward the end there’s a strange breakdown before he ends with, “I know I’ll go empty hand from the land.”

While the opening two tracks were easily classifiable as rock, the rest of the album throws some curveballs.

“We’ll Let You Know” is an acoustic-heavy track that ruminates on deep sadness, while “You’re the One for Me, Fatty” is an ’80s sounding love song with a catchy guitar part and more than a few “A-heys” at the end.

The album comes to a triumphant close with “Tomorrow,” another rock jam that still has some softness. A quiet piano outro signals the end of the 10song record. It’s a fitting close for an album as diverse as “Your Arsenal.”

Morrissey has released six studio albums since the 1992 “Your Arsenal,” all of them receiving critical acclaim. He is also active with animal rights groups and has been a vegetarian for more than 30 years. Maybe this reissue was his way of reminding us that he can still do it all.

PROVIDED Morrissey sure knew how to be sad, and was amazing at capturing his emotions in his songwriting. There is never a wrong time to reissue any of this man’s work.

Outrage, praise, annoyance; Oscars recapped JAKE GRIECO ARTS EDITOR

It’s been a long year of slavery, artificially intelligent relationships, getting lost in space and contracting HIV, but the Oscars are now handed out and its time to complain.

The Internet’s favorite tragic Oscar hero, Leonardo DiCaprio, again went home empty handed. In fact, Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” was completely ignored by the Academy.

DiCaprio created the iconic cerebral palsy scene, but it seems that DiCaprio and the rest of the team picked the wrong disease this year. It was Matthew McConaughey who brought home the award for Best Actor In a Leading Role, and it was well deserved. DiCaprio is not so much cursed, but unlucky. The year in which he breaks out and gives one of the best performances of his life, McConaughey renaissances his career and puts on a once in a lifetime performance.

Had “The Wolf of Wall Street” come out any other year, DiCaprio would have left with an Oscar.

If you find yourself in a situation in which someone asks you the winner of a category and you don’t know the answer, just guess “Gravity.”

Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronaut versions of themselves, the film cleaned house.

Alfonso Cuarón even took home the award for Best Director, which is disgusting. This category continues to get worse.

Last year Ang Lee received the award for “Life of Pi,” another predominantly computer-generated film. This doesn’t make sense. Spike Jonze deserves this award more than any other nominated director. Jonze handcrafted the masterpiece “Her” in which Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a recently divorced man who enters into a relationship with an operating system tailor-made for him to love. The story of “Her” can be interpreted through a kaleidoscope of perspectives and was told at exactly the right time for it to make an impact on society.

And it doesn’t stop there. The entire world that the film takes place in is completely germinated from the mind of Jonze. It’s his interpretation of what the not-so-distant future will look like. From the buildings to the wardrobes, everything is slightly different. From a blank piece of paper to the Oscars, it was all from Jonze’s mind.

“Gravity” is an original film written by the Cuarón and his son, Jonás Cuarón, but it’s undeniably a shallow plot only used to get from one camera shot to another.

“Gravity” was a great feat for filmmaking, but so was “Life of Pi.” It feels like the same type of directing was awarded two years in a row, and the Academy desperately needs to start recognizing storytelling again.

The Best Director category was a massacre, but the winners of the rest of the categories deserved their recognition. If Jennifer Lawrence had won Best Actress In a Supporting Role over Lupita Nyong’o, the entire award ceremony might as well have been dismissed as a mere popularity contest.

There was no doubt that “12 Years a Slave” would win Best Picture. It had the Academy equivalent to catnip: historical significance. The film was much more than just an Academy pleaser though, and truly deserved to win the biggest honor a film can get.

The future is exciting for the film industry. Actors and actresses are breaking into new roles and new directors are emerging onto the scene. The off-season of the movie industry now begins and soon the summer blockbusters will begin to roll out, but when you’re stuck in the theater watching “Transformers 4” just say to yourself, “All right, all right, all right.”

PROVIDED Anne Hathaway looks great in a Catwoman suit, but her Gucci dress makes her look like she is wearing body armour and should be sitting with King Arthur at the Round Table discussing the affairs of Camelot.

Celebrity fashion examined at Oscars Everyone tried to look their best for biggest night for film; some failed AILISH MASTERSON CONTRIBUTOR

What better way to wrap up award season than with the Oscars? The usually serious and tense show was lightened up this year with Ellen DeGeneres as the host, and it seemed like the stars followed suit by having more fun with their attire.

Neutrals with appliques were seen on Cate Blanchett, Jenna Dewan-Tatum and newcomer Sally Hawkins. Blanchett’s gown was straight off the Armani runway and was perfectly matched to her skin tone making it looked as if she was wearing a dress made of flowers. Dewan-Tatum and Hawkins opted for a flashier look and their gowns sparkled on the red carpet.

While some say that black doesn’t stand out on the carpet, many actresses proved them wrong and wore black anyway.

The always-stunning Charlize Theron wore a black Dior dress with a plunging neckline.

The pregnant Olivia Wilde looked regal and comfortable in her black Valentino dress with a white accent. Metallic tones were also popular as Emma Watson chose a metallic black, Vera Wang dress with a semi-sheer skirt. Kate Hudson wore a silver, custom Versace number complete with a low front and back - classic Hudson style.

Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Gardner also followed the metallic trend and wowed everyone. Jolie looked as if she was dripping in ice next to Brad Pitt, in a sheer and beaded Ellis Saab Haute Couture dress from

its runway show.

Gardner walked the carpet solo, but held her own in a silver Oscar de la Renta gown that had a 1920s vibe.

Other stars kept their dresses classic and added unique accessories. The newcomer who has impressed everyone this award season was Lupita Nyong’o who wore a sky-blue Grecian-esque Prada dress. She kept the accessories minimal, but wore a headband, which is unusual for the Oscars.

Jennifer Lawrence was dressed in Dior Couture and continued the trend of wearing a necklace backwards, as seen at the Grammys.

One person who took a major risk that paid off was Chrissy Teigen. John Legend’s wife once again surprised us in a black and pink floral ball gown from the Monique Lhuillier fall collection.

Unfortunately, not everyone’s fashion risks worked in their favor.

Anne Hathaway looked beautiful, but her Gucci dress made her look like she was wearing a metal chest plate. Julia Roberts and Anna Kendrick were examples of black blending in on the red carpet. Roberts’ Givenchy Haute Couture dress had intricate lace detail and clearly was constructed wonderfully, it just didn’t seem right on Roberts. The peplum and lace lining on the chest was too much.

Kendrick was also a victim of too much.

Her J. Mendel gown had a gorgeous strappy back, but the high-low and sheer detailing in the front put it over the top. Some celebs were lost behind their dresses like Kerry Washington. In Washington’s defense, she is pregnant and was clearly having trouble

finding a gown to fit her baby bump. But then again, Olivia Wilde had no problems and Washington’s purple Jason Wu dress just didn’t cut it.

As far as the men go, there wasn’t too much variation from the classic black Tom Ford or Calvin Klein tuxedo. Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto veered from the norm and brought the ’40s white jacket with black pants look back in.

While some missed the mark, most dressed to impress and put their own flare on their attire for the biggest award show of the year.

PROVIDED

Major Lazer displays Jamaican influence With large repertoire of collaborators, ‘Apocalypse Soon EP’ still forgettable HEATHER KING STAFF REPORTER

Electronic dancehall DJ project Major Lazer released its seventh collection of songs called “Apocalypse Soon EP,” on which American DJ and producer Diplo is joined by Jillionaire and Walshy Fire to create a unique blend of Jamaican and electronic dance music.

Although not a full-length album, the EP includes five tracks and collaborations with Pharrell Williams, Sean Paul, Machel Montano, RDX, Moska and Mr. Fox. The first track, “Aerosol Can,” is upbeat and is complemented by Pharrell’s flow.

Diplo wisely chooses to open the EP with Pharrell, who is an exploding music star and solidifies the song as the best choice for a single. The aerosol-can sound effects ride a thin line between being too cartoonish and being clever.

The song itself is catchy enough and

would fit perfectly on the radio or in any dance club.

“Come On To Me” features vocals from Paul and begins with Jamaican percussion and horns. The track switches to true EDM style with a thunderous bass drop and manipulation of vocals.

However, the track comes off as filler for the EP and does not represent its potential. Paul’s vocals almost beg the listener to switch to the next song as more of a distraction than an attraction.

Montano brings the interest back with “Sound Bang.” Upbeat and fast-paced dance music opens the song and induces a carefree and relaxed feeling. The track quickly shifts to bouncing electronic beats while Montano’s vocal skills appropriately assault the senses. “Lose Yourself” provides dance-worthy beats and stays consistent with the Jamaican theme. RDX and Moska lend their talents to this track to create typical house-style EDM with Major Lazer’s unique touch.

The top-notch track, “Dale Asi,” introduces smooth, head-bobbing beats

PROVIDED

and bilingual lyrics that flow off Mr. Fox’s tongue like a lyrical stream.

“Apocalypse Soon” has a few good hits that will not disappoint Major Lazer fans, but with a song like “Come On To Me,” listeners will wonder if the Major has been demoted.

5 / NEWS SPOTLIGHT

THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

The News Record will continue its coverage of sexual assault response at the University of Cincinnati.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Restrictions lead to silence Blanket changes endanger survivors’ confidentiality, hinder necessary support KATIE HANNA | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OHIO ALLIANCE TO END SEXUAL VIOLENCE After an adult college student is sexually assaulted and is looking for support, they don’t stop to consider (nor should they) that telling an advocate on campus could have different ramifications from telling an advocate off-campus. They are looking for support, someone to believe and listen to them, and support them through their healing process.

For many years, the UC Women’s Center Reclaim program has provided countless hours of support to survivors, tracking stats on the number of sexual assaults reported at UC, and reporting those numbers to school officials, all while supporting an individual survivors’ right to decide if, how and when to move through a student conduct or criminal justice system process. The UC Women’s Center Reclaim program has been a model campus sexual assault response program in Ohio, sharing best practices with campuses through a statewide task force, and contributing to the publication A Safer Campus: A Guidebook on Prevention and Response to Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence and Stalking for Ohio’s Campuses.

Advocates through the Reclaim program receive extensive training and staff at the UC Women’s Center are highly-trained and skilled advocates, prepared to support survivors and advocate for their rights and accommodations within the institution. Federal funding through the Violence Against Women Act explicitly lists victim confidentiality as a standard for providing survivor advocacy.

Licensed mental health professionals play an important role in treating trauma from sexual assault. Trained rape crisis advocates provide advocacy for survivors through the judicial hearing process, criminal justice system, hospital examination process, Victims of Crime compensation process, and/or to advocate for housing and residence life accommodations.

In 2011 when the Dear Colleague letter was distributed to campuses, providing guidance to colleges on adequately responding to sexual assault, advocates across Ohio were thrilled. Finally sexual assault on campuses would be taken seriously, survivors would be heard and the crimes against the one in five women who have been sexually assaulted while in college would be addressed. While the guidance contains critically important provisions on institution accountability, it has also had unintended consequences that impact the very students that this guidance was intended to support in the first place: survivors.

Monika Johnson Hostler, Board President of the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, recently wrote a letter to President Obama regarding the January 2014 report released by the White House Council on Women and Girls, Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action. She shared the following perspective on confidentiality: “It is imperative that survivors’ confidentiality is guarded. If a survivor chooses not to report the assault, this choice must be honored and her or his anonymity protected for the purpose of Clery Act reporting. Guidance provided to universities regarding their obligations to disclose survivor or incident information must reinforce the value of privacy for survivors.

Title IX and Clery both reference survivors’ rights related to privacy and confidentiality. All advocates, whether working on a campus or in the community, must be able to honor the confidentiality needs of survivors.

The cornerstone of rape crisis advocacy is empowering survivors to re-gain control by making their own decisions following sexual assault. The intent and power of these regulations is to prevent these crimes, support survivors, create a safe learning environment and hold offenders accountable. In doing this, we must keep the voices of survivors central to this process … Moreover, we are concerned about many institutions’ confusion about the overlapping, incongruent reporting requirements under Title IX, the Clery Act, FERPA, Title VII and various state laws regarding privilege or mandatory reporting.

This has resulted in some institutions imposing blanket mandatory reporting requirements on all employees for the sake of simplicity and clarity in their compliance efforts. The result, unfortunately, has been some overbroad reporting policies that encompass employees — such as campusbased advocates and counselors — who were intended to serve as safe and confidential spaces for survivors to come forward.”

In placing restrictions on trained advocates at an institution from maintaining confidentiality of student survivors, we silence survivors.

Removing even one additional layer of confidential support and advocacy makes it that much harder for a survivor to get the support they need to stay in school and to thrive. Our focus must be on making it more accessible for survivors to report and get support.

FROM PAGE ONE: They spent exactly one month and one day in a relationship before he sexually assaulted her on the floor of a dorm room in late October.

“It was a fast-paced relationship,” she said. “All of our friends thought we were so solid. They said we were going to be together forever.”

Though Magnolia thought she found the “love of her life,” she now recognizes there were several warning signs that the relationship wasn’t quite right.

He frequently made her tell their friends he was a “sex god.” He alienated her from their group of friends, and she soon became dependent on his presence.

But after she woke up with blurred memories of the sexual assault, the relationship shifted. For weeks, she couldn’t admit or comprehend her new boyfriend had sexually assaulted her.

After the incident, her humiliation continued when he made it a point to talk about it frequently. “I begged him not to tell people,” she said. “He told me it was a joke, and I just sat there.

It silenced what I had to say about it.”

She couldn’t define what happened. She couldn’t fathom the idea that someone she cared about could violate her so aggressively. Weeks after while she was still in the relationship, she kept asking, “How could he do this?”

Her relationship mirrors sexual offense statistics both nationally and at UC; 13 acquaintance rapes and 10 dating violence incidents were reported in the 2011-12 academic year. Of all females who have ever been raped, physically abused, or stalked by an intimate partner, almost 70 percent first had those experiences before age 25.

Because sexual assault is under reported, officials suspect the numbers are much higher.

About a month after the assault, it became unbearable for her to look at him in the face, and she decided to end the relationship. Her last words to him during the break up would reflect the way she felt for the next month.

“You make me want to kill myself,” she said.

Lasting effects after assault Months after the assault, Magnolia spent most of her time in bed and she frequently missed class.

She woke up every night screaming, and ran to bathroom to throw up. When her parents called to ask how classes were going, she made up stories about what happened during her day to hide that she never left her room.

“People leave you,” she said. “You’re silent because no one speaks to you. When someone is having a lot of problems, no one wants to be the girl with depression. They mock you.”

Magnolia spent hours playing out different scenarios in her mind. If it didn’t rain that night, they would’ve been at the party they planned on

walking to. If she wasn’t in Turner Hall, he wouldn’t have raped her.

Maybe if she had on different clothes that night or wore her hair up, he wouldn’t have coerced her into the back room. It was probably the drinking, she thought.

“I thought it was my fault,” she said.

Almost a year later and now in her second year at UC, Magnolia is diagnosed with PTSD and night terrors after she experienced shortness of breath, anxiety and depression — all stemming from the sexual assault. This is her life now, she said.

“It’s affected every single part of my life,” she said. “I’m on medication now because of him.

I take a pill every night, to go to class, to do everything. My life has been altered.”

She suffered for a year in silence, afraid to admit what she was feeling and didn’t know where to turn to. Many of her friends had abandoned her or simply didn’t understand why her personality had changed so drastically. Some even continued their friendships with her assaulter.

“I fell into a depression,” she said. “I didn’t stop seeing him, we had the same friends. No one understood what was going on with me, and I didn’t know how to tell people,” she said.

In October 2013, he still entered in and out of her life. She decided she didn’t want to walk around campus in fear anymore, so she entered the Women’s Center.

“I think I wanted to tell someone on campus,” she said. “I felt unsafe and I still feel unsafe about him.”

Reclaiming her strength

When Magnolia walked into the Women’s Center during Fall semester, she was introduced to Ashley Rouster, sexual assault advocate through Reclaim. She divulged her entire story, something she had never told anyone before.

At the time, it was completely confidential, and Rouster explained every step she could take to protect herself against her assailant.

“After being silenced by him for more than a year, I did not know how I could speak about it. I wouldn’t have the ability to do that.”

Through Reclaim, she was able to get assistance for missing classes due to her PTSD and filed a report with Judicial Affairs.

Although her assaulter has not been convicted, a Cease and Desist Order was filed so he cannot contact her, even through a third party.

She said the recent changes to Reclaim are catastrophic for victims, and was stunned to hear about the changes.

“I can’t believe there’s a malfunction in the UC system that would allow this to take place. It’s disgusting,” she said. “I no longer feel silent and that’s because of Reclaim entirely.”

For free, confidential support services, students who have experienced sexual assault, stalking, or domestic violence can call or visit the UC Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at 513-556-0648 If you are ready to make a report, you can get assistance by calling Ashley Rouster at the UC Women’s Center at (513)556-4328.

For help after business hours or on weekends, survivors should call the Women Helping Women hotline at 513-381-5610 for confidential support.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Center creates positive change Women’s Center helps lead collaborative effort to address gender-based issues on campus AMY HOWTON | ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, UC WOMEN’S CENTER For the past 15 years, the Women’s Center has played an integral role in our campus response to sexual and gender-based violence by providing rape crisis advocacy and support services. I am so grateful to have been part of this work and feel compelled to share my thanks with those who have directly contributed to it over the years.

Together, we have created significant, positive change in our campus community.

“Together, we have created significant, positive change in our campus community.”

Thank you to the survivors who have shared their stories and spoken their truths, not only of their experiences with sexual violence but with navigating systems in their attempts to heal. In the words of Bell Hooks: “The heart of justice is truth-telling, seeing ourselves and the world as it is rather than the way we want it to be.” Your willingness to reclaim your experiences and speak out is a testament to this. Your courage has inspired change on many levels. Your courage has inspired me.

Thank you to the many students over the years who served as rape crisis advocates through the Women’s Center’s RECLAIM program. As volunteers, these students exemplify Gandhi’s

challenge to “Be the change you want to see in the world.” These student leaders committed to extensive, ongoing training in order to provide this campus with an essential service, responding to our 24-hour helpline, accompanying survivors to the hospital, advocating for them through the campus disciplinary and criminal justice process.

And they didn’t stop there. RECLAIM advocates applied what they learned based on their survivor advocacy to create systemic change, engaging in campus education and activism on these issues.

Thank you, RECLAIM. You have changed lives.

You have changed our community.

Thank you to our campus and community partners who directly supported our survivor advocacy program through training and education of our advocates and through partnering in service to UC survivors: Women Helping Women, YWCA, Legal Aid of Greater Cincinnati, UC Public Safety, University Judicial Affairs, University Ombuds, Counseling and Psychological Services, Resident Education and Development, University Health Services. Beyond our local partners, thanks to regional, statewide and national partners who have joined with us in our advocacy efforts, particularly the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence and the Ohio Department of Health.

Thanks to Ashley Rouster, who joined our Women’s Center team eight months ago as our Sexual Assault Survivor Advocate and in this time, has contributed her expertise and advocacy skills in such vital ways, particularly in this time of change. I am proud to have you on our team and look forward to developing future programming that will engage this work in new and transformational ways.

Together, we have created significant, positive change in our campus community. Together, we will continue to do so.

6 / NEWS

THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

AAUP officials field contract questions prior to voting MELANIE TITANIC-SCHEFFT STAFF REPORTER

PHIL DIDION PHOTO EDITOR

The old Keller’s IGA still sits vacant on Ludlow Avenue in Clifton. A newly formed cooperative corporation is raising money to buy the building and open a new local market.

Potential buyer for former Ludlow IGA Organization seeks contributions to purchase, re-open grocery store NATALIE COLEMAN STAFF REPORTER

After three years without a grocery store, a group of Clifton residents are taking matters into their own hands and the impact of their efforts could extend to areas surrounding the University of Cincinnati.

The group, called the Clifton Cooperative Market, is currently in talks with the owner of the former Keller’s IGA, Steve Goessling, to purchase the property located at 319 Ludlow Ave. The group is collecting $200 payments from community members in exchange for partial ownership of Clifton Cooperative Market. The money collected would be used to purchase the store.

The former Keller’s IGA closed its doors in 2011 due to unpaid taxes, leaving Clifton without a grocery store and limiting uptown residents’ shopping options to a Kroger on Corry Street.

“The co-op idea began initially three years ago when the store first closed,” said Adam Hyland, a member of the Clifton Cooperative Market. “But the idea was put on hold because it looked like we were going to get a grocery and the problem was solved.”

Goessling purchased the property in May 2011 for $850,000, according to the Hamilton County Auditor’s website.

Goessling refused to talk with The News Record when contacted multiple times by phone and said he would call back at a later time. He never called back and eventually stopped answering phone calls.

At the time Goessling purchased Keller’s, he owned three operating IGA locations in the tri-state area and promised to bring a full-scale grocery store to the neighborhood.

But after multiple failed attempts to secure outside financing, Goessling abandoned the project in fall of 2013. In January, he announced that his Reading Road store was closing.

After realizing the store wasn’t going to open anytime soon, Hyland said it was apparent that they needed to revisit the co-op idea.

Now Clifton Cooperative Market is an official corporation, Hyland said.

The next step will be for the Clifton Town Meeting — an official community council that works with the needs and goals of Clifton residents — to vote on whether it supports the use of the IGA property as a grocery.

After Goessling abandoned the Ludlow operation, CTM urged him to find a grocer to buy the property, but so far his asking price has been too high, said Ben Pantoja, CTM president.

Since Keller’s IGA closed, many Clifton residents have complained about not having a grocery in the small

neighborhood south of UC’s main campus.

Pantoja said he was happy to see Clifton Natural Foods — currently located on McMillan Street — announce its relocation to Ludlow, but he and fellow community members still want to see a full-service grocery; the kind that was promised after Keller’s closed.

A grocery store is vital to the community’s economic success in the future, Pantoja said.

“We need another anchor in the area,” he added. “The Esquire [Theatre] draws people but we need one more solid anchor. One or two restaurants aren’t going to give people a reason to come to the area.”

While much of the drive behind the initiative is to better serve Clifton residents, the benefits of another grocery store could benefit those in nearby neighborhoods, including UC students.

One of Hyland’s ideas for the grocery

“If we signed for it tomorrow, the store would open in about 15 months, but there are so many balls up in the air I just don’t want to put a time on it. The sooner the community purchases owner shares, the faster we’re going to have the market back and running.”

Adam Hyland, Clifton Cooperative Market member

would be a van that could deliver to students’ doors.

“There’s all kinds of options,” Hyland said. “There’s going to be a number of things that would cater to UC students.”

Currently the only full-scale grocery store within walking distance for students living on and around campus is a Kroger east of main campus.

“I definitely think the Clifton area could use another grocery store,” said Alicia Rooney, a fourth-year mathematics student. “Kroger is small and packed with locals during the evenings and weekends, and college students only have certain times they can make grocery runs. I would love for Clifton to get a grocery store with more natural foods and health options since Kroger doesn’t offer the organic food and health food I want to buy.”

Anchor Properties, Inc. — owner of the lot where Kroger is located — plans to demolish the entire shopping complex, which includes Walgreens and several other smaller stores, and build a new and improved Kroger.

However, the company has spent the past two years trying to work out lease agreements with some of the smaller tenants and there’s nothing new to report at this time, said Michael Ricke, Anchor executive vice president.

CTM was scheduled to vote on the

issue Monday, but it was canceled due to inclement weather. It has since been rescheduled for March 10. Pantoja said if a credible grocery store option appears, CTM could go to Cincinnati City Council to try to get incentives to help a deal succeed.

Hyland said Clifton Cooperative Market could be that viable option. “[A grocery] really promotes Clifton,” Hyland said. “The real benefit of [the coop] model is that everything goes right back into Clifton and into the community, rather than going out to a corporation.”

Those who purchase one $200-ownershare in the Clifton Cooperative Market would receive a percentage of future profits. The logistics of the percentage earned back would be voted on by the Clifton Cooperative Market shareholders.

If CTM approves the market, members will start working on getting those $200 buy-ins, said Hyland, who added he’s confident people will support the endeavor.

Hyland said that other businesses have struggled without the draw of a market.

He said one shop owner told him their sales have dropped 38 percent since IGA closed in 2011.

“I think it’s important to note that the grocery store is an important cultural piece of Clifton,” Hyland said. “It’s a pedestrian neighborhood and people really love to walk here and they love to shop locally.”

Hyland is anxious for the Clifton Cooperative Market to purchase the property from Goessling who, he said, has received offers from others interested in using the property for other reasons.

“That would be a great loss to the Clifton community,” Hyland said.

Pantoja agreed that there is a sense of urgency to purchase the property.

Although the 21,972-square-foot building is old — built in 1900, according to the auditor’s website — the estimated market value of the land is $215,930.

Its location in the untapped Gaslight district could be attractive to the big development companies that have revamped and constructed large multiuse complexes in University Heights and Corryville, said Tom Lohre, community liaison for Clifton Chronicle, a publication of CTM. “If we signed for it tomorrow, the store would open in about 15 months, but there are so many balls up in the air I just don’t want to put a time on it,” Hyland said. “The sooner the community purchases owner shares, the faster we’re going to have the market back running.”

Hyland and others will be at the Esquire Theatre March 15 to discuss logistics and the number of contributors needed to make Clifton Cooperative Market a reality.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Abysmal turnout at campus safety events continues

Officials from the University of Cincinnati AAUP chapter answered lastminute questions from union members Tuesday, two days before the group starts voting on whether or not to approve its most recent working contract.

“This is just the beginning,” said Jeff Cramerding, UC AAUP contract administrator. “We will continue to work forward and make this about attracting and retaining quality faculty. So while there is a palpable sense of relief, we will see what the vote brings.”

The session — one of three intended to explain the proposed contract before voting starts Thursday — was closed to non-union members and the media.

The contract, which was announced in February, is the result of nearly one year of negotiations between the university and AAUP. In an effort to reach a fair contract, AAUP’s bargaining team and executive council hashed out a “meet-in-the-middle forward movement” approach on important issues, said Eric Palmer, UC AAUP contract administrator.

The current working contract calls for annual, across the board raises of 1.25 percent of a member’s base salary for the first two years and 1.5 percent of his or her base salary in the third year. Under the previous contract, which expired in June 2013, raises were .6 percent of base salary for all three years.

Merit pay — compensation designed to reward faculty members based on performance — also would increase under the new working contract.

Under the merit system, each college is given a pool of money equal to a percentage of the aggregate of all union members’ salaries.

The new contract sets that percentage at 1 percent in the second and third year of the contract, whereas the percentage in the old contract was .8 percent.

While both the rates are increases compared to the previous contract, union officials and members said the rates are not large enough for UC to remain competitive with other institutions.

“They really need to do a whole lot more to bring our salaries up in line with other comparable institutions,” said Rebecca Borah, an associate English professor and AAUP member. “If they want to keep us where we are and improve, that’s really the bottom line. But overall, I’m happy — glad we’re not striking.”

University officials have maintained that both sides would have to make sacrifices in order to reach a solution that best serves the interests of the university as a whole, said Greg Hand, UC spokesperson.

Although AAUP officials and members expressed a desire for larger wage increases and merit pay, most said they were pleased with changes to faculty development funding, which in the 2014-15 academic year would increase to $1 million from $660,000.

The changes would also enact a clearer system for finding what awards are available and simplify the application process.

“I do think they’ve made progress on a few things, especially with faculty development funds,” Borah said. “I think that’s going to help a number of people who haven’t been able to get access to them have a chance now.”

While officials said they think there could be more improvements to health care benefits, they are pleased with some of the changes.

In a newsletter released shortly after the working contract was announced, officials said, “While we would all prefer to see no increases at all in health insurance costs, that is not a realistic goal in today’s America.”

Officials went on to say that the health care benefits plan outlined in the working contract meets its goal of “maintaining high-quality health insurance at an affordable cost in the midst of a changing national health care situation.”

Chapter members will be able to vote on the contract from Thursday through Monday. A simple majority of the 1,691 AAUP members must ratify the contract before it can head to the UC Board of Trustees for final approval.

Hand said he could not recall an instance in which UC AAUP members voted down a contract.

The trustees, who were provided a copy of the working contract Feb. 18 before it went to union members, are expected to approve the ratified contract.

Newly elected senator pushes bill funding campus sustainability event

Conference educates students on environmental issues; new president excited to work with senators BECKY BUTTS ONLINE EDITOR

Recently elected University of Cincinnati undergraduate senator Emily Heine wasted little time in keeping honest on her campaign promises with senate’s approval Wednesday of a bill to fund a sustainability conference on campus.

Student government almost unanimously passed Heine’s bill to bring the Generation Waking Up conference to campus in late March, with a vote of 22-1.

Heine, a first-year biology student who finished first in Friday’s race for senate with 5,618 votes, said she was excited to finally bring the bill before senate.

“Sustainability applies to every single person and the good of the Earth we live on and we can each take part in it,” Heine said.“It’s not something that’s just for one group or one type of person. We are all responsible for how we treat our Earth.”

Through multimedia platforms, GenUp strives to make students aware of environmental sustainability issues and social justice and promotes personal well-being. SG agreed

to spend $2,783 toward compensation and travel expenses.

Wednesday’s SG meeting gave newly elected senators opportunity to review and promote bills and initiatives as acting officers.

“Overall, I think student government this year is heading in the right direction,” said Christina Beer, recently elected student body president.“It’s going to be a great year coming up and I’m looking forward to getting started.”

Heine said her participation in a GenUp conference in October inspired her to travel to Mexico on an internship to work in a rural clinic.

“If I got that much out of it, if I can bring it to UC, if one more person can have such an impact that they can find a way to serve the community and change the world, then that would be all I want,” Heine said.

Beer said she’s impressed by Heine’s work to get the bill passed by senate. Beer added that she looks forward to seeing the fresh perspective GenUp will bring to campus, and she hopes students who aren’t involved will“dive in.”

“It is an important issue because we face sustainability issues on a national and global scale,” Beer said.“Taking those issues into consideration when we are here on campus and what we can do as students to help out those issues is important to keep in mind.”

MADISON SCHMIDT CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Recently elected student body president Christina Beer said she is excited to work with the new senate during the first post-election meeting Wednesday.