The News Record 1.9.13

VOL. CXXXVIII ISSUE XVVI • FREE-ADDITIONAL COPIES $1

THE NEWS RECORD THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI’S INDEPENDENT, STUDENT-RUN NEWS ORGANIZATION / THURSDAY, JAN. 9, 2014

WALTER HIM AND ‘HER’ MITTY

LIVING LABORATORY EXTENDS EDUCATION OUTSIDE CLASSROOM

UC FIELD STATION

SPIKE JONZE TELLS CLASSIC LOVE STORY WITH MODERN LENS

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SLAIN BY NIGHTS

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Neighborhood association wants to ban outdoor couches CUFNA concerned about couch fire hazard, Cincinnati Police and Board of Health have yet to act RYAN HOFFMAN NEWS EDITOR

The neighborhood association representing most of the area surrounding the University of Cincinnati wants to rid the area of upholstered couches on residential porches. “[Couches] pose safety, health risks to neighboring properties and to officers and other first responders,” said Cherie Wallape, Clifton Heights, University Heights and Fairview Heights Neighborhood Association president.

“They are a fire hazard and attract vermin.”

The Cincinnati Police Department along with the Board of Health were going to start issuing citations for couches on porches starting Jan. 1, according to the minutes from the CUFNA November meeting.

District Five Police Officer Lisa Johnson presented a report to CUFNA recommending the removal of upholstered couches from porches, primarily because they are a fire hazard, she said.

“The main goal is to try to save lives,” Johnson said. “If

we can stop it before it starts then it’s worth doing.”

However, CPD and the Board of Health have yet to issue a single citation, so far.

“I’m not going to go out of my way and write citations for every couch outside,” Johnson said. “We’ve got crime and thefts and that’s the priority.”

There is no official city ordinance addressing outdoor couches. To cite a resident or landlord for an outdoor couch, the Board of Health would have to inspect a couch based on a complaint filed with CPD or the Board of Health. The Board of Health would then have to inspect each case and determine if it qualifies as litter, per the City of Cincinnati municipal code, said Rocky Merz, public information officer for the Cincinnati Health Department.

Although it’s based on a case-by-case basis, outdoor couches covered by a porch typically don’t qualify as litter, Merz said.

While there is no blanket law addressing outdoor couches, all it will take is one death from a couch fire to make it an issue, Johnson said, while noting that some residents might see the issue as a violation of individuals’ SEE COUCHES PG 2

MADISON SCHMIDT CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER The CUF Neighborhood Association wants to get rid of upholstered couches on residential porches in the neighborhoods surrounding UC.

POLAR VORTEX

UC Medical Center named top 200 for care of heart attack patients JAMIE MAIER STAFF REPORTER

SARA BLANKEMEYER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Renovations to one of America’s oldest collegiate stadiums started in early December. Construction, ranging from $80 to $85 million, is expected to be completed in 2015.

Winter weather disrupts campus life; students displaced, buildings evacuated RYAN HOFFMAN NEWS EDITOR

The polar vortex that displaced 45 Stratford Heights residents and shut down the University of Cincinnati for two days continued to wreak havoc Wednesday with pipes bursting in buildings throughout campus.

Announcements of busted pipes and evacuated buildings continued to pour in to Wednesday evening.

Tangeman University Center was evacuated multiple times throughout the day, after busted pipes triggered emergency alarms and caused phone service to go out in parts of the building, including the Catskeller. The Corry Boulevard entrance to the Corry Garage was closed after a leak caused part of the roof to collapse. The College of Design, Art, Architecture and Design was briefly evacuated after a pipe burst and Kettering Lab — where water affected the electrical switchgear — on the medical campus will remain closed until a safety evaluation can be conducted.

But the worst of the damage came Tuesday, when a pipe burst around 3 a.m. in a third-floor bathroom in Tower Hall located on the Stratford Heights Complex.

The water spilled out of the bathroom and down the third floor hall, eventually seeping down to the second and third floor.

Because the pipe was part of the sprinkler system, the emergency alarm went off and students had to temporarily vacate the building. They re-entered the building

shortly after to find saturated walls and floors and in some cases, personal property submerged under several inches of standing water.

“The whole thing was very chaotic,” said Cameron Meeks, a first-year architecture student who was displaced after the incident. “It just seems like the university doesn’t have an emergency plan in place for something like this.”

As of press time, 45 students were relocated to other on campus housing — including Morgen’s Hall, the Campus Recreation Center and other buildings in the Stratford Heights Complex.

Meeks said the move has added pressure during an already hectic time of the year.

The university is doing its best to accommodate all students involved, said Todd Duncan, Housing and Food Services

director. Every student affected had $10 transferred to their Bearcat card to wash and dry any wet clothing. Any students relocated to a more expensive residence hall will not be charged the difference and the university will work on transferring parking decals for residents who were relocated across campus, Duncan said.

But the university will not replace any damaged personal property, per the campus housing lease agreement.

“We regret that the university is unable to assume responsibility for damage to students’ personal property,” according to an email sent from the Office of resident Education and Development to affected residents. “This limitation is outlined in the terms and conditions of the housing SEE POLAR VORTEX PG 2

PHIL DIDION PHOTO EDITOR A busted pipe caused part of the roof in Corry Garage to collapse at the Corry Boulevard entrance Wednesday.

The American College of Cardiology Foundation recognized the University of Cincinnati Medical Center as one of the top 200 best programs in the country for its quality care of heart attack patients.

“The American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association commend University of Cincinnati Medical Center for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols,” said James Jollis, an ACC Foundation representative and professor at Duke University, in a statement.

“The full implementation of acute and secondary prevention guidelinerecommended therapy is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of heart attack patients.”

UC Medical Center received the award by following the foundation’s treatment guidelines for eight consecutive quarters and meeting a performance standard of 90 percent for specific performance measures.

By adhering to these guidelines UC Medical Center follows the ACC and AHA recommendations, monitors drug safety and improves the overall quality of care for cardio patients.

Faculty physicians and staff in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization laboratory and the cardiovascular intensive care unit are responsible for this high level of care.

UC offers bracketology course for second year BRYAN SHUPE CHIEF REPORTER

For the second consecutive year, a University of Cincinnati bracketology class returns in time for the approaching NCAA March Madness tournament.

Instructed by UC alumnus Paul Bessire, who graduated from UC in 2005 with a Master’s of Science degree in quantitative analysis, the course examines the analytical aspect of tournament brackets and will be taught over three Saturdays — one each in February, March and April.

“One thing that is undervalued within UC right now is the considerable amount of research that has been done over the last ten or fifteen years within the field of sports analytics,” Bessire said.

Though Bessire recommends experience with probabilities and statistics, he doesn’t require any SEE BRACKETOLOGY PG 2

Student government creates plan to retain, promote past ideas, agendas Plan to help keep previous administration’s ideas viable for future administrations could come in March NATALIE COLEMAN STAFF REPORTER

MADISON SCHMIDT CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER Jacklyn Hyde (left) and Joe Blizzard (right) at Wednesday’s senate meeting.

University of Cincinnati Undergraduate Student Government approved a strategic plan Wednesday that will set an ever-evolving agenda of goals for future SG members to consider.

“We spend a lot of time generating ideas, and a lot less time making the ideas tangible and sustainable for when we leave,” said Aaron Sykes, senator at-large.“All of our ideas are floating in space and nothing is holding us accountable to keep them sustained from year to year.”

Though the specifics have yet to be worked out, the plan will promote the retention and evolution of ideas across new and old SG cabinets. The strategy is slated to be finalized by March 12 and will be presented to the senate for approval March 19.

“We need to think about how we can make this plan not just our plan but next year’s plan, and the year after that,” CHIEF.NEWSRECORD@GMAIL.COM / 513.556.5908

Sykes said.“What we should focus on our overarching initiatives for each year’s student government to use as a guide.”

A committee began meeting in 2012 to draft the principles of the plan and develop the steps it would take to finalize it, though the plan was slow to take off.

“One issue I saw was that the accountability was not there,” said Joe Blizzard, student body president.“The people working on each initiative need to be passionate and need to be in student government long enough to do something.”

Other SG members thought the plan would just waste the government’s meeting time.

“There wouldn’t really be a purpose,” said Benjamin Keefe, student trustee.“It may be possible that we have a completely different room of people here in two years. This sounds more like a mission statement to me.”

UC President Santa Ono was excited about the future of the plan, said Andrew Naab, senator-at-large.

“We’re trying to provide a vision that future student governments can look at,” Naab said. “Next years senate can say ‘This is the vision of the 2013 senate which we can build off of.’”

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THURSDAY, JAN. 9, 2014 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

BP claiming fraud, wants to stop oil-spill payments Company campaigns against settlement, want’s proof of spill’s negative affect MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

WASHINGTON — The Deepwater Horizon settlement agreement is in turmoil, with BP attempting to stop the payments and saying money shouldn’t have gone to an adult escort service, a global nuclear consultant and others that haven’t proved the monster 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico cost them business.

BP is waging an aggressive campaign in the courts and the news media against the settlement it signed two years ago. The company agreed to the settlement under pressure as claims mounted from the oil rig explosion that killed 11 workers, led to the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history and did major economic damage to businesses in the region.

When it signed the settlement, BP expected a cost of about $7.8 billion. But it soon became clear that payouts would swell.

Now BP is in court arguing that the claims administrator and the judge overseeing the settlement are misinterpreting the terms of the deal.

The company is trying to persuade a federal appeals court to block payments to companies that can’t prove the spill caused their losses.“BP has been ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars — soon likely to be billions — of fictitious and inflated losses,” the company argues.

Blaine LeCesne, a law professor at Loyola

Obama urges congress to extend jobless benefits MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama pressed Congress on Tuesday to extend jobless benefits for 1.3 million Americans, dismissing the suggestion that the checks lead people to shun work and insisting there’s no need for budget offsets to pay the price.

The Senate did take an important step toward restoring the benefits, which ended Dec. 28. Senators voted 60-27 to remove a big procedural roadblock to any legislation, with six Republicans joining 52 Democrats and two independents.Yet even if the Senate approves the benefits, advocates still face big hurdles in the Republican-led House of Representatives.

JPMorgan Chase settles in Madoff ponzi scheme LOS ANGELES TIMES

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay $1.7 billion to resolve a Justice Department investigation into its role in Bernard Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

The giant Wall Street firm, which served as Madoff’s primary banker, acknowledged that it failed to alert authorities to suspicious activity in Madoff’s accounts as required under federal law.

Prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York agreed to defer a criminal prosecution in exchange for the monetary penalty, which will be forwarded to victims of the Ponzi scheme.

JPMorgan admitted violating two U.S. laws: failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program and failing to file a suspicious activity report.

University in New Orleans who’s followed the case closely, said BP was trying to back out of the settlement terms it had signed.

“It’s a mess. It’s a total mess.” LeCesne said.

The class-action settlement, which BP reached with private plaintiff’s lawyers, never said that companies must prove the spill directly caused their losses, LeCesne said.

That’s because the only way to prove such a thing is through a trial, he said. And going through trials in tens of thousands of cases would be long and expensive. Instead, he said, BP and the plaintiffs agreed to a formula where, if a business met the criteria, its loss was presumed to be a result of the 2010 spill.

The formula takes into account the business’s distance from the Gulf and compares revenue for certain months before and after the spill. Businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and some counties on the west coast of Florida and in southeastern Texas are eligible to apply under the formula.

The names of the businesses and the amounts they received are confidential, but some details have become public as a result of the battle between BP and the claims administrator.

BP is taking out full-page advertisements in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, alleging that more than $500 million has been paid in undeserving claims, some to businesses far from the Gulf and others with no real losses.

PROVIDED A year after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, beaches remain closed to the public at Grand Isle State Beach, Louisiana. BP is waging a campaign against the settlement it agreed to, saying the companies can’t prove the spill affected business.

BP is targeting claimants who range from celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse to a Florida RV park owner. One advertisement complains that an adult escort service received $173,000 with a claim based on sloppy tax returns.

“The IRS wouldn’t accept this claim,” BP said in the ad.“But the Gulf Settlement Program did.”

The New Orleans judge who oversees

Dennis Rodman sings ‘Happy Birthday’ to Kim Jong Un Former NBA star makes fourth trip to North Korea for leader’s birthday

Koryo tours who is traveling with Rodman’s group, described the event as a “bizarre and unusual occasion.”

In a video dispatch from Pyongyang posted to Koryo’s Facebook page, he said the teams played two 10-minute halves, with the North Koreans prevailing at the final buzzer (by a score of 47-39, according to Associated Press).

Then they played another 10 minutes of mixed teams, a matchup featuring “showboating and alley-oops.” Rodman’s so-called basketball diplomacy has drawn sharp criticism from a number of Americans, including several members of Congress as well as the family of Kenneth Bae, a tour guide and U.S. citizen who has been held captive in the country for more than a year.

On Tuesday, tensions were high as Rodman sparred with a CNN anchor over the trip, and another former player with his delegation, Charles D. Smith, voiced some misgivings about his participation

in an interview with Associated Press.

But Rodman told reporters on the scene Wednesday that the game was “a historic day for everyone in the world” and showed that “we can coexist with each other if we take a deep breath.”

Early video clips from the arena did not show Kim, but Cockerell said the North Korean leader attended the game with his wife and that the crowd, in typical fashion, greeted him with thunderous applause and shouts of “May you live 10,000 years!”

The trip was Rodman’s fourth to North Korea and comes about a month after the secretive regime announced that Jang Song Taek, Kim’s uncle and de facto second-incommand, had been purged and executed.

There was no immediate word on whether Jang’s wife _ Kim’s aunt and the sister of his late father, Kim Jong Il _ attended Wednesday’s game in Pyongyang.

Speculation about her well-being has swirled since Jang’s demise.

with them.”

Duncan praised the students affected for being cooperative and maintaining a positive outlook, as well as the employees — many of whom worked overtime to help aid in clean up and moving.

UC President Santa Ono took to Facebook Tuesday to alert the students affected by the incident that he was working with housing officials to resolve the problem.

“I’m very sorry to hear about the burst water pipe in the sprinkler system in the Tower and the disruption to you early this morning,” Ono said.“I’m in contact with UC staff to make sure you are OK. Please work with your residence staff as we deal with the water damage. I will continue to monitor the situation and keep your best interests in mind.”

Still some students are upset with the way the university is handling the issue.

“I was really looking to move back in,” said Logan Hendrick, a first-year information technology student.

PHIL DIDION PHOTO EDITOR Crews work to clean up Calhoun Hall after a pipe busted in the main lobby due to subzero temperatures Tuesday.

Hendrick criticized the university for a lack of communication during the entire process.

“If we want updates, we have to go there and look for ourselves and the entire building smells awful,” Hendrick said.

Duncan acknowledged that when so many students are affected it’s impossible to please everyone.

“I regret those two guys feel lesser,” Duncan said.“That was certainly not our intent.”

Other than the incident in Tower Hall, pipes also broke in Calhoun Hall around 2 p.m., but the damage was mostly contained to the main lobby area.

Other than having to use a different entrance and having the water temporarily shut off, none of the Calhoun Hall residents were affected by the busted pipes, said Greg Hand, UC spokesperson.

The university doesn’t have solid estimates for any of the damage on campus, yet.

An email warning of the potential for frozen pipes was sent to select faculty members by UC Public Safety several days before the “extreme cold snap.”

The email said pipes would likely start busting Wednesday or Thursday as the temperature rises.

Classes at UC were cancelled Monday and Tuesday due to inclement weather that brought arctic-like conditions to the region.

Subzero temperatures moved in early Monday morning and stayed until around 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

The decision to close the university was likely a smart one, said Kenneth Hinkel, a professor in the geography department at UC. “My observation is people around Cincinnati really don’t have the clothes for this type of weather,” Hinkel said.

However, the pattern that brought the cold temperatures was not that unusual, he said.

“It’s something that happens typically throughout the year,” Hinkel said.“The region is invaded by an air mass and that mass had its origins in northern Canada.”

What was unusual, Hinkel said, was the wind that accompanied the cold front, which led to wind chills as cold as minus 29 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

“It’s the wind that made the difference and what made it so dangerous,” Hinkel said.

bracketology application.

“We really try to equip our students with the tools and the knowledge and the analysis that we use to be able to make more appropriate decisions about what’s likely to happen with NCAA tournament,” Bessire said.“And these are the same concepts that they can use in their everyday lives and in business as well.”

The course is not only designed to help students make better picks for their 2014 bracket, but also to help them explore and evaluate businesses by using analytical concepts.

“The college basketball tournament and the NCAA itself are big business,” Bessire said.“We’re talking about billions of dollars.

livable.

“Neat, well kept properties increase walk-ability and detract crime,”Wallape said. “Our organization actively works to elevate the community with cleanups and beautification efforts to make CUF a better and safer place for all residents — often with UC student volunteers.”

Wallape didn’t comment on whether or not CUFNA would try to get legislation banning couches passed by Cincinnati City Council, but Johnson said that was her impression.

In the meantime, Johnson is planning events to educate the community on the possible dangers of outdoor upholstered furniture.

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

BEIJING — Dennis Rodman helped Kim Jong Un mark his 31st birthday Wednesday with sport and song, serenading the North Korean dictator with a warbly rendition of “Happy Birthday” in a Pyongyang gymnasium and then leading fellow exNBA players in a game against a local squad. Spectators were not allowed to bring cameras into the modestly appointed arena, but video posted later online showed Rodman in sunglasses leading the crowd — many of them in sport coats and dress shirts — in a singing tribute to “The Marshal.”

Then the Americans, in blue and white uniforms, faced off against the North Koreans, or the “Torch Team,” in red. Simon Cockerell, a tour guide with Beijing-based

FROM POLAR VORTEX PG 1

agreement you signed when applying for on-campus housing.”

Students can contact the Office of Housing and Food Services with special cases and the university will consider partial or complete reimbursement, but it’s not a guarantee, Duncan said.

There are still about 100 students living in Tower Hall. Those students can talk with Housing and Food Services and the office will help students relocate, although that’s going to be difficult until about the third week of the semester when officials have a better understanding of available space.

Those students who were relocated will spend the rest of the semester in their new residences, although they can request to move back once the repairs in Tower Hall are completed.

“We’re not going to move these students twice; absolutely not,” Duncan said.“If they desire to go back we would certainly work

Hong Kong film legend, philanthropist dies LOS ANGELES TIMES

Hong Kong film magnate Run Run Shaw, who built the Shaw Bros. studio into the largest in Asia in the 1960s and ‘70s, popularized the kung fu genre around the world and later became a major philanthropist, died Tuesday at 106.

Shaw’s studio — which he ran with his brother, Runme — churned out more than 1,000 films over more than five decades, from romances and musicals to action pictures. He even co-produced American films, including Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner.”The legacy of Shaw Bros. films can be seen in the works of contemporary filmmakers from Quentin Tarantino to John Woo and Ang Lee.

CHECK OUT NEWSRECORD.ORG FOR AN INTERACTIVE MAP AND PHOTO GALLERY FROM BRACKETOLOGY PG 1

prerequisites and the course is open to both graduate and undergraduate students.

“The class at its core has a lot to do with understanding how to evaluate complex systems and probability,” Bessire said.“These are things that impact every single business and it impacts just about every decision that’s made within the scope of industry today, which is trying to evaluate the likelihood of just about anything occurring.”

Students in the three-day class will study the history of the NCAA basketball tournament and use the 2014 March Madness tournament for hands-on

the claims process, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, is defending the payouts. The judge ruled on Christmas Eve against BP’s argument that businesses should have to show the spill caused their losses, writing that “would bring the claims administration process to a virtual standstill.”

BP is asking an appeals court to overrule him.

So any in-depth discussion and analysis on big business can be beneficial to somebody who has an interest in any kind of business.”

The first scheduled class is Feb. 8 and is limited to 40 students. As of press time, only one student claimed a seat.

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rights.

“If it saves a life would you do it? A lot of people see this as a rights issue, but all I’m trying to do is get the couches off the porches and save lives,” Johnson said.

For CUFNA, the issue is about making the neighborhood more sanitary and

CHIEF.NEWSRECORD@GMAIL.COM / 513.556.5908

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Living laboratory extends education

PROVIDED

The University of Cincinnati’s Center for Field Students is a living laboratory located in Miami Whitewater Forest in the midst of marshes, prairies and hilly landscapes. The center allows students to extend their education beyond the classroom setting and make real-world impacts on the environment.

UC Center for Field Studies takes education beyond traditional classroom setting A.J. KMETZ CONTRIBUTOR

The University of Cincinnati has created a fusion of environmental research, community education and realworld impact – a living laboratory called the UC Center for Field Studies.

Located only 20 miles away from campus in the heart of the over-4,000-acre Miami Whitewater Forest, UC’s field station is a place for students and faculty to put what they learn in class and in the laboratory into practice. UCCFS is situated on a 17.6 acre property that is perfect for the station’s intended purpose, thanks to a partnership with the Great Parks of Hamilton County (formerly the Hamilton County Park District). Included in the field station are laboratory spaces, conference areas, classrooms and common garden plots, some designed by Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning students, all in what was once a farmstead dating to 1830 owned by Whitewater Shakers.

The Center for Environmental Studies and the biological sciences, geology, geography and anthropology departments are all represented at the station, and students are given the opportunity to research in a living laboratory, with a focus on biological, ecological, geological and archeological fieldwork.

The Miami Whitewater Forest includes floodplains and hilly landscapes, with both old and new forests, a lake, marshes and prairies fed by the Great Miami and Whitewater rivers for students to explore and study.

Executive director of UCCFS David Lentz considers it the most inspiring classroom ever.

Lentz was hired in 2006 for the express purpose of heading the new field station, which began operations in 2008. In April of that year, a 35-year lease agreement was signed by UC and the Board of Park Commissioners of the HCPD to create UCCFS. Now, six years into the lease, Lentz has directed the station through its early growth, which includes the addition of 20 new solar panels on the Court Archaeological Research Facility, installed last summer.

The panels, like many other aspects of the station,

are intended to help minimize the Center’s ecological footprint, and in fact make the LEEDS-certified CARF the first UC facility that can rely solely on renewable energy. Research is also being done on “green roofs,” the use of live plant covering for rooftops for energy conservation.

Going green, though important, is just one of the objectives of the center. The station is designed to facilitate interaction and coordinate research between several fields concerned with the environment and to serve as a base for studying the area and the many ecosystems it contains.

The center’s focus is not solely on research, however.

A large part of its objective is to serve the university and the greater Cincinnati community. Lentz believes that UCCFS can be used to spark public interest in the sciences, particularly among students, whom he believes are losing interest in the subject.

One of the functions of the field station is to get undergraduate students involved in basic research.

UCCFS offers undergraduate courses in geology, climate change and environmental processes, and is launching Maymester courses in ornithology and botany, specifically on the wildflowers of Cincinnati. In addition, a certificate program in ecological monitoring is being planned, and will be complimented by a new dormitory facility in the original Shaker farmhouse complex, also in planning.

These opportunities show students the value of research and give them a glimpse of what being a scientist is all about.

Through its connection to the Hamilton County Park District, UCCFS also makes itself a wholesome part of the Cincinnati community. Research on agriculture could pay off in better crops for the area. Saturday Stream Snapshots, a workshops conducted by a faculty members, utilizes volunteer efforts to collect water samples from around the Tri-State area. The samples are analyzed, and the results help UCCFS keep an eye on Cincinnati’s water supply. There is also a stargazing workshop in planning to begin sometime this spring.

The UC Center for Field Studies is one of the university’s most effective outlets for research into the real world. The center’s impact is not only on our knowledge of the environment, but on how we can continue to care for it in years to come.

PROVIDED

Although the station places focus in many areas, students are able to study the environment through multiple fields and the area’s many ecosystems.

PROVIDED

Environmental research is conducted between several fields. Some of the center’s garden plots, classrooms and laboratory spaces were designed by UC Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning students.

Poet, ‘Adventure Time’ staff writer to speak at UC

NightRide program implements expansions Increased vehicles, staff aim to increase safety through nighttime service EMILY BEGLEY COLLEGE LIFE EDITOR

EMILY BEGLEY COLLEGE LIFE EDITOR

From provoking tales of budding preteens to the colorful, enigmatic world of “Adventure Time,” the next installment of the Visiting Writers Series will galvanize Spring Semester with readings from two eccentric authors.

Marisa Crawford and Jack Pendarvis will join a multifarious group of authors featured at the University of Cincinnati as part of the creative writing program series. The authors will set up shop in Langsam Library’s Elliston Room for a reading and discussion beginning at 4 p.m. Friday.

Crawford, a writer, poet and editor from Brooklyn, N.Y., published poetry collection “The Haunted House” in 2010.

The book revolves around coming-of-age themes, detailing female subjects who come to acquire their voices throughout the work.

The event will also feature Pendarvis, author and staff writer for Cartoon Network’s “Adventure Time.” Pendarvis is the author of a novel, “Awesome,” and two short story collections: “Your Body is Changing” and “The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure.”

After briefly freelancing for “Adventure Time,” Pendarvis was asked to join the staff writing team at the series and has held the position since. He additionally voiced Root Beer Guy in the show’s episode of the same name.

A free transportation service provided

by Public Safety at the University of Cincinnati is expanding its services Spring Semester in response to student input and demand.

NightRide was created almost two years ago to provide students, faculty and staff with safe and reliable nighttime transportation. The service shuttles riders

“We just want to make sure people get going to where they’re going in a safe and secure manner.”

- Jim Vestring, NightRide Coordinator

to and from locations in the program’s vans, which travel within a one-mile radius of UC’s campus.

“I want to get the most amount of bodies in the least amount of miles,” said Jim Vestring, NightRide coordinator, stressing his desire to increase participation in the service while minimizing navigation time.

Three new vans were purchased for the service, bringing NightRide’s

vehicle total up to five, one of which is wheelchair accessible. During the service’s busiest hours, NightRide will contract with Crosswell Bus Line to provide additional vehicles.

A full-time staff has also been assigned to provide service during NightRide’s hours of operation, Vestring said, tripling staff members from 15 to 45.

Vestring’s primary goal from the changes is increased safety for the UC community.

“We just want to make sure people get going to where they’re going in a safe and secure manner,”Vestring said.

“Our mission is to be the elite student transportation program in the country.”

NightRide drivers have been given all-access passes to campus garages, enabling riders to be dropped off at their cars and eliminating dangers produced by walking alone, Vestring said.

In addition to transportation, NightRide will provide walking escorts to accompany students to campus buildings or parking garages.

Vestring emphasizes the importance of student feedback to continue to improve NightRide and the services they provide.

“I want people to put stuff on Facebook and Twitter,”Vestring said. “I don’t care if it’s positive or negative. Someone might come up with something very efficient that we just overlooked.”

Students needing transportation after NightRide’s hours of operation are encouraged to call UC police dispatch; police and security officers are on-call to safely transport students to their destinations.

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After NightRide hours of operation, students are encouraged to call UC police dispatch at 513-556-1111 to be taken to their destination by an officer.

CONTACT INFORMATION Services: 513-556-RIDE Regular Hours: Sunday-Wednesday: 8 p.m.-midnight Thursday-Saturday: 8 p.m.-2 a.m.

Limited Service: Sunday-Wednesday: midnight-5 a.m.

Saturday, Sunday: 2-5 a.m.

4 / ARTS Fun for free: Boy meets girl, falls for her processor THURSDAY JAN. 9, 2014 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

Live music KATIE GRIFFITH MANAGING EDITOR

Tuesdays in January - EDM Showcase featuring Bassface and various artists Madfrog 9 p.m.

Maybe not the underground rave you crave, but surely enough to hold you over (or make connections to find one) until the next. Never know who you’ll run into with the lineup changing weekly, but the constant is Bassface, whose name boasts the bass-in-your-face — all in your ears and pulsing through your body — type of sound guaranteed every Tuesday. With the buildup of three bass movements before Bassface’s Aron Fritz brings his intensely well-known drops to the stage, it might be a challenge to make it through the extremes of the night, but it will be worth it.

Jan. 9 - Wade Baker - Northside Tavern Since 2009 the Wade Baker Jazz Collaboration has set out to revolutionize the jazz scene in Cincinnati and anywhere else his assorted abilities have taken him. But his exploration of music has endured longer than his revolutionary trials, playing bass guitar and trumpet in various music festivals and studying jazz in school. He has been honored with Artist of the Month (Cincy Groove) and nominated as Best Musician and Artist of the Year (Cincy Groove).

Known for his versatility and infusing multiple genres into a passion for jazz, he’s no stranger to putting on a show.

Jan. 11- Tweens, Idiot Glee and Mardou Northside Tavern 9 p.m.

Although the three members of Tweens are well out of the preteen age range their collective name flaunts, their trashpop-feel-good-rock brings listeners back to those carefree times. The band formed a year ago and has had an equal amount of time to promote, play and succeed.

So far Tweens are doing well, to say the least, they’ve been signed to Frenchkiss Records, are a nominee for Best New Artist of the Year in CityBeat’s Cincinnati Entertainment Awards and have a debut album set to release in March. Although Idiot Glee is the headliner of the night — and should be just as eagerly awaited as the Tweens — local charm and a quick rise to the top point the spotlight on the Tweens.

Jan. 11 - The Sundresses with Ford Theatre Reunion - MOTR Pub The Sundresses seethe rock from every last guitar strum, bass pluck and drum beat. Their live shows lend the satisfaction of a never ending jam session and a bottomless pit of surprising riffs and riveting loops. The band has predicted a heat wave amid the cold via Twitter for Saturday’s show, promising to make attendees sweat.

The Ford Theatre Reunion “has been on a quest to return sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll to the circus,” according to their website, and can easily do so with the assistance of The Sundresses.

PROVIDED

Joaquin Phoenix is the only actor who can be Theodore.

Spike Jonze puts love in plastic box, audiences can’t help but love ‘Her’ JAKE GRIECO ARTS EDITOR

People will claim Spike Jonze’s fourth feature film, “Her,” is about humans becoming too obsessed with technology.

But they are wrong.

If any audience member left the theater thinking the film was about living too closely intertwined with technology then they know nothing.

Yes, it’s creepy. Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore, a professional letter writer that after a divorce downloads a sentient operating system named Samantha (Scarlett Johansson) that he eventually falls in love with.

Yes, it’s ridiculous. The closest thing to sex the happy couple has is achievable with only one person having a body.

They have inside jokes. They have fights and make up with each other. Jonze has nailed down what it looks like to fall in love, and recreated it in a way that humans aren’t used to seeing. This makes “Her” one of the best love stories ever told.

With love being so far removed from its Ken-and-Barbie form, people can’t help but compare it to the love they experience in their own lives.

Theodore and Samantha are an adorable couple, and wrapped in every couple is a lesson. Relationships teach the participants new things about how they care for their partners. In one scene Theodore says, “I’ve never loved anyone they way I have loved you.” Samantha responds, “Me too. Now we know how.”

This makes love seem like nothing more than an achievable action. Something that once learned can be completed over and over again. This is a message that comes best from a couple consisting of

a melancholy writer and a super sexy sounding A.I. This is the first script Jonze has written himself and it deserves to win as many awards as the movie racked up so far already, and hopefully Best Actor is on its way to Phoenix. He is the perfect man to play Theodore. Phoenix is a master of the dark. He can be as lonely as the moon on screen and make everyone in the theater want to hug him.

Johansson makes this movie as successful as it is, and Jonze knew she would. The film was originally shot with lesser-known actress Samantha Morton as the voice of Samantha. Jonze later recasted Johansson after the movie was filmed.

Johansson is an art house sex icon.

Putting her voice in the film had every male in the audience not blaming Theodore for falling in love with Samantha. Because a lot of moviegoers are familiar with Johansson’s features its hard to keep from imagining her body with the voice. This has to be the way Theodore felt about Samantha, with such a likeable and bold personality, she has a definite presence on screen. The film is shot through Theodore’s perspective so even though she is not physically present, he can feel her around him.

Johansson’s voice is enough to achieve this on screen.

The film will leave the audience debating if they would download their very own Samantha if they had the chance.

‘Walter Mitty’ elaborately uninteresting Visually appealing yet emotionally unrelatable, Stiller misses target MONROE TROMBLY STAFF REPORTER

Directed by and starring Ben Stiller,“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” is the second film adaptation of James Thurber’s 1939 short story of the same name. Although the title suggests a film of alter egos and split personalities,“Walter Mitty” is a tame film, to say the least, of one man’s struggle to find his individual confidence and self-reliance.

Ben Stiller plays Walter, a meek and modest photo editor of Life Magazine in its final days of print.

Walter plays life by the book; his own book, that is. From the beginning we see Walter leads a life that’s extremely calculated, ever analyzed and assuredly safe. His back-story explains that when his father died, Walter settled into a life that gave him some measure of predictability, control and assuredness concerning the future.

Walter consequently indulges in elaborate and extravagant fantasies that help him escape from the mundane job and humdrum of the city.

Kristen Wiig stars as Cheryl Melhoff, Walter’s co-worker and love interest, pursuing her on eHarmony, and stressing over whether or not to send a “wink” to her.

The narrative opens up when Walter is presented with an opportunity to step out of his comfort zone, realizing that the final

cover’s negative sent from the legendary photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) is missing.

The remaining distinguishable negatives present Walter with clues as to Sean’s last whereabouts. Walter sets out on a journey to find Sean, and to quite obviously, find the person he lost when he stopped being a kid.

Near universal themes of self-actualization, a gaining of confidence and finding one’s identity inhabit “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” There is also much commentary on technology, and how the Internet is creating new settings for human interaction, thus causing a retreat from the natural world right in front of our faces. Walter’s periodic habit of “zoning out” presents the viewer with his fantasies of a life he desires, showcasing his incredible imagination that is mostly filled with outrageous and bizarre delusions of grandeur.

But while Stiller fashions Walter Mitty as an average Joe with desires to be different, he seems almost intangible to the average viewer at times. The fantasies are a bit too extravagant and far-fetched and they often come across as laborious, excessive and forced.

There is haphazard inconsistency with the emotions Stiller wants the viewer to experience and the daydreams stay inconsistent and uneven.

In a daydream sequence Stiller parodies “Benjamin Button” and the fictional disease of reverse aging and the satirical tone seemingly comes out of nowhere, as the

whole of the movie conversely presents itself as one big contemplation on life. It makes one wonder why Stiller chose this project instead of sticking to his forte for comedy.

His ambitious designs of magnificence fail to pack the punch of emotional gratification that’s so promised throughout the movie, and the narrative of one man’s selfactualization is put in to big of an arena for both Walter and the viewer to access to the fullest extent and capacity.

As Walter’s exaggerated fantasies grow to become less and less, experiencing the world first-hand, the 360 degree change in both personality and self becomes more and more improbable and dubious.

Written by Steve Conrad, the screenplay and spoken word is content with playing safe and the words and phrases can be uttered before they’re spoken.

But that’s not to say absolutely everything about “Walter Mitty” is bad.

Stiller has an excellent eye when it comes to framing and the visuality of camerawork.

The shots of Walter living his fantasies out are framed in exceptional natural light, highlighting the beauty of the natural world, and giving depth to the story of mankind.

The best moments of the film arrive when Walter is experiencing simple, unformulated reality. Wordless, music-filled scenes of long boarding in the mountains of Iceland and playing soccer in sunset drenched plains of tundra present the potential of “Walter Mitty” to be much more impactful and thoughtful than it came out to be.

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THURSDAY, JAN. 9, 2014 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

6 / SPORTS Rutgers hands UC fourth straight conference loss

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THURSDAY, JAN. 9, 2014 / NEWSRECORD.ORG

MADISON SCHMIDT CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

UC Senior Dayeesha Hollins drives toward the basket during the first half of UC’s 78-58 loss to Rutgers.

First half scoring drought dooms Bearcats against Scarlet Knights CHARLES GROVE STAFF REPORTER

The University of Cincinnati women’s basketball team dropped its fourth straight game Tuesday at Fifth Third Arena, falling to the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights 78-58.

Late in the first half Rutgers was clinging to a two-point lead at 27-25. Cincinnati wouldn’t score again for almost 10 minutes, while Rutgers rattled off a 20-0 run, putting the game out of reach for UC head coach Jamelle Elliott’s team, which dropped to 0-4 in American Athletic Conference play.

“They were making shots and we weren’t,” UC senior Kayla Cook said.“That’s the bottom line. Simple as that.”

Free throws kept UC within striking distance, shooting 10-10 in the first half and 16-16 overall, but Rutgers dominated the game in nearly every other aspect, smothering the Bearcats and eventually leading by as many as 24 points.

“Today we were outmatched in every aspect,” Elliott said.“From roster spots one through 12 they were taller, more athletic, they were stronger and they were quicker. We needed to play almost a perfect game and do the little things right and it didn’t happen.”

Rutgers dominated the Bearcats inside, scoring 44 of their 78 points in the paint, which propelled the Scarlet Knights to a 55.2 shooting percentage by the final buzzer.

Rutgers junior Betnijah Laney recorded her seventh consecutive double-double, posting 16 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore Kahleah Copper led all scorers with 21

points on 9-of-10 shooting.

“I haven’t seen a team with the mid-range game that they had and the ability to make that shot almost automatically from 12 to 17 feet,” Elliott said.“Our guards, sometimes they were there but when you guard someone two or three inches taller than you it’s hard to really contest a shot to disrupt it and my hats off to Rutgers.”

Three Bearcats scored in double figures, with senior Jeanise Randolph leading the way for UC with 16 points and eight rebounds. Junior Alyesha Lovett and Cook added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Frustration began to set in late in the first half when Laney and UC junior Chelsea Jamison were called for technical fouls after a scramble near the basket.

“Their physicality was the main thing,”Cook said.“It kind of rattled us a lot, emotionally too and after that technical we got rattled.”

After recently playing top-ranked Connecticut on the road, followed up by another Top-10 team in Louisville, Elliott said she needed the kind of focus tonight her team showed against two of the top programs in the nation.

“I thought we started to get deflated mentally a little bit,” Elliott said.“I don’t think we were as aggressive getting back in transition as we were in the first half but we have to find a way. We talk about playing 40 minutes hard and we do that against the UConn’s of the world and the Louisville’s of the world but we need to do that against SMU, we need to do that against Rutgers and we need to do it against the teams that are not top five or six in the country.”

Elliott said despite the four game losing streak she remains confident her team is still focused and is determined to get better.

“There’s still a lot of basketball to play,” Elliott said.“I still have my guys’ attention, they want to get better, they know what they have to do, it’s just a matter of doing it.”

Mercifully for the Bearcats, the schedule lightens up a bit as UC’s next four games include Houston, Temple, South Florida and Central Florida.

“We knew going into this game we played the preseason top four picks in the league: Uconn, Louisville, SMU and now Rutgers,” Elliott said.“Would we have liked to have stolen one of them? I think we could’ve stole SMU even without [Dayeesha] and Alexis but we didn’t start the game with the focus, energy and effort that we needed to.”

With the team healthy and through the toughest part of its schedule, Elliot and the Bearcats have survived to fight another day.

“At the end of the day I say ‘Is anybody hurt physically? Is anybody totally wiped out mentally?’ and the answer to those questions was a resounding ‘No,’” Elliott said.

“So that means we survived the toughest part of our schedule this year in conference.”

UC’s next matchup will be a road test against the Houston Cougars Saturday at 3 p.m., before coming back home to take on the Temple Owls Jan. 18.

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UC escapes second half charge for win in Houston 50210003 C11804A FTM Danger 8.2x18 NWSPRNT_1.indd Cyan Magenta Yellow Black

Huge halftime lead cut to one point in nail-biting finish for AAC-leading Bearcats PATRICK LAAKE STAFF REPORTER

Leading the University of Houston 40-24 at halftime, the University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team appeared to be on its way to a blowout of the University of Houston at the Hofheinz Pavilion.

Apparently, the Cougars didn’t get that memo at the half.

Coming into the game both teams were undefeated in conference play. Houston was coming off of a huge win against No. 17 UConn while the Bearcats were on a six-game win streak including an impressive win over No. 18 Memphis.

Cincinnati came out firing on all cylinders.

By the time the first five minutes had passed the lead was already eight. Houston, at the time, had no answer.

Three time American Athletic Conference player of the week Justin Jackson was restricted to the bench most of the first half after two early fouls. With their best player on the bench, the remaining Bearcats picked up the slack.

Forward Titus Rubles stepped up monumentally, contributing six points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and

two steals in the first half. Rubles had more offensive rebounds than the entire Houston team had in the first half and the Cougars didn’t have a single second chance point in the first half.

As usual, UC’s press caused havoc for Houston’s guards. In the first half, the Cougars struggled in just crossing half court, as the Bearcats forced nine turnovers that led to 11 points.

“They came with the press and I don’t think we were ready for that. We really didn’t hear anything about it and I don’t think Coach [Dickey] was too worried about it, but they just came with the press and we weren’t ready for it,” said Houston forward TaShawn Thomas.“It just put everybody back on their heels and we weren’t ready to play.”

Sean Kilpatrick hit a jumper with seven seconds to go in the half, to push the lead to 16, as the Bearcats took a 40-24 advantage into the second half.

Trailing by a large margin at home in front of a very small crowd, it would’ve been easy for Houston to lay down in the second half. Instead, the Cougars dominated in a fight that came down to the final seconds.

The Bearcats pushed their lead to 19 points in the onset of the second half, before Houston hit a barrage of three pointers. The Cougars are fourth in the conference in three

point percentage but no one would have guessed they would go 7-for-10 in the second half after starting the game just 2-for-9.

“Give Coach Dickey credit. They made some adjustments,” said UC head coach Mick Cronin.“They made some good plays with their cross screens. They saw what we were doing trying to take Thomas away, and they were finding the open man, and they made us pay from the 3-point line.”

After a Brandon Morris 3-pointer, UC’s lead was down to just three points with 9 minutes and 56 seconds to go. The Bearcats then went on an 8-0 run to push the lead back to 11. With three minutes left to play and an 11-point lead, it looked all but over for a second time. But, once again, the Cougars wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Houston put in four quick points to cut the lead to seven but clock management killed them in the final minute.

Cincinnati missed the front end of a oneand-one, but the Cougars took 20 seconds off the clock before hitting a three with 53 seconds left.

Rubles threw Houston one final lifeline, unnecessarily fouling Jherrod on a 3-point attempt with 33 seconds to go. Stiggers had a chance to cut the lead to two points, but made just 1-of-3 from the line, which sucked the life out of the building.

Houston quickly fouled Jackson before the inbound pass. Jackson missed both free throws.

“We missed a lot of free throws, 6-for-14, in the second half which is uncharacteristic for us. We’re a 72 percent free throw shooting team,” Cronin said.“That was unfortunate, and that was a big factor in the game as well.”

Thomas converted a put-back layup for Houston with 17 seconds remaining to cut the lead to two points, but Kevin Johnson put the game away with a pair of free throws with just seconds remaining.

With a two possession the Bearcats could ignore Tione Womack’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer, which left Houston one point short at 61-60. The victory was not what the Bearcats imagined when they took the floor in the second half.

“Whenever you can win, your guys learn a valuable lesson about not getting complacent; especially at home,” Cronin said.

“A team is never out of it.You don’t want to go through it.You’d like your team to be a machine every game.”

With the win, the Bearcats are now 3-0 in the American Conference and 14-2 overall.

Cincinnati will come home for a bout with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights Saturday at Fifth Third Arena. The Knights are 7-8 overall and

Jackson earns third straight AAC weekly honor Career performance against SMU lifts UC senior to yet another award JOSHUA MILLER SPORTS EDITOR

For the third consecutive week, University of Cincinnati senior forward Justin Jackson has been named the American Athletic Conference’s player of the week, the league announced Monday.

In the seven-day span from Dec. 30 to Monday, Jackson led the Bearcats to a 2-0 start in AAC play with victories against Southern Methodist (65-57) and No. 18 Memphis (69-53).

Jackson averaged 15.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.0 blocks, 3.0 steals, 2.5 assists and shot 57.9 percent from the field (11-for-19) in the two games, which was highlighted by his performance against SMU. Controlling every aspect of the game for its entirety, Jackson totaled 17 points, five blocks, five steals and three assists. He also added 16 deflections, a statistic that UC head coach Mick

Cronin considers a staple of UC’s success.

“Justin Jackson was as good as you could possibly be today, probably on every phase of the game,” Cronin said.

“He had 16 deflections, 17 points, five blocks, five steals, three assists and no turnovers. [It’s] almost impossible to have a better stat line than he had and put forth a better effort than he did.”

Jackson’s all-around play continued against Memphis, adding 13 points, eight rebounds, seven blocks, two assists and a steal in UC’s complete defensive domination of the Tigers.

In its first season as a basketball conference, Jackson is the first player to win AAC player of the week honors in consecutive weeks, let alone in three consecutive weeks.

After being limited by foul trouble in UC’s narrow 61-60 victory against Houston Tuesday night, Jackson will need another stellar performance Saturday, as UC takes on Rutgers, if he hopes to retain the award for a fourth straight week.

LAUREN KREMER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Justin Jackson tries to pump up the crowd at the annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout, December 14, 2013.

Xavier defeated the Bearcats 64-47.