VOL. CXXXIII ISSUE I • FREE-ADDITIONAL COPIES $1
THE NEWS RECORD THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI’S INDEPENDENT, STUDENT-RUN NEWS ORGANIZATION / THURSDAY, OCT. 17, 2013
EVENT RAISES THOUSANDS FOR SCHOLARSHIPS
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DESERVING STYLISH SHOPPING AVETT CHOICE BROTHERS MEN’S CLOTHING STORE COMES TO OVER-THE-RHINE
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Renowned diversity expert visits UC in wake of racist cartoon Georgetown professor discusses breaking silence surrounding racism ALEXIS O’BRIEN CHIEF REPORTER
To combat issues of racism that recently surfaced at the University of Cincinnati, Georgetown University sociology professor Michael Eric Dyson spoke to the UC community Wednesday night about breaking the silence surrounding racism. After a derogatory cartoon depicting two university leaders circulated around the university’s campus in mid-September, UC President Santa Ono, Provost Beverly Davenport and Interim Chief Diversity Officer Bluzette Marshall reached out to Dyson, who is a renowned diversity expert. “It’s been a hard couple weeks for this
community, let’s be honest,” Ono said during the event. “Institutions of higher education are places where everyone should feel equal, where everyone should feel safe to say what they feel, and tonight is a small step, but a very important step for us to heal as a community.” More than 500 people listened to Dyson speak in the Great Hall at Tangeman University Center about the positive outcomes that come from constructive dialogue that challenges narrow conceptions of the status quo. He said the silence surrounding racism must be broken for shared humanity to be acknowledged, judgment to be suspended and truth to be applied. “Silence fills the gaps because of shifts in power that change the rules,” Dyson said. “The way stuff used to be is brought
into question, and the way things are challenge a static belief in a fixed past.” During the open forum portion of the event, one student asked how he was supposed to believe the university is sincere in its efforts, “considering the [university’s] dwindling number of minority students, and graduation gaps.” According to the most recent UC undergraduate enrollment statistics, 24,033 students are white, 2,736 are black, 845 are Asian and 725 are Hispanic out of a total population of 31,719 undergraduate students during the 2012 autumn semester. Ono responded by promising to do everything he can to increase diversity at UC. “I’m not happy with where we are, and SEE DIVERSITY PG 2
MADISON SCHMIDT CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER Michael Eric Dyson at Wednesday’s event in TUC.
ACA PLAN OUTREACH Ono promises
investments in faculty, students BEN GOLDSCHMIDT NEWS EDITOR
While previous University of Cincinnati presidents’ legacies were investments in “brick and mortar,” President Santa Ono said he wants his to be in faculty and students. Ono met with the UC faculty Tuesday and talked about the future he sees for UC, and how he plans to invest in that future. To back up his promise to faculty and students, Ono announced UC is close to reaching a “fair contract” between faculty represented by the American Association of University Professors and UC. “[To] invest in people, it’s going to cost a lot of money,” Ono said. He and UC Provost Beverly Davenport stressed that it will be necessary to go through the budget and cut where redundancy or inefficiency exists. “We are very good at coming up with new ideas,” Davenport said. “We aren’t very good at letting go of old ones. So we just keep adding and adding.” Richard Miller, chairman of the faculty senate, said it’s easy to have doubts when it comes to talking about the budget. “I’ve been here for 25 years,” Miller said. “We’ve had budget cuts for 24 of them, so I understand it’s easy to get cynical.” PHIL DIDION PHOTO EDITOR Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, left, returned to her hometown of Cincinnati to discuss the potential benefits Obamacare could bring the city.
Informing public next big hurdle for Affordable Care Act, many uninsured BEN GOLDSCHMIDT NEWS EDITOR
As more and more people look for health care on the open exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act, officials are finding it hard to convince young people to sign up for coverage. Cincinnati health experts and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius shared some troubles and triumphs of the ACC at a panel discussion at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Wednesday. As the Dec. 15 deadline approaches for those looking to receive coverage starting Jan. 1, local experts are looking for ways to educate, expand outreach and inform people about the law commonly called Obamacare. “That’s the challenge for us right now,” said Noble Maseru, Cincinnati Health Commissioner. Maseru is working to get the estimated 43,000 uninsured Cincinnatians signed up for insurance through the exchange. That challenge expands when it comes to 18 to 26 year olds. “For 18 to 26, 36 year olds, it’s about the same. About 15 percent of them are without insurance,” Maseru said. “Most of these folks feel that they’re invincible, they don’t need insurance. But what is more important there that I’d like to touch on … are the economic effects.”
The number one reason for foreclosures is due to mounting health bills given to the uninsured, and millions of public dollars are spent giving care to the uninsured, he said. “Most [young people] are so pragmatic, they think, ‘What’s it going to cost me?’” Sebelius said. “The fact is, six to 10 folks who find a plan [through the exchange] will find one for about $100 or less a month. Put that into perspective with a cell phone bill or cable bill.” Sebelius, a Cincinnati native, said young people should care about the bill because no one knows when they’re “going to trip on the basketball court or get hit by a car.” She mentioned a young person she met when the health-care exchange opened in early October who “wasn’t a fan of the president” and the law. “He said, and this is a direct quote, that he could solve any problem with a BandAid and a six pack,” Sebelius said. “Later on, he got lead poisoning, and had to pay thousands in health-care bills.” He later found a plan that worked for him through the exchange, though he never quite warmed up to the law or the president, Sebelius said. Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, on the other hand, is a fan of the law and stressed the impact it will have on the city. “There are going to be tens of thousands of people in this area who will sign up for health care — some of them for the first time in their lives,” Mallory said. “This is a big deal for Cincinnati.” The percent of Ohio’s uninsured
population is about even with the national average of 15 percent. Maseru pointed out that eight of 10 individuals who come to the Cincinnati Health Department for help are working citizens, despite the assumption that the uninsured don’t work. Maseru said he had issues getting people signed up for coverage after enrollment opened Oct. 1 because the website (www.healthcare.gov) was crashing and some people reported having issues. Sebelius came under fire for the site’s malfunctions, but she assured those at the panel that things are up and running and more improvements are coming.
PHIL DIDION PHOTO EDITOR Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory at Wednesday’s event.
Request would remove UC from Emery ownership ALEXIS O’BRIEN CHIEF REPORTER
The Emery Theatre revival organization that is suing the University of Cincinnati for rights to building restoration filed an amended complaint requesting UC’s removal from the theatre’s ownership. In the complaint filed in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas Tuesday, the Requiem Project said UC should no longer have control of the building because, “UC has proved to be an unfit custodian.” The complaint also claims UC didn’t uphold the wishes of the theatre’s funder, Mary Emery. When funding the theatre’s construction in 1908, “Emery stipulated that the building was to contain a fine assembly and concert hall, which would be available to the community as well as to the school,” according to the complaint. UC has owned the Emery since the 1970s but has offered to give it to the city of Cincinnati, as long as the university’s interests are preserved. The city has not yet accepted UC’s proposal.
Kenyan mall attack prompts talks at UC, experts talk possible policy solutions Panel discussion from UC, Xavier raises questions over American military involvement throughout Africa CASSIE MERINO STAFF REPORTER
LAUREN KREMER CONTRIBUTOR
John Kalubi (left) and fellow panelists from UC and Xavier University discuss terrorism in Africa at TUC on Monday.
Terror attacks at a Kenyan shopping mall in mid-September sent waves of horror throughout the world, spreading as far as the University of Cincinnati, where a panel convened to discuss possible solutions to Africa’s terrorism problem Monday. “I was a little reluctant because whenever you hear about Africa it’s always something negative, and terrorism is in that fold. But it is a topic we should talk about especially in light of the incident in Kenya a few weeks ago,” said Joseph Takougang, a Africana Studies history professor and associate dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs at UC. While the event was spurred by the
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deadly attack at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya that claimed 67 lives, terrorism has become a common theme in most Africans’ lives, said panelist John Kalubi, a field service associate professor of African diaspora literatures at UC. The religious-based terrorism that we know today in the U.S. began in Africa in the late 1900s, but it is not the only form of terrorism, Kalubi said. Africa is also dealing with state terrorism, which has claimed the most lives. From 1997 to today, 18 million people have died. Three major “wicked” factors are responsible for African terrorism: the United State’s “imperialist” reach, foreign influences and “wait-hood,” which is the time period between childhood and adulthood when Africans are susceptible to turn to terrorism, said Kathleen Smythe, history professor at Xavier University. The U.S. has bases all across Africa SEE AFRICA PG 2