February 21, 2014 | The Miami Student

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The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2014

VOLUME 141 NO. 34

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1940, The Miami Student reported over 300 attended a second-generation student and alumni reunion held in October. The article began, “Ghosts of

bygone days haunted Benton hall Thursday as students whose parents, grandparents and even great grandparents attended the university made the rafters ring with modern chatter about ancient days.”

PHILL ARNDT THE MIAMI STUDENT

SON, CAN YOU PLAY ME A MEMORY?

Graduate student Jon Sanford dazzles the crowd with his Billy Joel-like talent on the keys during the Brown Bag Recital Wednesday in the Shade Family Room.

Beta faces hearing today, hazing allegations loom BY EMILY CRANE NEWS EDITOR

The university administration is holding a hearing for the Beta Theta Pi (Beta) fraternity 12:30 p.m. Friday in Warfield Hall to investigate allegations of hazing. Though the fraternity faces allegations from both the university and the fraternity’s own administrative office, no official charges have been filed by either party, senior fraternity member Winston Reid said. “We are under investigation by Miami University but mostly by our own administrative office,” Reid said. In the face of these allegations, the chapter’s disciplinary committee has begun a rigorous self-governing process, conducting a series of trials by chapter to consider expelling members from the fraternity, sophomore and disciplinary committee member Raphael Gobidas said.

“We are working to remove individuals from the fraternity and impose sanctions on ourselves,” Reid said. “Security cameras are being installed in the house— they were installed yesterday— using our own money … we just want to make sure everything is in order.” Gobidas said the disciplinary committee had already been in the process of reorganizing and restructuring the fraternity before the allegations arose. In a trial by chapter, quorum must be reached in order for a member to be expelled from the fraternity. Though the chapter has held such trials in recent weeks, they never reached quorum and could not put the issue to a vote, Gobidas said. “In the Greek system, the executive board governs the chapter,” Gobidas said. “When you can’t prove that you’re capable of self-governance, the university and the organization will get

involved. It began to seem like we were incapable of self-governing so the university and organization jumped on our backs.” Reid said there would be a strong presence of fraternity members in the Warfield lobby during the hearing Friday to show their support. “We are very passionate about this, as the alpha chapter [of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity], this is a big deal,” Reid said. He went on to emphasize that despite these allegations and what may come of them, Beta has produced men of excellence over the years. “Beta is dedicated to building men of principle,” Reid said. “During the pledging process, we pride ourselves on building men up; not tearing them down. We’ve had the highest GPA of all the Greek fraternities. We’ve

BETA,

SEE PAGE 4

Panhellenic responds to multiple hospitalizations BY KATIE TAYLOR & EMILY HANHART

FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

All sorority chapters were placed under a social moratorium Feb. 13 in response to the high volume of individuals requiring medical attention as a result of alcohol consumption. The incidents involved six new members from five different sororities, and occurred within 48 hours of the Feb. 9 bid day, according to Panhellenic Association President Cait Duckworth. The moratorium was lifted Wednesday night. “We held an emergency meeting with the presidents, and then the next day we decided to put the entire sorority community on a social indefinite moratorium, meaning that they could not have

official registered socials through the [Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life].” Several of the new members were transported to the hospital Monday and Tuesday night, however, Duckworth said no one has suffered lasting physical harm. “So this is a major concern because five chapters is what? A third, or more than a quarter of our 18 sororities,” President of Kappa Kappa Gamma Amanda Potts said. In lieu of the social moratorium, the Panhellenic Association held mandatory meetings with chapter presidents. “We suggested to the presidents that they need to provide alternate programming for their

SORORITIES, SEE PAGE 4

Oxford 5-0: Citizens step into police officers’ shoes

Pres. Hodge one of many to oppose boycott of Israeli academic institutions BY LIBBY MUELLER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

President David Hodge has formally opposed the American Studies Association’s (ASA) recent boycott of Israeli academic institutions in an agreement with university presidents of the Inter-University Council of Ohio (IUC), an educational association of Ohio public universities, and the presidents of many other colleges and universities across the nation. The ASA is a group dedicated to the study of American culture and history. Its boycott of Israeli academic institutions, according to the editors of its website, is in support of scholars and students, namely Palestinian, who are denied academic freedom as a result of the Israeli government’s military occupation of Palestine and numerous violations of human rights and international agreements. Beginning in 1948, the Israeli military occupation of Palestine has raised international concern for decades. Human rights violations and disregard of international agreements, such as the Fourth Geneva Convention, which sought to protect Palestinians from occupation, continue to color the actions of Israeli leadership toward Palestinian Arabs. Among other abuses, Israel discriminates against Palestinians through security checkpoints, segregated roads, arrests and land confiscations. The Israeli military has also killed Palestinians living in the West

Bank and destroyed Palestinian homes. Israel and Egypt’s blockade on Gaza, starting in 2007 and still in place today, places economic strain on Palestinians living there. Matthew Gordon is a history professor at Miami University who specializes in Islamic and Middle East history. The history of the Middle East region and the issues there are complicated, he said. “Israel has subjected the Palestinians to the humiliation and violence of military occupation for many decades,” Gordon said. “This is a basic fact to which academics, both in Israel and the United States, the human rights community and many political movements across the world have been responding for years with deep dismay.” ASA’s decision to boycott Israeli academic institutions is part of a broader movement of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it addresses the problems and complies with international law. The BDS movement began in Palestine, but has since spread to organizations like the ASA. Much of the problem, according to Gordon, rests in the occupation of the West Bank of the Jordan River and Gaza. “The fundamental fact is military occupation since 1948 and particularly 1967, when Israel and the Arabs fought the Six-Day War during which Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza,” Gordon said. “Since 1967, with the introduction

of military occupation, the building of large Israeli settlements and the basic colonization of both areas, the idea of a two-state solution, once considered a viable solution to the conflict, has become more and more remote.” According to Gordon, the U.S. has provided support to Israel despite Israel’s role in perpetuating the conflict. “There are many observers who believe Israel has done an insufficient amount to achieve the twostate solution,” Gordon said. “This relates particularly to the large and growing settlement movement on the West Bank. The Palestinian leadership shares much of the blame, of course, but it is vital for us, as Americans, to recognize Israel’s detrimental role as well and the extent to which the United States has thrown its considerable support to Israel despite this role.” These settlements are an obstacle to the creation of two states. They are also regarded as illegal based on international agreements. Israel is left with three options, Gordon said: remaining a military occupation state, becoming an apartheid state with a separate but unequal situation where Palestinian Arabs are second class citizens or giving up its identity as a Jewish state in order to absorb the Palestinian population. Hodge said his decision to reject

BOYCOTT, SEE PAGE 4

CONTRIBUTED BY JOHN BUCHHOLZ

Students of the Citizens Police Academy (CPA) simulate entering a school in search of an active shooter, one of several CPA exercises.

BY CONNOR MORIARTY FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

This semester, Oxford residents and Miami Students can see Oxford Police Department (OPD) in a new light — one that is not just red and blue. The OPD is offering a police-to-community awareness program called the Citizens Police Academy (CPA) that will officially begin its 16th season this Monday. Created in 2001, the CPA offers a unique opportunity for people residing in Oxford to get a behindthe-scenes experience of what the OPD does, said OPD Community

and Business Outreach Officer John Buchholz. “[CPA] is an opportunity to reach out to the community and to engage them,” he said. “It allows citizens to know a little more about the police, and for the police to know a little about the citizens.” After his service in the military and a 30-year career in law enforcement, Buchholz tackled the task of taking over leadership of the CPA in his retirement. “I work more now than I did before I was retired, but I love it,”

POLICE,

SEE PAGE 4


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