The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
VOLUME 138 NO. 44
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
In 1937, The Miami Student reported Miami University athletic director George Rider had voiced his support for men’s basketball coach Johnny Mauer. The Miami men’s basketball program had recently finished its “seventh consecutive year of unsuccessful basketball.”
Striving for sustainability Oxford leaders, Miami students have conservation conversation By Lauren Ceronie Campus Editor
Plans to develop the south side of Oxford while conserving its natural environment are under way. The development plans involve collaboration between the City of Oxford, Oxford Township, local conservation groups, Talawanda Local Schools and Miami University. These groups are looking into ways to develop the south side of Oxford and create walking paths for students who will attend the new Talawanda High School. The goal is to do this while preserving the natural prairie grass, farmland and wetlands that exist in the area, according to former Oxford mayor Prue Dana. “You don’t bulldoze a field and put up 50 houses, you have to find forest lines, wetlands and floodplains,” Dana said. “Development should respect those natural features.” The plans to develop Oxford in an environmentally sustainable way began nearly a year and a half ago when the city SAMANTHA LUDINGTON The Miami Student applied for a grant for sustainable communities, according to Tom Kacachos, a member of the Oxford community, works with other Dana. The city did not receive the grant, but in the process of residents on development plans for the south side of the city. applying came into contact with Randall Arendt, an expert in
conservation planning, Dana said. After making contact with Arendt, the Harry T. Wilks Leadership Institute brought him to Miami to speak about conservation planning and help the community develop plans for the south side of Oxford, Dana said. During the workshops with Arendt, the community discussed ways to develop Oxford while conserving natural land, according to Dana. Dana said she was impressed by the community’s ability to overcome differences during these meetings. “It is really gratifying to see all different political groups working together for development around the high school and more environmentally friendly development,” Dana said. Bradford Kasberg, a Wilks scholar, said he was impressed by the level of collaboration among the different groups at the meetings as well. At one of the meetings, attendees were given maps of the south side of Oxford and told to draw out what they thought should be done to the area, according to Kasberg. When the attendees compared the maps, they found the different groups all had similar ideas for the development,
wSee CONSERVATION, page 8
Editor Amanda Seitz specialreports@miamistudent.net
SPECIAL REPORTS
Professors compete with laptops for students’ attention By Jenn Smola Staff Writer
Restricted Access Some instructors are arguing that with Facebook, e-mail and online shopping at their fingertips, students simply aren’t doing what they’re supposed to on their laptops in class. Journalism Director Richard Campbell began noticing students using their laptops for things other than note taking while he observed other faculty courses in the back of classrooms. Campbell recently began enforcing a no-laptop policy in his class in an effort to create a classroom environment without a lot of distractions. “While I like to treat students like adults, I also think I need to create an environment conducive to learning,” Campbell said. Accounting instructor Ron Collins also does not allow the use of laptops, mainly in his large classes. Although college students belong to a new generation of multi-taskers, laptops still distract in class, Collins said.
“I don’t feel (laptop use) is beneficial to the class as a whole and it ends up being a real distraction,” Collins said. Collins said any material he puts up on the projector screen during class he also makes available to students on Blackboard so that they can pay attention in class instead of worrying about writing everything down. “We don’t want to eliminate technology, just make sure it’s used appropriately,” Collins said. Miami professors aren’t the only ones cracking down on laptop use. According to a March 9, 2010 article published in The Washington Post, “Wide Web of diversions gets laptops evicted from lecture halls,” professors at George Washington University, American University, the College of William and Mary, the University of Virginia and others have banned laptops from their classrooms. Professors aren’t the only ones noticing the distractions. A study published in The Journal of Information Systems Education regarding laptop use in college classrooms showed
some interesting statistics. According to the study, students generated more than 65 new screen windows on their computers per lecture. Sixty-two percent of those were unrelated to the course they were taking. English instructor Tim Melley has personally witnessed distracted students at play during class. He also does not generally allow laptops in the classroom, noting that it’s difficult for students to stay on task when the World Wide Web is at their fingertips. “If I had a computer (in class) I don’t think I would pay attention,” Melley said. Laptops might be interfering with the integrity of the classroom, according to Melley, who mentioned that he has previously caught students looking up answers on the CliffNotes webpage during his English class. Like other instructors, Melley said he began to see the downside of laptops when he was observing another faculty member’s lecture. Melley estimated that out of about 20 students with laptops, all but one were on
websites for online shopping, Greek organizations or social networking. Melley said he was most shocked when he saw a student actually watching a movie on his laptop. “Students are in class to practice becoming better thinkers,” Melley said. “Laptops don’t do that.” Information Overload? While some students argue they can manage tasks on their laptop without consequences, the laptop study from The Journal of Information Systems Education reported multitasking has been shown to increase memory errors and processing time required to learn certain topics. According to the study, students who allocate more cognitive resources to pull up non-course-related material on their laptops show lower academic performance. A person can only process so much information at the same time,
wSee LAPTOPS, page 8
Clooney film leaves extras in awe By Noëlle Bernard Editorial Editor
George Clooney is known for his ageless good looks and acclaimed acting career. He has snagged Oscar-contending lead roles and dated some of the world’s most beautiful women. Epitomizing Hollywood A-list glamor, he has left Miami University star struck. Feb. 28 through March 4, the cast and crew of Clooney’s film, The Ides of March, settled in to Miami by barricading streets and taking over The Farmer School of Business, Millett Hall and Hall Auditorium. The everyday routines of students were disrupted by sightings of Clooney and Ryan Gosling across campus. Students lined up outside the buildings waiting for a chance to glimpse a celebrity taking a coffee break or walking from their trailer to the set. However, not all students were separated from the celebrities by the yellow caution tape. A select few were privy to the Hollywood experience by participating as extras in the film. Courtesy of Cincinnati’s Dare to Dream Casting, hundreds of Miami students gained access to Clooney’s sets. Filming progressed throughout the week but March 3 marked the day the largest numbers of extras were needed. The annual celebration of Green Beer Day did not halt production. Instead, it stood as Clooney’s punch line while he entertained his extras. The two-day filming occurred inside Hall Auditorium. “I drove by a house with like 500 people outside,” Clooney said. “It was hysterical. Bunch of
leprechauns.” Clooney’s comedic antics filled Hall with infectious laughter. He kept the energy level of the extras high by imitating the female sign language interpreter to the point where the two appeared to be fighting in sign language. “What she said,” Clooney said. In return the translator said, “He looks much older in person.” According to sophomore Olivia Boaz, who served as an extra, watching Clooney between takes made the lag time something to look forward to. “George Clooney was hilarious throughout both days of shooting,” Boaz said. “He was making jokes every chance he got. I felt like he enjoyed entertaining us just as much as he enjoyed making the movie.” March 3, Clooney used about 700 extras in Hall Auditorium. Eight different cameras were positioned on stage, backstage and behind the audience of extras. The entire auditorium was transformed to house the crew eager for the perfect shots of pantomiming extras. According to junior and extra Chip Wood, being on a movie set was a unique experience. For instance, the stressed importance to not look directly at any camera was particularly difficult. “It was interesting to see all that goes into setting up the scenes,” Wood said. “Being in the scene with a good cast is really cool. It’s not something a lot of people will be able to do in real life.” The March 3 extras spent roughly six hours
wSee IDES, page 8
CONTRIBUTED BY JENNIFER BRATHER
Ryan Gosling, one of the stars of George Clooney’s movie The Ides of March, helped keep Miami University students who were extras in the star struck.
Behind-the-scenes interview with ‘Ides of March’ location managers Alan Forbes and Deirdre Costa By Sam Kay Editor in Chief
The Miami Student sat down with Ides of March location managers Deirdre Costa and Alan Forbes in the basement of Hall Auditorium on the last day of filming. Interview highlights: Costa and Forbes have previously filmed at Miami University, 20 years ago, for Little Man Tate. Miami was originally included in the script. Director George Clooney
almost decided to skip filming at Miami because of the long ride to campus, but knew as soon as he arrived that he wanted to film here. Miami snagged the opening scene of the film, and at an estimated 10-12 minutes, will likely be the location with the longest appearance. Forbes’ first impression of Green Beer Day: “At first I thought it was just bake-sales.” Go to www.miamistudent.net to hear the whole ten minute interview.