The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2014
VOLUME 141 NO. 43
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 2000, The Miami Student reported that the Liberal Education Panel was conducting its first external review of the Miami Plan since its implementation in 1992. A forum was to be held to allow students to voice their opinions. Member on the panel, junior Carolyn Hadikosti, said, “I hear students complain about it all the time. This is the time to let their complaints be heard by the people who can make a difference.”
Out cold: Professor leads Antarctica trips BY CONNOR MORIARTY SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Nine thousand miles and one military cargo plane away, there is more than just ice and penguins in the polar desert of Antarctica. Miami University has been leaving its mark there for five years now. After a choppy helicopter ride through the vast Transantarctic Mountains, Miami Associate Microbiology Professor Rachael Morgan-Kiss drills into a frozen lake within an arctic valley. Her goal: to study the microorganisms she finds and learn how they live in the harshest environment in the world. Needless to say, her office hours vary. “It’s the ultimate ‘high’ adventure,” she said with a smile. After growing up in a small town on Vancouver Island in Western Canada, Morgan-Kiss enrolled in the University of Victoria on the same island for her undergraduate studies. She received her Bachelors of Science working primarily in plant biology research, but quickly took a U-turn in graduate school. “I went to the University of Western Ontario to work with Dr. Norman Huner to study crops that handle cold better than others,” Morgan-Kiss said. “But he wanted a student who would study plants in permanent
PHOTOS BY AMBER SIEBENALER
cold environments.” So she worked with Huner and studied such plants. Once MorganKiss finished her Ph.D. project on Antarctica algae, she was hooked on the cold. After working on various
projects in many places across the United States, Morgan-Kiss ended up at Miami and she has been organizing annual trips to Antarctica for the past five years. “We have gone [to Antarctica] three previous times, took a year
Serving up sustainability: Western Dining Commons opens its doors
off, and are going for a final time in October,” she said. Morgan-Kiss typically travels with a team of four graduate students, but has taken undergradsuates who could work the trip into their schedule. At about
FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT
BY JENNA TILLER
FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT
For the past several semesters, Miami’s campus has been a flurry of loud and fenced-off construction sites. On Sunday March 30, however, another new building finally opened its doors to students; the new Western Dining Commons. Miami faculty watched nervously and excitedly as a disjointed stream of students entered the building for the first several meals, making last-minute adjustments to the layout and checking that everything was stocked. In spite of weather delays that almost pushed back the opening date, Miami staff is thrilled to see how students react to the newest campus addition. Located just west of Havighurst Hall and to the east of the pedestrian bridge, the Western Dining Commons is 46,000 square feet, seats 675 students, and hopes to be one of the more sustainable buildings on campus. According to Senior Director of Dining & Culinary Support Services Nancy Heidtman, the way the dining hall will run this year is not the way it will operate next fall. As of now, the building includes three venues: the Greystone market, the Tea Hive, and a buffet-style variety of options. The Greystone is similar to other markets at on campus with only
a few marked differences; it features a relatively large section of allergy-friendly and organic foods compared to the market at Alexander. Additionally, the Tea Hive, a café-style venue, is a completely new concept on campus. Students can purchase a variety of teas by the cup or pot, a selection of Starbucks products, bakery items, and an assortment of sandwiches at the a-la-carte location. This year, the buffet offers very similar options to the recentlyclosed Alexander. The Spice of Life international station is still open, as are Miami Spice, Vine Dining and Miami Traditions, the Campus Grill and the salad bar. Next year however, the Western Dining Commons will be completely re-done. Executive Chef Eric Yung said the most notable difference is that it will no longer be a buffet location, but a Bell Tower-type a-la-carte venue. Instead of a traditional buffet salad-bar, the ever popular Traders Greens will be implemented. Additionally, the Spice of Life will feature completely different options, and the Campus Grill will be converted into a Grill and Roast area where students can obtain various slow-roasted meats and vegetables, as well as a quick and custom pasta area. The most unique addition is that of an allergy-friendly bar opening next fall. It will feature food free of the eight most common allergies – gluten, tree nuts,
nuts, dairy, shellfish, egg, fish and soy. Yung said the main goal was to provide peace of mind for students who have to worry about the food they eat daily. “There is there is nothing in that station that they can’t eat… they certainly don’t want to stand out, so this gives them the opportunity to be with friends and eat the kinds of food they need to eat” Yung said. In addition to being the most allergy-friendly dining hall on campus, the building will also be one of the most sustainable. “Sustainability and energy efficiency was forefront in the minds of everyone involved in the building design,” said Connie McCarthy, the head project architect. Miami is hoping to achieve a silver LEED certification for the building. Upon completion, the Western Dining Commons will exhibit multiple energy-saving features. Daylight harvesting, or the adjustment of the lighting system based on the amount of natural sunlight available, is one technique being used. Additionally, McCarthy said a high percentage of the light fixtures will be LED, which reduces the amount of energy needed. All the food preparation technology is Energy Star to conserve more energy as well. The Western Dining Commons
DINING,
SEE PAGE 8
ANTARCTICA, SEE PAGE 8
ASG candidates prepare for presidential election BY KATHLEEN CLYBURN
KYLE HAYDEN PHOTOGRAPHER
$100,000 per person, though, this is not your typical abroad trip. “We travel through the U.S. Antarctic Program, which is the only program that funds people going there,” Morgan-Kiss said. “Each trip takes five or six years to plan.” Each venture to the outermost reaches of the world begins with a commercial flight to New Zealand. From there, the team piles into a military cargo plane that takes them to a U.S. outpost called McMurdo Station on the coast of Antarctica. Their final leg shoots them through the mountains by helicopter to camps within Antarctic valleys. At the camps where the team stays, Morgan-Kiss and the students spend each day on frozen lakes taking samples and studying the organisms that can survive in such cold surroundings, while simultaneously determining how climate change will affect these organisms. Morgan-Kiss’ main research focus is on organisms called eukaryotes, which are the ancestors of all animals. The students may be working on separate projects from what Morgan-Kiss is doing, so when the trip ends, they bring the samples they get from the lakes back
The April 9 primary Student Body President Election Day is fast approaching and the candidates are hard at work campaigning their platforms to the student body. Since there are three slates running this year, there will be a primary election April 9-10 before the general election April 16-17. If one of these slates earns 50 percent of the votes, the slate will be declared the winner and no general election will take place. Otherwise, the top two slates will move on to the general election. The three slates running for the positions of student body president and vice president are juniors Kyle Hees and Colleen Ryan, seniors Cole Tyman and Natalie Bata, and junior Luke Kohan and senior Mike Barth.
We hope to make ASG the representative body it is designed to be.” COLE TYMAN
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
Open campaigning began March 31 and the slates have been reaching out to the student body by visiting student organizations, Greek life and athletic teams, as well as using social media and sending out emails on list serves to students. Hees and Ryan are both Associated Student Government (ASG) members. Hees is currently Vice President of Student Organizations and Ryan is a senator. “We want to make the student body more transparent and more collaborative,” Hees said. “By embodying these two ideals, students will have access to more experiences and opportunities on campus. The more opportunities that
are presented to the student body, the more successful students will be at Miami as well as in their future endeavors.” Ryan said they plan on making this happen by improving upon the way ASG works and the way student voices are carried to ASG. Encouraging senators of ASG to reach out to their constituents and report any issues are methods of improving how ASG collaborates with the student body, Hees said. “We have both had such great experiences and want to make even more experiences for students now and students to come,” Hees said. Seniors Tyman and Bata are also members of ASG; Tyman is Secretary of On-Campus Affairs and Bata is a senator. “We hope to make ASG the representative body it is designed to be,” Tyman said. According to Tyman, he and Bata have created their platform through conversations with students from across campus about what they would like to see on campus. Their platform points include creating small recreation facilities in every quad of residence halls, creating a system of student peer advising for underclassmen and trying to implement a discounted meal plan option for off-campus students. “We will create a reporting structure to ensure that every cabinet member is representing their constituents to the best of their ability,” Tyman said. “We will also work to empower student senators to write more legislation that comes directly from their constituents.” Tyman and Bata said they want to focus on communication between the student body and ASG, reporting any issues and solutions to the administration. “We will better the student body by making sure their voice is
ELECTION, SEE PAGE 8