August 21, 2012 | The Miami Student

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

VOLUME 140 NO. 01

Tuesday, AUGUST 21, 2012

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In September 1965, The Miami Student reported that the Miami University Board of Trustees would allow students in off-campus apartments to host mixed-gender social gatherings, “on a trial basis for the 1965-1966.” The paragraph added to the Student Conduct Regulations specifid the conditions under which women could be entertained in off-campus housing.

Incoming class breaks enrollment records

MERCEDES WILLIAMS THE MIAMI STUDENT

LAUREN OLSON PHOTO EDITOR

Right: First years move in to Dodds Hall on Thursday Aug. 16. Left: Miami University welcomes the incoming class of 2016.

By Megan Thobe Staff Writer

The class of 2016 arrived on campus August 16 with great expectations for the upcoming year.

However, the statics for the incoming class had already impressed Miami University Admissions Office employees.

This year, the Miami Office ofAdmission is expecting roughly 3,725 new students on campus, exceeding their initial goal of 3,600 students, according to Ann Larson, director of admission.

“Every year we go in with a goal and this year it looks like we did really well at going above and beyond that,” Larson said. “We won’t know how many students are here for sure until we count the exact number on census day but we are really excited about the expected numbers.”

Larson said she is excited not

only about the number of students who committed to coming to Miami, but also with their quality and diversity.

“The accepted students have slightly stronger test scores and slightly higher GPAs than we’ve had in the past and we couldn’t be more thrilled for the university,” Larson said. “We’re looking forward to seeing what they do.”

Of the 3,725 students in the firstyear class, 38.6 percent are from out of state, including 4.1 percent who are international students.

According to Larson, all 50 states were represented in the initial applicant pool along with students from Washington, DC, the Virgin Islands and 19 different countries.

The incoming class had 21.6 percent who self-identified as a minority race. Of those, 3.2 percent identify as African American, 3.7 percent identify as Latino and 1.8 percent identify as Asian or

Republican VP nominee returns to alma mater

JM RIEGER THE MIAMI STUDENT

Republican Vice Presidential Nominee and Miami University alumnus Paul Ryan speaks to students in front of Benton Hall Wednesday, Aug 15.

Lauren Ceronie Editor in chief

Presidential politics can often seem far away from Miami University’s campus but this year the university has direct ties to the election.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), a 1992 Miami graduate, was chosen to be presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s running mate, bringing national attention to Miami along the way.

Deedie Dowdle, associate vice president of university communications and marketing said that while Miami will remain non-partisan, officials are proud to have an alum reach such success.

“Everybody at the university is very proud we have a distinguished alumnus, that’s not being partisan, we’re proud of it,” Dowdle said.

As a public university, however, Miami must ensure it gives all parties equal opportunities.

“The university is non-partisan,”

Dowdle said. “We try to be very clear that Miami is not supporting any of it, we’re trying to be very clear that Miami does not endorse any candidate. We’re a public university and if a candidate, or any group, requests to have an event on campus we try to honor that, we try to work with that.

Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, we try to work with that. As a public university it’s our job to make sure people have that right.”

The Romney campaign and College Republicans took advantage of this right last Wednesday when Ryan made a campaign stop at Miami.

Baylor Myers, Chairman of College Republicans, said the group had only a few days to plan the event, funded by the Romney campaign.

Randy Tomas, the university’s lobbyist contacted Myers and told him Ryan had an interest in coming.

Paul ryan, SEE PAGE 3

Pacific Islander.

Miami’s incoming diversity is much higher than the national average.

The most recently released national statistics from 2010 show that 15 percent of enrolling students in 2010 were African American, 14 percent were Hispanic, 6 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander, and under 1 percent identified as “other.”

The other category includes those who identify as multi-racial.

Over half (52 percent) of the class chose majors within the College of Arts and Science, 21 percent within Farmer’s School of Business, 11 percent within the School of Health and Society, 11 percent within the School of Engineering and Applied science and 5 percent in the School of Creative Arts.

The Office of Admission experienced a record-breaking number of applicants this year with over

20,000 applications. This number is up from last year by roughly 9.9 percent. National statistics reflect a growing interest in public institutions with 10.5 million students enrolling in public schools nationally in 2000 and 13.7 million in 2010.

The number of students who applied to Miami with the promise of attending if accepted was a little more than 500 last year. This year over 1,000 student made the early decision.

“I expect that those numbers will continue to grow because the students who are here feel that they made a good choice and those who visit and apply here seem to agree,” Larson said.

First year Robert Sutliff came to Miami from Mechanicsburg, Penn. and chose Miami on recommendation.

“Some family friends told me about the school and about how much fun they had here,” Sutliff

said. “I did a little more of my own research and I found out about the great academic program that Miami has. I am really happy to be here.”

More than 20 percent of this class had a mother, father or sibling who attended Miami. However, there is no recorded statistic on those who chose Miami on recommendation. Larson said the legacy statistic lends support to the fact that Miami students share their positive experience with friends and family.

Junior Susie Sabaitis did a lot of research before choosing Miami over schools from her home state of Michigan.

“People come here because they know it’s a great place to be and that their degree will be worth something after they graduate,” Sabaitis said. “It’s a top-ranking school to be at and people from all over recognize that.”

Students slow to register on The Hub Katie M. Taylor

For The Miami Student

After its inaugural year, The Hub, the online Miami University student activity website, has grown but has yet to accurately represent student involvement rates.

According to Katie Wilson, senior director of student engagement who was involved in the site’s creation, The Hub has become an online involvement center with a multitude of features including online event registration.

“Our vision expanded really quickly to include moving event registration online,” Wilson said.

“This shifted our frame from a site to search student organizations, to one that serves the entire student body by providing an easy way to connect with involvement opportunities.”

According to Wilson, students can go to The Hub to look through the various events being held and pick those they’d like to attend. From fundraisers to picnics, students are presented with numerous opportunities.

According to Michael Trivelli, vice president of student organizations, The Hub plays a crucial role for organizations seeking funding from Associated Student Government (ASG).

“To be eligible for ASG funding the organization has to be registered on The Hub,” Trivelli said.

Even with all the features The Hub offers and the ASG funding criteria, the numbers show it has yet to reach its entire audience.

According to a report given at a Miami Board of Trustees meeting by Barbara Jones, vice president for student affairs, 7,424 students are registered for the 417 organizations listed on

The Hub as of last school year.

These numbers would suggest that only around half of Miami’s 14,936 undergraduate students are involved in extracurricular activities.

According to Jones, the number is actually much higher.

“In the latest national survey that was done, [Miami’s participation rate] was at 83 percent and the rest of the schools that are in our classification of universities were at 52 percent,” Jones said.

According to Jones, student involvement at Miami has surpassed norms for quite some time. “[Participation] has really been consistently high at Miami,” Jones said. “We’ve always attracted a student body that wanted to be engaged.”

The number of students getting involved through The Hub may be lower because students aren’t yet familiar with the workings of the new site, Jones said.

“I think—with this being the first year of The Hub—students are still getting used to it and student organizations, so we may have some discrepancies there,” Jones said.

According to Wilson, the number of students and organizations listed on The Hub as of Aug. 14 has risen to 7,510 and 429 respectively.

Though these numbers do not reflect Miami’s participation rate, Wilson said they do represent a successful first year for The Hub. “[The Hub] is designed to create a one-stop shop for students to connect with student organizations and their events…”

Wilson said. “Students love it.”

Wilson said it’s like Match. com for student organizations.

Students can list their interests and The Hub will select the organizations that fit them best.

“There’s something for everyone,” Wilson said. “If there isn’t a student organization that meets what you’re interested in you just need 10 members to create your own organization—10 members and an advisor.”

Dan Baker, president of the Academic Team, said that in addition to matching students with opportunities, The Hub also helps small organizations grow.

“I think [The Hub] has been a great thing,” Baker said. “We’re a pretty small student organization, so it’s great for getting our name out.”

Baker said The Hub is already user-friendly with the features it currently offers and that more students should utilize it for their own benefit.

Wilson, Jones and Baker agree that The Hub’s popularity will increase over time.

However, Sam Clark, the main contact on The Hub for Club Dodgeball, said the website needs advertising.

“I had never heard of it until at the end of last school year when I signed up as the primary contact…”

Clark said. “I dislike the lack of advertisement and awareness of the Hub. I would make it more publicized and known around campus.”

Baker said making The Hub well known to incoming students is key to increasing the website’s popularity.

Jones said the goal is to make the website known so it can work to its fullest potential.

“I think [The Hub] has done very well for its first year,” Jones said.

“Obviously, as we continue, we want to make sure that all the new students coming in understand that it’s there, and encourage all students to use it as a way to get involved at Miami.”

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CAMPUS

Editors JENN SMOLA ALLISON MCGILLIVRAY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2012

campus@miamistudent.net

Miami introduces new domain, logo

By Amanda Hancock Senior Staff Writer

With the beginning of its 203rd fall semester, the Miami image is being revamped with a new domain name and logo.

IT Services and University Communications and Marketing (UCM) teamed up to adopt MiamiOH.edu as the official web domain name, which will replace Miami’s web sites and email addresses, and the beveled “M” will replace the lantern as the official logo for the university.

The former domain and logo are expected to be completely phased out by the end of 2012. MiamiOH. edu email addresses have already been created for faculty and staff members and IT Services is in the process of creating student email addresses.

This conversion comes after years of debate.

According to Cathy McVey, senior director for IT

Communications, “muohio” was adopted in the 1980s—before faculty and staff could fathom Internet usage—and it stuck when the first university domain was formed.

“There was a choice made, but nobody really had an idea of what we were doing,” McVey said.

As the Internet became a critical recruitment tool, the university decided to take a second look at that early choice, McVey said.

“It just wasn’t us and it didn’t make sense,” McVey said of the former domain and logo.

Then the UCM conducted internal and external surveys, it became clear that faculty, staff and student respondents favored a change.

According to Deedie Dowdle, associate vice president for UCM, the beveled-M logo was recognized by more than 92 percent of current and potential students who responded in an online survey, including those from out-of-state, while the lantern was identifiable just over 7 percent of

the time.

As for the domain, Dowdle said more than 70 percent of respondents ‘strongly agreed’ the domain name needed to change to be more recognizable, to be easier to remember and connect with Miami and more searchable on the web.

“We reached a tipping point to invest in making the change,” McVey said.

IT Services has set the domain up so that the muohio.edu domain name will continue to work as it will automatically redirect visitors to the new domain.

Another facet of the domain change is an issue with a U.S. Department of Commerce policy that only allows universities to hold one domain, according to Dowdle.

The policy states that as of June 1, 2014, only the MiamiOH.edu domain will function, causing any URLs containing muohio.edu to no longer work. Email addresses containing muohio.edu will no longer be

MU ranked top college in Ohio

By Mike Belden

For The Miami Student

Miami University students, faculty and alumni have something to be proud of when classes resume for the 2012 fall semester. Forbes ranked Miami 35th among public schools in America, and ranked Miami No. 1 for public schools in the state of Ohio. These rankings come after a research process that Forbes carries out every year.

According to Forbes, the rankings highlight postgraduate success, student satisfaction, student debt, graduation rate and competitive awards such as the Rhodes or Fulbright scholarships.

Claire Wagner, director of the News and Public Information Office at Miami, said Miami ranks very high for graduation rates in both public and private universities and that Miami has had very successful graduates. “Our alums have reported very successful placement and salaries, and that plays a big part in the ranking,” Wagner said.

Wagner also said Miami’s retention rate has helped the ranking.

“The retention rate is measured

by how many first year students returned for their second year,” Wagner said. “Our retention rate stays within 89 percent, which is very high.”

Wagner said the rankings help increase awareness and help prospective students and families compare different schools, but they should not be the only thing considered when making a decision about a university.

“While the rankings do help the families and students get an idea of what the university is like, students should still visit the school to gain a better interpretation of what the school is,” Wagner said.

Denise Krallman, director of the Office of Institutional Research, said Forbes and other college ranking companies retrieve most of their data from the federal government, which Miami sends its information to yearly.

“That data includes information about average financial aid, student loans, retention rates and average student debt,” Krallman said.

Forbes and other ranking companies use that information to determine university rankings, Krallman said. Krallman also said Forbes uses websites

like Ratemyprofessors.com or Payscale.com to help determine the ranking.

“Those sites are separate from Miami and are independent,” Krallman said. “Miami’s role is very limited in the Forbes ranking, but in other rankings such as Newsweek, they ask questions to the university and base their ranking off of that.”

Sophomore Brooks Fishell said he was excited to hear about the ranking.

“I think it’s great,” Fishell said.

“It puts Miami on the map for students looking for good schools in Ohio.”

Fishell said that he believes the process of ranking the schools is credible because it uses both factual information and information from websites that students use.

“A school can’t be judged based only on financial status” said Fishell. “I think there a lot of other factors that go into a ranking, such as how the students view their professors.”

Fishell said he is proud to attend a university that achieves high rankings.

“It feels good to know that I am a part of something great,” Fishell said.

Armstrong Student Center makes steady progress over summer months

By Melissa Girgis

For The Miami Student

Large fencing, building skeletons and sounds of drilling make Miami University’s new Armstrong Student Center hard to miss. The structure is the only building on campus that has been designed exclusively to meet the curricular and extracurricular needs of students, boasting features including a 500-seat theatre, around the clock dining facilities, an outdoor terrace and an extensive space for accommodating large groups of people.

“I live right by the construction site and it’s cool to see all the progress on Maple Street,” Junior Mason Hood said. “It was really crowded in Shriver [center] especially over the summer; there was definitely a big need [for a larger facility].”

Some students believe that the new student center is a necessary action for Miami.

“A lot of other universities like Ohio State [University] have really nice student centers, so it makes

sense that Miami would build one to stay competitive,” Sophomore Beau Samples said.

Senior Project Architect and Manager John Seibert said he has been very pleased with the progress this summer and said the project is on schedule and on budget.

“Over the summer we poured the first and second floor in-fills, put in a new loading dock on the north side

by Culler Hall and began putting in major mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems,” Seibert said.

“We started work on the interior walls of Gaskill [Hall] as well.”

Fundraising for the project has been going equally well according to Susie Sadler, the senior director of development for the student center.

“We have already raised $31 million, mostly through donations from alumni and friends of the university, and we will continue to fundraise,” Sadler said. “Plenty of opportunities to give to the project are still available through the website or by contacting me directly.”

According to Seibert, phase one, which involves the construction of the center’s main structure, as well as renovation on Rowan and Gaskill halls, is expected to wrap up by January 2014. Miami’s website has construction site pictures, floor plans, sketches and updated project details.

“Walking around campus the site didn’t look any different to me, but I actually went to the website and looked at all the pictures since you can’t see much from the outside,” junior Ethan Vargo said.

“Signature spaces” such as the bicentennial rotunda—a two-story atrium with spiral staircases— and an indoor representation of Miami’s trademark Slant Walk, characterize the building that will become the center of curricular and non-curricular student activities.

“The most exciting part is having the building take shape this fall,” Seibert said. “Now the focus is to deliver the vision we have of all the great opportunities it will afford students.”

Check out our Web site www.miamistudent.net

able to receive email.

If the muohio.edu domain no longer works, it potentially poses a problem for faculty members who appear in various printed publications with their “muohio” email addresses.

While this causes some worry, Dowdle said she expects it to be a painless transition.

“Search processes have improved so much that anyone typing in a professor’s name and article for a document should have no trouble finding it,” Dowdle said.

However, Dowdle is hoping Miami will avoid the issue because EDUCAUSE, an association that administers websites for the Department of Commerce, is considering a policy change to allow universities to maintain two domain names indefinitely. According to Dowdle and McVey, Miami is advocating strongly for that change. If they allow it, the muohio.edu web address will always redirect to

MiamiOH.edu. Despite the difficulty, Dowdle said the conversion is necessary.

“The domain name of MiamiOH. edu is what the research results told us is most known and liked by hugely important web audiences for Miami,” she said.

Junior Caitlin McCoy completed the survey last spring.

“It sounds pretty complicated, but I think it will end up being a very positive thing,” McCoy said. “I think it’s a good change; when you see that ‘M’ you immediately think of Miami.”

According to Dowdle, other independent logos across the university, both academic and athletic, will be phased out and the beveled “M” will step in campus-wide.

“It represents academics and athletics as well as school spirit, which makes it easier to unify the university behind one symbol that connects with us all; it means even more recognition and prominence nationally for the university,” said Dowdle.

University launches e-book pilot

By Jenn Smola Campus Editor

Some Miami University students will walk around campus with lighter backpacks as part of an e-book pilot launching this semester.

Ten courses will use e-books this semester in place of traditional textbooks, according to Randy Hollowell, Miami’s senior communications and web coordinator.

With the pilot, students involved will get the e-book for their course for free, which they can access on their computer, Hollowell said.

According to Kristen Kieffer, assistant director of IT communications Miami’s pilot is actually part of a larger e-book pilot with other participating universities.

With the larger pilot already in place Miami found an opportunity they had been looking for, Hollowell said.

“The idea of e-text has been discussed for quite a while,” Hollowell said. “We were just looking for the opportunity to start the process.”

The pilot partners with one publisher, McGraw-Hill, so the e-book pilot was only offered to instructors who use texts from that publisher, Hollowell said.

Even though the offer was limited, Hollowell said the instructors who had the opportunity to participate in the pilot were eager to jump in.

“Just about everybody that was involved in the process was interested,” Hollowell said.

Bruce Perry, associate professor of teacher education, is taking part in the pilot with his physical science classes.

While paperless textbooks are less conventional, Perry said he wanted

to push the limits of a traditional college course.

“Let’s push the edge of the envelope,” Perry said. “Let’s see what happens.”

The e-book provides an opportunity for instructors to make notes and provide additional resources within the text their students can see, Perry said.

“That right there is a marvelous connection to the student,” he said.

Though Perry was expecting some anxiety from his students about the use of an e-book, he said he has yet to get any emails or complaints about the absence of a physical book.

Hollowell said opinions of ebooks are different for everyone.

“It may not be [for] everyone,” Hollowell said. “Having choices is always a good thing.”

Junior Alex Berkoff said he prefers e-books over regular textbooks.

“I find it a lot more convenient,” Berkoff said. “I can have all my textbooks in one location.”

In addition to convenience, Berkoff said he likes e-books because they are less expensive and make it easier to find certain information within the text.

Students involved in the pilot courses can also opt to buy an inexpensive spiral-bound black and white version of the course’s textbook if they choose, but the fullscale version of the textbooks are not for sale at the university bookstore, Hollowell said.

Perry said he is excited for the ebook opportunity and eager to see how his students react.

“I want to press my students to explore the possibilities, to tell me what they like and what they don’t like,” he said.

LAUREN OLSON THE MIAMI STUDENT

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW

Construction continues on the Armstrong Student Center.. Phase one of the project is expected to be completed by January 2014.

Editor Olivia hnat

COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY@miamistudent.net

TUESDAY AUGUST 21, 2012

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PAUL RYAN, FROM PAGE 1

Myers said he coordinated with the Romney campaign in Butler County from there to pick a location and get students back to campus a few days early.

“We found out officially on Sunday, I got a call from Boston from the Romney campaign and then it just became a whirlwind. I hadn’t intended on coming back to school until Friday.”

While Myers did not get coveted one on one time with the vice presidential candidate, he did get to shake Ryan’s hand after the event. Myers said he also had the chance to speak with Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

“He’s (Portman) really engaging and really personable whenever you see him,” Myers said. “He always says ‘Miami College Republicans, you’re doing great.”

Myers said he would have liked to meet Ryan, he understands the vice presidential candidate’s schedule is busy.

“I wish I had gotten to meet Paul Ryan but I did talk to someone from the Romney campaign who said next time he’s in the region we’ll get a little more priority, but we know his schedule is really tight,” Myers said.

Although not all Miami students will vote for Ryan come Election Day, many are still proud to have a successful Miami alum, according to Laura Kretz, president of College Democrats.

“Obviously it is exciting, he is a very distinguished alumnus,” Kretz said. “We are excited, at the end of

Contributed by College Republicans

College Republicans Rob Harrelson, Meghan Wadsworth and Baylor Myers lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. the day he works hard for his constituents and it’s great that now people know where Miami University is, we don’t have to say Ohio all the time.”

However, Kretz said she thinks students need to look further than Ryan’s college degree when voting.

“Our feeling is we don’t want people to vote for him based on where he went to school,” Kretz said. “Obviously we can have a lot of pride about that, but a lot of his policies will effect a lot of students so we need to take that into consideration.”

Ryan’s education policies are especially important to students, according to Kretz.

“The biggest thing with Paul Ryan is he has really radical policies when it comes to education,” Kretz said.

“He wants to cut Pell Grants, which is huge. Pell Grants are really important, that’s how millions of students pay for college. This is not the time to cut education funding, and that’s

something students really need to focus on.”

Myers said College Republicans has seen an explosion of interest since Ryan’s nomination.

“We’ve had tons of people asking to see if they could volunteer, asking to see if they could help out, even just short emails to me saying, ‘this is great for Miami, great for the College Republicans, keep doing what you’re doing,’” Myers said. “I think the enthusiasm on this campus is going to be unprecedented with Paul Ryan as a presidential pick.”

College Republicans will focus on jobs when recruiting members, according to Myers.

“I think our recruiting line is going to be ‘our generation is faced with 8.2 percent unemployment and our peers are pouring money, time and resources into getting college degrees and then they’re going home and living with their parents, unemployed

and it’s a waste,” Myers said. “Barack Obama has failed to deliver with the jobs and Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will bring the jobs and we need them desperately.”

College Democrats will also be working to attract students, according to Kretz.

College Democrats are trying to get out the student vote as well, through events such as a kickoff behind Shriver and an event called “Know Your Care” where members will explain to students how the Affordable Care Act impacts them.

The organization will also be around campus registering students to vote throughout the semester. Kretz said this includes “Golden Week,” October 2-9, where students can register to vote and vote at the same time.

“That’s a big thing, registering people to vote,” Kretz said. “We’re registering all people to vote, not just Democrats but everyone.”

Classes begin at new Talawanda High School

By Olivia Hnat Community Editor

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Monday, Talawanda High School began the 2012-2013 academic school year in the brand new building located off of Oxford-Millville Road.

In 2008 voters in the Talawanda School District supported a levy that provided funding for the school.

Building the new high school and facilities cost $46 million. The Talawanda School Board’s first attempt to build a new school was in 1986.

Now, 26 years later, the doors are open on a modern and environmentally friendly new building.

Talawanda High School is considered a “green” facility and is awaiting the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold rating from the U.S Green Building Council.

Holli Morrish, director of communications and public relations for the Talawanda Board of Education, said she is particularly excited about the sustainable and environmentally friendly aspects of the building.

“The building has an ecological friendly operating system and design structure and is made of all regional materials,” Morrish said. “The geothermal heating and cooling system pays for itself in 20 years.”

Under the soccer fields, 300 pipes cool water to 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit 300 feet below ground.

The water is then used to cool the building. It is more efficient and quieter than other forms of cooling and heating.

Also, the building’s design utilizes natural sunlight. The lighting in the classrooms and hallways adjusts to the movement of the sun. The lighting provides the optimal amount of natural lighting and lowers electrical costs.

The “day-lighting” windows that face the east and west sides of the school are slanted to reflect on a student’s desks. According to Morrish, this is eco-friendly and helpful to students.

“Research shows that students are more successful [given] ecofriendly materials and natural light,” Morrish said.

The core academic wing of the school has state-of-the-art science classrooms. In contrast to the old high school, the classrooms have been upgraded with new technology and larger lab spaces. The chemistry classrooms are ready

for hands-on learning and science experiments.

The biology classrooms go beyond the concrete confines of the classroom and include a 147-acre outdoor learning lab.

Talawanda science students are partnering with Miami University environmental science students and Butler County Soil and Water Conservation to learn and work in the space. They will work to take water samples of the wetlands to determine how farming practices affect the water in the area.

Jeff Winslow, Talawanda district science instructional leader, made the outdoor learning lab possible.

“There is an emphasis in the US to increase science technology, engineering and math in schools,” Winslow said. “Talawanda is committed to have students use real life examples to teach them the content they need.”

Winslow also thanks the community for supporting the new school.

“Talawanda school district is so glad to be in a community that values education and sustainable environmental practices,” he said. “It has been put into a school that will be used by thousands of students for years to come.”

Stephanie McCabe, a junior biology major at Miami, graduated from Talawanda in 2010. She said the community needed the new school.

“At the old high school we didn’t have air conditioning,” McCabe said. “The old school had cockroaches in the cafeteria, it was so gross. We didn’t have enough room and had some classes in trailers with four classes held in the trailers.”

In addition, Talawanda has new sports facilities. The football field was funded by all private donations and cost under a half a million dollars. Aug. 24 the Braves will begin their season with a field dedication before their game against Monroe High School. The sports facility is complete with a two-tier gymnasium, indoor and outdoor track and a field house.

Talawanda held two orientation sessions to introduce students to the school. In May, Talawanda held a mock day of school with fun activities for students. The last orientation was held Aug. 14th. The orientation sessions allowed all students to become acclimated to the new building.

Lauren Olson THE MIAMI STUDENT

Talawanda High School held its first day of classes in the new building Aug 20.The new building features green facilities and modern science labs.

Construction continues around Uptown Oxford

By Hannah Stein Senior Staff Writer

Many students who moved in this week may have noticed there was a lot of work being done to the streets of Oxford with more construction ready to begin.

The City of Oxford laid down new bricks on High Street over the summer.

“The whole zero block of East High Street was completely dismantled, new base put back down and bricks laid back down,” Alan Kyger, economic ddevelopment director for the City of Oxford said.

“That went from basically two days after [the students] left in spring and was done by near the end of June.”

This is the third section of High Street that has been redone, according to Kyger. Each section of High Street has been re-bricked every other year so this is the last of the brick section and series of construction that was planned several years back.

“The next question will be whether the city would then like to explore taking out the asphalt on the last section of the uptown district of high street and converting it back to brick,” Kyger said.

He said this decision will be debated later this year.

Some students are not happy with the idea of more construction around Oxford, especially on High Street, even if it does mean using brick.

“As cute as that would be, the upkeep on brick roads tends to be more expensive if not laid properly,” junior Emma Foltz said.

“Also, that would lengthen the construction time considerably and I’d like for the construction to just be done.”

There is also work being done to make South Poplar Street a throughstreet and connect it to Central Avenue; Kyger said the city hopes to have this done by the winter.

Private contractors of apartments across from the Recreation Center will also build more duplexes along South Poplar Street, a project that was approved in 2009, Kyger said.

“The plan was to do that in three phases,” he said. “The first section of duplexes were built and I believe their plan is to do phase two and three together.”

Another possible upcoming construction plan is for New Village Communities from Columbus to build a mixed development of residential living and commercial businesses in the former site of Wal-Mart on South Locust Street, Kyger said.

“This was approved around 2007 or 2008 and been sitting idle because of the recession. [This year they] might want to move forward with that,” Kyger said.

Other students, like junior Katelynn Dreeze, think of construction in an entirely different fashion. Dreexe said she thinks even though construction is annoying, in times where the economy is not doing well, the jobs it provides is something that should be appreciated.

Although there will be more construction uptown and around Oxford, students can count on less as the fall semester ends.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Editor BILLY RAFAEL

ARTS@miamistudent.net

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2012

Oxford acquires a delicious new treat

By Emily Ketterer For The Miami Student

Looking for a fun place to beat the heat, enjoy some soft serve and hang out? This summer Spring Street Treats opened in Oxford at 321 W. Spring St. near Kroger.

Allen Ansorg, Miami University alumnus, opened Spring Street Treats July 19 with the help of his wife, Amy, who works in Human Resources for Miami, and his 11-year-old daughter, Eva. “I felt like this was a niche that was unfilled in Oxford: the hometown, soft serve hangout place for the community,” Ansorg said. “I wanted to fill that niche.”

As soon as you walk into the small, quirky Spring Street Treats you are greeted with a warm smile and are presented with a long list of delicious-sounding soft serve concoctions.

Spring Street Treats offers two different kinds of soft serve, Frostline and Dole. According to Ansorg, Frostline is lactose free,

cholesterol free, trans fat free, gluten free and low in calories.

Dole is Spring Street Treat’s fruit version of Frostline, and flavors include strawberry, raspberry, mango and pineapple.

“Everyday we get people who are so happy we have lactose and gluten free options,” Ansorg said. “We want to provide the community with what they want.”

I ordered the Yummy Gummy Treat, a cup of soft serve with cookie crumbs and gummy worms. It tasted excellent while I sat outside on a set of bleachers facing a new play area the owners set up.

Spring Street Treats also offers a large food menu including giant soft pretzels and chili cheese nachos. I recommend trying the Jumbo Angus Hotdog and take advantage of the free topping choices.

The fledgling business is still working on its menu and certain weekly specials it wants to offer to the community but it has already begun its monthly “Doggie

LAUREN OLSEN PHOTO EDITOR

Spring Street Treats offers a fun, quirky experience that is sure to leave you satisfied. A drive-thru option will be open soon.

Day.” Everyone who brings their dog in gets a free “Puppy Cup,” which is a cup of Frostline and a dog treat.

Senior Branden Baribeau tried out Spring Street Treats after returning to campus.

“It was a fun, different place to

go,” Baribeau said. “The prices were nice and the ice cream was amazing. I would recommend it to anybody.”

Department of Theater prepapres for King puts high-demand fall season with auditions for new shows textbooks on reserve

By Christina Casano Senior Staff Writer

The new school year usually brings new drama and the Department of Theater is welcoming it.

The department has three shows scheduled for this fall. The season kicks off with Dead and Buried Oct. 3rd-7th. This new comedic play by James McLindon is about a girl on a journey to find her biological mother only to end up in a cemetery and form friendships with two very unlikely people.

Following will be Flipzoids Oct. 24th-28th. Written by Ralph B. Pena, Flipzoids follows the lives of three FilipinoAmericans while they deal with their cultural identity and history in America.

The season will close with Angels in America Part 1: Millennium Approaches Nov. 14th-18th.

This Pulitzer Prize-winning play written by Tony Kusher is about human relationships and the outside forces that affect it, such as politics, religion and the emergence of AIDS in

the 1980s.

Auditions will take place 7 pm Wednesday and Thursday in the Green Room of the Center for Performing Arts with callbacks Friday.

Auditions are open to all students. Theatre majors must come prepared with two memorized contrasting monologues to present in four minutes.

Non-majors will be provided with cold readings.

Information is listed on the Department of Theater’s website at http://arts.muohio.edu/ theatre.

King Library has a collection of textbooks from the 50 most heavily enrolled courses available for free checkout.

According to an email from First Year Experience Librarian Lindsay Miller, copies of textbooks from classes such as COM143 (Introduction to Mass Communication), ECO 201 (Principles of Microeconomics) and MTH151 (Calculus 1) will be placed on reserve at the circulation desk on the first floor of King library. The texts will be available for checkout on a two-hour basis. The availability is a product of the Textbook Initiative created in 2007 as a supplement to President Hodge’s Access Project. The initative aims to increase access to textbooks that are required in highly-enrolled classes that often cost over $100, according to Miller. A complete list of available books can be found at www.lib.miamiOH.edu.

Mellow playlists make waking up for 8 a.m. classes easier and more enjoyable

By Claire Krieger Senior Staff Writer

CONTRIBUTED BY TY SIMONTON

YAGER STADIUM HOSTS HIP HOP DUO

Timeflies’ Cal Shapiro freestyles to the crowd in Yager Stadium at Saturday night’s kickoff concert.

Whether Miami University students like it or not, summer is now behind them. With the conclusion of summer brings the beginning of the new school year and everything that comes along with it: catching up with friends, starting new classes and waking up for those dreaded 8:00 am classes.

While waking up early is not easy, it is something that unfortunately still has to be done. Here are a couple of musical pick-me-ups to get your morning going.

While they are not for everyone, these oldies bring a specific point of view to the musical table. Starting with “Dear Prudence” and building in tempo through to Wham!’s classic “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go,” which many of us remember from Ben Stiller’s classic Zoolander, this playlist is the perfect way to start your day off with some

old friends.

1. “Dear Prudence” The Beatles 2. “A Beautiful Morning” The Rascals 3. “Wake Up and Live” Bob Marley 4. “Here Comes the Sun” The Beatles 5. “500 Miles” The Proclaimers 6. “Walking On Sunshine” Katrina & the Waves 7. “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” Wham!

What better way to start off the school year than with some music you may not have heard of before?

Waking up each morning can be made easier with some new and exciting music to listen to. Once again these are organized from slower to more upbeat songs in order to further ease the transition from waking up to beginning to actually functioning.

1. “How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep” Bombay Bicycle Club 2. “While You Were Sleeping”

Elvis Perkins 3. “Hello Sunshine” Super Furry Animals 4. “Daylight” Matt & Kim 5. “Up, Up, Up” Givers 6. “Light & Day” The Polyphonic Spree 7. “You Only Live Once” The Strokes Still another option is compiled from the top 40 hits from the 90s through now plus a few others by artists you have definitely heard of before. This option allows you to start your day with some familiar favorites that you can probably sing along to.

1. “Awake My Soul” Mumford & Sons 2. “Wake Up” Arcade Fire 3. “You Get What You Give” The New Radicals 4. “Sleepyhead” Passion Pit 5. “Beautiful Day” U2 6. “Every Morning” Sugar Ray 7. “Red Morning Light” Kings of Leon 8. “Tik Tok” Ke$ha

The Miami Student is looking for writers for the Arts & Entertainment section!

Fill out an application online or stop by our office in 17 MacMillan Hall.

For questions, email arts@miamistudent.net

www.miamistudent.net

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2012

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OPINION

Editors RACHEL SACKS SARAH SHEW

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2012

editorial@miamistudent.net

LETTER TO the editor

The Tale of Two Obamas

PATRICK GEYSER THE MIAMI STUDENT

EDITORIAL

The following piece, written by the editorial editors, reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.

University organization website has potential, requires student input for more improvement The Miami University student activity website, The Hub, has grown over the past year, with over 7,000 students registered.

The Hub currently has 429 student organizations registered and has become an online involvement center with features such as online event registration.

The latest national survey showed 83 percent of Miami students participated in activities and organizations on campus.

This is much higher than schools similar to Miami that reported an average of 52 percent of students participated in extracurricular activities.

The Miami Student editorial board believes The Hub is a good start for student organizations to connect and communicate but needs to be improved in order to gain more users and more credibility.

Currently, only half of the student population is registered on the Hub, meaning nearly a third of students involved in organizations and activities are not benefiting from The Hub. The website needs to be advertised more effectively, as it is essential for student organizations seeking Associated Student Government funding to be registered on the site.

As a board, we have found the site difficult to navigate and, until a link to the site was included in the new MyMiami webpage, we found the site itself difficult to even find.

The website is a good way for organizations to connect with other Miami student groups and for group members and administrators to communicate.

But, communication is mainly done through listserv emails and the Hub is not updated

frequently enough for students to use.

One of the main problems is the lack of education about The Hub among upperclassmen at Miami.

Many students were accustomed to using listservs as the primary form of student organization information and still use listservs to contact members.

Students who were at Miami before the Hub was introduced were never properly taught how the new site would operate. A simple tutorial could be shared with current students as to how the site works, and new students would learn about it during oreintation sessions.

We understand it takes time for sites like The Hub to be fully integrated into student life, but we encourage the university to listen to student input so the site can become the useful tool it was created to be.

When you’re finished reading

The Miami Student,

He ran as a unifier—a man that would transcend “politics as usual” and bring hope and change to the United States of America.

Eloquent speeches and inspiring promises led over 66 percent of young people to cast their ballots for the young senator from Illinois.

But nearly four years later, the Barack Obama that ran for president in 2008 is MIA. The man that lectured us on “raising the level of rhetoric” has shown himself to be as nasty and deceitful as the Chicago style politics that birthed his political career. “[I]f you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.”

Those words by then Presidential candidate Barack Obama received a thunderous applause during his acceptance speech at the 2008 Democrat National Convention.

But don’t expect these same words to be spoken by now President Barack Obama at this year’s convention.

The unemployment rate is at 8.3 percent, our GDP is limping along at a growth rate of just 1.5 percent, and our national debt has increased by over 5 trillion dollars.

It is clear that President Obama doesn’t have a record to run on.

So what is the president doing?

Obama has resorted to engaging in the same “stale tactics” he criticized just four years ago.

The Obama campaign will go to any length to avoid talking about his record.

Instead, they have only one tactic—paint Governor Mitt Romney as “someone people should run from.” According to Forbes magazine, 85 percent of the president’s ads have been negative.

Some of these ads have been absolutely outrageous; one even suggested that Romney is

responsible for a woman’s death from cancer.

That type of campaigning makes Chicago politics look like a McDonalds play land.

Other outrageous accusations include Obama surrogates suggesting that Romney committed a felony by lying to the SEC and that Romney hasn’t paid taxes in ten years.

These accusations are laughable, but in the words of President Obama, “If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.”

Barack Obama’s presidency has been defined by broken promises. He promised to reduce our deficits. Broken.

He promised that Obamacare wouldn’t increase taxes. Broken.

He promised to keep unemployment below 8 percent. Broken. Obama’s rhetoric is suggesting we should be running from Mitt Romney—but Obama’s record is suggesting quite the opposite.

Candidate Obama from 2008 would have been disgusted by President Obama’s reelection campaign. Candidate Obama would have urged young people to see President Obama for who he is—a failed president armed with nothing more than stale tactics and hurtful lies.

Around a month into his presidency, newly elected President Obama confidently made this statement. “…I will be held accountable…If I don’t have this done in three years, then this is going to be a one term proposition.”

Well Mr. President, this is one promise we’re not going to let you break. On November 6, it’s time to collect.

Colten Kidwell

kidwellrb@muohio.edu

Rule of Thumb Paul Ryan Politics aside, congratulations to a Miami alum!

New Tallawanda High School The new building is finally finished and open to the students.

please recycle!

Rankings 35th public school in the U.S. and #1 in the state of Ohio! Love and honor!

Exams in the first week

The Miami Student

What happened to syllabus week, seriously?

Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826

Removal of Lantern Logo EDITORIAL BOARD lauren ceronie Editor in Chief

OLIVIA Hnat COMMUNITY Editor

SARAH Sidlow News Editor

allison mcgillivray Campus Editor

sarah shew Editorial Editor

Jenn Smola Campus Editor

rachel sacks Editorial Editor

JM RIEGER Sports Editor

billy rafael Arts and entertainment

All letters must be signed in order to be printed. Please send letters via e-mail to: editorial@miamistudent.net We reserve the right to edit for length, content and clarity.

Only the ‘M’ represents us now.

New Year Do everything you said you’d do last year but never got around to!

www.miamistudent.net

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2012 OP ED

ESSAY

ESSAY

robert gerlach

andrew geisler

7

geisleaj@muohio.edu

gerlacrb@muohio.edu

RNC keynote speaker Chris Christie offers Miami students should look beyond political party affiliation best hope for Republicans in light of election It’s officially political crunch time with the presidential elections less than three months away.

If the constant stream of political television ads didn’t give it away, the telemarketing calls did.

These ads really annoy me.

I don’t even know which side I am going to vote for and I don’t think the two candidates bashing each other for often out-of-context statements and irrelevant gaffes will help me decide.

Maybe I won’t even vote.

I know that my indecisiveness is one of the reasons why candidates like Romney and Obama pump out so many expensive advertisements each election year, but I don’t know who the right choice is.

It’s not that I don’t have ideas for the future of America. It’s just that I find it difficult to align my beliefs with the beliefs of just two choices.

People say the elections are rigged since candidates can buy votes with expensive campaigns.

If only they could literally buy my vote, I’d certainly let the bidding commence.

Frankly, I don’t think my vote would determine the outcome anyways.

Although I don’t have a personal interest in the electoral madness, I find it entertaining to hear about the political beliefs of my peers.

Since I spent the entire summer in Oxford, I occupied a lot of long, boring days talking about politics with friends.

Otherwise we would have probably run out of things to converse about.

Other students who spent the summer in Oxford know what I’m talking about.

The general consensus I was able to gather was that students at Miami declare themselves, “fiscally conservative and socially liberal.”

I don’t like to generalize but I’m sure you’d agree that many Miami students would simplify their political beliefs this way.

It’s the way I’ve always described my beliefs, until now at least. It seems like the ultimate political stance. And in my opinion, it is.

However, it’s completely unrealistic in terms of real world application.

In order for a government/society/group to be socially liberal, it needs funding from taxes.

A welfare system is considered to be socially liberal but financing it would contradict the pillars of monetary conservation. You could say the same for almost every other “social” objective on the liberal agenda: unemployment, healthcare, veteran care, research, agricultural subsidies, foreign aid and government housing.

Some would argue that these are not social matters and if that’s the case, which it isn’t, you essentially are left with just two “socially” liberal stances: pro-choice and pro-gay rights.

I refer to this political view as “Non-Christian Conservatism” or in some cases “Reformed-Christian Conservatism” depending on your remaining faith in God after rejecting his declarations concerning marriage and abortion.

I think it’s great if you’re a conservative and support gay marriage or a woman’s choice on abortion, but don’t declare yourself “socially liberal” because you simply are not.

I personally think homosexuals should be able to get married but to be honest, it’s probably not as important to our society’s wellbeing as providing homes for the homeless and food for the hungry.

The issue here is it’s difficult to slap a label on your political views, especially when there is a lot to frown about with each party.

When we label our beliefs we tend to vote on an issue with party bias instead of with an open mind.

So just don’t label yourself; no one is forcing you to.

Whatever you do, don’t call yourself “socially liberal and fiscally conservative.”

Try not to call yourself a Democrat or a Republican either.

For the sake of democracy, declare yourself an independent (as in one who formulates their beliefs independent of political parties).

It’s much easier that way and delivers a lot less judgment.

In 2004, a young state senator and United States Senate candidate from Illinois named Barack Obama stepped up to the podium at the Democratic National Convention in Boston and delivered a stirring keynote address that catapulted him from a place of relative obscurity to one of national prominence.

His party was on its way to nominating an unpopular, elitist, flip-flopping politician in Massachusetts, Sen. John Kerry. Joining Kerry on the ticket was a young-gun then Sen. John Edwards (whose life has taken some interesting turns in the past eight years).

Kerry was quickly defined by President George W. Bush’s team and never regained his footing in the race; he lost to the incumbent.

Four years later, then Sen. Obama ran for President; he told us we were the ones we’d been waiting for, that we should we be audacious enough to hope and that there is no red and blue America, just a United States of America.

Fast forward to 2012.

The Republican Party will soon nominate an unlikable, elitist, flipflopping former Massachusetts Governor in Mitt Romney.

And Romney has of course tabbed his party’s ultimate younggun in Rep. Paul Ryan for the vice presidential slot.

With Romney’s highly unfavorable ratings and recent decision to fundamentally alter his campaign’s strategy by choosing Ryan, he seems likely to be defeated by the unpopular, but likable President Obama.

Many pundits have written about the parallels between the 2004 presidential election and this one.

Conservatives ought to hope they’re wrong about most of the parallels except for one that’s rarely discussed.

Conservative firebrand and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will deliver the keynote address at this year’s Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. And Christie is a man with a compelling story to tell.

Most importantly to Republicans, he has balanced two

budgets after inheriting an $11 billion deficit.

He has made tough choices on big issues like state pension reform, and has done this with the wind blowing firmly in his face — New Jersey’s state legislature is 60 percent Democratic.

He currently holds a 57 percent approval rating in the deeply blue state of New Jersey (Obama carried it 57 percent to 42 percent in 2008 and the last time it went Republican in a Presidential election was 1988).

Gov. Christie touts these accomplishments with great effectiveness by simply being honest with the people.

He explained the dire straits of his state’s fiscal house and said in essence, “we have to do something about this.”

Christie treats the American

before he reaches the pinnacle of American politics.

And though it can often be one of his greatest assets, Christie has a penchant for being overly blunt.

Telling residents to, “get the hell off the beach” last summer when severe weather was heading his state’s way isn’t exactly presidential.

He can also come off as a bit of a bully, firing back a little too hard and personally at protest-tinged questions at his town halls.

And there’s the infamous moment on New Jersey public television when he got hot under the collar after a woman asked him why he doesn’t send his children to public schools.

An irritated Christie responded by telling the woman that it’s none of her business where he sends his children to school.

Many pundits have written about the parallels between the 2004 presidential election and this one.

Conservatives ought to hope they’re wrong about most of the parallels except for one that’s rarely discussed.”

people like adults and doesn’t softpedal much of anything, which can be a political blessing and a curse; however, with the irresponsible turn our country’s government has taken in recent years, it is beginning to look more and more appealing.

Big donors and many prominent Republicans were basically on their hands and knees begging Christie to challenge Romney for the Republican nomination for president last fall and continued to into the winter.

But the timing wasn’t right for Christie in 2012.

He certainly has some issues to deal with, the largest being his weight.

Christie is obese and in the age of television and with our country’s recent emphasis on health, it’s unlikely we’ll ever have another William Howard Taft in office (you know, the guy who got stuck in the bathtub).

He needs to shed some weight

Finally, a combination of the two big issues occurred earlier this summer when Christie fired back at a heckler on the Jersey shore, with ice-cream cone in hand by saying, “You’re a real big shot; you’re a real big shot shooting your mouth off.”

These troubles aside, if Christie strides to the podium later this month and tells his story in New Jersey in a compelling way, conservatives will be drooling the way liberals were in 2004 after their keynoter delivered his speech.

Democrats saw Obama as the future of their party, and they were right.

With their party in disarray, Republicans can only hope the same happens with Christie after his address.

For a party that’s lacking leadership and compromise, it would be a wonderful thing if they embraced a leader who uses those two words to explain his very success.

IF THE SHEW FITS SARAH SHEW

I hate everyone: reasons why resentment is beyond acceptable

Everyone knows someone who is their Grinch. The worm to their apple. The 5 percent iPhone battery when they want to go running.

Well, well, well ladies and gentlemen, I am that person. I hate everyone. And by everyone, no I do not just mean a select group of people that I shall redefine as everyone, and by hate no I don’t mean psycho-stalker, Hannibal Lector (is he hateful or just cannibalistic?) hate.

I’m just saying that in general, there are people that I just generally dislike, on an apathetic, generally general basis.

Here is a short breakdown of the groups of people that comprise the “everyone” I hate and why I hate them.

1. Small Children. I want kids at some point, but they scare me.

They’re evil. They’re tiny, adorable, sticky evil.

If they’re not crying or yelling or whining, they’re silent, manically plotting the end of the world via crayon. I’m not sure which is worse.

2. Females of the age 18-23. This is my own category; therefore is somewhat self-loathing. That’s apparently unhealthy.

Anyway, they consider every guy who buys them a drink as a

possible future husband. They don’t drink beer because it’s “too many calories.”

They wear three inch skirts in January. They think a text that says “hi” means “I want to date you” and a text that says “Oh” means “I have started having relations with your sorority sister, it’s over.”

They think if they’re not married by 23, they might as well just get a few cats and a one bedroom apartment and call it quits. They try to look cute while working out.

3. Old people. I admire most old people for the things they went through and what they’ve done to create what my generation has, but seriously.

They smell funny (it’s scientifically proven, look it up). They’re either grouchy or adorable, and either way it’s distracting. They drive like maniacs.

4. Adults. This is a sweeping generalization for anyone 25-50 who interacts with me.

They ask too many questions, like “Oh, are you dating?” “When do you graduate?” “What are you doing after graduation?” Enough with questioning my existence and life plan. And I’ve told you thirty times what my major is.

5. People who are in love in public. They make me squirm uncomfortably in small communal spaces

where they are salivating all over each other.

They remind me that I am single.

They make casual scenarios instantly bloated with awkwardness.

They have no respect for spatial boundaries. They cause me to develop premature wrinkles from scowling so heavily.

6. Teenagers. They horrify me, in all shapes and forms. They wear scary clothing. They are in a constant state of loud and arrogant and odorous. They have angst and hormones.

They are awkward. They make out in backseats in grocery store parking lots in the daytime (I witnessed this personally last week).

They make sudden movements.

7. Most pregnant people. I admire them immensely for being able to create tiny humans, and look good doing it, but they make me nervous.

They could go into labor at any moment, and this makes me concerned, because I always wonder what I would do to help, since I know nothing about childbirth.

They can get people to give them any kind of food at any hour, and chalk it up to weird pregnancy cravings. I envy this. I aspire to be them someday. Then the self-loathing shall continue. Perfect.

8. Babies. I blame my little broth-

ers for this. Like small children, they’re adorable but dangerous.

They swiftly ruin outfits with their bodily fluids.

They’re much louder than their size would indicate. They’re deceptively cute from a distance. They grow into small children, which is scary. They then grow into teenagers, which is more scary.

9. Males of the age 18-23. Obvious. They’re entirely obnoxious.

They find living in a state of horrific squalor appealing.

They gyrate against us in bars and grab our behinds and think we like it. They think a text that says “Hi” means “I want to have sex with you right now.”

They keep their teenager smell, ew. They don’t ever tell you when they actually like you. Like babies, they’re deceptively cute from a distance.

More specifically, I hate: 1, People who are always happy.

Does nothing bad ever happen to them?! EVER? Why is your world filled with hearts, stars and horseshoes and unicorns?

Your glittery sugary life makes me sick and confused. Also, you cause me to have frequent existential crises… should I be happy all the time? How does that even happen? Am I missing something here??

2. People who look pretty all the time. And I don’t mean like every time they dress nicely and go out.

No, I’m talking about the people that look radiant in sweatshirts when it’s raining. Kate Middleton, this means you. Stop making the rest of the world feel bad.

3. People who have amazing metabolisms and genetics. Stop eating cookie dough and lounging around in skimpy clothing to remind me how shallow my gene pool was.

Oh you’re prone to aging gracefully? Sweet, go away.

4. People who are apathetic.

These are the crème de la crème of people I hate.

They say that politics just aren’t “their thing” and have no interest in discussion beyond what liquor they’re drinking this weekend.

Come on. Be an individual and learn about stuff.

Care about politics, the economy, the state of the world; all of a sudden we’ll be the ones making decisions about it.

There, an incomplete, general list of people that I generally dislike on a generally general basis. To be fair, I do not go around permanently scowling or impolitely jeering at people who are any of these things.

I just hate them secretly, with my heart that’s two sizes too small.

That is all.

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

Lauren Ceronie Editor in Chief Sarah Sidlow News Editor

Sean Crowe Business Manager

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Jenn Smola, Allison McGillivray Campus Editors

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Billy Rafael Arts & Entertainment

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GARAGE SALE Sat. 8/18, 10am2pm (no early birds). 5760 Hickory Wood Ct., Oxford (N. on Brown ~1 mile, R on Forest Ridge, L on Hickory Wood). Furniture (computer desk; four-piece entertainment center; bookshelf; dresser; media holder; headboards; china cabinet; more). Housewares (dishes; glasses; utensils; silverware; more). Clothing (mostly women’s, children’s).

For Rent $350. STUDIO APARTMENT Second floor studio for budget minded student. Great for grads. All utilities included w/cable. On street parking or close to Miami bus line. Ph. or reply to ghbender@cinci.rr.com 513-271-5951

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Roommate Needed MALE ROOMATE WANTED To share four bedroom 1500 sf Lofts of Bella Place on E. Park Place. Own bedroom and bath, fully furnished, amazing uptown location. $4200 per semester. Contact: durivagj@muohio.edu or lisamwrenn@aol.com

4 BEDROOM HOUSE 612 South Main for 2013/14. 1.5 baths, ac, washer/dryer, Great location.

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SPORTS

Editor JM RIEGER

sports@miamistudent.net

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2012 JM rieger The Rieger report

When the ‘Death Penalty’ is not enough

Red and White hope to take back the MAC

By Tom Downey

“Football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said during the news conference addressing the scandal at Penn State University.

However, college athletics have become “too big to fail.”

Universities rely so heavily on revenues generated from athletic programs that they literally cannot afford a hit to their revenue stream resulting from sanctions or bad publicity.

Case-in-point: the Penn State football program.

Administrators and coaches repeatedly failed to take proper measures against former Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky, even to the point where former Head Coach Joe Paterno was renegotiating his contract in 2011 after prosecutors began investigating Sandusky for molesting young boys.

Analysts estimate that it could take Penn State over 10 years to build its football program back up to the same level of national prominence it experienced under Paterno and Sandusky following NCAA sanctions against the sixth oldest college football program in the nation. The sanctions included a $60 million fine, a four-year postseason ban and a reduction in scholarships over the next four years.

Despite this, the NCAA did not go far enough.

The issue at hand is the university and its administration, not the Penn State players, who were allowed to immediately transfer to any other program in the country.

The $60 million fine administered accounts for only one year of football revenue for Penn State, a small slap on the wrist considering how important the football program is to the university and how long Sandusky was molesting young boys.

Penn State should be banned from playing football for the next few seasons to show that football is not the most important part of the school.

When the NCAA administered the “death penalty” to Southern Methodist University (SMU) in 1987, preventing SMU from

competing during the 1987 season, it took SMU 22 years to return to a bowl game.

However, as the University of Southern California (USC) and the Ohio State University have shown, it is not difficult to bounce back from NCAA sanctions in the 21st Century.

Even with recent penalties administered to both institutions, USC will enter this season No.1 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and Ohio State will begin this season with Head Coach Urban Meyer, who has won two national championships since 2006 and who was the second fastest coach since 1945 to reach 100 career wins.

The main goal of universities should be to educate and grow students. The NCAA and university presidents repeatedly explain the importance of student-athletes and college athletic programs, but what takes priority in the end?

Recently, universities have prided themselves not on education but on how many big donors they have.

The New York Times’ Pete Thamel reported in July that “television contracts for individual college sports conferences had increased by an average of nearly 350 percent since 2008.”

And according to USA Today, 65 Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I) coaches earned over $1 million in 2011, while median compensation for private college presidents in fiscal year 2010 was less than $400,000 and median compensation for public college presidents in fiscal year 2011 was approximately $420,000, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The NCAA and universities now face a choice in light of the Penn State sanctions: continue to grow athletic programs and compensation packages for coaches with the risk of missteps and penalties for programs, or to step back and examine the broader impact of a program that is “too big to fail.”

But as long as money rather than educating is the driving force in college athletics, don’t expect anything anytime soon.

RedHawks prepare for new runners, season

By Shannon Whitson

For the Miami Student

With the beginning of the new fall semester, Miami University’s men’s cross country team is finishing up their first week of training.

The team is looking better than ever with 9 of their 11 runners returning this year, along with eight new runners Head Coach Warren Mandrell recruited this past spring.

Sophomore runner James Kraus was very optimistic about the upcoming season.

“Really all of the freshman are up there in the workouts we have had so far,” Kraus said. “I am really impressed.”

Moreover the RedHawks brought in a pair of freshman twins this year, Matt and Joe Stewart, who have posted strong times thus far. Junior runner Dave Wing said the twins are going to be solid contributors.

“The freshmen Mandrell brought

in this year seem to be stronger than any Miami has had in a long time,” Wing said.

Freshman runner Nick Vogele also came into this season with the ’Hawks sporting very respectable credentials: 9:01 in the 3200-meter run and 4:12 in the 1600-meter run, making him a strong candidate to be in the top nine RedHawk crosscountry runners this season.

Along with the seven freshman recruits, Mandrell also brought in Steve Kiplagat this year. Kiplagat is a very talented transfer student from St. Lawrence University in Kenya. Kiplagat had a fifth year of eligibility to run cross-country in the NCAA and was an All-American runner in Division III with a seventh place finish at last year’s Division III National Championships.

These eight runners, along with the nine returning runners means the RedHawks could be looking beyond the MAC Championships this year at a potential at-large bid to compete in the NCAA Championships at the end of November.

Senior Staff Writer

The Miami University football team is looking to return to the top of Mid-American Conference (MAC) after going 4-8 last year in Head Coach Don Treadwell’s first year.

The team won the MAC Championship two years ago and are looking to find that magic again.

“We really want another MAC Championship,” senior defensive tackle Austin Brown said. “That’s been our main focus.”

The team was picked to finish third in the MAC East football pre-season poll behind rivals Ohio University and Bowling Green State University (BGSU). The Red and White lost to both teams last year.

Much like seasons past, the ’Hawks will face a difficult nonconference schedule with games against rival University of Cincinnati and perennial Bowl Championship Series-buster Boise State University.

However, no non-conference game will likely be as tough as the season opener; a trip to the horseshoe to face the Ohio State University (OSU). The game will mark of the start of the Urban Meyer-era at OSU and is only the third time the two teams have played since 1950. OSU has won both games.

“We’re very excited about being able to play them,” senior quarterback Zac Dysert said. “But every game is important to us.”

The RedHawks will also face a tough conference schedule, although they do get pre-season favorite Ohio University at home. The Red and White will play the Bobcats and Falcons in back-to-back weeks in a stretch that might end up deciding who takes home the MAC East crown.

The nation’s No. 14 ranked passing offense returns its three most important pieces: quarterback Zac Dysert, junior wide receiver Nick Harwell and senior wide receiver Andy Cruse. Among returning players, Harwell leads the nation in receiving yards and is on the Biletnikoff Award Watch List, which goes to the nation’s top receiver.

“We’re pretty happy about the offense,” Dysert said. “We’re getting better everyday and that’s the goal.

We’ve got a great receiving core.”

However, if the ’Hawks want to return to MAC prominence, they will have to improve their rushing attack. The Red and White finished dead last in the nation in rushing last season and started five different players.

“It’s still up in the air,” Dysert said of the starting running back

spot. “But we’ve got a lot of guys competing for it which is nice to see.”

Among the top contenders for the starting spot are sophomore Robert Williams III, who walked on to the team in 2011 and junior Erik Finklea.

Finklea started two games last year including the season opener against the University of Missouri. True freshmen Jack Snowball and Jamire Westbrook could also challenge for carries during the season.

The RedHawks also have a new defensive coordinator in Jay Peterson, undertaking the challenge of improving the nation’s 48th-ranked defense from last year.

Benefiting him will be the return of senior linebacker Pat Hinkel and junior cornerback Dayonne Nunley. Hinkel will be making the move from safety to linebacker this season.

The defensive line should be strong this year, with three returning senior starters in Mike Johns, Jason Semmes and Austin Brown.

“Coach Peterson definitely brings a bunch of intensity, along with some new schemes.” Austin Brown said.

“So we are defiantly embracing that and are headed in the right direction with that.”

Miami will start its 2012 season at Ohio State Sept. 1st with a noon kickoff.

Underclassmen aim for team unity

By Justin Maskulinski For The Miami Student

Team unity should not be a problem for the Miami University women’s cross country team this year. The RedHawks open their season Sept. 1 at The Dayton Flyer 5k Challenge. “[The team] usually does well at Dayton. We hope to start strong and continue our success and finish strong,” senior runner Emily Mossler said.

The RedHawks are a young team, with 17 underclassmen and only five upperclassmen. Sophomore runner Mattie Moncayo said the sophomore class could help lead the way. “[Running as a true freshman] gave my class a sense of leadership both on the team and in the classroom,” she said.

Both Mossler and Moncayo agreed that the youth of the ’Hawks could present a challenge, although it may be a strength as well. “[The youth] may present a challenge, but the leadership [the youth] provides is great,” Moncayo said.

GOING FOR THE GOAL

The youth of the RedHawks provides a sense of unity among not only the underclassmen, but also the upperclassmen because they are leading and teaching the majority of the young runners. “[The team] vibe is very strong,” Mossler said. “Freshman fit in and the sophomore class is close. We are getting along well.”

Moncayo agreed that the ’Hawks have a close team.

“The team has a good vibe,” she said. “We are willing to work.”

The team’s youth may present challenges, but the individuals also face their own personal challenges throughout the year.

“My toughest challenge will be remaining focused [on cross country] while attending classes,” Moncayo said.

Mossler said she does not think she will have any tough personal challenges this year.

“I’ve already been through my challenges,” she said. “My goal is to make an impact on the team.”

The ’Hawks have been training

for what they hope can be a successful season. Mossler said she and the team are well prepared after summer training.

“I liked [summer training] more this year,” Mossler said. “We focused more on mileage rather than intense workouts.”

The RedHawks’ open their 2012 campaign in Dayton, Ohio and then travel to five different states.

They hope to improve on their third place finish in the MidAmerican Conference (MAC) Championships last year. The ’Hawks also had an 11th-place finish in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship.

Miami’s top competitors this year in the MAC will be the University of Toledo and rival Ohio University.

Mossler said she is ready to take on all competitors, especially following the team’s summer workouts.

“This is the best I have felt in three years, but workouts matter in November, not June,” Mossler said.

JESSI THORNE THE MIAMI STUDENT

Junior midfielder Katy Dolesh fights off two Xavier University players during Miami University’s 3-0 victory over the Musketeers Friday in Oxford.