The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
VOLUME 138 NO. 5
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
In 1982, The Miami Student’s front page reported changes to alcohol consumption laws. The legal drinking age was changed to 19, which put hosts of open parties at risk of supplying alcohol to minors. Violators of the law could be fined as much as $1,000 and faced a six-month jail sentence for a repeat offense.
Retire/rehire program may face changes
‘Boston’s Boy’
By Erin Fischesser News Editor
Miami University retirees may soon miss out on a valued benefit. The Strategic Priorities Task Force has recommended the retire/rehire program be evaluated and possibly changed in order to reach its proposed $43 million budget reduction. The program, which allows tenured professors who retire from Miami after at least 30 years to return for one semester per year for three years, has been seen as a guaranteed benefit by most of Miami’s faculty for some time. “It’s pretty much considered a right,” economics professor Rich Hart said. Hart retired from Miami and is now beginning his first year of teaching under the retire/rehire program. According to Hart, retirees receive approximately 47 percent of their last year’s salary per semester during the rehire period. The benefit is provided to teachers at Miami along with their benefits from the State Teacher’s Retirement System, which Ohio teachers pay into in lieu of social security.
wSee REHIRE, page 9
SAMANTHA LUDINGTON The Miami Student
Sam Adams performs Monday night at Brick Street Bar to a sold out crowd. This is the first time Adams has performed in Oxford.
COMMUNITY
CAMPUS
Income tax increase to appear on November ballot MU renews By Bethany Bruner Senior Staff Writer
A new issue on the November ballot would increase the earnings tax in order to fund emergency medical services (EMS) and fire services in Oxford. Issue 15 would increase income tax by 0.25 percent from 1.75 to 2 percent. The increase would cover operational costs for the Oxford Fire Department and EMS, according to Oxford City Manager Doug Elliott. Elliott said the increase in operating costs was due in part to changes in the training requirements for firefighters and EMS workers. Another cause is the change from an all-volunteer fire and EMS division to a combination of volunteers and paid part-time staff. Since the change from a volunteer staff in 2006, operating costs for fire and EMS have more than tripled, according to Elliott. While costs may have gone up, Elliott said response time has been cut by nearly 40 percent
because more staff is available. “We have cut response time by about three and a half minutes, which is critical when responding to emergencies,” Elliott said. “It’s easier when you don’t have to come from home and go to the station to get a vehicle before responding.” Currently, the City of Oxford employs three part-time firefighters with EMT certification, along with the full-time fire chief. They work 12-hour shifts and the station is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Elliott credits the staffing changes with the reduction in response times, but knows improvement has come at a cost. “Revenues have been declining due to the economy, but we’ve increased spending,” Elliott said. “We want to continue to fund improvement and hopefully we could make additional improvements as well.” Issue 15 could generate as much as $1 million in revenue for the city if passed, which would be designated for fire and EMS.
Luxembourg campus lease
By Matt Levy Staff Writer
CAMPUS, page 2
SNAPSHOTS
Is your residence featured in a new book compiled of off-campus homes at Miami?
CAMPUS, page 3
WINE & DINE
Sushi Nara will hold a wine tasting and benefit September 23.
COMMUNITY, page 4
Wed
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According to Elliott, if Issue 15 does not pass in November, the city will have to look at potential cost-cutting measures.
The abuse of cough syrup among teens is on the rise.
COMMUNITY, page 4
BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY
ONLY
u
You could
COUGH, COUGH
WIN A
COUPON
TODAY
WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET BLOG: REDHAWK SPORTS Junior David Small writes about Miami athletics.
for a
Local children have the chance to care for their own caterpillars.
COMMUNITY, page 5
KNOCKED OUT
Hear one woman’s story of how a concussion changed her life.
FEATURES, page 6
Thu
wSee LUX, page 7
Oxford firefighters participate in a search and rescue training exercise May 24 in an unoccupied home on Main Street.
THE
The FBI has given a new name to what may have been considered a burglary.
wSee TAX, page 9
SCOTT ALLISON The Miami Student
INSIDESCOOP BUSTED!
Those measures could include making cuts and eliminating the
Miami University’s John E. Dolibois European Center (MUDEC), located in a 14th-century château in Differdange, Luxembourg, is to remain at that site until 2017. With the current lease ending in 2012, talks are underway to keep the program there until at least 2017, according to Raymond Manes, assistant dean at MUDEC. Plans were underway to integrate with a new university being built by the Luxembourgish government by 2012 when the global economic crisis hit, forcing the postponement of the project, Manes said. “MUDEC has to look for an option to stay beyond 2012 and thus thought about renewing, re-conducting the lease for another five-year period, which leads us to 2017,” Manes said via e-mail.
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$1 Sandwich from SoHi! Follow @miamistudent on Twitter and look out TODAY for your chance to win a coupon for $1 sandwiches from SoHi!
Fri
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PHOTOS: WEEKEND IN REVIEW Check out our photo slideshow of this weekend’s goings-on.
BLOG: McMILLAN’S MUSINGS Senior Chris McMillan gives an update on life in Geneva, Switzerland.