The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
VOLUME 139 NO. 17
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2011
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1998, The Miami Student reported that a Miami University committee designated to study the potential for a childcare center had been awarded
$70,000 by the Ohio Board of Regents for design. Miami, one of four state universities at the time without a childcare center, said reasons for not having a childcare facility included high expenses and student profiles. The center designed would accommodate 120 children and be over 10,000 square feet.
Miami prepares for WBC ASG:‘stay away’ from picket; Spectrum: rally for unity By Taylor Dolven Assistant Campus Editor
Since the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) announced plans to picket Miami University nearly a month ago, students, faculty and community members have engaged in an emotional and sometimes contentious debate about how best to respond. Two initiatives – the Associated Student Government (ASG) led “We’ve Got Your Back” pledge and a rally to “Unite Miami” being headed by Spectrum – represent complimentary approaches to countering WBC’s visit, by encouraging students not
to directly engage with WBC but instead attend an event focused on unity, love and support for the very groups WBC targets. The WBC picket will take place from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25 on the corner of Maple and Spring Streets, according to Claire Wagner, associate director of university communications. Unite Miami will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in Central Quad, according to Billy Price, Spectrum copresident. “The event isn’t anti-Westboro, it’s pro-Miami and prodiversity,” he said. “It will be a bunch of people who want to celebrate the diversity we have here, who appreciate
the fact that you can meet someone who is vastly different from you.” Price said Westboro’s right to protest is an important one. “We are a college campus,” Price said. “This is where we are supposed to encounter ideas that we aren’t necessarily comfortable with.” The event will include performances from a cappella groups, speakers from military, LGBTQ and religious backgrounds and a drag queen. Unite Miami will include fundraisers for an AIDS support group and disabled veterans. The Greek community, religious organizations and uptown businesses are
among groups that have been invited to co-sponsor the event. The Office of the President, Ambassadors for Children and Sigma Lambda Gamma are among the organizations that have signed on as co-sponsors. “We want to celebrate the concept of love, diversity and unity,” Price said. “We are one student body, we are one community.” Miami senior Ben Richardson plans on attending the event. “WBC wants you to attack them and harass them,” Richardson said. “They make their profits off suing groups
WBC, SEE PAGE 5
Bucking national trend, Miami admissions remains need-blind By Jessica Tedrick For The Miami Student
With college tuition fees on the rise, who can afford to pay full price? Colleges may have the same question. According to a study done by Inside Higher Ed, colleges have begun to look for students who can pay the full cost of tuition without the help of financial aid. The survey shows colleges may even be focusing more on a student’s ability to fully pay the cost of tuition than their grades. Inside Higher Ed’s survey showed that 10 to 20 percent of colleges polled responded that the students accepted based on ability to pay often had lower grades than the students who may need financial aid. Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed explained the survey. “We assembled a list of senior admission directors and sent it set up so that we only got one response [per school] and gave them anonymity,” he said. That financial aid included merit aid and grants,
had an interest in Miami since the 1970s and the recruitment office there makes sure to visit inner city schools, not just suburbs, according to Larson. The Miami Student contacted local high schools to see what kinds of area schools and communities Miami focuses on for recruitment. Locally, Hamilton High School, commonly thought to be in an economically disadvantaged area, with 13.4 percent of the population below the poverty line, is not visited by Miami for recruitment, according to Tammy Marsh, a counselor who works closely with the universities that chose to visit. Marsh said that Miami University “does not usually call to come in.” However, the branch campus, Miami Hamilton, does. Nancy Clark, a counselor from Fairfield High School, located in a middle class suburb, also said that Miami’s Oxford office does not arrange to have “lunchroom visits.” However, Indian Hills High School was actually hosting Miami University
There are choices made as to schools that we do go to because we are limited in staff but we have access to [local high schools] at college fairs.” ANN LARSON
INTERIM DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS
ANDREW BRAY THE MIAMI STUDENT
MAKING IT TO ‘THE DEAN’S LIST’
The Dean’s List performed for a packed Brick Street Bar and Grill Wednesday night. Brick Street will be hosting Taking Back Sunday Wednesday and country artist Justin Moore Nov. 2.
Local salon chooses to pluck feather offerings By Morgan Schaffer
For The Miami Student
Rooster feathers — a hair accessory? The trend of wearing rooster feathers in hair has grown and salons have caught on. According to local salon owners, both authentic and alternative feathers are available, and like any political issue relating to animals, there are people against the use of authentic rooster feathers as a hair accessory. What began as a supply used by fly-fishermen is now being made into a hair accessory. Fishermen use rooster feathers to tie flies for fly-fishing. According to Lisa Ciampa, owner of Luna Blu, Whiting Farms Inc. in Colorado, produces the feathers for both fly fisherman and for salons. Whiting Farms harvests the roosters, allows the feathers to grow, then euthanizes the roosters. The alternative is a synthetic feather. While the substitute looks the same, because it is synthetic, it
cannot be flat ironed or curled. Any excessive heat applied to the faux feather will ruin the material. According to local salons, there is a dilemma when deciding to purchase the feathers. They are described to be like hair extensions and some girls who get them want to be able to style the feathers along with the rest of their hair according to personnel from Luna Blu, Salon Signature and Attitudes Uptown — all salons located in Oxford. Each of the three salons has taken its own stance on the issue. Attitudes Uptown sells both the real and the fake feathers for the same price, $10. People who want the authentic feathers are satisfied as well as people who are against wearing the authentic ones. “I don’t have a problem with it because they could be molting feathers,” Attitudes Uptown manager Nikki Buell said. Salon Signature is dealing with the same predicament. They have decided to sell
the actual rooster feathers because again, the synthetic ones cannot be styled. “You have fly fishermen that use them and that has been going on for a long time,” Michael Lamb, owner of Salon Signature, said. One salon, Luna Blu, has opted to not sell the authentic rooster feathers after they did research and learned of the methods in which the
I thought it was a fun trend, but I didn’t realize what had to happen in order to get the feathers from the roosters.” nicole smith
MIAMI SENIOR
feathers were being obtained. As far as synthetics go, Ciampa said Luna Blu has not found one they like. When customers ask the reasoning behind not providing
authentic rooster feathers, they are told the truth about the methods in which the feathers are retrieved and Ciampa said customers seem to respect the salon’s stance on the issue. “We didn’t make just profit off them anyways,” Ciampa said. How far is too far for fashion? Personal morals may prevent people from purchasing authentic rooster feathers; however, they have been used for a long time with fly fishing. The three local salons are all aware of the methods used in retrieving the rooster feathers, and each has come up with a different reasoning to sell or not to sell the feathers. Miami University senior Nicole Smith said she is rethinking her decision regarding feather fashion. “When I first got my feathers, I just thought it was a fun trend, but I didn’t realize what had to happen in order to get the feathers from the roosters. Now that I know, I don’t plan on getting any more,” Smith said.
according to Jaschik. “Colleges throw money at people who need it [and] at students who may not need it,” Jaschik said. “[It] encourages people to pick one school over another.” Brent Shock, Miami University’s director of financial assistance, said Miami does not take students’ financial needs into account before admittance. “That information is not available to the office of admissions,” he said. “[Miami] collects financial information when students complete FAFSA.” The financial aid information is sent to the university electronically so they can then award needbased financial aid, according to Shock. However, Miami has recruitment officers based in affluent neighborhoods in Chicago, New England and as far away as California, according to Ann Larson, interim director of admissions. Larson said having recruitment officers in affluent neighborhoods is not a calculated move. “The California based recruiter takes care of not only California but all of the West Coast,” Larson said. She said that the same applies for the New England recruitment centers and the East Coast. Families from the Chicago area have
on the day this reporter contacted them. Indian Hills is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Cincinnati. When asked certain high schools are or are not visited, Larson said, “We are in probably 600 to 700 schools often on a rotating basis. There are choices made as to schools that we do go to because we are limited in staff but we have access to [local high schools] at college fairs.” Larson said Miami’s office of admissions is beginning to work more closely with urban outreach programs in Cincinnati, Toledo, Cleveland and Columbus. Sophomore Courtney Wilke said she believes Miami accepts students without regard to their financial background. She said she believes Miami recruits based on grades. “The test scores [at Miami] are so high, the [students’] GPAs are high,” Wilke said. She also said she believes Miami does not try harder to recruit students from more affluent neighborhoods. “{Miami] tries to incorporate everyone,” she said. However, she said she does believe high tuition may be the reason students from less affluent places choose not to attend Miami.