The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2013
VOLUME 141 NO. 16
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1991, The Miami Student reported that the residents of Thompson Hall would soon be the neighbors of ghouls and goblins with a haunted forest fundraiser being held in their backyard. The article quoted one resident saying, “When the pits of hell are full, the dead will walk on Western.”
Fighting fakes: One in four frauds found BY REIS THEBAULT CAMPUS EDITOR
After Miami sophomore *Jerry Graham strolls confidently to the bar, he nudges his way past throngs of buzzed students and motions to his friends; he wants to take shots. With the blue band on his right wrist and the fake Illinois driver’s license he used to get it, Graham feels confident. However, there is a nearly one in three chance that he and the convincing, computer-generated fake ID will be found out. Getting Caught “Methods of fake ID obtainment and use in underage college students,” a 2010 University of Missouri and the Midwest Alcoholism Research Center (MARC) study, shows about 29 percent of those who use fakes have reported being caught. Officer Greg Moore of the Oxford Police Department (OPD), said students often have only a partial understanding of laws regarding fake ID use. “Students don’t realize the gravity of a conviction for fictitious identification, they just know they’re going to get an ID so they can go up and drink trashcans at Brick Street and they don’t realize that having a conviction for a fake ID, how is that going to look to a future employer?” Moore asked rhetorically. “It shows dishonesty.” Moore added that the Oxford legal system takes the students’ intentions into account and that in other places, there could be far heavier charges. “College towns are different, they’re just different,” Moore said. “A lot of times a fictitious ID is used for nefarious purposes, as you know, whether it be for voter fraud, whether it be for terrorism. This is for drinking underage and it is treated as such. But if you just look at the face of it, it is actually a very serious crime.”
MUPD Detective Walt Schneider said that on a federal level, the consequences of organizing an order of fictitious IDs are even graver. “The federal charges on it are so much higher for ordering or facilitating an order,” Schneider said. “It’s a mandatory 10-year prison sentence if you’re convicted of ordering or facilitating an order of fake IDs for somebody.” There is also an important difference between IDs like Graham’s, which students order from someone that manufactures fictitious IDs and a valid ID that is passed down to someone. The law draws a faint line between fictitious IDs and valid ones obtained from a relative or a friend. In Ohio state law, both violations, possessing an altered or fictitious ID and using an ID that is not one’s own, fall under statute code 4507.30. However, it is considerably harder to charge someone who is found with a valid ID. “If you have somebody else’s ID, and it’s a valid ID, we have to actually prove that you were using it for that purpose,” Moore said. “Basically, around here, if you’re caught with a valid ID that is not yours, it just happens to be your cousin, who looks a little bit like you and is three years older, unless we see you presenting that as yourself, you will not be charged.” This difficulty may account for the low numbers of people in the Oxford area charged with violating state statute code 4507.30. According to OPD records, there have been just 124 charges since 2001. However, these statistics do not reflect anyone who has had their record sealed, as a sealed charge is removed from the OPD system and therefore is not accounted for in these statistics. Moore also acknowledged that the police apprehend far more people with fake IDs than those who actually are charged. “We don’t always catch all the fake IDs,” Moore said. “But if we get six underage arrests in one night, we’ll probably come away with four or five IDs.”
KATIE TAYLOR, KYLE HAYDEN THE MIAMI STUDENT
Of the 21 percent of college students who admitted to having a fake ID, over one in four reported getting caught, according to a 2010 study by the University of Missouri and the Midwest Alcoholism Research Center. Moore said they would probably catch even more underage students if the bars confiscated every fake ID they find. “The bars are supposed to collect them,” Moore said. “Some of them do, then they turn them in and we get a stack, which tells me there is a much larger stack out there.” According to Miami junior and doorman at The Wood’s *Derek Johnson, The Wood’s turns away fake IDs at an alarming rate.
Club Sports sets sights on old high school for new team practice facilities BY KAILA FRISONE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
As Miami University works on the acquisition of the former Talawanda High School building, Director of Club Sports and Training Mike Arnos is preparing a proposal to turn the back complex of the school grounds into an additional workout facility, primarily for club sports. Arnos said he wants to utilize the track, fields and the 2500-square-foot field house for weights and other performance equipment. He does not intend to equip the field house with cardio equipment. “Anytime we try to get everyone together and work out at the same time, it’s tough to find that space,” Arnos said. “The club sports teams also don’t have one great place where we can all get together and congregate to create community.” More than 1,500 athletes play 50 club sports at Miami and Arnos said the Recreation Center (REC) does not appreciate when large groups of athletes come to the REC to use the equipment. Senior Kelly Goldstein, treasurer and teammate on the women’s club rugby team, has experienced this first hand. “If we want to work out as
a team at the REC, there isn’t enough room for us because it’s open to the general public.” Arnos said at least 30 teams have displayed interest in an additional workout facility. However, Vice President for Finance and Business Services and Treasurer David Creamer said the acquisition is not final because the school board is working through a property restriction on the deed. Creamer expects the acquisition of the property to be finalized at the start of the next calendar year at the very earliest. Creamer said it is likely the main structure of the high school will be demolished. “The primary purpose was to acquire the land, not the facility itself,” Creamer said. “Part of the reason for acquiring it was it provided recreational facilities that we wanted to make available for students.” Creamer said the negotiated price to acquire the property was $1.2 million, and preliminary estimates for the demolition and further plans are $1.3-1.5 million. He said this project will not affect students’ tuition and student fees. The high school gymnasium, which is attached to the main building, will also be demolished, if demolition is the final
decision, Creamer said. He said the building is outdated and inefficient, and maintaining the building would be too costly. Arnos said his proposal should not require any funding from the university. He currently plans to charge club teams an hourly rate that has not yet been decided to use the facility. Because most teams will not want to use the facility before 3 p.m., the facility may become available to students and community members who pay for a membership to the facility. Senior Zachary Mathews, assistant forward’s coach for the women’s club rugby team, suggests holding events at the facility to generate funds. “I don’t think it should be solely for club sports; you can get money from other organizations as well,” Mathews said. Goldstein said she is concerned about the cost to use the facility for her team. “We try to keep our dues as low as possible,” Goldstein said. “We have a free field just a little farther away.” Arnos said funds generated by the revenue of using the facility would be used to repurpose the field house, equip it, maintain the fields, staff the facility, and pay for utilities.
“Probably every ten minutes and probably more than that,” Johnson said. However, Johnson said that he and his coworkers, because they lack the formal training in spotting fake IDs, they do not feel comfortable seizing an ID that they aren’t confident is fake. “We don’t really do anything at the bar, we just turn them away and don’t let them in,” Johnson said. “We technically could take them,
but since we haven’t been formally trained, we play it safe and turn them away. If they keep coming back trying to use it, then we let the managers know and they will come out and take them away.” *Name changed to protect source from legal or employment ramifications.
FAKE ID,
SEE PAGE 9
Obscene images drawn inside Armstrong Student Center BY VICTORIA SLATER CAMPUS EDITOR
Construction workers entered the Armstrong Student Center (ASC) Monday morning to find three images depicting male genitalia drawn on the inside walls of the unfinished building. This is the second act of trespassing to occur within an academic building in the past six months, after burglars broke into Upham Hall in June, stealing $8,000 in artifacts. Director of ASC Katie Wilson said she was informed of the incident later in the day Monday, and by that time, the construction workers had painted over the graffiti. “The contractors still have ownership of the building and they work closely with Physical Facilities,” she said. “So they took care of it. And nothing was taken.” No police report was filed with the Miami University Police Department (MUPD). Wilson said she is unsure of who committed the vandalism and when it occurred, but she said the vandalism was not there before she left Saturday afternoon. Wilson said her initial reaction to the vandalism was disappointment, questioning why someone would disrespect university property, especially one that is under construction. “It was very disappointing to hear,” she said. “With the exception
of the Shade Family Room, Armstrong is an active construction site, so it was also dangerous for whoever was in. It was not a safe place for non-construction people. So it was dangerous and disappointing.” Wilson said a significant concern is now the security of the building. Since ASC is currently under ownership of the Physical Facilities department, its construction team and other designated university employees are the only entities allowed on site. To deter trespassers, the construction workers lock all the doors and windows of the building. “We don’t know how the person got in,” Wilson said. In response to the incident, Wilson said the construction workers were quick to update the building’s security. “They put new cores on all of the locks on Monday, to make sure everything is secure,” she said. “And I saw a construction worker pulling on all the doors making sure no one could get in.” Wilson said she encourages anyone who knows information about the vandalism to come forward. “Even if MUPD doesn’t have a record of it, if someone found out who got in and when, there are still plenty of ways that the university can follow up with those individuals,” she said.