The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
VOLUME 139 NO. 28
TUESDAY, December 6, 2011
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY In 1980, The Miami Student reported that a fire at the Fox and Hound Apartments had been ruled an arson by a county task force. The fire caused nearly $1 million in damages and left 124 residents without a home. The fire department estimated the fire burned for half an hour before firefighters were called.
Local veteran receives 14 overdue medals By Justin Reash Community Editor
World War II veteran and retired Oxford Police Department (OPD) officer Marvin Sizemore received 14 overdue medals for his service and conduct Monday in the Graves Lounge at NROTC office. Constituent Services Liason Rachel Miller, from the office of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and NROTC Commanding Officer Colonel Patrick Malay awarded Sizemore with the medals. Amongst the numerous medals, Sizemore received the Navy Good Conduct Medal, along with four Bronze Stars and the Prisoner of War Medal. Amidst a celebratory atmosphere, Miller kicked off the presentation. After her, Provost and Executive President for Academic Affairs Katie Bailey spoke on behalf of the university. After her speech, Col.
Malay addressed the crowd before beginning the official pinning of the medals. Following military custom, Col. Malay placed the highest medal, the Prisoner of War Medal, on Sizemore’s uniform first. Sizemore briefly spoke during the pinning. The celebration continued after the half-hour presentation with friends and family congratulating Sizemore and enjoying doughnuts with coffee. Sizemore, 89, served as a Chief Petty Officer on the USS Houston, also know as the “Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast,” according to one of Sizemore’s four daughters, Claudette Garapic. The Houston, a heavy cruiser, took part in the Pacific theater. On Feb. 28, 1942, the cruiser ANDREW BRAY THE MIAMI STUDENT engaged Japanese ships at the Battle of Sunda World War II veteran and retired Oxford police officer Marvin Sizemore is congratulated after receiving 14 medals, includStrait. After an intense ing four Bronze Stars and a Prisoner of War Medal for his service and conduct in the Pacific theater of the war. Sizemore Medal, was held as a prisoner of war from 1942 until the end of the war in 1945. Sizemore retired from active duty in 1959.Two of Sizemore’s four daughters have also served in the armed forces. SEE PAGE 15
‘Diva’ drag queen show seeks to educate Senate discusses about minority causes, anti-bullying streamlining of CAS By Michelle Ludwin
By Kaler Hazen Staff Writer
For The Miami Student
Bryan Watkins, Thomas White and Adam Guerra educated and performed in drag to a sold out crowd at Leonard Theatre in Peabody Hall Friday evening. Miami University’s Campus Activities Council’s Global Fusion board and Spectrum brought Morgan McMichaels (Thomas White), Venus D’Lite (Adam Guerra) and Shannel (Bryan Watkins) as part of Divas of Diversity. The three drag queens were part of RuPaul’s Drag Race, a reality show, and now are ambassadors for Hope’s Voice. Divas of Diversity is a division of Hope’s Voice, a charity advocating educational programs about HIV, the LGTQB community and other minorities. The queens spoke about their coming out stories and being discriminated against for their lifestyle. Miami is the first campus to have more than one queen ANNE GARDNER THE MIAMI STUDENT perform in one evening. EJ Miss Shannel, one of three drag queens who performed at Divas of Diversity, stays fabulous Corporan, co-chair of Globduring the event. Divas of Diversity sought to educate and inform students about minority al Fusion, found out about issues, HIV and the LGTQB community. Divas of Diversity through a national conference. having little acceptance hears someone being bul- was taking a speech and de“I attended a national stu- from her community. Mc- lied to stop it or else they bate class and beginning to dent activities conference Michaels said her commu- are becoming an enabler to win competitions. last year and came across nity was not as accepting the situation. “I thought, ‘wow I have Hope’s Voice’s booth,” with sexuality as people are Shannel also spoke about a voice, people are listenCorporan said. “I talked for in the United States. She her childhood and the path ing to me, I have something awhile with the president of engaged with audience ask- that led to her becoming to say,’” Shannel said. “So instead of feeling like that the company and fell in love ing members to talk about an entertainer. with their Divas of Diversi- their experiences of being “I was that fat, shy, quiet, fat, horrible, shy, quiet ty event. I knew it would be bullied, whether it was for introverted child growing kid, I finally came out of something that could make their weight, sexuality or up and it was really sad,” my shell.” She said the media has a significant impact on skin color. Shannel said. “I didn’t feel Miami’s campus.” “So when I decided to all that quite accepted not allowed people to believe Corporan said the choice accept who I was and my because I was the token gay others have to be a certain of having more than one sexuality, I took back the kid but because I was the way to be perfect, but they are expectations impossible queen for the event would power,” McMichaels said. fat kid.” bring more insight and per- “And when people talked Shannel spoke about to live up to. Venus D’Lite, the last spectives for the audience. about me, I let them talk it throwing herself into paintMorgan McMichaels, the because I know who I am.” ing, drawing and losing DIVAS, first to perform, spoke about McMichaels encour- weight at the age of 13. SEE PAGE 15 growing up in Scotland and aged anyone that sees or She said her turning point
The Miami University Senate meeting Monday brought new issues and fresh information to the table with regards to university policy and operations in the coming semesters, as well as several votes for actions related to the academic calendar in coming years. The Senate voted against the proposal to add a day to Thanksgiving vacation on the Monday following the holiday and approved the measure to institute a J-term. A coming change addressed during the meeting was the reorganization of some programs within the College of Arts and Science. The proposed changes could likely affect many departments within the
tions regarding the macroscopic values of the biology program. A similar approach has been proposed in the communications department by Interim Chair of Communications Richard Campbell. As of the current date, no overall dollar savings have been established and how the plan will affect university staff is unknown, however, there is no plan to eliminate staff positions. The University Senate also addressed a plan called the IT Rationalization and Services Transformation, or SSIP-IT. The plan will be governed by an IT leadership team as well as Accenture, a third-party consulting company. A financial breakdown of the plan listed $2.6 million of savings in personnel costs, as well as $1.24 million
Quality [in IT Services improvement] is more important. This is what I’m worried about.” WENXI LIU
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
college including biology, communications, classics and several of the foreign languages. The changes would serve to streamline curriculum while maintaining autonomy between the different majors in each department. According to Phyllis Callahan, dean of College of Arts and Science, there is a need for a more formal representation of biology on campus, as many incoming students find the distinctions between the different branches hard to follow, and raise ques-
worth of non-personnel based savings. Accenture was paid $3.2 million to come up with the cuts. Wenxi Liu, associate professor of history, asked whether there was “an evaluation of the reduction of money on one side versus the improvement of IT quality on the other.” “Quality is more important,” Liu said. “This is what I’m worried about.” The University Senate
USENATE, SEE PAGE 15