Feb. 9, 2010 | The Miami Student

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

VOLUME 137 NO. 37

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

In 1940, The Miami Student reported an increase use of rain boots by Miami University female students due to more rain and melting snow. Male students said they preferred the rain boots to the previously worn wool knee-length socks.

MU shipwrecks Lakers, honors Burke

By Erika Hadley Senior Staff Writer

Tragedy struck this past weekend when Miami University senior Brendan Burke — the 21-year-old student manager for the No. 1 Miami hockey team — was killed in a car accident Friday, Feb. 5. Shaken to the core, the Brotherhood skated with heavy hearts on Saturday and delivered an emotional 10-4 routing of Lake Superior State University (LSSU) at Steve Cady Arena.

“On behalf of our staff, administration and the Burke family, we’re just proud of the way our guys came out and played,” Miami Head Coach Enrico Blasi said. “All the boys just really wanted to do this for Brendan.”

The Burke family, the Brotherhood, the Miami community, the Leaf Nation – Brendan was the son of Toronto Maple Leafs general manager (GM) Brian Burke – have been left to grapple with the sudden and heartbreaking loss of a caring and courageous “pioneer” who left an indelible impression on all who knew him.

“It’s just a tough day for all of us,” Blasi said. “Our thoughts are still with his family and obviously with Brendan, and there’s nothing that we can say right now.”

Brendan was driving in heavy snow to make it back to Oxford for Miami’s hockey game on Friday when the accident occurred around 3 p.m. Both Brendan and passenger Mark Reedy — an 18-yearold freshman at Michigan State

MICHAEL GRIGGS The Miami Student

Junior Carter Camper, Miami forward, helps bring the RedHawks to victory Friday and Saturday against Lake Superior State University.

University and Bloomfield Hills, Mich. native — died of injuries at the scene of the crash.

The team was concerned when Brendan didn’t show for Friday’s contest, but Blasi did not receive news of the accident until the second period of the game. After the final buzzer sounded, Blasi somberly informed his team that Miami’s hockey

Miami female reports on-campus rape At 4:25 p.m. Friday, officers from Oxford Police Department contacted Miami University Police (MUPD) regarding a female subject who reported a rape on Miami’s campus.

According to MUPD, the 19-year-old female reported she met with a 20-year-old male student, whom she had previously met online, on Thursday night at his residence in Hepburn Hall.

The male reportedly raped her in his room and sent her home the next morning.

According to police reports, the victim is not pursuing charges at this time but has been made aware of how to do so in the future.

family had lost one of its own.

Before news of the tragedy reached Oxford, Friday night’s game got off to a blazing start. With sophomore Chris Wideman in the box for hooking, however, the Lakers took a huge momentum leap, more than doubling Miami’s shots on goal (SOG)

CAMPUS

IMS class provides resources to Tibetan people

By Hannah Poturalski News Editor

The work of a Miami University capstone class will benefit and preserve Tibetan culture for decades to come.

Glenn Platt, co-director of the Armstrong Interactive Media Studies (AIMS) program, is co-teaching the AIMS capstone class alongside Peg Faimon, codirector of AIMS. He said over the course of two years, six projects would be completed for the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala, India.

Platt said the seed for this collaboration was planted in 2008 when Provost Jeffrey Herbst traveled to Dharamsala and a relationship was established between Miami and IBD. “This is a groundbreaking program that introduces students

and faculty to the way digital communications is changing so many of the things we do,” Herbst said at the Feb. 5 board of trustees meeting in reference to AIMS. The first two projects have begun this semester — finding the best system to digitize Tibetan cultural and religious archives and creating an online tool for teaching the Tibetan language. The two teams currently working on these projects have daily and weekly contact with Tibetan monks.

“They have priceless artifacts and their government is interested in digitizing and preserving them in the most appropriate way,” Platt said.

Platt said the class has to identify the best process for completing this, make recommendations and build a Web-based interface

THE

Sigma Gamma Rho hopes to start a new chapter on Miami’s campus.

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CAMPUS, page 3

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ONLY

WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET PARKING TIP OF THE WEEK

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SLOPPY(LESS) JOES

on ways to learn the Tibetan language, will be based off books published by the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD).

The other projects that will be completed for the Tibetan government in exile include making a virtual reality mandala, establishing e-commerce capabilities, creating a Web presence and finding the best way to back up their computers’ servers.

Platt described a mandala as a map of the universe used for Buddhist mediation. The virtual reality mandala would be a fourwalled cave which would give the illusion of a different world.

“It’s a fictional, mythical and imaginative space,” Platt said.

The need for better e-commerce, Platt said came from the Tibetan government in exile not

u

Learn about the number of online resources available for investigating potential hookups.

veterans at Miami.

A sandwich shop uptown offers a fresh, family-run atmosphere at mealtime.

A comparative media studies program will unite numerous media-related programs.

that can be easily accessed.

Senior Diane Baker, marketing major and project manager for the digitization group, said the project’s been interesting so far because her group is learning and figuring out the correct resources.

“The people I’ve talked to have been so nice and thankful to have students helping them out,” Baker said. “This will be really great for them. In an email (one man) said, ‘We’re looking to catch up with the rest of the world technologically.’”

Platt said all the projects have a common theme.

“That’s preserving cultural heritage and making the cultural treasures of the Tibetan people accessible to all,” Platt said. “It’s important to have language, history and religion.”

The second project, focused

STALKERNET

PURPOSED BAND OF BROTHERS has formed FOR SERVICE A student organization as a support base for student

MEDIA FRENZY

Brendan Burke, 21, of Canton, Mass. died Feb. 5 in a car accident on U.S. 35 in Indiana. Burke was a political science major with a minor in French.

wSee HOCKEY, page 10

INSIDESCOOP CAMPUS, page 11

MIAMI SENIOR DIES

Weather Advisory The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for heavy snow in the Tri-State area. The warning is in effect from midnight Monday to 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Learn how to avoid getting the despised yellow boot on your car.

WHIMSIES OF A HOPEFUL FOODIE Check out McKenzie Graham’s latest recipes.

LOVE AND HONOR

Thu

25 q 4 p

Fri

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Read an extended version of the hockey story.

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Campus

Tuesday

February 9, 2010

News BRIEFS University seeks student achievement nominees Miami University is currently seeking out second-year achievement award nominations. Student leaders who exemplify dedication to their Miami experience, involvement both in and outside the classroom, commitment to academics and service to the community are appropriate candidates for this award. The award is intended to acknowledge students who illustrate the potential to become an outstanding leader by the time they graduate. This includes students who are not yet in titled leadership positions on campus.

Nominees must be in their second calendar year of college and transfer students are eligible.

Nominations are due March 1. To nominate a student, visit https://survey.muohio.edu checkbox/2YPNomination.aspx.

Awards will be presented at the Second Year Celebration from 2 to 4 p.m. March 21, in the Shriver Center Heritage Room. Please RSVP to the event at https://survey.muohio.edu/checkbox/eventrsvp.aspx.

By Jessica Sink Senior Staff Writer

award

Miami University has named six finalists to compete for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program for graduate study, research or English teaching study abroad fellowships for 2010-11.

The finalists have been chosen by the Fulbright National Screening Committee. Their applications will be examined by the local Fulbright committees located worldwide.

Approximately 5,000 applications were submitted around the country to the Fulbright program.

The Fulbright Program is a government scholarship program that sends approximately 1,500 students to study abroad annually.

The six finalists chosen at Miami University are senior Koriana Austera, English literature and German major; senior Brian Bergman, diplomacy and foreign affairs major; James Erbaugh, 2008 graduate; senior Paula Koch, diplomacy and foreign affairs major; senior Lauren Spadafora, microbiology and biochemistry major and senior Lisa Walsh, history and economics major.

event Miami to host study abroad roundtables Students and faculty who have studied abroad will have a chance to come together and reflect on their international experiences on Feb. 10 in 212 MacMillan Hall.

At the international education and study abroad roundtables, students and faculty will discuss how study abroad advanced their academic experience and impacted their personal lives. Students and faculty will discuss how challenges and opportunities abroad enriched their lives, changed their perspective and influenced their future.

The roundtables will also address the topic of moving forward and continuing the experience at home after study abroad. The roundtable event is sponsored by the Center for American and World Cultures, Lifelong Learning, Miami University Dolibois European Center (MUDEC), the Office of International Education and the Farmer School of Business International Programs.

A reception at 5:15 p.m. will precede the event, which will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a welcome by MUDEC coordinator Alyssa Klein.

Courtney Day dayce2@muohio.edu Hope Holmberg holmbehh@muohio.edu Amanda Seitz seitzam2@muohio.edu

Honorary list requirements could change

Bedrock

fyi

Finalists compete for graduate scholarship

Editors

SCOTT ALLISON The Miami Student

Employee Josh Carpenter belays Kori O’Neil Monday evening at the Recreational Sports Center.

At the university senate meeting Monday, members discussed revisions to the Miami Unviersity Bulletin concerning academic awards granted to students based on grade point average (GPA).

Currently, students who meet certain GPAs are named to honorary lists in the areas of Special Opportunities and Programs, Honors, President’s List and Dean’s List in each academic division. However, because of differences in GPA requirements in each division, there are varying numbers of students admitted to the honorary lists.

There is no singular system of determining student standing throughout the entire university. With the proposed change, the number of students granted academic distinction would be based on a cutoff percentage equal throughout all divisions.

According to Provost Jeffery Herbst, the overall student GPA at Miami has been steadily rising, and consequently the number of awards given to students has also increased.

This has prompted officials to reexamine the system used to evaluate student academic status.

“From 2004, overall GPAs at

Miami have crept up,” Herbst said.

“What is proposed is a parallel structure which will go into effect for the 2011 graduating class. Essentially, the percentage system implemented will make the total number of students who are allowed these honors to be reduced.”

Adam Clampitt-Dietrich, president of student senate, said students may be concerned about the change.

“If this new change is approved, my concern is that it will not solve the problem of student confusion that exists even now,” Clampitt-Dietrich said. “Students will not be sure of what requirements need to be met in order to be considered on an honorary list; they need to know what to shoot for.”

Mark Smith, professor of mathematics, asked how students who are in different divisions, possibly double-majoring, will be classified.

However, Herbst said the categorization plan for these students is not fully formed, and will continue to be determined.

With concerns raised during the meeting about the implementation of the new policy and who will be affected, senate members agreed to postpone approval and revisit the issue after further discussion.

Activist discusses AIDS, bond with Harvey Milk

By Amelia Carpenter Features Editor

Monday night he joked that some members in Hall Auditorium were disappointed when Emile Hirsch didn’t appear on stage instead of him.

CleveJones, human rights activist, lecturJones er and author, was the third of the 2009-10 lecture series.

“I’m just gonna tell you my story,” Jones said.

And he did.

Jones skipped high school graduation and hitchhiked to California where he was homeless and starving for some time.

“I had the great good fortune to meet Harvey Milk,” Jones said.

Jones said Milk, the openly gay political figure, was not a saint, or Jesus, but a wonderful mentor and a great father figure.

Jones worked in Milk’s office after being elected to public office during the gay rights movement before Milk was assassinated Nov. 27, 1978.

“I felt like the luckiest kid in the world to have the opportunity to work with this guy that was like my

dad,” Jones said.

Jones went on to work as a consultant, where he learned for the first time about the disease now called HIV/AIDS. “I was immediately terrified by it,” Jones said. “It’s hard … to convey to you how horrible it was. But by 1985 almost everybody I knew was dead or dying.”

Through mourning his best friend, Marvin, marching for gay rights and finding that he was infected with HIV, Jones founded the AIDS memorial quilt in 1987.

In 1992, Jones prepared for his own death. It was ‘cocktails’ of medication that kept him

alive through six-month periods before he was feeling well.

“I have no words to describe how grateful I am to be alive,” Jones said.

In late February 2007, Lance Black showed Jones what became the script for academy award winning film, “Milk.”

“People thank me all the time for my work,” Jones said. “It’s absurd.

I do what I do because I love it.”

Sophomore Tory Paez looked forward to Jones’ visit after seeing “Milk.”

“I was so excited he was coming and everything,” Paez said. “This is what I wanna do with my life, make visible change.”

MU approves tenures, promotion of 47 faculty

By Hannah Poturalski News Editor

To quote “The Jefferson’s” theme song, nearly 50 Miami University faculty members “finally got a piece of the pie” and are moving up the ranks.

The board of trustees (BOT) approved a resolution Feb. 5 which awarded promotion and/or tenure to 47 faculty members effective July 1.

“Even in the midst of implementing cuts and reallocating shrinking resources, we do have to make thoughtful and forward-thinking decisions to invest in this institution’s future,” John Christie, chair of the BOT, said.

One of those investments is the act of promoting and tenuring faculty.

“It’s the recognition that we believe in this individual to contribute in very substantial ways to the future of this university,” President David Hodge said.

Christie said he has faith in these faculty members to lead Miami to the competitive future it needs.

“These faculty members are real examples of the decisions made to invest in Miami’s future,” Christie said. “This recognition isn’t only a personal accomplishment, but an institutional accomplishment. They help ensure success of the Miami experience and contribute to producing graduates who are exceptional.”

Mary Woodworth, senior associate provost, said requirements for faculty to be considered for tenure include defining high-quality teaching.

“Everybody is expected to be excellent in both their teaching and research, scholarship, creative activity and productive service,” Woodworth said, explaining productive service includes activities such as serving on departmental, university, divisional or even national committees or boards. “You have to meet those criteria to be promoted and tenured.”

Woodworth said to receive tenure, one must be hired or promoted to assistant professor, a position available for up to six years. Once promoted to associate professor with tenure, faculty can apply to become a full professor.

“You have to continue what you’re doing and add to that,” Woodworth said. “It’s moving the bar a little higher.”

Along with the 34 faculty members to receive tenure, a group of 13 faculty were promoted from associate professor to full professor.

“This is the quintessential, ultimate expression of accomplishment and promise,” Hodge said.

Provost Jeffrey Herbst invited select faculty to the Feb. 5 meeting. He said they were representative of the achievements and potential of the faculty given promotion and tenure. “(This is) one of the distinguishing moments in a professor’s career and a critical decision on the part of the university,” Herbst said.

Herbst said investing in faculty by tenuring them would be an increasingly distinctive feature of Miami.

“Tenure is becoming increasingly rare, only 27 percent of professoriate nationwide is tenure or tenure-track,” Herbst said. “We want faculty that has more durable ties to university and will devote

time and initiative to the education of students.”

Heidi McKee, an assistant professor in the department of English who was awarded tenure, agreed.

“It allows individuals to demonstrate their commitment to the institution and allows the institution to demonstrate their commitment to that person,” McKee said. “I think it does build better long-term relationships.”

McKee was among the newly tenured faculty introduced to the board Feb. 5 by Herbst. She’s been at Miami since 2005, a time when no firstyear writing courses were taught in classrooms with computers. She built curriculum to help students learn with digital technologies. Right now, 57 percent of these first-year courses are taught in laptop classrooms.

McKee praised Miami for putting an emphasis on the importance of both teaching and completing research as means for tenure.

“I feel very fortunate to be at a university where there is such great support for teaching and research and so many opportunities with students in class itself but also outside the classroom,” McKee said.

Herbst said during an intensive six months, tenure and promotion decisions are reviewed by departmental promotion and tenure committees, the chairs and deans of the colleges, a university promotion and tenure committee, as well as by himself and Hodge.

Also introduced to the board Feb. 5 was christopher cheek. cheek is an assistant professor of

wSee TENURE, page 11

Campus

THE MIAMI STUDENT

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 ♦ 3

Howe center seeks full-time director of student writing

By Courtney Day Campus Editor

While many departments and programs are downsizing in tough economic times, the Howe Center for Writing Excellence (HCWE) is expanding.

The new position created for a director of student writing has drawn applicants from across the nation.

Kate Francis, manager of the center, said she feels that for the four remaining candidates for the position, “this is a very good career move.”

Francis said the HCWE is cutting edge because of its location in the center of King Library, a hub for student activity. She said other writing centers are watching and that the Howe Center is well known in the field.

“The Howe Writing Center is extremely well funded,” Francis said. “This is a chance for someone to come in and take the campus by storm in terms of writing.”

The remaining candidates, coming from Ball State University, The College of Wooster and University of California, Irvine, have another incentive to come to Miami University.

“The person hired will be a tenured faculty member in the English department,” said Paul Anderson, director of the center.

The new director and faculty member will teach the course required for the HCWE student consultants and they may also teach other courses that fit their expertise and interest.

Anderson said the new director will be in charge of the center’s services and programs for students and Anderson will focus his

attention on preparing faculty to use writing in their courses.

“I’ve been doing both jobs,” Anderson said, “And we are now expanding our staff.”

The position was planned when the center opened in fall 2007.

“When we started the writing center, we knew that we would need a director,” Francis said. “Now we need someone full time.”

Francis said there was a large pull of applicants for the position.

After reviewing applications and conducting phone interviews, the HCWE invited the four remaining candidates to visit Miami’s campus between Feb. 2 and Feb. 11.

“It’s a chance for them to see the campus and meet us,” Francis said.

Francis said the candidates are able to meet different groups of people when they visit because student writing is a campus-wide concern.

The campus visits include public presentations by the candidates held in the Shriver Center and lunches with groups of students including writing center consultants.

The writing center’s search committee, made up of seven faculty members and chaired by Anderson, will choose during the week of Feb. 15 which candidate they will recommend to Provost Jeffrey Herbst.

Francis said when the new director is hired, “The services of our center will be expanded and more integrated into the kinds of writing that students do.”

She said the center currently offers 245 hours of writing consultations each week and provides about 22,000 writing consultations each semester at its two locations, the other

SAMANTHA LUDINGTON

The Miami Student

Graduate student John Rylander tutors student Sarah Sterner on a paper assignment. being located in Peabody Hall.

Francis said she wants to increase the center’s visibility.

“Once students try the writing center, they come back,” she said. “But some students still say, ‘We have a writing center?’”

Junior Nicole Rusnaczyk, an accounting major, said she has never used the writing center and she can’t recall any of her friends using the center’s services.

“I think people probably forget it’s here,” Rusnaccyk said. “I think if they promoted it more, they would get more people.”

Anderson said he hopes with a new director focusing on student writing, the center will be able to further serve students not only for their required writing for courses but also for the writing they do on their own, including job applications, resumes and writing for social and service organizations.

He said the center is not just for help with humanities courses but for consultation on all types of writing.

“The goal of the center is to ensure every Miami graduate leaves as a very good writer,” Anderson said.

Veterans to organize new chapter at Miami

Cap that

By Patrick Wolande Senior Staff Writer

SAMANTHA LUDINGTON The Miami Student

Students congregate outside a classroom inside the Farmer School of Business in preparation for their capstone meeting.

With 85 veterans as full time students, Miami University is in the midst of creating the 179th chapter of the Student Veterans Association. The student organization will be called the Student Veterans of America (SVA).

The organization’s board has four members and 16 years of active duty under its belt. SVA will become an official organization within the next two weeks.

Dave Bryant, president of SVA, finished active duty as a sergeant in 2006 from the United States Marine Corps.

“We will be a peer support group ... a place to vent and to talk to people who have similar experiences and values,” Bryant said.

Shiloh Womack, the organization’s secretary and former Senior Airman in the United States Air Force, explained one of the contributions she is going to make.

“I plan to give advice and support into the tough transition,” Womack said.

Lieutenant Tim English, of the United States Navy, is adviser to the SVA group.

“It’s a place where they can chew the fat with each other,” English said.

When SVA becomes an official organization, they plan to host a 5K run for charity. The 5K would raise money for not only SVA, but also Wounded Warriors, an organization which helps provide money and support to the families of veterans who have been injured while on active duty.

Another service SVA will provide veterans with is clarification on the new Post-9/11 GI Bill. “It’s all changing right now,” Bryant said of the new bill. “There’s a lot of tricks to it.”

The old GI Bill used to give student veterans money per month for school and other spending, but now it pays the school and gives you money on the side.

Bryant went on to explain one of the difficulties to getting the most out of the bill.

“If you didn’t use up all of the old

wSee VETERANS, page 11

Committee continues work on establishing comparative studies major

By Katherine Kohls Senior Staff Writer

Faculty members from various disciplinary programs across Miami University’s campus have come together through their common interest in media studies by forming a committee to establish and develop a comparative media studies (CMS) program.

According to Richard Campbell, director of journalism and interim chair of mass communication, the initiative began in spring 2009 and has now been propelled into the planning stage.

Campbell said the key idea of the program is to facilitate a smart and dynamic curriculum for students who want to study media.

“CMS will bring together faculty from across the university, that are doing media related work, teachings and research,” Campbell said.

According to Campbell there are participants from several fields including film studies, journalism, English, American studies and

history. The committee is still looking for more involvement from other interested faculty members.

“It has been nice to meet other faculty members from across campus,” Campbell said.

According to Campbell, faculty with media interests have been brought together through Karen Schilling, dean of the College of Arts and Science (CAS).

“To have the dean supporting us, even in this economy — I think that says something about the importance of this program,” Campbell said.

Campbell said having the dean involved makes the whole planning process more centralized and organized.

“All of these people will work together to come up with a structure (for the program),” Campbell said. “It will be interesting and challenging.”

Junior Erin Grossman, a mass communication major, said she thinks the program will be exactly what Miami graduates need to

succeed in the work world.

“The ever-changing media is a huge part of mass-com and journalism too,” Grossman said. “It is important that we have the most up-to-date knowledge.”

Campbell said the program will strive to capitalize on all the new media that has evolved in the recent media transformation like digital media and social networks. “(CMS) will be a contemporary and dynamic major that addresses both old and new media,” Campbell said.

According to Campbell, Keith Tuma, associate dean of CAS and chair of the CMS committee, is working on possible curriculum issues and creating possible introductory, mid-level and capstone courses.

“We expect this program to be innovative and to help shape the direction of Comparative Media Studies throughout the nation,” Tuma said.

Campbell said Miami wants to stay out in front of other university’s media programs. The committee

has referred to other school models, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“We want to do this our own way,” Campbell said. “It will be about meeting student’s needs and interests and capitalizing on Miami faculty’s strengths.”

According to Campbell the program is in discussion and planning at this time.

“I would like to get student input and ideas on obstacles that might be put up, how to be efficient and smart, and how (CMS) will integrate into other fields at Miami,” Campbell said.

Grossman said she would like to see more classes so that force adding could be avoided.

“A lot of internships I applied for asked for my experience and knowledge in various media outlets,” Grossman said. “I think more IMS (interactive media studies) classes would be great.”

According to Campbell, a particular interest is focusing on registration issues, such as getting into

classes. Two new faculty positions will be added to build the program.

“The economy is not going to prevent us from creating new initiatives or from offering students opportunities of majors and minors that are not available now,” Campbell said.

Campbell said the CMS program is the same as any new initiative. He referenced the successful journalism program, which began six years ago from the English major.

“The College of Arts and Science is very excited about the developing program in comparative media studies, which should bring the considerable and diverse expertise in media studies already present throughout the college into a new focus,” Tuma said.

Grossman said she is eager to see the final product of the present planning.

“If we do this in a smart way, all of us together, it will be better for the students and for the school,” Campbell said, “And that’s the bottom line.”

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Tuesday

February 9, 2010

Community

Editors Kelsey Bishop bishopka@muohio.edu Erin Fischesser fischeee@muohio.edu

Student housing goes green

By Erin Fischesser Community Editor

Officers find unconscious female at Jimmy John’s At 2:30 a.m. Saturday, officers reported to Jimmy John’s regarding a call about an unresponsive female.

When officers arrived, they reportedly found a female slumped over one of the tables where she was seated by herself. She was identified as Miami University first-year Kimberly Toop, 18.

Officers were reportedly unable to wake Toop and called in the life squad.

According to police reports, Toop did not respond to the paramedics and they placed her on an emergency backboard without causing her to stir.

When they took her outside, Toop reportedly responded to the cold.

According to police, Toop was taken to McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital where she was cited for underage intoxication and disorderly conduct public intoxication.

Male punches, breaks picture at Brick Street At 2 a.m. Sunday, officers working crowd control for the life squad in front of Brick Street Bar were reportedly holding the door open for loading when they heard glass break inside the building.

Police reportedly found a Brick Street employee bear-hugging a male from behind.

The employee reportedly told police the male had punched a picture that had been hanging on the wall, causing the glass to break.

According to police reports, the male, identified as Thomas Kenny, 22, was apparently intoxicated as he was unsteady on his feet, slurring and falling asleep.

Kenny reportedly told police he was “just being stupid.”

Kenny was charged with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct. He was reportedly released to a friend he was visiting in Oxford.

Sophomore passes out near intersection At 4:30 a.m. Friday, officers were dispatched to the intersection of Tallawanda and High Streets to check on a male lying in the grass.

When officers arrived, they reportedly found the male lying on the northwest corner of the intersection.

According to police reports, the officer woke the male, who said he was sorry he had been drinking uptown.

The male was identified as Miami University sophomore Roy Shabaya, 19.

Shabaya was cited for underage intoxication.

As housing options in the Mile Square continue to evolve, students will soon be able to add environmental friendliness to their list of options.

Campus Commons Apartments, owned by South Campus Quarter, are expected to be the first student residences to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certified in Oxford.

“Ours is the only (development) that I’m aware of that has a LEED Certification,” said Brittany Young, a South Campus Quarter employee.

According to Andrew Schaub, an architect at Architects Plus, the LEED Certification will bring many benefits to student renters.

“Utility costs will be lower than regular buildings,” Schaub said.

According to Schaub, the buildings will also provide a healthier living environment for students,

including constantly circulating air, is affordable.

“If it’s cheap and affordable installing finishes that do not emit I’ll do what I can to go green, but gases and by using bamboo or tile right now I’m just a broke college flooring to cut down on allergens. student,” Engelhart said.

Young believes there are other While Schaub benefits for stusaid there is a dents as well.

“Ours is the only 1 to 2 percent “Obviously (development) that increase in the it’s great to live cost of the buildin a brand new I’m aware of ings to achieve place where it’s that has a LEED Certificaclean and everyLEED Certification.” thing is safe,” tion, Young said Young said. the costs will not BRITTANY YOUNG “(The location be very visible EMPLOYEE is) just one more to students.

SOUTH CAMPUS QUARTER “They’re added bonus.” priced very in Schaub said line with the Heritage Commons the development would also benand some of the lofts uptown,” efit South Campus Quarter.

“The main benefit for the own- Young said.

Schaub said there is also an adders of the property is practical,” ed advantage of the development Schaub said. “LEED buildings for other off-campus students. have a higher durability rating than “We’re completing the street standard buildings.” grid so there will be more streets Junior Josh Engelhart said that come through from behind he would be interested in green student housing as long as it the development,” Schaub said. “It

will be easier for students to walk to campus.”

Both Schaub and Young said the buildings should be ready for move-in before the 2010-11 school year.

“They’re hoping for Aug. 1,” Young said. “That way everything is completely ready before everyone moves in.”

According to Schaub, foundations will be poured in the next two to three weeks to begin the first phase of the project. Young said later additions to the development might include five more units.

“I’d imagine it would be in the next couple of years,” Young said.

Young said the first phase of the project took three years of planning, but additional work will stem from it. She said the company is also working on updating its other properties but its main goal is to complete the new development.

“Now we’re focusing all of our attention on these Campus Commons apartments,” Young said.

Sandwich shop brings variety to uptown dining

By Tom Segell Senior Staff Writer

Maid-Rite, a sandwich shop that opened Feb. 1 promises to bring a different culinary experience to the table, said family owner Mark Koontz.

A “loose meat” sandwich that Koontz likens to a “sloppy joe without the mess,” called the Maid-Rite, is the fixture of the menu.

And for penny-pinching college kids, the Maid-Rite special will be a hit, Koontz said.

“We’re doing something really different,” Koontz said. “Two sandwiches, a drink and chips for $4.99. It’s just a cheaper price. It’s a different variety; a lot of the meals (in Oxford) costs 8 to 9 bucks.”

Koontz is relying on the reputation of the sandwiches—not advertising-- to create buzz amongst the community.

“We haven’t done a whole lot of advertising,” Koontz said. “We’re trying the college mobile deals, and we’re slowly starting to build student costumers.”

The menu is not just limited to Maid-Rite style sandwiches either.

Tori Bartlett, Miami University junior and Maid-Rite employee, enjoys the variety on the menu.

“I like the Chicken Salad and the Chocolate-Peanut Butter milkshake; it tastes like a Reese’s,” Barlett said. “It’s been fun working here, [and] business has been good.”

Koontz’s personal favorite is the Big Jim, a regular Maid-Rite sandwich with ham and cheese.

The Koontz’s decided to venture

to Oxford to open a store based on their familiarity and appreciation for the town.

“My mother went here,” Koontz said. “Oxford is a very pretty place — a small, beautiful college town — and it’s close enough to our other location to maintain quality.”

The other Maid-Rite, also owned by the Koontz family, is in Greenville, Ohio and has been in operation for 76 years.

The Koontz’s have no affiliation with Maid-Rite restaurants outside of Ohio, he said.

Koontz called the Greenville location a “staple in the community” and he believes the Oxford shop will become the same.

Oxford resident Betty White, who has visited the Greenville Maid-Rite, is thrilled about the opening of the Oxford location.

“I’m getting tired of Quiznos and Phan Shin,” White said. “I hope it does good. We always stop and get bags of them in Greenville.”

Koontz is not worried about competition from the many other sandwich outlets in Oxford because he believes Maid-Rite is not in the same classification.

“We think the stuff down in Oxford is sub-based,” Koontz said. “We don’t do subs.”

The unique food option MaidRite brings to Oxford has pleased at least one person — Miami junior Tom Rozborski.

“It looks like good food,” Rozborksi said. “I like the options of the malts and shakes. They have a decent price for traditional meals.”

SAMANTHA LUDINGTON The Miami Student

Maid-Rite employees Cathy Rue (left) and Jose Rodriguez (right) prepare the restaurant’s signature cuisine Monday.

Political Action Committee features Boehner opponent

By Jenni Wiener Staff Writer

Democrat Justin Coussoule, who is challenging House Minority Leader John Boehner in the November election for a seat in the House of Representatives in Ohio’s Eighth Congressional District, is making an appearance in Oxford this week.

Coussoule will be the featured speaker Wednesday night at the annual Election meeting and Candidates Night sponsored by the Butler County Progressive Political Action Committee (PAC) and the Miami University College Democrats.

Coussoule said during his speech he will address who he is, why he is running and what he hopes the campaign will achieve, besides winning.

PAC President Don Daiker said Coussoule will have ten minutes to make his speech.

“My best estimate is he will talk about his background in the military, war and business, as well as how he will represent the people differently than Boehner,” Daiker said.

Daiker said he expects about 90 to 100 the district that I think politicians talk about and people to show up at the event because there try to represent,” Coussoule said. “I have a wife is “an intense dislike of Boehner throughout and children, and we are real people directly affected by issues.” the district.”

Bly said he thinks now is the perfect time Aaron Bly, president of College Demofor Coussoule to challenge Boehner. He said crats, said he encourages people to attend Coussoule’s resume is a the meeting. “mile long,” showing he is “I’m excited,” Bly said. “It’s “I’m a member of a qualified with military exCoussoule’s first big speech middle class family perience, working on Capisince the announcement. I think in the district that tol Hill and working for a he will give the people a choice on what is status quo and what I think politicians major business.

Sophomore Brie Sakach, is to come.” talk about and try to a member of College ReCoussoule said the campaign represent.” publicans, said she thinks it’s will not be an easy one. great Coussoule is taking the “Anyone who runs against JUSTIN COUSSOULE opportunity to come speak John Boehner faces an uphill battle,” Coussoule said. “There CANDIDATE FOR OHIO’S EIGHTH in Oxford and run against CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT are no illusions that this will be Boehner. However, she bean easy race.” lieves Coussoule has an Coussoule said there are not many Demo- uphill battle to beat Boehner in November. cratic candidates in the district. Therefore, if “After Scott Brown’s recent victory in Masno Democrats run, Boehner will keep the seat sachusetts, I strongly believe the tide is turning without opposition. in Washington,” Sakach said. “I don’t know “I’m a member of a middle class family in how Coussoule stands on a lot issues, but I

believe the constituents are voting for someone who will truly represent them in Washington, especially with the pressing issue of health care.

If the majority of Americans don’t want the health care the democrats are pushing in Washington, then you can count on another victory for Boehner.”

Daiker disagreed, saying he thinks Coussoule is the most exciting and impressive candidate for Ohio’s Eighth Congressional District in the past 10 years.

“He is intelligent, bright and hardworking,” Daiker said. “Justin knows Boehner’s record well and will show that he can better represent the people.”

Coussoule will not be the only candidate to speak at the meeting. Other scheduled speakers include Butler County Juvenile Court Judge Kathleen Dobrozsi Romans, County Commissioner candidate Butch Hubble, County Auditor candidate Michelle Wilson and Ohio House candidates J. C. Shew and Bruce Carter.

Coussoule will speak at 7 p.m., Feb. 10 in the LCNB Bank building in uptown Oxford. The meeting will be open to the public.

THE MIAMI STUDENT

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 ♦ 5

6

Features

Tuesday

February 9, 2010

By Amelia Carpenter Features Editor

B

oredom. Curiosity. Skepticism.

Those are reason enough to do some cyber-stalking to delve deeper into the life of your potential love interest (PLI).

Social networking has allowed for much of your personal information to be public (regardless of what Facebook.com tells you). Plus, the things that used to require a trip to the police station or county court are available for free online. You can even see where the person lives, how much their home is worth and what renovations they’ve done.

Editor Amelia Carpenter carpenab@muohio.edu

If you know where they’re from, look up the county and visit the county auditor Web site. Here you can find where the person lives, how much they paid for his or her home, what the tax on their home is, what renovations have been made, etc.

In many cases, you need the name of the homeowner. If your PLI is in college, chances are you need to slip in a nonchalant,

Where to start?

Facebook is a good starting point.

Most people are still idiots about their social networking sites despite their job ches or hopes to be successful. If you’re in the Miami University

network, chances are they’ll be one of the first results.

Whether you’re into playing “the game” or not is up to you: the game of waiting for him or her to “friend” you first, which spirals into waiting to respond to text messages for more than five minutes, and up to several hours.

Regardless of your strategy, when you’ve befriended the PLI, you’re bound to know more about him/her.

Things to gather: hometown, birth date, phone number, activities, interests, movies, TV shows, mutual friends and anything else that grabs your attention. We’ll address these things later.

Google. Yes, Google.

Typically it’s high school sports articles from their hometown, or a photo from a local newsletter, but you can often be linked to their Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or MySpace pages, if they have them. If they played a sport at a university, or are a student-athlete, chances are they’re on the athletics Web site, and they’ll have a photo with a bio.

Always type their full name in quotes.

Example: “Amelia Carpenter” Narrow your results by the information you found from Facebook, if any. Hometown, phone number, birth date and activities will likely have something.

Example: “Amelia Carpenter” “Oxford, OH” Always use alternative search engines: www.bing.com and www.ask.com are two options and www.BRBPublications.com is a good way to find your way to public record sites.

‘So, what are your parents’ names?’

Is he or she a criminal?

It’s easy to check criminal convictions by seeing if they’ve been in court under civil matters. For example, if they have a restraining order against them, speeding tickets, or DUI’s, those will be on the county clerk of courts Web site. If not, the clerk of courts should give you the information if you ask politely and persistently.

If you want to see what kind of trouble they’re getting into on the weekends, you might have to make a trip down to the Municipal Court building (the courts haven’t computerized yet in Oxford).

Check the local county jail for their jail roster. It varies between counties, but it usually has the current roster, if not a search tool to see confinement history.

Search master Stephen Siff, public affairs reporting professor at Miami, shows his classes how to look into different government databases where there is public information. Siff learned to do so as a newspaper reporter.

“Well, I teach it because I think it’s important as a professional skill to reporters to be able to do background checks and to see what’s available on people they’re reporting on,” Siff said. “As a general skill, I think it’s important … it’s just public information available to everybody.”

Siff said his colleague makes it a habit to check divorce court filings after dating a guy who wasn’t completely divorced.

Outside of class, Siff surfs public records for his own use.

“My wife and I are looking at houses,” Siff said. “(I will) definitely look up property records and see how much people bought

Public record creeping At www.zabasearch.com, you can get neighborhood information along with home phone numbers, spouses and background information. This is also a good tool for stalking famous people to see where they live, and if you want to find out more information, just call their neighbors. Chances are, they’re on www.whitepages.com.

At www.123people.com, Flickr photos pop up that you might not otherwise find. Home phone numbers are often listed.

and sold it for in the past.”

HANNAH MILLER The Miami Student

THE MIAMI STUDENT

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 ♦ 7

Buses offer service to Middletown

By Kelsey Bishop Community Editor

The city of Middletown, Ohio and the Butler County Regional Transit Authority (BCRTA) are developing a bus system between Oxford, Trenton and Middletown to accommodate local transportation needs for workers and to serve an increasing number of students who are enrolled in courses at both the Oxford and Middletown campuses of Miami University.

Doug Adkins, community revitalization director of Middletown, said the bus system would likely start daily runs in March or April.

The exact start date of the transit system is not certain because the transportation grant given to Butler County still has to be approved.

“There was no real bus service between Middletown, Oxford and Trenton (before),” Adkins said.

“This will allow students (and other citizens) to cut across town in an affordable way.”

Carole Johnson, assistant director of news and public

information at Miami, said this semester 416 Oxford students have hours at Middletown and 84 Middletown students have hours at the Oxford campus.

“The bus system will benefit students because it provides them with a safe way to get to campus that is reliable based on timing,” Johnson said. “It will also help with the parking scarcities on campus.”

Junior Alex Josephs agreed the bus system would be beneficial for students. She took classes at the Middletown campus last semester.

“I think that if there were a bus that went to (Middletown), it would give a lot of students who don’t have cars the opportunity to take classes at those campuses and vice-versa,” Josephs said. “I would definitely take a bus to a class in Middletown (because) it would save me money on gas, I could do my homework on the bus and it would allow me not to get lost on crazy country roads at night.”

The starting fare rate will be $2

per person one-way for the Middletown-Oxford shuttle. The advance reservation evening shuttle between Oxford and Middletown will run from 6 p.m. to midnight on weekdays and will cost $5 per person one-way. BCRTA will schedule trip reservations from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. during weekdays on a first come, first serve basis.

“The system will help regional transport for less affluent citizens,” Adkins said. “This will give them a way to seek higher paying jobs and education. Overall, I think it’ll help them build themselves up.”

Adkins said the bus system is meant not only for students, but also to improve access for locals without adequate transportation means to jobs in other areas.

Carla Lakatos, executive director of BCRTA, said the transit system would provide an alternative, affordable option for citizens who don’t have a car or choose not to drive.

“Hopefully it’ll be successful,” Lakatos said. “We’re just trying it out to see how it goes.”

Where’s your head at?

SCOTT ALLISON The Miami Student

Seniors Marissa Feiten and Heather Read play in the snow outside their home Saturday on Beech Street.

Check out our Web site www.miamistudent.net

HPV Fact #19: In a study of female college students, about 60% of them were found to be infected with HPV by the end of 3 years.

HPV Fact #6: For most, HPV clears on its own.

But for some women, cervical cancer can develop.

Why risk it Visit your campus health center. hpv.com Copyright © 2010 Merck & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in USA.

21050004(38)-01/10-GRD

8

Tuesday February 9, 2010

Opinion

Editors Thomasina Johnson johnsota@muohio.edu Sam Kay kaysj@muohio.edu

➤ EDITORIALS

The following pieces, written by the editorial editors, reflect the majority opinion of the editorial board.

Global connections necessary for Miami

S

tudents in the Armstrong Interactive Media Studies (AIMS) program capstone class taught by AIMS co-directors Glenn Platt and Peg Faimon will complete six projects for the Tibetan government over the next two years.

The editorial board of The Miami Student believes the work being done for the Tibetan government is an excellent opportunity for students to put their skills to practical use in a situation of great need. While many past capstone classes cooperated with Fortune 500 companies, the Tibetan projects will allow students to address the problems of the government of a refugee population.

The first two projects to be completed — a means of digitizing Tibetan cultural and religious archives and an online tool for teaching the Tibetan language — will have long term ramifications for the 145,000 Tibetan refugees living around the world as well as anyone seeking to study a culture that has been forcefully removed from its historical geographic environs.

The projects will enhance Tibet’s global cultural, political and commercial presence.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has expressed long-term goals of preserving Tibetan cultural heritage and making cultural resources available to everyone, a mission which this board feels is vital to Tibet’s cultural and political survival.

The cooperative effort is part of a broader partnership between the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics (IBD)

and Miami University initiated by Provost Jeffrey Herbst in 2008.

The Miami-IBD partnership allows Miami students to make a meaningful global contribution through their education endeavors.

On a campus as remote as Miami’s this board feels a global reach is an extremely valuable asset for professors and students to have. This board would like to see the MiamiIBD partnership more fully realized beyond the confines of AIMS and the Tibetan studies program. Students from nearly all of Miami’s schools potentially have something to contribute to or learn from the partnership. The AIMS projects, the Tibetan studies program, and the upcoming visit by the Dalai Lama are all excellent foundational steps in a partnership that can yield much more for future students. The scope and depth of the partnership are admirable and should be emulated elsewhere.

This board feels Miami students would have much to gain from similar global partnerships. In many ways, the Luxembourg program initiated more than 40 years ago follows a similar model: Miami students get unprecedented access to global communities, and can offer solutions that have significant consequences for real people.

The administration should continue to offer its full support to the Miami-IBD partnership and similar programs, and students and faculty should actively seek to incorporate such programs into curricular and co-curricular activities.

Organization will benefit veterans, community

P

art of the Miami University population is founding a chapter of the Student Veterans Association (SVA). The goals of SVA are to give advice and support to current student veterans and to raise awareness of veteran’s issues on campus.

The editorial board of The Miami Student supports the mission of the SVA. To many Miami students, Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) and military presence is not very visible on campus.

Although students may see a uniformed ROTC member while walking around campus or have a class with a veteran student, most Miami students may not know much about the realities of war. Unifying Miami’s veterans and students involved in the military would not only benefit those in SVA but the Miami community. With a strong presence on campus, the SVA can raise awareness of the U.S. military by localizing the effects of war. Student veterans have a chance to share their military experiences not only with other veterans but with the entire Miami campus. If students can put a name and a face with the U.S. military, students who normally

wouldn’t have given the military a second thought would be more aware of global conflict issues.

The board recognizes the value of easy access to college resources for veterans. Navigating the rules of the Post-9/11 GI Bill is not something a veteran student should have to attempt on their own. With the creation of the SVA, veteran students will gain invaluable academic support. With the money from the Post-9-11 GI Bill, more veteran students will be able to attend Miami, giving the campus experienced, dedicated students. More non-traditional students would also diversify the Miami experience.

We suggest the SVA creates a strong network between student veterans, ROTC members and family and friends who may need support while their loved one is deployed. The SVA can provide support based on experience for active military, veteran students and family that are juggling military, academic and work.

The SVA can weaken the Miami bubble of ignorance by making themselves visible and reaching out to the students and Miami community.

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

EDITORIAL BOARD Catherine Couretas Editor in Chief Hannah Poturalski News Editor Erin Maher Managing Editor Scott Allison Online Editor Thomasina Johnson Editorial Editor Sam Kay Editorial Editor Courtney Day Campus Editor Hope Holmberg Campus Editor

Amanda Seitz Campus Editor Kelsey Bishop Community Editor Erin Fischesser Community Editor Katie Giovinale Sports Editor Amelia Carpenter Features Editor Anna Turner Amusement Editor Samantha Ludington Photo Editor Hannah Miller Art Director

ANDY KOSTENDT The Miami Student

➤ LETTERS

Burke’s legacy continues to inspire When I woke up this morning, I sat up in bed and peered out of my frosted window.

Everything was caked in snow.

The pristine look made me blissfully unaware that anything tragic had happened the day before. Then the shrill electronic buzz and ringing of my cell phone brought me to reality. It was 10 a.m. and I was receiving a phone call from a friend in Denver. It was 7 a.m. in Denver … the thought that something had to be wrong passed through my mind. I answered to a saddened and shaky voice asking me how I was feeling after hearing the news about Brendan Burke. I was confused and had to have my friend explain to me what had happened. “Brendan died in a car accident yesterday,” she said, and my heart instantly sank in shock. The first thing that went through my mind was that I was never going to see him walking through campus or uptown and get one of his

ecstatic salutations and his enormous hugs. I think that is what I will miss the most. The tragic accident is not only devastating to Brendan’s family, the Miami hockey team, the university community and his friends, but I think it is also a setback to the progress of gay culture. Brendan was a trail blazer. Stepping out of the closet at an early age, Brendan came out to a family and a father in a situation that I personally couldn’t comprehend. Brendan’s love and acceptance of his family made his coming out experience, which would be daunting to me, very easy and encouraging. Brendan was different; he had a sort of air that always emanated confidence, and he poured out kindness, empathy, concern and modesty. I’ve known Brendan for only a short snippet of both of our lives; we were introduced by mutual friends around this time last year. I remember a time we had coffee in Starbucks, and he had asked me about my coming out story.

Brendan was calm and gave me the confidence not only to tell my story to him, but also to

do it in a public setting in front of complete strangers. The example of Brendan and his family’s love and understanding is very encouraging to the progress that the lifestyle of homosexuality is making. Brendan had many goals for himself, for his career, and for bridging the gap between his sexuality and the rest of the world. Brendan could achieve anything. He set an example that exuded success and happiness to all those around him. Brendan’s tragic death will hopefully leave a legacy that equality is attainable even in the most unimaginable places. Brendan, you will truly be missed by myself, as well as many others. May your legacy continue to equalize the playing field, whether it is in hockey, professional sports, the job market, the debate on marriage and any other possible realm. Thank you for living by example.

With Hope and Sorrow, NICHOLAS PETIT

PETTITNE@MUOHIO.EDU

➤ WORLD AT A GLANCE

Skrunda, Latvia: A Russian investor has bought Skrunda-1, a town that had been deserted for more than a decade, for $3.1 million. The town has 70 buildings that are in need of major repairs. The Latvian government gave up trying to restore the town and put it up for auction.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper, has closed. The owner of Burj Khalifa said the closing was due to electrical problems and unexpected high traffic. Thousands of tourists have purchased tickets to visit the building, and the closing of Burj Khalifa will result in the loss of critical tourist funds.

Johannesburg, South Africa: Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s president and proud polygamist, apologized after he was caught having an affair that resulted in a love child born in October.

Zuma has three wives and is engaged to a fourth woman, who is not the mother of the child.

THOMASINA JOHNSON The Miami Student Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

OpEd Page

THE MIAMI STUDENT

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 ♦ 9

➤ FOLLY, HATRED & SCHIZOPHRENIA

➤ ESSAY

Privatization next leap for American spaceflight This past Sunday, I sat awake in my bed waiting for 4:39 a.m. to come. On my lap sat my computer, with a live feed of NASA’s last ever night-time shuttle launch. Unfortunately for me, the final launch was postponed due to bad weather. I had been waiting four hours past my bedtime for this, but thankfully it was time not wasted. I had spent much of my down time looking up the latest in NASA news, and found these last few weeks will prove to be very historic, and in my view they have not been very heavily discussed within the media.

Not too long ago, President Barack Obama announced a very clear change in course for NASA, scrapping the program proposed by former President George Bush that, among other things, was meant to return astronauts to the moon. These ERIN KILLINGER plans, along with a $6 billion increase in NASA’s budget, hope to begin the privatization of space travel. With endorsements coming from such figures as Buzz Aldrin, and with general industry support, this course looks to be a very exciting one.

NASA has been giving out government contracts for decades with private companies such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, the latter of which has been working with the government since World War II. This new approach would open the playing field toward less monolithic corporations, ideally allowing for greater innovation and scientific advancement.

The shift in policy has large ramifications for NASA itself, one the largest being the proposed cancellation of the Constellation program.

This program was meant to take the place of our space shuttle program, which is being retired this year. With the last five shuttle flights occurring between now and September of this year, I knew sleep was

something to be sacrificed. The retirement of the three shuttles: Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, will mark the end of nearly 30 years of the program.

With this new course, one can’t help but wonder what the new face of space travel might be, and how our national identity might be shaped by it. Following the end of the Cold War many quickly lost interest in the idea of a space program, and it seems logical the privatization of the field may eliminate any remaining sense of national achievement we held in the programs.

But with a diminished sense of nationalistic fervor comes the future of exploration, technology and discovery. Some opponents have expressed the sentiment that canceling the Constellation proThe Miami Student gram will effectively surrender leadership in space technologies to other competing countries, but to me this seems shortsighted at best. If anything, the privatization of space will only put the U.S. further ahead. NASA’s new budget promises to extend the operation of the International Space Station, which itself exists as a monument to universal human achievement. In addition, the actual budget is being raised $6 billion, meaning the ingenuity that the force that once drove us into the lead in the space race is not being stopped or slowed, merely re-directed in a more efficient and likely a more realistic way.

So as I lament the last of the space shuttle launches, I do so knowing that the future holds in store for us even more awe-inspiring feats of science and technology. Looking forward, I am only more excited for what wonders that could be in store for us next.

JOHN LUCKOSKI

luckosjl@muohio.edu

➤ ESSAY

Greek community must rethink identity There is a definite divide between the Greek and non-Greek communities. Both sides hold unfair stereotypes about the other, as well as a defensiveness that makes this topic difficult to broach. For the past few years, for the sake of being contrarian, I have taken the atypical stance as a nonGreek that Greek Life is a good thing, and that the university should embrace it. But I’d like to amend that statement: Greek Life could be a good thing for the university, but I no longer believe it is at present.

When you ask someone why they didn’t rush their first year, they automatically respond, “I didn’t need to buy my friends.”

This is unfair. The Greeks you know had plenty of friends before they enlisted, and they have plenty of friends outside of Greek life now too. The better phraseology would be, “I didn’t want to pay for a semester’s worth of parties up front.” There is no point to joining a fraternity if you don’t drink; it’d be like going to the Jersey Shore but trying to maintain a 10 p.m. bed time. This is the first irony of the community: half the members are under 21.

On the Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and Leadership at Miami University Web site, it states, “Each chapter is committed to the Principles of the Greek Community:

Scholarship & Learning, Service & Philanthropy, Leadership, Community, and Brotherhood & Sisterhood.” This is what frustrates me about Greek Life. We accept that these organizations are simply social and do not hold them accountable for the other pillars. If the university and student body collectively looks the other way on the various misdeeds of the Greek Community, we should in turn push harder for more successful philanthropies and participation in leadership opportunities.

There are some “good” chapters, although it is relative and chapters waver between “good” and “bad” over time. Also, please don’t argue that the 0.08 grade point average (GPA) advantage is significant; the selectivity of Greek life allows poor GPAs to be purged out.

Occasionally stories of hazing get out, and there are plenty more that go unreported. In the February 3, 2009 edition of The Miami Student, Scott Irlbacher said we don’t need a “witch hunt” for fraternities or sororities that practice hazing. I disagree. Because hazing is still a problem at Miami, the Cliff Alexander Office should take a more aggressive role in rooting out hazing. The other annual activity that bothers me is the collective effort to, for the first few weekends of the new school year,

lure first-year girls to parties, provide them alcohol and sleep with them. This practice is called the “Red Zone.” This problem is not unique to Greek life, so it is an opportunity to demonstrate that the Greek community holds itself to higher standards.

I’m not ready to give up on Greek life.

As Miami is the “Mother of Fraternities,” the perception of the Greek Community often becomes the perception of Miami, so they have a responsibility to keep a strong profile. Between 50 organizations, raising $100,000 annually for philanthropies is a reasonable expectation. The Wilks Leadership Institute and the Office of Student Activities and Leadership should have Greeks clamoring for additional opportunities to improve their leadership skills. And finally, the Greek community needs to realize the other two thirds of the school are not adversaries, but rather the key demographic for events, philanthropic or otherwise. Currently, the majority of people are not made better by these social organizations, so I hope the Greeks get back into the business of building better individuals.

Brett Schneider

schneiba@muohio.edu

➤ ESSAY

Students should focus on their interests Warning: The scene I am about to describe is so nauseatingly common that it may make the weak-hearted among you feel indifferent.

It was 11:23 a.m. I was half-napping through a history lecture and counting the times the girl seated two rows in front of me updated her Facebook.com status in my brief lapses in unconsciousness. Glancing about the room, it was depressingly apparent that literally everyone in the lecture hall was either tending to their Farmville flock, making some cutesy remark on a mundane photo that they happened to have had the misfortune of being tagged in or simply watching another person do one of these things. So I resumed my update/sheep counting routine with heightened urgency.

It was only upon awaking in my next class to a similar mob of unmotivated students checking their Facebook accounts that I stumbled into an epiphany. As it was a particularly dense epiphany and it collided with a rather sensitive portion of my already exhausted brain, I was forced to resume napping until the sting wore off. It was upon waking the second time that I was actually able to appreciate my eureka moment — no, not that Farmville looks surprisingly fun and that I should definitely think about joining the on-line sensation — and no, not that compulsive Facebooking is totally ruining lectures, but something deeper. Excessive Facebooking was only one tangible effect of this largely under-appreciated cause: that nobody, myself included, gives a damn about anything they’re actually doing.

All this time I had succumbed to the same slow poison for which I silently criticized others, viewing their time at college as not much more than a vehicle to be used for getting to the career of their choice.

Like many others, I was far too preoccupied with doing what I was supposed to be doing to actually pursue anything that I thought to be important. It had never occurred to me that what I wanted out of college could be more important than what college wanted out of me.

So, really, what are you doing right now? Reading the newspaper in one of your outlandishly boring classes? If your answer is yes, continue reading, sail through the semester, enjoy the easy grade point average boost and never, ever take a similar class. If that class happens to be in your major, knock it off and trade it for something you are legitimately passionate about.

If you are in a major you are passionate about, please ignore

this garble and continue pursuing your interests with the zeal they deserve.

There is really nothing holding you back. Sure, your parents may have dragooned you into thinking that only by following their cookie-cutter college techniques could you possibly make a living in the “real world.” But what is the real world, anyway? There could not be anything further from the truth. We live in a highly specialized society that thrives on talented, highly motivated, and intrepid free thinkers like you. It’s up to you to reap the harvest of your original ideas.

Think of the intellectual renaissance that 16,000 creative, intelligent and passionate graduates could bring about had they only the courage to pursue their intellectual callings.

To really throw our perspective a left hook, let’s zoom out a bit.

The environment we live in is old, the universe as we know it is around 14 billion years old. Earth is around 4.5 billion years old.

You will likely live for somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 years.

Even if you happen to live for a century, you’ll only be around for about 7.14 * 10^-7% of our universe’s current age. Needless to say, our lives are remarkably short. Why waste your personal blip of existence and perspective on something you don’t enjoy? Looking about this campus, it is overwhelmingly obvious there is an untapped, silent and brilliantly creative majority that would and could use this time to change the world if only given the motivation to pursue their intellectual ambitions.

Consider this a warning, like the high-pitched yelp from the first meerkat to see the approaching hyenas. To arms! Kick tradition, inhibitions and any self-confidence issues you may have square in the teeth. Go out and accomplish something, anything, as long as you feel that it should be done. You are no longer naive children, nor do you deserve to be treated as such. The time for childish anxiety is over. It is your life, yours alone, and only you know what you want from it.

Grab it by the horns before it reciprocates, rattle the bars, challenge the orthodox and above all else do something that makes you happy.

BILL YORK

YORKWJ@muohio.edu

Newspapers need new profit model One of the economists writing for the blog Marginal Revolution recently made the point that economic development is an “underreported news story.” Rebutting an argument in Time Magazine that the early 2000s had been the worst decade in recent history, the economist pointed out the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China) Lawrence have undergone substantial development in the past deUebel cade. As demonstrated by the Reuters article, while far from a certainty in the lands of warlords and recurrent rebellions, the promise of investment and true economic progress in Africa has begun to seem less like a dream.

So who cares? What do we consider newsworthy? That question has become more complex over the last several years. For a long time now, experts have been lamenting the death of American newspapers, the so-called apathy of the American public, and the “echo chambers” formed by the ability to now selectively focus on news from sources that share one’s particular viewpoint, keeping them from being exposed to anything except information that reinforces their preformed world view. This threatens the development of an informed citizenry.

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point, Gladwell asserts three types of people are necessary to set off a “cultural epidemic”— that is, to make a product or idea extremely popular and pervasive. One of these types he labels “mavens.” A maven is an expert who keeps a close eye on current trends and products and then almost pathologically informs his or her network of friends and colleagues about them. They are the closest to an industry and the first to hear about the newest technologies and products, and they are exactly the kind of people newspapers should be marketing to.

With the availability of news on the Internet, much of the population has become unwilling to pay $10 or $20 per month for a subscription to an entire newspaper or magazine. Right now much of that content is available for free. Mark Cuban, a businessman best known as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, recently wrote how dangerous news aggregators like Google News are to traditional news organizations: they pull articles and information from dedicated news reporting agencies and keep viewers from actually visiting the original sites, pulling away advertising revenue via page views. As a result, he recommended disallowing Google’s ability to search their sites and putting their content behind “paywalls,” as Fox News recently did and The New York Times announced they would do in 2011.

This is where mavens become useful. While most people are no longer willing to pay for subscriptions, there is a small group of people obsessed with current news and, most importantly, in-depth analysis. While traditional news agencies will have to pull away from very basic reporting and simply pulling stories from the Associated Press, they can market high-quality news to that select group.

Now pricing becomes the core issue. Obviously subscriptions of a small group cannot make an organization profitable if the rest of the market turns into free-riders. Furthermore, a particular maven might only be interested in, say, the Technology Section of The New York Times, and thus it might be necessary to sell subscriptions to sections rather than the whole paper. However, because they not only aggregate but disseminate news, mavens provide more than their personal monetary contribution.

To get an idea of how this might work, consider the recent Haiti earthquake. How many people first saw it on traditional news sites or channels versus those who heard about it on Facebook.com? Obviously, it is impossible to sell the news that a massive earthquake has struck Haiti. Word will spread in a dozen different ways. But one can sell an in-depth report on the international response. So while only a maven might pay for regularly updated news, his friends and co-workers might be willing to pay for a single linked article on Facebook or Twitter. The price would have to be relatively low — probably an order of magnitude smaller than the cost of a song on iTunes — but the quantity demanded might balloon rapidly, especially with the ease of payment.

The result is something like an army of oneman editorial boards. Meanwhile, the public at large decides which mavens to follow, much like following on Twitter. The end result is a supply more responsive to demand and an increase in access: individual mavens pull from a wide variety of sites to funnel news more likely to interest people they know. While far from a certain outcome, this possible model of news has an unexpected result: rather than an overall decrease in news readership, news readership becomes far more prolific, and particular news more readily reaches those who care about it.

THE MIAMI STUDENT

10 ♦ TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010

HOCKEY

continued from page 1

and posing a serious challenge to the RedHawks’ penalty kill (PK).

Sophomore goalie Cody Reichard performed beautifully, however, and seemed to be everywhere at once amidst the barrage of pucks. Both squads showed their physical side as well, with multiple tussles punctuating the first frame. “(There were) good plays happening all over the ice, so it was what we expected,” Blasi said. “Lake Superior’s a real good hockey team. I thought it was a good game.”

With 9.3 seconds remaining in the opening stanza, junior Carter Camper lit the lamp with the Brotherhood’s first goal of the game. Junior captain Tommy Wingels stole the puck in Miami’s zone and passed it up ice to Camper, who skated along the boards to the bottom of the right faceoff circle. Camper faked twice and fired the puck into the far corner of the net, sending the Goggin faithful into a frenzy.

LSSU outshot the RedHawks 17-10 in the first period. The Lakers’ 17 shots were the most Miami has allowed in any period in conference play this season.

Miami had a nice chance to widen the margin on a 5-on-3 advantage in the third, but LSSU junior net minder Brian Mahoney-Wilson stayed solid and stymied the RedHawks.

Down by one and desperate to solve Reichard, LSSU head coach Jim Roque pulled Mahoney-Wilson with 54 seconds remaining. It was too little too late, though, and junior Andy Miele’s empty netter sealed the Lakers’ fate with 0.2 seconds remaining in regulation. The final score stood at 2-0, and Reichard gained sole possession of Miami’s school record for shutouts in a season with five. “(Reichard) played great tonight,” Blasi said. “There were times when we weren’t sharp with the puck and making decisions and they took it to us. That’s a really good team over there, and Cody had to come up big a few times.”

The victory brought the RedHawks one step closer to clinching the regular season championship, but the atmosphere on the lowest level of Steve Cady Arena was far from celebratory. Sorrow and anguish permeated the air as staff, family and team members sat in numbing silence, tears of disbelief running down their faces. Miami players did not speak to the media, and Blasi limited his comments to a brief statement about the game. The news of Brendan’s death

TIBET

continued from page 1 being able to sell their own publications. His Holiness the Dalai Lama publishes numerous books a year, but they have to be sold through third parties such as Amazon. Also the Tibetan government in exile doesn’t have a way to accept donations and an established system would allow for this philanthropy.

Platt said these projects give students the opportunity to hone their digital skills in a fresh, different way.

“This is a real teaching moment for the students to see and do something they wouldn’t normally,” Platt said. “It’s not the traditional corporation project we do, but more high profile and on an international level.”

Platt said after traveling to Dharamsala and seeing the plight of the people these projects, “are the right thing to do.”

“There’s an urgency you can’t say no to,” Platt said. “This is an important initiative.”

Platt said the students enrolled in the class will come back in October, after graduation, to present their creations to His Holiness.

Baker said if she’s in the area after graduation it would be “really cool” to present to the Dalai Lama.

seemed to be too much to bear.

“We’re a little bit in shock here, as the Burke family is,” Blasi said.

“When we didn’t see him at the rink Friday night, we started to get worried. Obviously we heard the bad news in the second period. The players loved him and he was part of our family. He’ll be missed.”

According to a release from Jeff Cappa, chief deputy at the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, Burke’s 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee was traveling east bound on U.S. Route 35 in Indiana when he slid on the snowy road struck the 1997 Ford truck of Michael Moreland, 24, of Lynn, Ind. Moreland was not injured, but Burke and Reedy were pronounced dead at the scene.

Brendan grew up in Canton, Mass. and was the youngest of six. His death occurred just days before his father, who is also GM of the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team, was to travel to Vancouver to take part in the opening ceremonies.

Brendan — who was known to many as “Burkie” — shared his father’s love of hockey and served as Miami hockey’s student manager for four years, compiling statistics and analyzing video.

“Not unlike the Burke family, he had an eye for the game,” Blasi said.

“He knew exactly what he was watching. He could pick out things that we as the coaches or as a staff needed to get ready for the next weekend.”

Aside from his duties working for the hockey team, Brendan was also a political science major and French minor at Miami and an officer with the College Democrats. He was set to graduate in May and planned to attend law school afterward.

“He was set to go to law school in the fall … He was a hard-working young man with a bright future,” Blasi said.

Brendan possessed strong convictions about doing right by others and made headlines in November when he fearlessly came out as being gay in an article written by John Buccigross that was published on ESPN. com. His selfless intent was to confront the oftentimes homophobic culture of professional sports and help blaze a trail for other homosexuals in the field.

In an article published in The Miami Student on Dec. 4, 2009, he described the responses he received as being “100 percent positive.”

In Buccigross’s article, Brendan’s father conveyed his love for his son and matter-of-factly stated that Brendan’s revelation didn’t change anything.

“I wish this burden would fall on someone else’s shoulders,

not Brendan’s,” Brian Burke told ESPN.com.

Embodying the ideology of the Brotherhood, Blasi and his team were equally supportive.

“I think having Brendan as part of our program has been a blessing,” Blasi told ESPN.com.

The feeling was mutual, as Brendan expressed to The Miami Student in December 2009.

“The Brotherhood is the real thing,” Burke said. “I really feel privileged to be even a small part of this.”

To know Brendan was to love him, and Brendan’s courageous revelation was only a larger-than-life illustration of the many smaller ways in which he positively impacted the daily lives of those around him.

“Brendan always had a smile on his face,” Blasi said. “He cared about not only his family but the players and everyone around him.”

The mood preceding Friday’s game was noticeably downcast.

Black ribbons were distributed for fans to wear during the game, several students displayed signs that read “Do it 4 Burke,” and the initials “BB” were inscribed on the back of every Miami player’s helmet. Prior to the playing of the national anthem, all in attendance at Steve Cady Arena observed a moment of silence in memory of Brendan.

Some speculated as to whether the mourning RedHawks would be able to hold it together well enough to play a competitive game on Saturday, but all doubts were extinguished the moment the puck hit the ice.

For 60 minutes, the Red and White played with grief-fueled intensity, ultimately downing the Lakers 10-4.

Nine players contributed to the 10 goal effort, and it seemed as if Blasi’s skaters could simply score at will.

No team in the country could have beaten the Brotherhood on a night like this one.

The clock had barely counted off two minutes before Miele found the back of the net. The center from Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. streaked up ice along the boards, drew Mahoney-Wilson out of the position and then deftly put the puck behind LSSU’s last line of defense for Miami’s first tally of the game just 2:02 into the first frame.

It wasn’t long after that the Brotherhood lit the lamp again, this time with a goal off the stick of Wingels. Miami’s captain took a pass from sophomore Alden Hirschfeld in neutral ice and quickly closed in on Mahoney-Wilson, firing a wrist shot through the goalie’s five-hole to double Miami’s lead at 8:17.

The tally spelled trouble for the Blue and Gold, and

Roque attempted to fix the leak by swapping Mahoney-Wilson for senior net minder Pat Inglis.

Emotions on ice were highly volatile and an all-out brawl erupted on the rink at 10:08 that sent three LSSU players and four RedHawks to the sin bin. The players compiled 37 penalty minutes in that single scrum and Wideman was sent off with a game misconduct.

The frenetic tempo of the game only continued to increase. Though the Lakers continuously outshot Miami, sophomore goalkeeper Connor Knapp denied all of LSSU’s first period attempts.

Inglis fared no better in net than the goaltender who preceded him, and the Brotherhood scored twice more before the first intermission.

Freshman defenseman Joe Hartman netted the Red and White’s third goal of the game 4-on-4 at 13:14, and the Goggin faithful had not yet finished counting off the tally when their chanted wish for “more goals” was granted when Miele struck again 52 seconds later, extending the RedHawks’ lead to four.

By the time the emotional game ended, the RedHawks accrued a season-high 59 penalty minutes. In total, the two teams combined for 108 minutes in the box — also a season high for the Red and White.

“We got a little bit chippy out there with the emotions,” Blasi said.

Less than two minutes into the second stanza, sophomore Will Weber scored what would turn out to be the game-winning goal. Miele worked the puck around inside the Laker’s zone, weaving in and out of defenders, before dishing it to Weber. The blue liner from Gaylord, Mich. onetimed it from the center of the right circle and beat Inglis on his stick side with a hard slap shot — his first goal of the season.

Sophomore Trent Vogelhuber’s goal 1:49 later pushed Miami’s lead to six. At that point in the game, the Red and White had tallied 13 shots on goal, six of which went in.

At 6:57, Hirschfeld netted the RedHawks seventh goal in 27

minutes. The goal chased Inglis from the net as senior LSSU net minder Mitch Edmondson relieved him.

The appearance was the second of Edmondson’s career and his first this season.

After the swap, the Lakers finally broke through with a goal of their own. Freshman Domenic Monardo put the puck in off the crossbar on a shorthanded breakaway at 10:46.

Junior Vincent LoVerde closed out scoring in the second 8-1 with a power play goal — his first goal of the season and the second of his career.

The Lakers added three more to their tally in the final frame. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood surged on and notched two more goals before the final buzzer. Camper netted Miami’s ninth goal at 6:57 of the third, and freshman Devin Mantha hammered in the final nail with 2:10 remaining in regulation.

“It seemed like there wasn’t much flow to the game — a lot of penalties, a lot of whistles, a lot of goals,” Wingels said.

The Brotherhood’s heart wrenching tribute to Brendan totaled 10 goals — the most Miami has scored in a conference game since an 11-3 victory over Alaska on Oct. 24, 1997.

In total, 15 RedHawks tallied points in the win and 10 different players recorded a multi-point game on Saturday. Miami extended its unbeaten streak in CCHA play to 20 straight games.

Brendan Burke was named the game’s first star.

Also in Brendan’s honor, the Toronto Maple Leafs stonewalled the Ottawa Senators 5-0 on Saturday night, 500 miles northeast of the action in Oxford.

Burkie would have been proud.

The Burke family will face the devastating task of burying Brendan Tuesday. A funeral mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist Church in Canton, Mass. The entire Miami hockey team as well as the Toronto Maple Leafs will be in attendance.

THE MIAMI STUDENT

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 ♦ 11

National Pan-Hellenic Council sorority to join Greek community

By Mary Kate Linehan Senior Staff Writer

The mother of fraternities, Miami University, will have a new sorority to add to its list.

Sigma Gamma Rho, a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPC), will begin the colonization process shortly.

Saturday, February 6, Sigma Gamma Rho held an informational meeting for woman interested in an organization built on “Sisterhood, Scholarship and Service”.

Karena Stewart, president of NPC, said Sigma Gamma Rho would be sending graduate members of the organization to Miami in order to hold the informational presentation in Ben Harrison Room at the Shriver Center.

Stewart said it is Sigma Gamma Rho’s first time on campus and their position in the NPC will depend on whether or not they can get enough members through the membership process.

Jennifer Smrye, Sigma Gamma Rho’s National Chapter membership services coordinator said it is a non-profit, service based historically black international sorority.

According to The National Chapter’s Web page the sorority is “determined to enhance the quality of life within the community

VETERANS continued from page 3

GI Bill, then you can have another

through public service, leadership development programs and activities, and the education of youth. The sorority also addresses the concerns that impact society educationally, civically and economically and is a service-based organization.”

According to Toreatha Stitmon, vice president of NPC and member of Zeta Phi Beta, Sigma Gamma Rho is one of the last historically black sororities that could be included in NPC. “The National Pan-Hellenic Council is a historically Black Council composed of nine organizations and Sigma Gamma Rho is one of the last sororities under our umbrella,” Stitmon said.

Stitmon said Sigma Gamma Rho will be the last historically black sorority to join Miami, following the other three already present on campus — Alpha Kappa Alpha, Zeta Phi Beta and Delta Sigma Theta under the National Pan-Hellenic Council. There are only four historically black sororities in existence today.

Accordingly, Stitmon said the arrival of Sigma Gamma Rho on Miami’s Oxford campus is one with diversity in mind.

“I do think this organization is going to be another outlet for the diverse students of Miami,” Stitmon said.

Stewart said the attempt for Sigma Gamma Rho to come on campus is an endeavor to promote diversity. She said this may be an attempt to pacify students who have family members who

several months of the new one,” Bryant said. “But if you transfer over right away to the new one then you only get to use up what you have left of the old one.”

SVA will offer information and guidance to other new

confusing parts of the bill in addition to also providing something for the non-veteran Miami population.

Matthew Luethold, vice president of SVA, finished his active duty in the United States Marine Corps as a sergeant.

have been a part of Sigma Gamma Rho in the past.

“There were students on this campus that were interested in this sorority and so they expressed their interest in a Cincinnati chapter,” Stewart said. “I think there were some women who had family members who were apart of this sorority and were interested in a chapter here at Miami.”

As for the recruitment and pledging process for Sigma Gamma Rho, the sorority will follow the NPC processing.

“We are not social-based sororities and fraternities, we’re service-based organizations and so recruitment is done at the discretion of the members in the chapter and it’s open call for all Miami students,” Stewart said.

Stitmon said her enthusiasm for Sigma Gamma Rho is because it will be under the NCP as an organization promoting improving the Oxford community.

“What we already do as a council is create different programs for people who don’t have the outlets to be educated about different things that are happening not only in the minority community but helping out with Miami’s community with programs and service and things of that nature,” Stitmon said, “Sigma Gamma Rho would be helping provide that for Miami students of diverse backgrounds.”

“(SVA can benefit Miami) by simply raising awareness of veterans on campus,” Luethold said.

Another feature SVA offers is the opportunity for social interactions. A number of veterans at Miami have families and obligations that make

TENURE

continued from page 2 English and was awarded tenure.

Herbst admired cheek’s performance art integrating film, photography and spoken language. cheek has also taught 14 different courses at Miami.

“There’s a decreasing proportion of professors in the U.S. working under the conditions of tenure,” cheek said. “This is a strong indication that Miami wants to place approval and confidence in areas of research, teaching and service.” cheek said this is a “big thumbs up” given the economic climate.

“They’re investing in core faculty, the movers and shakers in their fields,” cheek said. “They make us work incredibly hard to achieve it, so it’s more gratifying.”

Ronald Becker, a recently tenured assistant professor of communication will become an associate

it difficult for them to find a social scene that fits their stage of life. Veterans often come into Miami as firstyear students when they are already in their early twenties.

“In a social aspect, we go out drinking and share stories,” Womack said.

professor July 1. He was very excited about receiving tenure.

“It’s something young faculty work very hard toward attaining,” Becker said. “It’s a milestone in your career.”

Becker has been teaching at Miami for six years and said faculty go through many stages before obtaining tenure.

“Personally, I want to connect to the university in new ways,” Becker said. “The university is committed to me and that enables me to make long term investments in the university.”

Herbst said these examples illustrate how much our faculty can achieve.

“As you can see we are blessed with faculty who have achieved much and will achieve much in coming decades,” Herbst said.

“We’re glad to be able to invest in them now and the return on investment will be high.”

Additional Reporting by Catherine Couretas

FYI Page

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February 9, 2010

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MEDIUM #14

Sports

THE MIAMI STUDENT

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010 ♦ 13

swimming & diving

Red and White make splash at last duel meet of season

By Michael Solomon Staff Writer

The Miami University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams entered their last dual meet of the season against Ball State University (BSU) over the weekend looking for a final victory before the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championships.

Both teams did just that in Muncie, Ind., with the women winning 183.5-113.5 and the men winning 140-97.

The women’s swimming and diving team picked up where it left off last weekend against Eastern Michigan University (EMU), winning 12 events total against

MESSERLY continued from page 13

for many other students. To most it probably boils down to a few things.

With that in mind, here are my top five: No. 1: The team’s performance — I don’t care how great of a promotion you have or what kind of music you play over the PA system, if the team is playing poorly nobody will go.

This is why it is absolutely crucial for the basketball team, and any other team, to play well when they have a packed house. No. 2: The quality of the opponent — Let’s be honest, you might be somewhat excited by a mid-week matchup with Kent State

host BSU en route to a 183.5-113.5 victory. Junior Miranda Kaltenborn and freshmen Megan O’Connor, Bekka Westrick and Leah Thornton all won two events for the RedHawks on Saturday, Feb. 6, improving their overall record to 9-4, and their MAC dual meet record to 5-2.

“We brought a strong lineup against Ball State and did what we needed to do in order to take the win,” senior Allison Way said.

“Miranda Kaltenborn started off our meet with an outstanding 1000-yard freestyle.

Having that race start off our meet really put all of the swimmers and divers in a good mood and ready to compete.”

Senior diver Kelsey Anagnos continued her winning ways by sweeping both

University or Akron University, but University of Toledo…really?

Of course there is nothing the athletic department can do about MidAmerican Conference foes, which is entirely left up to the MAC who sets the conference schedule. However, the athletic department can control the non-conference schedule. This year Miami hosted University of Dayton (UD) in a mid-week tussle.

It was nice to have a regional opponent with some name recognition, but sad that there was about as many UD fans in the stands as those clad in red and white. Last year there were no big name opponents who visited Millett Hall. In the two seasons prior to that UD, Xavier University and University of Michigan were the only non-conference home game opponents with name recognition.

the one-meter and three-meter events.

Classmate Way also won for the ’Hawks in the 500-yard freestyle. The women’s team can now look forward to the MAC Championships, which they host from February 24-27.

“Winning this meet ends our dual meet season on a positive note,” said junior Kelsey Vehr, who was a part of two victorious Miami relay teams against BSU. “Overall, we had a successful duel meet season.

There were some unexpected losses, but we did a good job working together for each victory. Now that it is over, we are looking forward to the MAC Championship meet.”

The RedHawk men’s swimming and diving team got back on track over the weekend,

I realize it is difficult, but hosting at least one team with cache would help boost attendance.

No. 3: The day and time of games — Scheduling any games like the one against UD on a Tuesday or Wednesday doesn’t help. The best time to schedule games is mid to late afternoon on Saturdays and Sundays or early evening on Saturdays when hockey is on the road. Most people can block out this time to go watch a game rather than a mid-week game.

Realizing that games must be played during the week, I would save many of the biggest games of the year for those “prime hours.”

No. 4: “I didn’t know” — Probably one of the biggest complaints that I hear is, “I didn’t know there was a game tonight.” That is where the athletic department needs to set

defeating MAC foe BSU 140-97. Senior Dave Brown and freshman Alex Reinhardt each posted two wins for the RedHawks, who improved their overall record to 4-6-1, and their MAC record to 2-3.

The Red and White swept the diving events, with freshmen Michael Grainger and Chris Hoppler posting the top scores in the one-meter and three-meter events respectively. The ’Hawks also got wins from juniors Jason Hass in the 200-yard butterfly and Darrin Smith in the 200-yard backstroke.

The men’s swimmers and divers have a little less that a month to prepare for the MAC Championships at EMU in Ypsilanti from March 4-6.

up some sort of e-mail listserv or text message system reminding fans and especially busy students, of upcoming games. This would take away the built-in excuse of not knowing about when a game starts.

No. 5 Millett Hall — I list this last because it might be the biggest stretch and more of a dream. With all of the other outstanding facilities we have at Miami, Millett Hall is not ideal for basketball. The distance away from the court and dark lighting make it less appealing than other venues. By all means I am not saying to knock it down, because I know that isn’t going to happen. Improving the lighting and brightening it up would make a big difference in the atmosphere. I would also like to see the court shifted towards the south end and eliminate the “ugly”

Home for the summer?

Attend classes at Kent State.

black curtain on one end opening up the seating for students on that end.

There is nothing more disappointing than seeing the black curtain as you walk up the stairs after entering the main entrance. Finally, I would put in new scoreboards with a video board and eliminate the screen on the black curtain. I understand given the current economic situation this probably will not happen. Given all of the cuts made at the university the money should be spent on something else right now. Maybe in the future a donor could give money for improvements.

These are just a few of the changes that I think could help make the basketball experience at Millett Hall better. Of course there is just no substitute for winning. And that’s the easiest fix of all.

Save time. Get ahead.

Move closer to graduation.

Now is the time to make plans for summer! The summer months are a great time to make progress toward your educational goals. Catch up on credits or focus on a difficult course to give you an edge on completing your degree.

Earn up to 12 semester hours (18 quarter hours) at any of Kent State’s eight Northeast Ohio locations. Courses listed on the Ohio Board of Regents Web site under the Transfer Assurance Guides (TAG) or Ohio Transfer Module are accepted at any Ohio public college or university.

For more information, visit www.kent.edu. To speak with an admissions counselor, call 800-988-KENT (5368).

www.kent.edu/ad.cfm Kent State University, Kent State and KSU are registered trademarks and may not be used without permission. Kent State University is committed to attaining excellence through the recruitment and retention of a diverse student body and workforce. 09-1944

09-1944 Miami.indd 1

1/26/10 12:21 PM

14

Sports

Tuesday

February 9, 2010

men’s basketball

Editor Katie Giovinale giovinkl@muohio.edu

RedHawks gift Coach Coles with win over Huskies

By Alex Butler Senior Staff Writer

After blowing out all 68 candles populating his birthday cake, Miami University Men’s Basketball Head Coach Charlie Coles had a job to do. The coach had to brush his birthday wish aside and lead his RedHawks (10-13, 7-3 Mid-American Conference (MAC)) into another road contest.

The Red and White had their work cut out for them with just one road win this season, but at the end of the night they knocked off the Northern Illinois University (NIU) Huskies (8-14, 4-6 MAC) for road win number two. A 74-69 triumph was also an answer to the longest tenured RedHawk’s birthday wishes.

“It was perfect,” Coles said. “But we knew Northern’s back was against the wall. My speech to the team was that they had nowhere to run now. So that makes them dangerous. They are playing at home, have lost five straight, they are really a pretty good team. They are going to find their stride sooner or later. We knew we were in for a fight. I can’t say that we fought them off, but I can say that we won them off.”

Hot ’Hawk shooting (63 percent) gift wrapped a lead for the RedHawks early on, but the top rebounding team in the MAC was not about to go down easy. The home Huskies chased down the Red and White to tie the game up with less than seven minutes remaining until it was the RedHawks that switched gears and brought home another victory. Senior Kenny Hayes led all scorers with 22 points.

“It was a big win,” junior Nick Winbush said. “It was our second road win in a row. If we wanted to win the MAC, our coach kept telling us we have to win at home and find a way to get some on the road. We got two

in 48 hours on the road with a home game coming up this week.”

Following a frigid shooting performance (1-9) two nights earlier, Winbush alerted the fire marshal by nailing 3-6 three pointers and 7-12 shots overall for 17 points against the Huskies.

The Red and White used the three ball to climb to a 17-10 lead. The Huskies clawed back to even things up at 17 before the RedHawk shooters came alive. Threes by Kenny Hayes, Julian Mavunga, Winbush, Allen Roberts and Kramer Soderberg sparked a 21-4 run and a 38-21 lead. The 10-13 first half performance allowed the Red and White to head into the locker room up 44-26. But the Huskies weren’t about to make the sledding easy for their foe.

“We just knew it,” Coles said. “Anytime you make 10 threes in one half you know it’s going to rain a little bit.”

NIU wet the paint for bucket after bucket and eventually caught the ’Hawks napping.

By the time Coles’ squad woke up, things were squared up at 57 with seven minutes remaining in the bout.

“We knew they were going to get into the paint and we needed to be tougher in stopping them,” Coles said. “First half they missed a lot of easy shots. I don’t know that we had a great defense at all. We need to encourage our guys more than the average group. They have the best rebounding team in the MAC and they were so quick to the ball. It really hurt us.”

A dunk by air walker Antonio Ballard closed up the wound and gave the RedHawks another lead. The Huskies continued to gnaw close to the lead but never eclipsed a twopoint deficit. Winbush channeled his inner ice water and nailed a three with 1:58 left to put the Huskies to bed. Mavunga followed suit

MICHAEL GRIGGS The Miami Student

Senior Kenny Hayes is this week’s MAC East Division Co-Player of the Week. and rose to the rim, icing a 74-69 victory. The riser marked another double-double with 13 points and 11 boards.

“I felt good,” Winbush said. “Our team was really confident coming off of that close win at Western. We knew that we were somehow going to find a way to get this win. We had a big lead in the first half and relaxed a little bit but we knew we had to get the win. We found a way to get it in the second half even though they closed the lead. We all felt good as a team and feel even better now.”

The University of Toledo Rockets will battle the Red and White at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10 in Millett Hall.

“We need to stay with the basics,” Winbush said. “Keep playing defense keep doing what we are doing. Don’t try to fix it if it’s not broken. Keep practicing hard and keep preparing for the next opponent every time. Even though Toledo hasn’t won a game in the MAC, we can’t go into that game thinking we are just going to kill them. Every opponent has a duty to beat us so we have to prepare every game.”

Survey aims to increase fan attendance Josh Messerly

Don’t Mess

SCOTT ALLISON The Miami Student

Offensive performances by the Red and White are a key aspect of their success Saturday while facing Western Michigan University.

women’s basketball

’Hawks rope in victory v. Broncos

By JM Rieger Staff Writer

Strong shooting by Western Michigan University (WMU) and clutch shots down the stretch were enough to hold onto a 75-69 victory over Miami University for the Broncos.

The Red and White fell to 6-17 overall and 4-6 in the MidAmerican Conference (MAC), while WMU improved to 7-16 and 2-8 in the MAC. After a big victory Wednesday, Feb. 3 against Ball State University, Miami was looking to win two straight games for the first time this season. Freshman forward Kirsten Olowinski had a career-high 25 points to go with 10 rebounds. This game marked her second doubledouble of the season, and another great performance by the freshman.

“Olowinski had a great game and she is one of our most talented offensive players,” Head Coach Maria Fantanarosa said. “She is a great rebounder and is always eager to learn, which is what makes her such a great player.”

Olowinski was helped in part by WMU’s defensive game plan, which included cheating on Courtney Osborn and Rachael Hencke to contain them. This provided Olowinski and the rest of the team with a lot of easy and open shots, although they were not always able to capitalize on these opportunities.

“We missed a lot of open shots and lay ups,” Fantanarosa said. “We need to hit shots and continue to fight, and I believe we have done a good job of fighting through tough games and opponents. The will to win is still there which is a great sign.”

After being down 36-30 at the half the Red and White rallied back from a 14 point second half deficit to cut WMU’s lead to four with 2:35 left to play. But the Broncos hit some clutch shots down the stretch and made their free throws to seal the deal.

WMU also played one of their best games of the season, shooting 46.9 percent from the field. However, for the season they only shoot 36 percent as a team, which was a big difference in Saturday’s match up. “(Western Michigan) hit a lot of outside shots and they were playing very well as a team,” Fantanarosa said. “I have not been happy with our defense lately, and we need to sharpen our defense and our rebounding.”

At the other end of the court, Miami has benefited this season from a very opportunistic offense. There are a plethora of players that are all capable of stepping up on the offensive end, as shown in Saturday’s game.

“It is a complete team effort and anyone is capable of stepping up,” Olowinski said. “We try to out-work and out-hustle our opponents coming into each game and we try to compete with each other and improve from week to week.”

Olowinski was helped out by a great performance from senior Courtney Reed, who had 12 points to go with four rebounds and three assists. Meanwhile, sophomore Rachael Hencke had 11 points to go with three assists. “(Courtney) Reed played very well,” Fantanrosa said.

“Her athleticism allowed her to attack Western Michigan and makes her a threat each game.”

Miami will travel north to take on Eastern Michigan University Feb. 10. The Eagles are riding a two-game winning streak and enter Wednesday with a 17-5 record, including a 7-3 mark in the MAC. “(Eastern Michigan) will be a big challenge for us,” Fantanarosa said. “They are playing very well and we will definitely be the underdog coming into this game. We need to continue our offensive production and improve our defense and our rebounding.”

Tip-off for Wednesday’s game is set for 7 p.m.

L

ast week my roommate was handed a “student basketball survey” being conducted by the marketing department on behalf of the Miami University Athletic Department. Naturally I was intrigued by this survey. With low attendance at seemingly every Miami event with the exception of hockey, I thought this was a novel concept to solve a problem that has plagued the athletic department recently. How do you get people to come to games?

The survey looks exactly like you would expect a basketball survey to look. It asks for your year in school, level of college basketball interest and if you ever attended a Miami men’s basketball game. For those who answer no to the last question, they are asked why they haven’t and have completed the survey. For those who answer yes, there are more questions to follow.

The next two sections ask responders what factors are taken into consideration when you evaluate your experience at a game and your satisfaction of certain elements at a game.

Such elements include halftime entertainment, music at the arena, promotions, team’s performance and the quality of the opponent.

The final section asks how many games you have attended and what time would you like to see games tip-off at.

For me personally, the music played at Millett Hall and the promotions offered are not in the back of my mind when I decide whether or not to go to a game. I could be wrong, but I believe that is also the case

wSee MESSERLY, page 13