ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2018
Volume 146 No. 25
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
‘Don’t worry, I’ll be around’ OBITUARY
MEGAN ZAHNEIS MAGAZINE EDITOR
It was December 2000 when Venelin Ganev arrived in Oxford for a second-round job interview at Miami University. He was being considered to join something called the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies. At about 7:30 a.m. that morning, there was a knock on Ganev’s hotel-room door. “And there she was,” he recalled. “Karen Dawisha.” As a graduate student in the 1990s, Ganev had admired Dawisha’s work on the Russian electoral system. Now, he was sharing breakfast with her at Bell Tower Place as
GREEK LIFE’S LACK OF DIVERSITY MEANS MIXED EXPERIENCES DIVERSITY
Dawisha laid out plans for the Havighurst Center, which she’d just been hired away from the University of Maryland to direct. “At the time, there was no Center. There was Karen Dawisha and $10 million,” Ganev said, referring to the bequest that founded the Center. “But she had this vision of what needs to be done.” That was typical of Dawisha, who died Wednesday in Oxford after an 18-month battle with cancer. She was 68. Dawisha hired Ganev and spent the next 16 years, until her retirement from Miami in 2016, building the Havighurst Center into an internationally renowned institution for scholars of Russia and post-Soviet CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
LAURA FITZGERALD STAFF WRITER
72 percent of
undergrads at Oxford’s campus are white. White students make up 89 percent of Greek life.
KAREN DAWISHA WAS THE FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE HAVIGHURST CENTER . UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Buzzing around Miami Apiculture Society brings new hives to campus
Miami University’s Greek community has lower portions of minority and international students than the general undergraduate population, creating mixed experiences for minority students in Panhellenic Association (Panhellic) and the Interfraternity Council (IFC). Greek life at Miami is governed by the Tri-Council, consisting of the Panhellenic, IFC and the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC). Around 72 percent of all undergraduates at the Oxford campus are white, according to Miami’s enrollment statistics. However, white students made up about 89 percent of IFC and Panhellenic as of fall 2017, according to the Office of Institutional Research. Domestic minority students make up 13.4 percent of Miami’s undergraduates, while they only made up 11.4 percent of the Tri-Council. Domestic minority students comprised 10.4 percent of IFC and 10.3 percent of Panhellenic. All 26 students in NPHC, which is much smaller than either IFC or Panhellenic, are African-American or multiracial. International students, who make up almost 15 percent of the total undergraduate population, comprise just 0.5 percent of IFC and 0.4 percent of Panhellenic. Mackenzie Solomon, NPHC presCONTINUED ON PAGE 8
BAM 2.0 PLANS CONTINUE ACTIVISM
THE MIAMI APICULTURE SOCIETY SHOWS OFF ITS NEW QUEENS, TAMPS DOWN THE TRAVEL BOX AND INSTALLS ITS YOUNG, BENIGN BEES IN “HIVELAND,” LOCATED ON WESTERN CAMPUS. ARTHUR NEWBERRY DESIGN EDITOR BEES
CAROLINE CREEK ASST. NEWS EDITOR
As the sun rose early Tuesday morning, four Miami students retrieved an unusual package from the Oxford post office. After arriving the students received a 3-pound box made of plywood and mesh siding, containing nearly 10,500 Italian honey bees. The students are members of the Miami Apiculture Society, the university’s first student run beekeeping organization. The Italian honey bees will form the organization’s second hive. Its first hive, obtained a year ago, perished in November from food shortages and disease. “[We did] too little, too late last year,” said Jack Fetick, cofounder of Miami’s Apiculture Society. Members of the organization, better
known as “bee club,” plan to regularly check on the hive throughout the summer to ensure the honeybees enter the fall healthy. Specifically, they will monitor the varrao mite count, the number of parasites that attack honey bees, which contributed to the hive’s demise last winter. Although the bee club is student run, they receive guidance from Alex Zomchek, Miami’s apiarist. Zomchek has been conducting beekeeping research on campus for 24 years. Historically, Miami has a profound impact on the beekeeping world. The modern hive was invented in Oxford in 1852 by Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth. “Oxford, Ohio is the birthplace of modern beekeeping,” Zomchek said. Zomchek was overjoyed that students wanted to learn about beekeeping and start the bee club.“I’ve been waiting for [these students] for 24 years,” he said.
FOOD page 6
NEWS P.3
BOOKLOVERS CELEBRATE WRITING Fans of the written word gather for seventh annual writing festival.
“Oxford, OH is the birthplace of modern beekeeping.” Last year, members of the club took full responsibility for the hive while Zomchek mentored from a distance. “[It is] necessary to have a beekeeper as a mentor but you’ve got to just get in the hive and do it yourself,” Fetick said. Due to the first hive’s demise, Zomchek will work alongside members of the club to ensure this hive remains healthy. “I’ll be working with them to show them what they don’t know,” he said. During spring break, several memCONTINUED ON PAGE 9
STAFF REPORT This past week several academic departments and organizations within Miami University pledged their support to the Black Action Movement 2.0 (BAM 2.0) in the last week. BAM 2.0 expressed their gratitude in a Facebook post last Friday, April 13, in which they thanked “everyone who is standing in solidarity with us.” Altogether, three academic departments and three Miami affiliated associations condemned racist behavior and shared their support for BAM 2.0. These groups included the Department of Psychology, the Department of English, the Department of Media, Journalism & Film alongside statements issued by the Howe Writing Center, the Graduate Student CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
CULTURE P.4
EDITORIAL P. 12
JAZZ IN DOUBLE TIME
KNOW YOUR OWN DATA
MU Jazz Ensemble channels ‘20s swing while Rehugnant Quartet brings fusion flair.
Don’t unplug, but make sure you know who has your info.
SPORTS P.14
INTL. ATHLETE RETURNS TO OXFORD A Nigerien basketballer stuck back home returns for next season.
On-Ramp Workshop at Chestnut Fieldhouse
131 West Chestnut St
Session 4 Thursdays • April 19–May 3 • 6:00–7:00 pm
Questions? Contact Seth Cropenbaker at cropensw@MiamiOH.edu or at (513) 529-6007
MEIBERBR@MIAMIOH.EDU
2 NEWS
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2018
Murtagh and Smith lay out priorities for presidential term
ASG PRESIDENT MEGAHAN MURTAGH AND VICE PRESIDENT VINCENT SMITH WERE ELECTED EARLIER THIS MONTH. SEBASTIAN NEUFUSS THE MIAMI STUDENT
ASG
ANDREW TILBE STAFF WRITER
A year ago, juniors Meaghan Murtagh and Vincent Smith met through a mutual friend. Last week, they were elected as the president and vice president of Associated Student Government (ASG). “We met last year, and we just kind of stayed friends.” said Murtagh. “And here we are! I was like, ‘Hey, what are you doing next year?’” On April 9, Murtagh and Smith were elected to the executive cabinet of ASG for the 2018-2019 school year. Originally from Andover, Massachusetts, Murtagh is a marketing major in the Farmer School of Business with a minor in political science. She has served in ASG every year she has been on campus, starting as a senator her first year and holding cabinet positions her sophomore and junior years.
Smith is from a suburb of Columbus and is majoring in kinesiology. Although he has never previously served in ASG, Smith has administrative experience as the vice president of academics and parent coordinator in his fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi. Both Murtagh and Smith believe that Smith’s lack of experience in ASG will be beneficial throughout their tenure. “I wanted to bring someone ... not in ASG who would have a different view on Miami, because I’ve been in student government, so I kind of know everything that’s been going on with the school,” said Murtagh. “But I wanted to bring someone who had a different voice and could represent the students who have not been in ASG.” Smith believes his outsider perspective will help forge a stronger connection between ASG and the general student body. “From the outside in, not many people know what goes on in ASG. So that’s something I wanted to really push for ... as vice president,” said Smith. “I want to work on
[increasing] the transparency between the student body and the student government.” Murtagh’s top priority for her presidency is to raise both funds and awareness for the Student Success Fund. The Student Success Fund helps students join organizations and participate in extracurricular activities at Miami they may not otherwise be able to afford. “Maggie [Reilly] started it last year, so we have the fund. But there’s not much money in it, and a lot of students don’t know it’s a thing,” said Murtagh. “So, as president, that’s a very tangible thing that I’d like to accomplish.” Smith wants to focus his attention on addressing racial tensions throughout campus as his top priority while vice president. “What I want to work on is at least starting to improve that climate here at Miami,” said Smith. “I want to focus on changing the atmosphere here, at least start working on how we perceive ourselves and how we show ourselves to the outside community.” Additionally, the two expressed interest
in establishing a greater connection with international students on campus. Murtagh has worked in the past year to have more international students elected to ASG. “This past year, my big initiative was to get international students more involved in student government,” said Murtagh. Meanwhile, Smith plans to increase international options at Miami dining locations to both reduce the culture shock for international students and expose domestic students to other cultures. Murtagh is also passionate about addressing students’ concerns about Miami’s counseling center and mental health, overall. Her main goals include increasing students’ awareness of which resources are free and diverting more funds to mental health services on campus. “I know a lot of students feel as though they don’t want to utilize [mental health services] just because they don’t want to pay for it,” said Murtagh. “[We plan to] put that more out there that students can get the services for free.” Both Murtagh and Smith expressed concern regarding sexual assault at Miami. Their concrete solutions for the issue include improving lighting on campus and raising students’ awareness of SafeRide. “We want to work on the lighting on the way to Chestnut Fields, as well as the lighting on Central Quad,” said Smith. “Lighting is an easy thing that can be done, and everyone can get behind it as well.” “I think a big thing is awareness of the services Miami has to offer, especially SafeRide,” Murtagh added. “I feel as though if we tell freshmen now coming in about it and more services that Miami has to offer, that hopefully, they will utilize them.” Murtagh and Smith will be serving in the executive cabinet of ASG in the 2018-2019 school year, representing the Miami student body. “ASG has been a big part of my college experience. I was in senate my freshman year, I’ve been on cabinet the past two years,” Murtagh said. “And then, I was like, ‘I want to run for president.’ I want to make a difference.” tilbear@miamioh.edu
Carolina Vissers: Home far away from home PROFILE
AUDREY DAVIS
MANAGING EDITOR
When first-year Carolina Vissers was six years old, her family packed up everything they owned and traveled 4,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. They left their small dairy farm in the northeast Netherlands and arrived at a farm more than 10 times as large in Hicksville, a small town in northwest Ohio. When Vissers came to the U.S., she was was absolutely terrified and barely knew how to speak English. “I left behind all my friends, and I absolutely hated it here,” she said. Initially, she wanted nothing to do with the U.S., but now she said she’s finally at a place where she’d be content staying for the rest of her life. It took her a long time to reach this point, but she’ll always carry a piece of the Netherlands with her. As she was leaving the Netherlands, a holiday was coming up — basically the Dutch version of Santa Claus — in early December. Her primary school celebrated it early for her and gave her a stuffed bear and a booklet of all her classmates. “They had all written their own little personalized notes in there and told me to tell all of my worries to the bear,” Vissers said. “That was a huge coping mechanism for me — I still have that little stuffed bear.” Still, the hardest part was adapting to a new school system, with a new language and all new classmates who’d never met anyone from the Netherlands before. “I was a token diversity kid,” Vissers said. “Which was weird as all hell. A lot of people had no idea where the Netherlands was or what it’s like. I’ve gotten questions like, ‘Do you have internet in the Netherlands?’ And I’m just like, ‘Yes, we do — just like every other developed country and even many non-developed countries at this point.’” Eventually, as they all got older, Vissers said people had mostly forgotten that she wasn’t born in the U.S. The Visser family — Carolina, her brother Niek and their parents — had moved to the U.S. because it didn’t seem financially possible to stay in the Netherlands and continue farming. They looked at a few different countries, including France, and eventually decided on America. During that time, there were many Dutch farmers who moved to the Michigan, Ohio and Indiana area, but they were the only ones in their family to do so.
RAISED ON A DAIRY FARM IN RURAL OHIO, CAROLINA VISSERS HAS CHOSEN TO GO HER OWN WAY AT MIAMI. COLLEEN GRIMM THE MIAMI STUDENT
The town she lived in back in the Netherlands was quite different from the farm towns of northwest Ohio. Not only were they the only Dutch family in the small town of Mark Center, they were one of the only international families, which added to the culture shock.
“I was a token diversity kid, which was weird as all hell.” It took a while, but she learned to appreciate her own unique mix of culture that came from living on the dairy farm. “A lot of our employees are now Hispanic, or of Hispanic descent, which is a whole ‘nother culture,” she said. “We have Americans, we have Dutch people, obviously, and we have Hispanics. We’re creating that intuitive environment where everybody can work alongside each other, learning about different cultures.” Much of Vissers’ childhood was spent on her family’s growing farm. They went from
60 cows back in the Netherlands to around 1,700 today. Vissers looks back fondly on her time spent running around the farm. She enjoyed helping her mother with the financials and eavesdropping on a few of the “bigwig” conversations. But she mostly loved working with the animals and helping to milk the cows. “It was intense,” Vissers said. “And messy! But I enjoyed it.” However, she knew from the time that she was four years old that she would never grow up to take over the family farm, and her parents knew it, too. “I was not interested in it at all. They could have pushed me or my brother to take over the farm, but honestly, it’s not going to be as good of a farm if the person who’s running it doesn’t truly care. And I don’t truly care about it. I enjoy it, but I don’t have that passion, that drive, that my parents do.” Instead, her parents allowed her to follow her own path, but they always knew she’d end up studying something in the science or medical field. Today, she’s a biological physics and premedical major at Miami and does research in the biophysics lab. “It’s all about lasers and yeast, and I honestly don’t understand half of it,” she said
with a laugh. “Basically, it’s sensing metabolism changes in yeast compared to cyanide and glucose and stuff like that. It has applications to cancer research.” While it would have been cheaper to study in the Netherlands as a Dutch citizen, she chose to stay in the U.S. because there are better residency opportunities, and it would be difficult to transfer medical licenses across the two countries. Recently, Vissers, who’s still on a visa, has had to seriously consider the chance of being deported, something not too many of her classmates ever think about. “They don’t have the anxiety in the back of their mind that at any moment, things could go south and within a year, I could be back in the Netherlands,” Vissers said. “It’s terrifying to think that even though I’ve been here for 13 years, I could have to leave the States.” But for now, Vissers is throwing herself into life at Miami. She’s recently gotten involved with the fencing club, something she would have never had the chance to do back home in her small town, as well as volunteering at the hospital and joining a few medical organizations. davisa10@miamioh.edu
3 NEWS
DOYLECA3@MIAMIOH.EDU
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2018
Students celebrate writing with annual literary festival WRITING
DUARD HEADLEY STAFF WRITER
Writers, readers and fans of the written word gathered in Oxford last week to celebrate Miami’s seventh annual Oxford Writing Festival. The festival, hosted by Students for the Promotion of Writing (SPW), a campus group that works to bolster interest in writing of all kinds at Miami, consisted of a flurry of events held between Wednesday, April 11 and Saturday, April 14. Talks and book signings from professional authors, upbeat concerts from local bands and flash fiction contests were highlights of the festival’s run, which encouraged students to come out and join in the literary fun. Jamie Ford, author of “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” and Hannah Tinti, author of “The Good Thief and The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley,” kicked the festival off last week by giving talks in the Shriver Center on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. During her event, Tinti talked about her writing process, what it’s like to be both a publisher and an author and how to overcome hardships while continuing to write. “Almost all of your endeavors will begin with failure,” Tinti said to the audience. “But, it’s so important that you fail because that’s what helps you know what works and what doesn’t.” Toward the end of the discussion, Tinti broke out her ukulele, an instrument she taught herself to play by watching YouTube videos, and led the audience in an enthusiastic rendition of “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).” She said that since her book, “The Twelve Lives of
JAMIE FORD AND HANNAH TINTI SELL THEIR BOOKS OTSIDE OF THE HERITAGE ROOM IN THE SHRIVER CENTER. DANIELLE NEHRING THE MIAMI STUDENT
Samuel Hawley,” was ultimately a love story, she wanted to end every one of her talks about the book with a love song. The musical writing process was also celebrated when Redhawk Radio hosted a panel on a myriad of musical topics on Thursday. And the following afternoon, local band The Wrong Crowd performed a “Pretty Large Desk Concert,” an homage to NPR’s tiny desk concerts, in the office of The Miami Student. After they’d dazzled the audience with original tunes and a few covers, the band incorporated the gathered listeners into the song-
Alum makes $30 million donation to CAS PHILANTHROPY
RACHEL BERRY STAFF WRITER
David Dafoe, Miami University alum and founder of beverage development company Flavorman, recently donated $30.1 million to the College of Arts and Science (CAS). The money will go toward scholarships for high-need, high-ability students and is the largest donation CAS has ever received. Dafoe’s gift is part of the Match the Promise scholarship program, which seeks to recruit students with financial need and provides them a scholarship for all four years at Miami. The university seeks to create the strongest classes possible, so scholarship money
is divided between diversity, student need and merit, Dean of CAS Christopher Makaroff said. “It’s a recognition that clearly affordability can be a barrier to attending a residential institution,” Vice President of Finance David Creamer said. “The more support we can make available for students who have financial need, the more we open those opportunities up, and so clearly a gift that is of this size will have a great impact in that area.” The One Stop Office said a specific plan has not yet been developed for deciding who will receive these scholarships or the amount allocated to each student. berryrd@miamioh.edu
writing process. They took suggestions about which chords should structure the song they wrote with the audience. The resulting chord progression was C, D, A, D and the song was appropriately titled “Triton: Dad of the Sea.” Those who wished to embark on literary endeavors of their own were encouraged to participate in Friday’s flash fiction contest, where participants were given a single hour to craft a short story centered around the theme of the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey is a common template in storytelling that involves a protagonist embarking
on an adventure and ultimately returning home a better version of themselves. The festival ended on Saturday with a general showcase and celebration of writing, held in a large auditorium in 322 McGuffey Hall. Students gathered to chat, hang out, play a round or two of cornhole and celebrate another year of writing in McGuffey. Various campus print organizations were on-hand, including Inklings magazine, Happy Captive magazine and The Miami Student. They handed out samples of their work and encouraged visitors to continue their interest in the written word.
headledd@miamioh.edu
ASG decides seven positions in cabinet elections ASG
ANDREW TILBE STAFF WRITER
Miami University Associated Student Government (ASG) elected seven current members to cabinet positions on Tuesday, April 10. Sophomore Cole Hankins was re-elected as speaker of the senate. Hankins is a double major in political science and marketing in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and the Farmer School of Business (FSB), respectively. Four candidates ran for the position for speaker, which faced the most competition Tuesday evening. District 2 on-campus senator Kelleigh Beatty, 7th district off-campus senator Bradley Davis, and senator for the College of Education, Health and Society (EHS) Julia Koenig ran against Hankins.
Junior Caroline Weimer was re-elected as the secretary of finance. Weimer is an accounting major in FSB, and she ran unopposed. Additionally, junior William Hoffman was elected as the secretary of the treasury. Hoffman is a finance major in FSB. He currently serves in ASG as a 2nd district off-campus senator and also ran unopposed. Following Hoffman’s election, junior Michael Meleka was elected as the secretary for on-campus affairs. Meleka ran unopposed and is a business economics major in FSB while currently serving as the RA senator for ASG. The position of secretary for governmental relations was filled again by junior Cecilia Comerford. Comerford is a double major in diplomacy and global politics and individualized studies in the CAS and she ran unopposed. First-year Jasmine Adkins
EVENTS THIS WEEK
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“Getting everything organized and put together is a big undertaking,” said SPW President Celia Monroe. “You never really know whether people will come out or not, but this year’s festival has been a huge success.” Monroe went on to say that she felt that SPW has improved upon the festival every year, and that she was glad to see that students continue to show an interest in the event. SPW hopes to continue to expand and improve upon the festival for years to come.
was elected as the secretary for advancement and alumni affairs. Adkins is a double major in premedical studies and human capital management and leadership in FSB. She currently serves on ASG as a district 1 on-campus senator, and she also ran unopposed. The final election of the night was for the position of secretary for diversity and inclusion, which junior Courtney Rose was re-elected to. They ran against district 3 on-campus senator Adrian Radilla and district 6 on-campus senator Samantha Galarza for the seat. Earlier this month, Rose also ran as one of the student body vice president candidates in this year’s ASG presidential election. They are an English education major in EHS. Further cabinet elections will be held at this week’s ASG meetings. tilbear@miamioh.edu
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Events to catch this week on Miami’s campus and in Oxford
Women’s Empowerment Night
Comedy Series: Taylor Tomlinson
Wilks Theater Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Wilks Theater Thursday, 9 p.m.
Tami Holzman, advisor and best-selling author of “From C-Student to the C-Suite” and Toumai Kafri, representative for Israaid are the featured panelists for “Boots on the Ground & Words That Inspire,” kicking off a night of empowering women. A meet and greet with the two panelists begins at 7 p.m., followed by a panel discussion and a showing of “Wonder Woman” at 8:30 p.m.
Need a night of laughs as we head into the final weeks of the semester? Come to the free comedy show as part of the Map Comedy Series, featuring Taylor Tomlinson. Her self-deprecating charm and conversational wit might just be enough to make you forget about final exams looming in the distance, at least for a few hours.
Rockin’ Road to Dublin
Spring Fest
Hall Auditorium Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Academic Quad Saturday, 1-5 p.m.
Rockin’ Road brings together two seemingly different worlds to create a “rocked-out Riverdance.” You won’t want to miss this spectacle that combines the art of a traditional Irish dance, a hardcore rock concert, and the makings of a dramatic Broadway show. Tickets for the show are $24 for adults, $23 for seniors and $12 for students and children. They can be purchased at the Box Office at 34 Campus Avenue Building, or online through the Performing Arts Series website.
Spring into the end of the semester with a warm-weather extravaganza thrown by Miami Activities Programming. The day will be packed with free food, games, rides, prizes and more. As of Monday night, the forecast for Saturday looks OK: partly cloudy with a high of 58 degrees.
4 CULTURE
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2018
RIGAZIKM@MIAMIOH.EDU
All That Jazz: Two nights of classic tunes MUSIC
JULIA ARWINE STAFF WRITER
Jazz was in the air last week as two consecutive concerts proved that America’s most syncopated sensation is alive and well in Oxford. On Thursday night in Miami’s Hall Auditorium, MU Jazz Ensemble put on their final performance of the semester. By the time the music began, half of the ground floor seats were filled by students, family members and jazz enthusiasts alike. Student Alex Bronston’s reasons for attending were threefold. “I came to support my friend,” he said. “And I’m a music major, so I need to collect recital credits. Also, I just like jazz.” Twenty musicians performed nine songs as part of the Jazz Ensemble, playing trumpet, trombone, guitar, piano, bass, drums, percussion and all three types of saxophone — alto, tenor and baritone. The songs of choice were lively and classic, including hits by jazz greats Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. The swinging style of the big band invoked a bygone era; with eyes closed, it wasn’t difficult to imagine the music pouring out of a smoky, blue-lit club in 1920s L.A. or New York. With the start of each piece, the lights on stage shifted to a different cool shade of purple, magenta, blue or red. Occasionally, they would catch on the shiny surface of a saxophone or guitar, reflecting sun-like spots of light onto the audience. Although the student performers are amateurs in their art, they dressed like professionals in all black, and played with passion and without noticeable mistake. Soloists stood during their appointed moments to take charge of the song, improvising each piece to make it different than it had ever been played before. Each solo was followed by a short burst of applause from the audience. Improvisation is a key part of any jazz performance. Overall, Director Jeremy Long estimated that about half of the night’s show was improvised.
THE REHUGNANT QUARTET PERFORMS AT THE OXFORD COMMUNITY ARTS CENTER. SEBASTIAN NEUFUSS THE MIAMI STUDENT
“I thought it went really well,” Long said. “Leading up to the performance, students are always stressed about certain parts and putting this all together, but, usually in the end, everything comes together. I felt great about it.” On Friday, in the Victorian-style North Parlor of the Oxford Community Arts Center, a different sort of group played to a different sort of crowd. Rehugnant Jazz Quartet performed as part of the center’s Second Friday event, a celebration of local art that occurs on the second Friday of every month. The four middle-aged men who compose the band played without frills; they adhered to no dress code and sat on whatever was on hand — a chair, stools, even one of their speakers. There was no brass in this group. Ralph Jones played guitar, Ian Borg was on drums, Kerry Jordan strummed bass and David Palmer manned the keyboard. The atmosphere was intimate and informal. Rehugnant launched into their warm up tunes without ceremony, playing
a full song before the show even officially began. They asked the gradually growing audience for help with their sound check.
The swinging style of the big band invoked a bygone era; with eyes closed, it wasn’t difficult to imagine the music pouring out of a smoky, blue-lit club in 1920s L.A. or New York. “Turn up the guitar,” an audience member suggested, and Jones obliged as the quartet began their set in earnest. Before long, most of the fifty-some seats were filled. People listened intently, nodding their heads and tapping their feet in time. The sun set outside the tall windows as Rehugnant made the wooden floorboards hum. The quartet has only been
together for about a year and a half, with some of the members changing, but the ease with which they played reflected decades of experience on each member’s part. There was no conductor and — despite Palmer’s title as band leader — no single person dominated the songs. The members took their cues from each other through glances and slight head nods. It was often difficult to tell how much of each song they were reading off the sheet music in front of them and how much was improvisation. Despite the limitations of only four instruments, the group proved versatile in their style. They played original compositions alongside transformative covers by groups such as Earth, Wind and Fire and The Beatles. For a couple songs, Jones even provided singing accompaniment. “The easiest table for our music is jazz fusion,” Palmer said. “More than one person has commented on how diverse our music is — from old jazz standards to newer jam band music to new
standards created by covering and arranging old rock and funk songs.” More than once, the audience began to applaud before the song was even finished, each final flourish followed by exclamations of “Wow!” and “Oh, lovely!” The attention of a rapt audience made it a special night for Rehugnant. “[The show] was a rich one for us,” Palmer said. “We know what it’s like to travel an hour or more, play our guts out and to end the night playing to the bartender, the sound person and the door person, and to go home with $10 in our pockets…Oxford is a great town, full of deep thinkers, people who are passionate about examining and exploring life in all of its richness and tragedy.” Palmer would love to see more of the jazz/jam-band scene in Oxford, and encourages anyone interested in such a scene to get in touch with him at rehugnant@ gmail.com. arwinejk@miamioh.edu
Creating Dwayne: My experience originating a role in a student production THEATRE
MICHAEL SMITH
THE MIAMI STUDENT
“Hey, are you auditioning for ‘Octets?’” I got this question from all the theatre kids towards the end of last semester. During the time of department auditions, a lot of students — myself included — were curious about the “Octets” audition poster we saw hanging around campus. It was a different performance opportunity, one that was outside the theatre department production season. “Octets” is a show written, composed and directed by Miami Students. While some students turn their nose up at the idea of a student production, I was particularly intrigued by this opportunity. Auditions for “Octets” were coming up at the end of November, but no one really knew what it was about. There was no full script to read, no cast recording to listen to, just an audition flyer and a link to a brief description of the show, including character bios and audition information. Why not? There’s honestly nothing to lose, was the mindset I developed as auditions approached. So I went for it. I auditioned. I prepared the song “Too Darn Hot” from “Kiss Me Kate,” sang some scales with the pianist and did a cold reading. Next thing I know, I got a callback. They wanted to see more of me. It was for a small role, but it was a chance to sell myself again. I went to callbacks where we danced, sang and read for different characters. I
experimented, had lots of laughs and a ton of fun in the process. And that evening, I got the phone call. Some people dream of originating a stage role in their career, whether in a Broadway musical or with a theatre company in Los Angeles. But here I was, only four previous musical productions under my belt, presented with the opportunity to originate the role of Dwayne in “Octets: A New Musical.” I found this to be an exciting, once-ina-lifetime opportunity, but I started to worry about what was in store having not read the full script, not knowing much about the music and not knowing how worthwhile a student production would be. My worries and doubts were proven wrong. Getting into the routine of rehearsals was somewhat rough. The lead character, Clay, has a line about “busting his ass with nineteen hardcore credit hours,” and I was quite literally experiencing that. Finding time to commit myself to everything I was involved in — juggling twenty credit hours, choir, an a cappella group, my school work and auditions for summer work — on top of this musical was difficult. And the fact that I was the first to portray the role of Dwayne scared me. Dwayne is the average jock, a social butterfly, who always knows what to say at the right time. I am the opposite of him. This character challenged me to step out of my comfort zone as an actor, but I always worried: Am I doing this character justice? Am I embodying what the playwright had in mind when writing this character?
With this concern came a lot of character work. Establishing a middle and last name, age, job or hobbies, interests, personality type and relationships with the other characters helped me along the journey of becoming Dwayne. Creating Dwayne’s background wasn’t challenging, but not having someone explicitly telling me whether my interpretations were right or wrong left me anxious. “Octets” itself is an ensemble heavy show, so each character, no matter how big or small, drives the plot in some fashion. So much work went into learning the music, the choreography and the blocking that the closer we got to show week, the more I just wanted to get it over with. We had our good rehearsals, but we also had our fair share of bad rehearsals. At some points in the process, I saw the potential for a great show, but there were many times where I was so discouraged that I wanted to quit. The Thursday rehearsal before show week, by the time we had finished learning all of the music, choreography and blocking, we were doing full runs. Right from the start of our run, I knew it wasn’t going to be our best. With a reality check form the director, we picked up our energy for the second act, but overall our performance was disappointing, causing me to doubt if we’d have a good show by opening night. All of my doubts subsided by our opening night performance, the world premiere of “Octets: A New Musical.” All of our time, energy and efforts throughout the rehearsal process were going to finally pay off. Having the opportunity to perform an original student work in front of four sold out crowds, to originate
a role in such an early stage in my theatre career, to make art with such a talented group of students is an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. This project made me realize the power in optimism and community. We had our highs and lows throughout the process, but we all kept going. The playwright and director, Austin Lamewona, was vulnerable enough to take his three year project idea and turn it into a reality, not knowing what the outcome would be. He saw potential in his work, in me and in the entirety of the cast. We all made sacrifices, we all faced challenges, but we collectively overcame them in the process. And most importantly, we all put on a damn good show. And the audience feedback was overwhelmingly positive: “It wasn’t what I was expecting, but in a good way.” “It blew my socks off. It was vibrant and somewhat representative of today’s campus culture. I think this show could make it big someday.” “It was refreshing to see a show about young people that wasn’t very clearly written and designed by older people. One of my favorite things was seeing my friends in a show that was so authentic in nature, and conveyed mental health and interpersonal conflict in a realistic way.” “This production was very professional in every aspect.” Being a part of this project made me realize my love for what I do, and I am glad to have gone through the journey with an extraordinary group of people. smithd21@miamioh.edu
MITCHE49@MIAMIOH.EDU
CULTURE 5
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2018
A night of hole foods at the Bagel & Deli competition STUDENT LIFE
MADDIE TOOLE STAFF WRITER
“And your time begins now!” And with that, a room full of anxious amatuer chefs excitedly began to design their own bizarre food inventions. MAP’s third-annual Bagel & Deli Competition had commenced. With 30 minutes to choose from an array of bread, meat, cheese, spread, toppings, chips and sauces, there was no time to spare. In order to win, an eye-pleasing sign had to be drawn, the dish needed to be named and the bagel needed to be impeccable. One team drew an elaborate turkey and an angry pig to depict their turkey and bacon masterpiece while another decided how to concoct the spiciest sandwich possible. After the design process, the sandwiches were built and heated, and then the taste-testing began. Bagel & Deli co-owner Gary Franks judged the event, hoping for a creative medley of
GARY FRANKS JUDGES TASTY ENTRIES AT THE BAGEL & DELI COMPETITION. SABIK AKAND THE MIAMI STUDENT
ingredients from each two-tofour-person group. “Obviously, taste is the first and foremost,” Franks said. “But, it has to be something that is not too crazy, so that people will order it.” The winning sandwich will be sold at Bagel & Deli, with the
sign posted on the wall with the other iconic bagels. “If it catches on, we might leave it up there for good,” Franks said. Franks said it isn’t possible to choose a favorite bagel from the collection of permanent sandwiches sold at Bagel
& Deli. But if he had to decide, it would be between the Get Swanked, the Konrad or the Burt Reynolds. The entries ranged from a spicy Dragon bagel — stuffed with pepperoni and spicy mustard — to a Shrek bagel. According to the judges, it was a
PanFest: Feel the steel
very difficult decision, with six bagels that were really good. As the judges deliberated, contestants chowed down on the bagels they had just created. The room, happy and stuffed full of hole foods, buzzed in anticipation of the announced winner. Second place was handed to the “Jam It In There,” a blueberry bagel jammed with jelly, cream cheese, turkey, bacon and swiss cheese. Their artful sign, the one with the angry pig and turkey, received a shoutout from co-owner Franks for being the best. The winning combo was a blueberry bagel filled with sausage, cream cheese, cinnamon and butter, entitled The Breakfast Buffet. The victorious team donned their new Bagel & Deli shirts, and made plans to order The Breakfast Buffet the next time they are Uptown. The other teams, however unsuccessful, left feeling content and inspired to order some crazy bagel combinations. toolemb@miamioh.edu
Down the ‘Rabbit Hole’ of tragedy and grief THEATRE
ZOEY BECKER
THE MIAMI STUDENT
THE STEEL DRUM BAND FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON PERFORMED AT PANFEST THIS PAST SATURDAY. BO BRUECK THE MIAMI STUDENT
MUSIC
MAYA FENTER STAFF WRITER
Dr. Chris Tanner pulled his pair of drumsticks from his back pocket and clicked them together to silence the cacophony in room seven in the basement of Presser Hall. It was 7:45 p.m. and the members of Miami University’s Steel Band had spent the last 15 minutes lugging blue, maroon and black steel drum cases into the room one by one, hanging the instruments on their stands and warming up. Everyone was playing a different tune at a different time. It was their last rehearsal before PanFest on Saturday, April 14. Their practice agenda was scrawled on the whiteboard and consisted of three songs that they were going to perform: 7:45 Supercharger 8:05 Acadia Sunset 8:25 Conquerors PanFest is a steel band musical showcase and one of the biggest steel band gatherings in the United States. This year’s show featured bands from the University of Akron, Canal Winchester High School, Talawanda High School, Toledo School for the Arts, Bowling Green State University, Elder High School, Clark Montessori High School and the Divine Steel Community Band. Miami also welcomed special guest Liam Teague, professor of music and head of steelpan studies at Northern Illinois University and world-renowned steelpan artist. He is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, which is where the steelpan originated. It’s the the first time Miami has hosted the event since 2011. A black curtain hanging from the ceiling divided Millett Hall in half. On one side, seven rows of steel drums — enough for all 150 musicians — sat waiting to be played, the red and blue spotlights illuminating their metal exteriors. They were set up in circles of six tall bass steel drums, sets of two or three steel drums for playing chords and harmonies and single
drums for playing the melody. The drums were joined by other percussion instruments such as a cowbell and a drum kit. On the other side of the curtain, the musicians stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the stands, posing for a pre-show group photo. The members of Miami’s Steel Band wore different colored polo shirts — some green, some orange, some blue and some purple. The band is comprised of 40 students of all majors. They had to audition to earn a spot, but didn’t need to have played steel drums before — the majority of the students hadn’t. They just had to be able to read sheet music. From behind the curtain, Miami’s band cheered, hyping themselves up for the show that was about to begin. The show opened with Miami’s Steel band performing several pieces with the band from the University of Akron — Miami on the right and Akron on the left, wearing their purple steel drum band t-shirts. One piece featured solos from Liam Teague and a student from the University of Akron, both of whom were standing front and center of the band. The crowd cheered a little extra for the two soloists after the piece was over. Teague stepped to the left and motioned toward the other student soloist, letting him soak up the audience’s recognition. Teague and the student shook hands, then pulled each other in for a hug. A low chime tone rang through the hall. The musicians stood with their heads bowed, arms at their sides, grasping their mallets. It was the only time during the night that they stood motionless. It marked the beginning of “We Are Conquerors,” the intense 8-minute piece that Teague arranged in 2017 for Panorama, a steelband competition in Trinidad and Tobago. In his introduction, Teague admitted that this is a challenging piece. Miami’s band had been practicing it since late October. Teague used his mallets to tap out
the opening rhythm on the outside of the steel pan, creating a hollow, tinny sound. The taps sped up, leading into the band exploding with sound and motion. They tapped their feet, jumped up and down and swayed back and forth while playing their instruments. Before the final three pieces of the night, Miami and Akron’s steel bands changed out of their uniforms and into white PanFest shirts to match the other musicians. You couldn’t tell who was from where — they were all one big band. With over 125 people playing at once, the sound was louder and fuller. Their last song, “Supercharger,” was an upbeat tune that had everyone jumping around, including one boy, about 5 years old, who was flailing his arms and shuffling his feet in the aisle of the stands. After the song ended, the student seated behind the drum kit hit the bass pedal and all of the performers bowed. But they weren’t done yet. “How about one more?” Dr. Tanner asked over the microphone. But it was more of a statement than a question. The audience cheered. “I won’t introduce the next song,” Dr. Tanner continued. “You all probably know it. If you want to sing along, please do!” “Play ‘Freebird!’” a member of the audience shouted. “Unfortunately, it is not ‘Freebird,’” Dr. Tanner said, laughing. Everyone sang along as the mega steel band played a rendition of “I’m a Believer.” The echo of the final note was cut short by the crowd’s applause and cheers as they rose to give a standing ovation. Everyone could feel the steel. And it wasn’t the shock of cold unforgiving metal being pressed onto bare skin. It was the warm pang of the mallets hitting the drums. The effortlessly tropical sound, and the energy that flooded the entire room. fentermc@miamioh.edu
“Rabbit Hole,” written by David Lindsay-Abaire, will be performed at the Oxford Community Arts Center on Friday, April 20. The play revolves around a couple grieving the loss of their young son after a car accident. The show only has five characters: the mother, the father, the grandmother, the mother’s sister and the teenage boy who hit the couple’s son with his car. Each character works through their grief differently, trying to move forward with their lives. The play puts a spotlight on the strained relationship of the married couple. Director Becky Howard describes the play as a character study into people’s different forms of grief. “It’s not this horribly sad play that is going to make you cry the whole time,” Howard said. “There is some humor in it too because for a lot of people humor is the way that you deal with grief.” The play uses heavy symbolism to communicate its message. The stage is set with a monochrome set: A kitchen, living room and dining room are dressed with dark colors and stark lines. The costumes are dark too, contributing to the scene. The room of the dead son, which sits at front of the stage, is thrown into bright prominence against the background. “The idea is that this is the little boys room and they haven’t dismantled it even months later,” Howard said. “So his room is the only part of the set that has any color or any softness. The only other times there is any color in the set is when the mother is folding some of her late son’s clothes and when flowers are put in a vase at the end of the show.” Howard has been working with the Oxford Community Arts Center since 1989, and she has lost count of how many productions she’s been involved with — her best guess is more than 70. “In community theater, there is never enough time because it’s so dependent on people’s schedules and lives,” Howard said. The cast and crew for “Rabbit Hole” has been working on the show since late February, rehearsing two evenings a week and Saturday mornings. Actor Matt Benzing, who plays Howie (the father), finds the dark premise of the show compelling to act in. “Howie is struggling with a lot of conflicts,” Benzing said. “He doesn’t want to let go of his son and he wants things to go back to the way they were, but you can’t get past that and I find that interesting.” Benzing started working with the Oxford Community Arts Center when he was a student at Miami in 1986. Since his return to Ohio in 2015, he has gotten involved in the program again. He finds this show a nice break from his usual comedic roles. This show is a brutally realistic look at the effects of a personal tragedy. “The characters aren’t just relatable, they are complex and not always likeable,” Howard said. “I like that in a show. I like that at the end of the show the author doesn’t tie it up neatly, he doesn’t end it with a happily ever after. I think it’s a beautifully written play and compelling story.” “Rabbit Hole” will be performed on April 20, 21, 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. and April 22 and 29 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased online or in person at the Oxford Community Arts Center. The theater will feature cabaret style seating, complete with tables, chairs and wine. beckerzf@miamioh.edu
FOOD
6
Cooking with Flowers
Stories by Jack Evans & Emily Williams. Photos by Jugal Jain
For these recipes, we used two flowers which tend to be easiest to find in grocery stores — lavender and hibiscus — but there are dozens of other common blooms (rose buds, sunflower petals, violets, daisies, even dandelions) which transition easily from garden to kitchen.
ILLUSTRATION: NINA WILLIS
Quesadillas with Sautéed Hibiscus Flowers A floral twist on a cheesy Mexican staple
You’re probably a little skeptical, maybe nervous even, to take a handful of flowers — something you don’t usually associate with eating — and sauté it in a skillet. That’s understandable. So let’s find some common ground here: a quesadilla. Put almost anything between two fresh tortilla shells, cram it with cheese that will ooze and melt as it sizzles in a skillet, and you almost invariably have something delicious. So why not add flowers to the mix? Dried hibiscus, in particular, is considered a delicacy in Mexico. Known as flor de jamaica, it’s present in many Mexican households, mostly used to make agua de jamaica — a traditional mid-day cold beverage that’s prepared like lemonade. Hibiscus concentrate is diluted with water and sweetened with sugar. Recently, though, more cooks and even bakers have incorporated hibiscus into dishes like enchiladas, sweet and savory salsas and tangy cakes.
Hibiscus Daiquiri
Tangy blossoms bolster a classic cocktail For the cocktail: 2 parts white rum ¾ part fresh lime juice 1 part hibiscus simple syrup
If you’re trying these recipes while in Oxford, the best bet to get your all of your ingredients in one place is Jungle Jim’s. About 40 minutes from campus, the sprawling store carries foods from over 70 countries and stocks several types of dried, edible petals in its organic spices section.
3 large avocados 1 bunch fresh cilantro 2 cups dried hibiscus flowers 10 flour tortillas 3 cups queso fresco 2 garlic cloves Ground ancho chili Cumin Cooking oil Salt and pepper, to taste
FOOD 7
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2018
One of the best things about cooking, baking or drinking with hibiscus is that, no matter what, the byproduct of your preparation can also be used. In this recipe, you can use the juice drained from the hibiscus to make tea, flavor water or mix with seltzer. Plus, no one can deny the satisfaction of crafting a vibrantly colored meal. This quesadilla, with its shock of magenta hibiscus against crumbly white queso fresco and a pile of verdant produce puts most boring cheese quesadillas’ color palettes to shame. To prepare the hibiscus: Hibiscus is naturally very tart, so with this process, your goal is to both counteract and play off of that tartness using onion, garlic and spices. To make 10 fold-over quesadillas (that’s one tortilla folded for each rather than two tortillas stacked with ingredients between), you’ll need about 2 cups of dried hibiscus. It’s usually priced per pound, so you’ll be able to buy all the hibiscus you need for just a few dollars. Measure out your hibiscus and add it to a pot along with about 8 cups of water. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce the heat, letting the hibiscus simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes. While the hibiscus is on the stove, dice one large onion and mince two cloves of garlic, which you’ll briefly set aside. Strain the hibiscus over a bowl or other large container so you can save the juice for drinking. Transfer the now-rehydrated hibiscus to a large skillet with about a tablespoon of oil over
medium heat. Add the onion first, stirring until translucent before adding your minced garlic. Season with ground ancho chili, cumin, kosher salt and a bit of black pepper. To assemble: Once your hibiscus mixture is prepared, the rest of the process is just like assembling any other quesadilla. Cover one half of a tortilla shell with queso fresco. You can substitute with another cheese, like jack or shredded “quesadilla” cheese, but we highly recommend getting queso fresco if you can. It will usually come in a large block, which you’ll need to crumble by hand, but it’s worth the extra effort. Then, layer on some of the hibiscus, about 3 or 4 flowers per quesadilla and a few slices of fresh avocado. Sprinkle some chopped, fresh cilantro over top, fold the tortilla and add it to a skillet on medium heat with about a tablespoon of oil. To serve: Once the quesadilla is golden brown on each side, slice in thirds and plate with a dollop of sour cream or guacamole. Top with a squeeze of fresh lime and a sprinkle of fresh cilantro. Serve to unadventurous eaters without specifying what’s inside and watch their surprise when you answer the question, “So, what’s that delicious purple stuff?”
For the hibiscus syrup: 2 cups water 2 cups sugar 1 cup dried hibiscus blossoms (or the contents of 10 hibiscus tea bags) If you pick five bars at random from across the United States and order a daiquiri at each, there’s a good shot you’ll end up with five wildly different drinks. More so than any other modern cocktail, the daiquiri is a family of beverages rather than a specific drink with a consistent recipe. But whether it’s a frozen strawberry concoction churned in an ICEE machine or a dry Hemingway Daiquiri shaken into a martini glass, three things tie all those disparate daiquiris together: rum, lime and something sweet. The classic daiquiri was (supposedly) first mixed by Jennings Cox, a mining engineer in Cuba during the Spanish Civil War. He based the drink off the American whiskey sour and the two share the same basic structure (liquor, citrus and sugar). Cox wanted to call the drink “Tum Sour,” but a friend suggested he name it “Daiquiri” after a small village near the mine where Cox worked. The suggestion stuck and the Daiquiri was born. The International Bartender’s Association recipe calls for 9 parts rum, 5 parts lime juice and 3 parts simple syrup. But, in the spirit of variance, we used slightly different (and easier to measure) proportions: 2 parts of rum, ¾ part fresh lime juice, and 1 part sweet stuff. For the sweet stuff, we cooked up some hibiscus syrup. While hibiscus might have been an unusual (though tasty) choice for a cheesy, crispy dish like quesadillas, the tart and tropical flower is a natural companion to booze — especially rum. The hibiscus syrup is a quick variation of simple syrup. First, mix 2 cups of water and sugar together in a pot. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon and bring it to a boil. Once all the sugar is dissolved into the water, take the pot off the heat and dump in a cup of those beautiful blossoms. After they’ve steeped for about 15 minutes, remove the blossoms with a slotted spoon and let the syrup come down to room temperature. When it’s cooled, filter the syrup through a sieve and pour into a glass bottle or jar — a funnel helps
at this step. Instead of throwing the flowers away, try snacking on them. They’re sweet and tangy, similar to cranberries, and have a texture and chewiness similar to fruit leather. You can also place the blossoms into an ice cube tray, cover with water and freeze for a head-turning way to keep your drink frosty. Admire the deep-red syrup and take a whiff. It should smell bright and floral. From here, the rest is easy. Pour the rum, lime juice and syrup into a glass over ice and stir. If you’re a purist, daiquiris should be shaken, but I left my shaker and strainer at home. But really, it’s going to taste great either way. Drink, and welcome spring into Southwest Ohio with a hibiscus-stained smile on your face.
Lavender Lime Refresher 2 parts gin 1 part lime juice 4 part club soda 1 dash simple syrup 4 dashes lavender bitters
Once you start cooking with flowers, it’s not easy to stop. But it’s doubly hard to stop drinking with them. With the mingling aromas of chopped lavender and boiled hibiscus drifting around the kitchen, it starts to feel like all things would taste a little better, go down a little smoother, if they were just more floral. This drink came out of one of those petal-fueled notions. The proportions were based off those of a poorly-made Old Fashioned. These days, most barfolk are in agreement that any more than a dash of club soda ruins that classic whiskey cocktail, but quite a few out-of-vogue recipes call for several ounces of the stuff. In this case, we were aiming for something much lighter than an Old Fashioned — and gin goes much better with club soda, so I kept the proportions high. Beyond that, I upped the presence of citrus and did a flavor-profile swap: lime for orange, gin for whiskey and lavender bitters — the floral key — for angostura bitters, which are herbal rather than floral. The flowery daydream turned out better than might have been expected, gin-jacking a whiskey drink like that. The result was something light, tart and only vaguely sweet, perfect to slice through a crispy, gooey quesadilla.
Lavender & Lime Shortbread Cookies For the cookies: 1 cup flour ¼ cup sugar ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter ¼ tsp salt 1 ½ tsp dried culinary lavender ½ tsp lime zest ¼ tsp vanilla extract 1 squeeze of lime juice For the glaze: 1 cup powdered sugar 2 to 3 tbsp milk ¼ tsp vanilla extract ¼ tsp lime zest ¼ tsp dried culinary lavender Like any shortbread cookie, these are buttery and light, but the lime zest and lavender make things more interesting. The cookie starts sharp and sweet with citrus, melts to butter and vanilla and finishes with earthy, floral lavender. Yes, that’s a lot for a little cookie. But it’s true. Start by measuring out all of your dried lavender (1 ½ teaspoon for the cookies and another ¼ of a teaspoon for the glaze) and use a sharp knife to finely cut the dried flowers until it forms a texture closer to a powder. This will also release more of the flowers’ aroma, so if your house is in need of an air freshener, and you’re out of candles, this smell will do the trick for at least a few hours after you’ve finished baking. For the batch pictured, we actually used dried lavandin since the store was out of lavender. Lavender and lavandin are almost identical in taste and appearance, but lavandin has longer, more pointed flower spikes and a slightly stronger aroma and flavor. BeCREATIVE COMMONS
cause of that difference, use about a ¼ of a teaspoon less when substituting with lavandin. Set the lavender aside for a minute and use a handheld or standing mixer to combine one stick of unsalted butter and ¼ cup of sugar. Add your flour, 1 ½ teaspoons of the finely cut lavender, salt, vanilla extract and lime zest. Cut your lime in half, give it one firm squeeze over the bowl and mix again. The trickiest thing about shortbread dough is its consistency. It’s best, particularly if you’re a shortbread cookie newbie, to not think of the dough as cookie dough. Structurally, the crumbly consistency is much more similar to a pie crust than a batch of sugar cookies. And that’s okay. It’s necessary, actually, for the cookies to retain their shape, that the dough be crumbly but packable, like the kind of snow that makes really good snowballs. Place the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, and pack it into a log about 1-inch in diameter. Once wrapped, slightly roll or smooth out the dough to
achieve the desired shape (think: a roll of slice-andbake cookies from the grocery store). Put the dough in the fridge for about 20 to 30 minutes while you prepare the glaze. In a bowl, combine powdered sugar, lime zest and the remaining lavender. Add in milk, a tablespoon at a time, stirring and combining until it reaches the level of thickness and sweetness you prefer. Sneak a taste or two before you set the glaze aside to preheat the oven (300 degrees) and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Unwrap the chilled dough, and cut it into about 12 to 13 ½-inch circles. Space them evenly apart on the lined sheet and bake for about 12 minutes. Let the cookies cool before drizzling on the glaze or, if you’re bringing them to a get-together, stack the cookies in a container and bring the glaze on the side. If you’re out of powdered sugar or feeling a little lazy, skip the glaze all together and dunk the cookies in a strong cup of black coffee.
8 FYI
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2018
NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET
Karen Dawisha 1949-2018
Named the Best College Newspaper (Non-daily) in Ohio by the Society of Professional Journalists.
JACK EVANS
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KAREN WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN WIKIPEDIA
FROM PAGE 1
Europe. As the Center’s founding director, she arrived in Oxford in 2000 and established programs for undergraduate and postdoctoral fellows, an annual Young Researchers Conference and a colloquium lecture series. A highly respected scholar herself, with a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics, Dawisha published six books, including 2006’s “Putin’s Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?”, a staple of modern-day Russian studies that earned international acclaim. Her other titles include “Eastern Europe, Gorbachev and Reform: The Great Challenge” and “Russia and the New States of Eurasia: The Politics of Upheaval”. “There’s this famous photograph of her with Putin,” Ganev said, “and it’s obvious that he couldn’t ignore her.” Nor could anyone at Miami: Dawisha became a founding co-president of Miami’s American Association of University Professors (AAUP) advocacy chapter in 2015. “She had the respect of pretty much everyone in the university. She was definitely a force to be reckoned with. At the same time, she was an incredibly nice person. I never saw or heard her say anything unpleasant or treat anybody with anything other than respect and kindness,” AAUP secretary Deborah Lyons said. “Quite a high-wire act she pulled off.” And when Dawisha’s term as AAUP co-president ended with her retirement, she expressed confidence in her successors. “I remember her saying, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be around.’ I was just thinking about that, how sad it is that she actually isn’t going to be around for us anymore,” Lyons said. She’ll be mourning Dawisha as a leader and as a friend. “I knew her as this very gracious, energetic, interesting woman who also knew how to throw a party,” Lyons said. Dawisha, her husband Adeed said, was fun and funny. She
“Fierce in her ideas, fierce in her advocacy for young scholars, fierce in her advocacy for studying this region, fierce in her fight against cancer at the end.” liked to travel, for work and for pleasure. She enjoyed cooking and good beer. She was part of a group for women triathletes over the age of 50. “She was fierce,” said Stephen Norris, Havighurst Center interim director. “Fierce in her ideas, fierce in her advocacy for young scholars, fierce in her advocacy for studying this region, fierce in her fight against cancer at the end.” She read Russian newspapers, in Russian, on a daily basis. Her music tastes ranged from classical — including Russian greats Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky — to Billie Holiday and Brazilian jazz. And she introduced her children, Nadia and Emile, to a wide range of culture. “[My mother] was very much somebody who emphasized community, so we had people from all over the world at our house all the time for dinners and for parties,” Nadia Dawisha said. “My brother and I grew up to be very open-minded because we were just surrounded by so many different types of people from all different walks of life.” Now, many of those people are sending Nadia their condolences. “I’m getting messages and emails from Ph.D. candidates and students that she mentored all around the world saying that she really shaped the trajectory of their lives,” Nadia Dawisha said. Venelin Ganev, now a professor of political science, counts himself among them. “If I can be half as good a mentor to the young professors that we now hire and nurture, half as good as she was with me, I’ll consider that to be an absolute success,” Ganev said. Even Ganev’s female peers in graduate school idolized Daw-
isha. For many of them, she was the first successful female political scientist they knew of. “She was the role model,” he said, “because that’s the woman who made it.” That influence extended to Nadia, who earned her Ph.D last year and is an advocate for survivors of sexual violence. “A lot of work that I do now definitely was inspired by her and by her insistence that we live in a world where women are taken as seriously as men,” Nadia said. While Nadia worked on her Ph.D in North Carolina, Karen would visit once a semester, taking her daughter grocery shopping and to get a massage. “She was like a little Mary Poppins,” Nadia said, laughing. “Sometimes she would come home and immediately come to my apartment and immediately start cleaning my apartment and rearranging everything.” Dawisha’s maternal instincts extended to her friend, anthropology professor Linda Marchant, as well. “She was very kind to me at a very low point in my life, and it was almost like she adopted me,” Marchant said. “Like, ‘You’re going to come over to my house and have dinner,’ and so I did.” Dawisha and Marchant often saw one another at faculty committee meetings. “If Karen were here,” Marchant said, “she could probably tell you the day and the hour” when they became friends. “My first response [when we met] was, ‘She’s the smartest person in the room,’” Marchant said. “She was a natural teacher. She could sort of unpack a problem and lay it out and then put it back together and at the end, you felt like you just had a lecture from a genius.”
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Now hiring page designers paid position miamistudent.net/join-us Often, those lectures came while Dawisha and Marchant were exercising together — in a four-month span, the two tackled a half-marathon, a 10K and a 14K. “That’s how I got my private tutorial in Russian politics: walking and talking and exercising,” Marchant said. Their workout routine slowed when Dawisha was diagnosed with cancer in fall 2016, but she took pride in seeing the birth of her first grandchild, Emile’s son Theo, who was born in October. Adeed Dawisha said his wife’s experience with cancer changed his perception of her. “She had so much courage and fortitude. It really floored me. I knew that she was a remarkable woman before, but I did not know the extent of how remarkable she was until she was basically facing
death,” he said. The proprietor of the rehab facility where Dawisha spent her last days pulled Adeed aside, telling him, ‘“Karen is — will be — a lesson to all of us. I have never seen a person dying with such dignity.” Ganev called Dawisha’s friendship “one of the most precious relationships I’ve ever had.” “For me,” he said, “I will always try to behave in ways that I think won’t disappoint her.” Karen Dawisha died the morning of Wednesday, April 11 at her home in Oxford, surrounded by family and friends. A memorial service will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 5. @MeganZahneis zahneime@miamioh.edu
GREEK LIFE’S LACK OF DIVERSITY MEANS MIXED EXPERIENCES FROM FRONT
ident, said the council has plans to cooperate closely on events with IFC and Panhellenic for the fall. Forging a stronger relationship with the other two councils has been a focus for her presidency. “In the past, we kind of just get invited to things that we don’t really feel pertain to us, or we don’t really feel like you actually wanted to include us,” Solomon said. “But now we’re definitely moving in a better direction of getting invited to plan things instead of just getting invited to attend.” Solomon meets weekly with IFC President Stephen Golonka and Panhellenic President Emily Wolfzorn, as well as a monthly Tri-Council meeting with every chapter’s president. Solomon said she has focused on making NPHC more visible on campus and in the community to showcase what the council has to offer. “I think sometimes people just don’t realize there is another council on this campus besides IFC and Panhellenic,” Solomon said. “But, I think that once they un-
derstand who we are and how we function, I think that they’re very welcoming.” Recently elected Student Body Vice President Vincent Smith said he wanted to encourage a closer relationship between NPHC and the other two councils to involve more people in their philanthropic activities, making a greater impact on the community. Smith and Student Body President Meaghan Murtagh also hope to implement diversity training for all Miami students. Smith, who’s African-American, said he doesn’t feel he’s ever been treated differently in his fraternity, Delta Sigma Phi. Smith has served as vice president of academics and parent coordinator and for Delta Sigma Phi, and said he sees other minority students in leadership roles throughout Greek life. “There is a small number of us, but the ones that are [Greek] do feel comfortable in the sororities and fraternities with their brothers and sisters overall, at least the people I know,” Smith said. However, junior Lexi Sloan-Harper feels differently. While in Delta Delta Del-
ta (Tri Delt), Sloan-Harper said members usually tried to make her feel welcome, but she experienced microaggressions as a student of color in a primarily white sorority. One time, Sloan-Harper wasn’t allowed into a bar for a sorority social when all her white friends were. Sloan-Harper said there was no discernible reason she wasn’t allowed in except for the fact that she looked different. “It just makes you feel not wanted,” Sloan-Harper said. “I obviously know why, but why did you have to single me out like that?” Sloan-Harper dropped Tri Delt last semester because of the cost and wanted to focus more on her major. Initially, she felt lonely without her sorority since she didn’t have any events to go to. But eventually, Sloan-Harper realized it was the right decision for her since she was better able to focus on herself and her studies. Last week, four members of Delta Zeta (DZ) were expelled from the sorority after a video circulated through social media of them repeatedly singing the N-word in the song “Freaky Friday” by Lil Dicky and
Chris Brown. DZ’s national organization released a statement condemning the video. Colleen Blevins, associate director of the Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said the Cliff Office will work with DZ on educational programming to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future. The office already expects chapters to create inclusive environments. Wolfzorn said the incident was not reflective of the values of the Panhellenic and the Greek community as a whole. “We strive to empower and support our members in all of their identities and to better our communities and campus,” Wolfzorn said. Wolfzorn said Panhellenic plans to add a director of diversity to the executive board, provide resources for chapter leaders to facilitate conversations about diversity and update the Greek StepUp curriculum to address issues of intolerance and racism. “I’m never surprised by racism, I’m just always disappointed,” Sloan-Harper said.
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GRANT BRINGS BCRTA CLOSER TO BUILDING NEW OXFORD STATION EMILY FROUDE
THE MIAMI STUDENT
The Butler County Regional Transit Authority (BCRTA) was recently awarded $2.6 million through the federal Competitive Bus Grant Program. It is one of only five transit stations in Ohio to receive an award this year. The grant will eventually be used to construct a new bus station on Chestnut Street in Oxford. This station will be on land formerly used by the old Talawanda High School building, which was purchased by Miami University in 2014. Although the entire $9 million cost of the new station will not be covered by the Competitive Bus Grant, David Creamer, Miami’s Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Services, anticipates that the project will receive more financial awards. “We expect that this initial funding will increase the prospects for the full grant request to be funded at some point in the future,” Creamer said. The BCRTA partnered with Miami, the City of Oxford and the Talawanda School district when applying for the grant last fall. This is the first grant the BCRTA has received to fund the new station after several years of applying for the U.S. Department of Transportation Tiger Grant without success, BCRTA’s Executive Director Matthew Dutkevicz said. Although construction cannot begin on the new station until the financial gap is closed, the BCRTA has drawn up plans for the proposed Chestnut Street station. The blueprints include spaces for bus repairs, bus parking and local offices. The current maintenance facilities are about 19 miles away from Oxford, in Hamilton, OH. The station will additionally serve
as a hub for bus passengers changing from regional, local or Barons interurban buses. Barons buses connect Oxford with various midwestern cities including Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. The current Barons bus stop in Oxford is on Maple Street near Shriver Center. Dutkevicz discussed how the new station can be used by many within the Miami community. “This facility would also have the potential to be an easy starting point for visitors to park a car and ride the bus around town or maybe even grab a bikeshare some day,” he said. “This facility will also have a nexus to the developing Oxford Area Trails Network.” With a location adjacent to the railroad tracks, the station may also serve as a future Amtrak stop in Oxford, both Creamer and Dutkevicz said. Beyond serving Miami students, who currently have limited transportation options, the Chestnut Street station will better connect Oxford to the surrounding region. City managers in Middletown and Trenton wrote letters in support of the grant. They encouraged the federal government to consider giving the grant to the BCRTA system so people who work at Miami and in Oxford, but don’t live there, will be able to take public transportation to their jobs. “Construction of the proposed facilities will connect real jobs to areas in need of employment opportunities, like Middletown,” Middletown city manager, Doug Adkins said. “That will serve as a vital economic boost to these areas by connecting Butler County to employers in the area including the region’s largest employer, Miami University.” The Butler County Visitors Bureau also wrote a letter of support
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for the station, which it says will also allow people to more easily travel to Oxford for shopping and entertainment and provide Oxford with an economic boost. “Tourism is a more than $1 billion industry in Butler County and in particular Miami University is a major driver of visitors and students to our county,” said Mark Hecquet, Executive Director of the
Visitors Bureau. “Having a quality and accessible transportation network is paramount in welcoming and supporting the visitors to the county as well as making other cities in our county easily accessible.” Dutkevicz stressed the importance of the BCRTA-Miami partnership while planning for the new station. “Miami University recognizes the
value public transit brings to the University and the community and has been a committed partner in the process,” he said. The BCRTA hopes the project will be fully funded and construction underway within the next five years. froudeec@miamioh.edu @efroude24
Buzzing Around: Miami Apiculture Society brings new hives to campus FROM PAGE 14
bers of the organization attended beekeeping school in Verona, Ohio to get a more hands-on experience before the arrival of the new hive. Many of the other attendees were surprised to see such a strong level of commitment from young beekeepers, club “Beevangelist” Annie Lazarski, who handles education and outreach said. Dedication to beekeeping is the group’s core value. Nick Froehlich, president of the club, said that beekeeping is important to society as a whole. “[It is] one of the most important and not-talked-about issues of our time,” Froehlich said. “[Honey bees] are dying at an alarming rate.” According to a 2015 United Nations
report, 37 percent of bee species faced population decline in 2015. Additionally, 60 percent of all beehives in Ohio perished last year, Fetick said. Although members of the organization enjoy making puns and jokingly reference the 2004 film , “Bee Movie” frequently, they seriously r intend to take action at all costs to protect honey bees. “[There is] too much talk [about protecting honey bees] and not enough action,” Lazarski said. Members of the Apiculture Society include a wide variety of majors, from the Farmer School of Business to the Western program. Froehlich said that beekeeping is a unique opportunity for any college student to relax and unwind in nature. “College is really stressful,” Froehlich
RILEY WHITFIELD BECOMES ONE WITH THE HIVE AS HE GIVES THE “BEE OATH” ARTHUR NEWBERRY BEESIGN EDITOR
said. “A lot of people have lost a connection with the natural world.” Throughout the remainder of the semester, the organization plans to host unique bee themed events, such as a “bee prom.” The event will involve a picnic in “hive land,” the meadow behind Boyd Hall that will house the new hive. A screen will be in place that will allow students to observe the bees, without the added fear of being stung. Weekly meetings for Miami’s Apicul-
ture Society are at 6 p.m. on Wednesdays in Shideler Hall, room 9. Zomchek said he is 99 percent sure that this hive will be a success, due to students ability to listen and learn. “[The students] realize that they didn’t know it all [about beekeeping],” Zomchek said. “These colonies will not die…we will have thriving colonies.” creekce@miamioh.edu
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10 SIGNS YOUR DRINKING OR DRUG USE IS GETTING OUT OF CONTROL
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Live like Liv: Olivia Rusek goes pro FROM PAGE 14
out when she’s nervous. Eventually, Rusek wants to play in Poland. She dreams of playing for the Polish National Team, but knew she didn’t want to play in Poland right away. “I know what the Polish culture is like,” Rusek said. “I pretty much grew up in a Polish culture, even though I lived in America. So I kind of wanted to branch out and experience a different culture.” While overseas, Rusek plans to learn German — the primary language of Austria — even though she already speaks English, Polish, French and a little bit of Spanish. The opportunity to play overseas is simply the result of Rusek being herself and dominating on the court. Two summers ago, Rusek
and the RedHawks traveled to Europe and played games across the continent. The only loss the team suffered was, ironically, in Poland to the well-known team, Wieliczka Solna in the Orlen Liga -- Poland’s top league. Even in defeat, Rusek’s play impressed her opposition. Rusek also impressed her opposition when she went up to one of the Wieliczka Solna’s players after the game and surprised her by speaking fluent Polish. The player, Paulina Stojek, offered to friend Rusek on Facebook and tell her agent about the young Miami star. Rusek didn’t think much of the encounter until last December, when she got a Facebook message from Dariusz Grzyb. Grzyb wrote in Polish that he was Stojek’s agent and remembered hearing of her two years pri-
or.
After confirming he was legitimate, Rusek signed with Grzyb and waited while he looked for professional opportunities. Rusek received offers from teams in Finland, France, Germany, Poland and Slovenia, but in March, she decided to sign with Austria’s VC Tirol. Her sense of adventure and go-with-the-flow attitude put her in this position. Although, it helps that she’s 5’11” and can hit the cover off the ball. Now, it’s on to her next adventure in Innsbruck. She’s uncharacteristically nervous, but more excited. She’s ready to play volleyball as long as possible, but, when her career does end, Olivia Rusek will go wherever the wind takes her. vinelca@miamioh.edu @ChrisAVinel
BADASS SENIOR OLIVIA RUSEK LOVES TO TRAVEL AND SPENT J-TERM IN HAWAII. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY OLIVIA RUSEK
BAM 2.0 PLANS CONTINUE FROM PAGE 1
Pride Association and the Miami English Graduate Adjunct Association. Additionally, last Wednesday, April 11 BAM 2.0 released their second press release to the Miami community.
SENIOR CATCHER RYLEE WHISPEL PREPARES FOR A PITCH ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON AT THE MIAMI SOFTBALL COMPLEX. MACY WHITAKER THE MIAMI STUDENT
Softball RedHawks check in after MAC series win over Kent FROM PAGE 14
team they can be,” Crowell said. In her sixth year at the helm of Miami Softball, Crowell has experienced the ups and downs. In her first two years as head coach, her teams finished below .500 on the season and in conference play. Then, she coached the RedHawks to those three years of over .500 records, finishing 13-7, 15-7 and 14-9 in MAC play. The RedHawks currently sit second in the six-team, tightly contested MAC East. The ’Hawks share a 6-8 MAC record with Buffalo and Kent State, and trail the dominant Ohio University Bobcats who have logged a 12-1 conference record. Miami softball looks to the youth of its seven freshmen and four sophomores and the experience of three juniors and four seniors for a competitive run into the postseason. Senior outfielder Megan Wurts leads Miami with a .339 batting average, followed by freshman infielder Ashton Slone with a .316 mark and sophomore Haeley Tran’s
.280 record. Freshman pitcher Courtney Vierstra records an 2.34 ERA and is 13-10 on the season. “We don’t have a lot of seniority,” senior infielder Kat Lee said, “But I think we’re working on bouncing back and making sure that, no matter what, we’re fighting until the end – through that last pitch, that last out, no matter what the score is.” If this weekend is any indication, the 2017-18 RedHawks are ready for a fight and up for the challenge. Every game, the ’Hawks want to capitalize on two of the three elements of their game – pitching, hitting and defense. “We’ve got a good chance and if we can finish out strong we’ll have a good end to the year,” Crowell said. “I’m just really pleased with the way that we’re playing right now.” The RedHawks take on non-conference Wright State in a doubleheader tonight with first pitch being thrown at 5 p.m. at the Miami Softball Stadium. simansec@miamioh.edu @emilysimanskis
Harouna says mistaken identity prevented return FROM PAGE 14
nounced Harouna had reenrolled and would be able to play out his senior season in fall 2018 instead. For Harouna, the real frustration came from worrying that his career in basketball was in jeopardy. NCAA rules allow only four seasons of competition, of which the 2017-18 would have been his last. By the time the United States released Harouna from limbo, the season was well under way and Harouna was unable to rejoin the team.
But the saga ended well. Upon Harouna’s return, Miami University athletics worked to arrange to give Harouna back his final season of competition. Katherine Lawrence, academic coordinator for men’s basketball, said Harouna received a “missed-term exemption … only granted in cases of missing a semester due to circumstances out of his control.” Harouna intends to use this opportunity as motivation to be drafted into a professional league. tranhm@miamioh.edu
“Moving forward BAM 2.0 plans to continue meeting with administrators, addressing feasibility of demands, reaching out to student organizations about involvement in the movement, and connecting with faculty and staff members and encouraging them to take a stance
against racism and bigotry in all forms,” the organization wrote. BAM 2.0 plans to meet with President Greg Crawford this Friday, April 20 to discuss general updates for the movement, one of the BAM 2.0 founders and junior Aleah Holley said.
count down to earth day: 5 days nature is open 24 hours Haffey and Co. power Miami past Ball State FROM PAGE 14
back in the bottom of the fifth, junior right fielder Dallas Hall drove a two-run double to left, making it 7-4. Haffey hit two more home runs to finish 4-for-4 with three bombs, seven RBIs, five runs scored and two walks. The RedHawks used their highest-scoring output of the season to win 17-6. Sophomore Spencer Mraz (W, 4-0) was the winning pitcher, as he pitched seven innings and gave up six runs (five earned). He struck out six Cardinal batters. Originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, Game Two of the series was moved to Friday due to weather concerns. Haffey didn’t wait long to add to his home run total, crushing one over the fence as just the second batter of the game. Sophomore third baseman Landon Stephens followed Haffey with a triple and scored a few pitches later on a Senger sacrifice fly to give Miami a 3-0 cushion after a half inning of play. Continuing the fireworks, Ball State’s sophomore shortstop Noah Powell led off the bottom of the first with a dinger, cutting the Red and White’s lead to 3-1. Both teams went scoreless in the second -- a rare occurrence this weekend -- before Stephens cranked his second bomb of the day and freshman center fielder Parker Massman plated a run with an RBI double. Ball State fired right back with three runs to stay close at 5-4. Four more Miami runs crossed the plate in the top of the fourth, as Haffey hit an RBI double and
Stephens blasted a three-run dinger -- his second of the game and third of the afternoon. Haffey extended the lead to 11-5 with his fifth homer of the day in the sixth. Miami starter junior Zach Spears turned in five innings of work, giving up five runs, but striking out ten. Although the ‘Hawks held the lead when Spears was removed to start the bottom of the sixth, the usually solid Miami bullpen wouldn’t hold on for long. Three MU relievers combined to give up seven runs in a wild seventh inning that allowed the Cardinals to take a 12-11 lead. Following a trend this season, Miami didn’t go down without a fight. Down to their last out, the RedHawks knotted the contest at 12 with a bases-loaded walk in the top of the ninth. However, Ball State was about to get out of the bases-loaded jam without allowing the ‘Hawks to take the lead. Miami got a taste of its own medicine when Ball State’s senior second baseman Seth Freed hit a walk-off solo home run to gift the Cardinals with a 13-12 series-tying victory. Junior Shane Smith (L, 1-2) was dinged with the loss after giving up Freed’s walk-off blast. It was the only hit he surrendered in 1.1 innings pitched. The two teams got an off-day Saturday before Sunday’s series-finale. In predictable fashion, Ross Haffey went yard for the sixth time in the series to kick off Game Three’s scoring. The Cardinals responded right away – crushing a three-run homer of their own in the bottom of
the first to hold an early 3-1 lead. Miami cut its deficit to 3-2 in the top of the second. Massman started the inning with a single and was driven in on a double by junior left fielder Mackay Williams. The ‘Hawks jumped back in front that same inning as sophomore second baseman Will Vogelgesang recorded his first career home run -- a two-run shot -- to put MU up 4-3. After Ball State tallied two more runs, freshman Cristian Tejada came in from third on an infield single by Texidor to tie the score at five. Trying to catch up to Haffey, Stephens launched his fourth four-bagger of the weekend to put Miami ahead 6-5. That score would hold until the ninth inning. After allowing Freed’s walk-off home run on Friday, Shane Smith came on and redeemed himself, holding Ball State scoreless to clinch a 6-5 victory and a fourthstraight MAC series win. Junior Cole Gnetz got the win for his 2.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. He allowed two hits and one walk, while striking out six. The series victory marked the first time Miami has started 4-0 in MAC series since 2005. That season, the RedHawks won the MAC Tournament and received an NCAA Tournament berth. Miami hopes to carry over its weekend offensive performance into tonight when they travel to Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. vinelca@miamioh.edu @ChrisAVinel
DAVISKN3@MIAMIOH.EDU
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2018
OPINION 13
A.J. NEWBERRY NEWBERAJ@MIAMIOH.EDU
We’re riding Apple’s technological merry-go-round
ILLUSTRATION: CONNOR WELLS
EMILY DATTILO
THE MIAMI STUDENT
My friend’s laptop was on fire. Rewind a couple hours earlier to last Friday morning. My friends and I sat in geology, discussing rock formations. One of my friends mentioned her laptop was misbehaving, making strange noises and not connecting to the internet. I attributed it to Miami Wi-Fi, but little did I know, a small storm was brewing beneath that luminescent Apple logo. We headed to the bookstore after class, my friend hoping for a quick fix and easy answer. Unfortunately, in the short walk from Shideler to Shriver, her laptop had become even angrier, almost too hot to touch. The likely cause of the situation was uncovered when he asked the computer’s age.
My friend thought for a moment before answering, “probably around nine years old.” (Cue technician’s jaw dropping). He explained to my friend that Apple laptops are intended to last four to five years (if you’re lucky). Unfortunately, his technical rationale didn’t comfort my friend at all. Watching her laptop, still piping hot and now smoking, the technician quipped how if it had been colder outside, he’d just leave Mr. Macbook outside for a bit to cool off. My friend was not amused. Later that day, the smoking laptop basically exploded. My friend’s example depicts an experience endured by many Apple consumers. The company intentionally designs products with a set life-span. They sheepishly admitted this last year, in response to complaints regarding defective batteries.
According to Apple’s website, the company “is reducing the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $50 — from $79 to $29 — for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced, available worldwide through December 2018.” —A considerate, yet unexpected gesture. Iphones, iPads and Macbooks. Consistent updates, new features, new software but not always consistent quality. Yet millions of people buy again and again. For instance, I’d purchased an iPhone 6s a little over a year ago, and soon it began having problems. Bad problems. My screen developed a mind of its own — I’d be texting a friend and the screen would suddenly scroll upward by itself, sometimes sending the text before I’d clicked “send.” Random apps would open without me clicking anything. I stared at my five-by-seven inch rectangular companion, the one in charge of my apps, calendar, pictures and email, wondering what I’d done to deserve this. I felt cheated. Comfortable with the predictable two-year Verizon contracts, I fully expected my phone to last two years, but, needless to say, I was in for a rude awakening. For a moment, I contemplated getting off the Apple ride to see what else the carnival had to offer, but just couldn’t do it. Instead of leaving the ride, I bought another ticket. Having no desire to deal with a tempermental iPhone, I caved and bought a new one over winter break. Apple got me again. I believe somewhere inside each Apple product lies a miniature tick-tocking timer ready and waiting to cry “update please.” I should mention that tacking on a “please” doesn’t better the situation. This isn’t a re-
quest, it’s a mandate. More often than not, these devices develop internal problems that force users to buy new ones. It’s all part of the game. Most Miami students have laptops, and we use them for everything. Most of these laptops are MacBooks which cost between one and two thousand dollars. Having to worry about replacing these if they break down is an extra burden on college students already shelling out tens of thousands of dollars for their education. Apple smiles, knowing they’ve got millions of users riding their merry-go-round, distracting us with a beautiful camera, flawless apps and a sleek exterior design. The aesthetically-pleasing advertising never fails to impress and they continue to dominate the technology market. The line for the merry-go-round isn’t getting any shorter and it’s no wonder why. Apple has allowed us to essentially carry a computer in our pockets. Many of us take this privilege for granted, which justifies my first-world-problem rant. I own multiple Apple products and, when they work, I love them. Yet, this appreciation is limited when I consider how the business world operates. In a global technology market, profit aspiration supersedes moral obligation to consumers and this process will inevitably continue. Apple happily watches the money roll in, as the world rides its technological merry-goround. Whether consumers are enjoying the experience or not doesn’t matter; millions don’t leave the attraction because to them, it’s the best one at the carnival. dattilec@miamioh.edu
WRITE US A L ETTER TO T HE E DI TOR - E MA I L E I C@M I AM I S T U D ENT. NET
12 OPINION
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2018
DAVISKN3@MIAMIOH.EDU
When you use Facebook, know what you’re putting out there The following reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board. If you want to strap a parachute to your body and throw yourself out of a plane, you have to do some paperwork first. And before you do the paperwork, you have to watch an informational video. When you go skydiving, you’re presented with the potential risks upfront. In fact, the bulk of the experience is spent familiarizing yourself with the safety measures that go into leaping out of a moving aircraft and surviving the fall. You know what you’re signing up for. With Facebook, most people also know what they’re signing up for — to an extent. Joining Facebook is, obviously, much easier than arranging a skydiving trip. You can set up a profile in less than five minutes — trust us, we timed the process on Monday afternoon. Enter your name, email, password, birthday and you have
an account. Facebook does not present you with its information policies outright; you have to look for them. When you manage to nail a page down (try facebook.com/privacy/ explanation), it’s long enough that your average user isn’t going to take the time out of their day to comprehend it. Last week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress about the Cambridge Analytica breach (in which the political data firm accessed over 50 million users’ information while working for President Trump’s campaign). Zuckerberg acknowledged that Facebook put users’ privacy at risk during the 2016 presidential campaign, but defended his company. It’s understood that, when you use Facebook (or any social media platform), what you choose to post is public in some way. But unless you regularly venture down to the bottom of your homepage and explore the company’s privacy poli-
cies on your own, it’s easy to forget that your posts aren’t the only thing Facebook keeps tabs on. Our editor-in-chief downloaded all the information that facebook has collected on him (That’s something you can do, by the way: Go to the settings page and there should be a little green button). He doesn’t use Facebook much. Our opinion editor, who uses facebook regularly, has never seen him post. His Facebook data dump showed that 215 different advertisers used lists that contained his contact info, including HBO, the American Civil Liberties Union, Texas Motor Speedway (he’s never been to Texas) and the Department of Homeland Security. A lot of us made Facebook accounts in middle school. It’s not our fault that we didn’t realize how much we were actually signing up for, and it’s not our parents’ fault for letting us do that. How were they supposed to know, either?
How do people fall from grace?
ILLUSTRATION: NINA WILLIS
BEN FINFROCK
THE MIAMI STUDENT
When he sat down to testify before some of the most powerful leaders in our country, it was evident that Mark Zuckerberg had become a victim of his own ego. An image of a man who betrayed his followers and fans to benefit himself, has come to replace the persona of the cocky Harvard dropout who became a big success. This is his fall from grace, the disintegration of his reputation. How does this happen? How does someone damage their reputation and lose the respect of the public? Sometimes, men and women fall through no fault of their own. They are simply the victims of societal persecution because they’re different, and society is unable to accept their difference. This was the case in 1997, when Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian on her self-titled sitcom The resulting backlash caused her to lose her show, and damaged her career and reputation for years. Today, DeGeneres is rightfully recognized as a hero in the movement for LGBTQ equality. However, her fall from grace in 1997 was the result of nothing more than a society unable to accept her. While DeGeneres’ fall is not uncommon, more often we often see people with big egos, like Zuckerberg, fall as a result of their own bad decisions. The most common reason people gain a bad repu-
tation is not because they are different and society can’t accept this difference. But, rather because their ego infiltrates their head, they forget who they are, they lose their morals and make bad decisions. We see this almost every day. In fact, the majority of stories on the news are about people who lose their morals and make poor choices. Last fall, the news became dominated with stories about powerful men losing their jobs because they used their power to assault young women. Men such as Harvey Weinstein and Matt Lauer allowed power and status to get to their heads. As a result, their reputations will forever be tainted and their names will be synonymous with the word “scum.” Just this week, former FBI Director James Comey has found himself back in headlines after his tell-all interview with George Stephanopoulos to promote his new book, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership.” Two years ago, Comey was an unknown figure among the American public, but well respected in Washington, DC. Because of the choices he made while handling the Hillary Clinton email investigation, and in the first year of the Trump administration, though, his reputation has been damaged. While many Americans view Comey as a hero for speaking out against President Trump, he has now subjected himself to dirty and salacious gossip by publishing this book. He is not looking speak out against the administration, he was already given that chance last June when he testified before Congress. Now, he’s simply looking to sell his story to earn money and stay relevant, and his status as a respected public servant has been erased. As for Zuckerberg, he will now spend much of his career making up for the damage he caused. While people like Weinstein and Lauer will never be able to make up for their wrongdoings, people like Zuckerberg still have a chance to redeem themselves. My suggestion to Zuckerberg is that he continue to testify before world leaders, apologize for his failures and accept any punishments that come his way. People can fall from grace, damage their reputations and hurt others. However, in most cases, redemption is not off the table. The ability to own up to your failures and make up for your mistakes is the true test of a person’s character. People will always screw up and make poor decisions, but the ability to make up for your failures is what separates the big ego jerks, from the good people who simply make mistakes. finfrobd@miamioh.edu
Facebook is great for a lot of reasons (sharing photos with your friends, talking to long-distance family members) and bad for others (procrastinating, checking up on your ex, data breaches). We aren’t advocating that you go delete your account right now. We’re also not imploring you to go watch Zuckerberg’s testimony, because it’s six hours long (a lot of which is him explaining how the internet works to confounded congressmen, and chances are you already know that not all apps and websites are connected). But know that your personal information has value not just to you, but to tens of thousands of advertisers (including, apparently, the Texas Motor Speedway). Be aware of where your data are going when you use social media — and that, when you do use Facebook, your spring break photos and summer internship announcements are not the only thing you’re putting out there.
Press pause on puppies KELLY BURNS
THE MIAMI STUDENT
Canines puppers, doggos, woofers, pups. Man’s best friend. The most precious thing on the planet. My reason for getting up in the morning. Dogs. They’re the most amazing and loving things on the face of the earth, and they deserve better than being owned by college students. We all think we’re capable of raising a puppy. They’re cute and happy —what could be so hard about it? Well, let me tell you. Not only are you going to have to train this dog (house break, leash and commands), but you will have to feed, walk, play with, socialize and pay for this beautiful creature. I don’t know about you, but I don’t even have enough money to get the fancy Cup O’Noodles at Kroger. So, not only do we not have the money to pay for food, equipment and vet appointments that are absolutely critical to a pup’s health, we also don’t have the time. There are classes, obviously — between 15 and 18 hours a week for most people, I assume. Now, let’s add clubs. I’m pretty much only involved in two organizations, and I’m up to about five hours a week. Then, if you’re like me and poor, you probably have a job. So, I’m going to say you work the minimum and are at 10 hours a week. Assume you actually sleep the recommended amount. Add eight hours a day. Fifty-six a week. And, yeah, I know this is a generous amount for most people (the insomnia is real). Homework, two hours a day? Roughly, we’re at 103 hours of used time a week. There are 168 hours in a week. You now have 65 hours, a week (under three days) to devote to that dog. I didn’t even factor in time for going out, applying for jobs, intern-
ships, relaxation time or practice. It’s not enough time. Not for a puppy. There’s also not enough space. Most of us live in small apartments or houses with a bunch of other people, a lot of which don’t even allow dogs. Most of the behavioral issues that land dogs in shelters are due to a lack of exercise and lack of attention. Having a pup in a house while you go to class is not going to benefit this dog. I know what you’re thinking: Kelly, I have roommates! They can help! But can they? At the end of the day, this is your dog. You have to take responsibility. You have to pay for it. You have to look after it. Most of us want a dog someday, somewhere. I bet you have a name and breed picked out. We remember our dogs from when we were kids. Our best friends, running around the yard with us and kissing us with sandpaper tongues. We want that back. We should wait a little while longer. Enjoy our time in school and not tie ourselves down with the obligations of taking care of this little ball of sunshine. My mom has always said that getting a puppy is like having a kid. It takes all your time and money. To those of you who successfully have a dog on campus, I’m seriously impressed. Thank you for gracing the rest of the student body with the divine gift that is the sight of your dog on campus or Uptown. It makes my day. To those who want a dog, please give it a minute, or at least a lot of thought. Do you have the time to give that puppy the life it deserves? Do you want that responsibility? Get involved with Paws 4 a Cause if you need a dog fix. Maybe it will be a stepping stone to owning your own dog one day. burnskl2@miamioh.edu
To the Editor: Ryan knows nothing about Love and Honor SHELDON ANDERSON GUEST COLUMNIST
Nine years ago, outgoing Speaker of the House Paul Ryan gave the commencement speech at his alma mater. “I remember my own transformative experience here,” he said. “It is here at Miami where I was able to find myself; I found a sense of direction and a sense of identity.” Given Ryan’s obsequious behavior toward President Donald Trump, it is clear that this sense of direction was based on a religious belief in lower taxes, gun rights, anti-reproductive choice, and opposition to universal health care. After initial reservations about Trump, Ryan succumbed to the intoxication of power. Republicans now controlled all three branches of government. Ryan saw his life-long goals in sight — a unique opportunity to pass his radical (not conservative) legislative agenda. Ryan had to sell his soul to Trump, the most ignorant, sexist, and racist president in recent history. As Speaker, Ryan had a bully pulpit too, but we heard nothing from Ryan as Trump signaled his approval to those who wanted to stop immigrants with a “big, beautiful wall,” lock up Hillary Clinton, beat up the opposition, treat women like sex toys and call the free press traitorous. It is not too strong to call these tactics fascist. Evidently, Ryan did not learn at Miami that leadership matters, especially from the
president of the world’s most powerful and important democracy. Autocrats around the world are emboldened by Trump’s kind words, while victims of their oppression despair. Know Nothings are happy to have a leader who also watches Fox News exclusively, reads no books and speaks their language. Trump’s repeated lies are not innocent political banter. A gun-toting Trumpite showed up at a D.C. pizzeria because he believed it was running Hillary’s child sex ring. And Ryan’s president indicts the media for fake news? For years Ryan and fellow Evangelicals have pushed “family values.” Their mantra was “What would Jesus do?” What message did Ryan send when he was unwilling to break with Trump when he boasted that he grabs women’s genitals whenever he wants, or when Trump’s lawyer paid a porn star not to reveal an affair with the boss? As for those who accused Trump of assault, the president said that they were too ugly to warrant his attention. Surely Bill Clinton had his personal indiscretions too, but he did not boast about it, and he was a firm supporter of women’s rights, regardless of their physical endowments. One wonders what Ryan tells his teenage daughter. “Well, honey, we have to accept the president’s sexist behavior because he will pass my legislation.” Trump’s 2016 win was due in part to his promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which, according
to Ryan, was a socialist program destroying America. No matter that every other developed country in the world has universal health care, and that their economies are sound. While Barack Obama was in office, House Republicans voted over 60 times to repeal the ACA. Once Trump was in office, Ryan had no plan to replace it. Ostensibly, the ACA is still ruining the U.S. economy, although under the program tens of millions more now have health insurance. Ryan was mute when Trump said that some at a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville were “good people.” Ryan was silent on gun control when little kids were shot at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and had no reaction when high schoolers were gunned down at Parkland High School. Ryan’s kids are the ages of those killed in these massacres. His commitment to keeping assault weapons on the street is understandable; he takes more money from the National Rifle Association than any other representative. Ryan is an Irish name, so one can assume that his ancestors were the objects of Americans who wanted to build a figurative wall against the dumb, drunken Micks — now Trump’s “criminal and rapist” Hispanics. We heard no protest from Ryan; under his leadership, Republicans passed no immigration legislation, not even to protect innocent “DACA” kids who feel themselves as American as Ryan’s.
Ryan thinks that his signature achievement was the 2017 tax bill, which was based on his unwavering belief in supply side economics. No matter that the economy buzzed along in the 1990s after Clinton raised taxes, or that Obama’s demand side economics brought recovery from the Great Recession, brought on by George W. Bush’s belief that an unfettered Wall Street would work for the good of the country. Even Ronald Reagan, the Republicans’ guru of supply side economics, raised taxes. For years, Ryan was a fierce deficit hawk, but that principle went out the window when he had a chance to lower taxes on rich people. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that $1.5 trillion will be added to the deficit in the next 10 years, mostly due to Ryan’s tax cut. Ryan’s children will have to pay for that. Ryan, a Miami political science major, would probably say, “That’s politics. It’s all about power.” No sir, it’s not. Irreparable damage has been done to the world’s image of America as a progressive country — a champion of the downtrodden, a beacon of democracy and a place of refuge. That is your legacy for the next generation, Mr. Ryan. The “sense of direction” you found at Miami has nothing to do with “love and honor.” Sheldon Anderson Department of History anderss@miamioh.edu
Sports
14
SIMANSEC@MIAMIOH.EDU
TUESDAY, APRIL 17, 2018
Live like Liv: Olivia Rusek goes pro VOLLEYBALL
CHRIS VINEL STAFF WRITER
Olivia Rusek is a badass. This fall, she’s playing professional volleyball in Austria. She can serve at 50 mph when the average player aims to hit at 39. She spent J-Term in a tent. She plays the ukulele and speaks four languages. But, we’ll get to all that later. First – volleyball. “Olivia’s a terminator,” Miami head volleyball coach Carolyn Condit said. “She’s one of, if not, the hardest hitter I’ve ever seen. She plays with confidence and you can tell by how she lands after putting a kill down that she’s glad she did it.” It showed this past season, as the senior outside hitter won Co-Mid-American Conference Player of the Year and led the RedHawks to a MAC Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. She is one of the most accomplished Miami volleyball players ever, and is one of just 21 players in the elusive 1,000
career kills club. With graduation looming, she’s parlayed her success into a contract to play professionally for VC Tirol in Innsbruck, Austria and will continue to live on her favorite place – the court. “I’m almost borderline emotionless sometimes,” Rusek said. “I’m just very focused on the game. I’ll get very excited when we get a big point or something like that, but usually I’m 100 percent zoned-in — not like a robot, but just very stoic.” Off the court is a different story. “The phrase my friends say is, ‘live like Liv’ because I’m very bold and just go out and do crazy things,” Rusek said. Don’t get the wrong idea – Rusek isn’t reckless. “Honestly, I’m the type of person who just goes where the wind takes me,” Rusek said. During this past J-term, Rusek decided to do a worktrade program. She worked on a farm in Hawaii, but didn’t stay in a house. Instead, she slept in a tent for
a month and woke up every morning to the loud crowing of roosters. “It was fun [to sleep in a tent],” Rusek said. “I really love the outdoors. I love nature and spending time outside, and the weather was great. The ground was hard, but I got used to it.” While in Hawaii, Rusek hiked and surfed frequently and once took a ride with a stranger in a private four-seater airplane. She wants to live in Hawaii after her career ends. “I love it there,” Rusek said. “I don’t belong in the Midwest.” So, she signed to play volleyball in Austria, 4,538 miles from Oxford and the Midwest. Rusek’s always been interested in Europe. Although she was born and raised in Morton Grove, Illinois, her parents are Polish immigrants and she still has family in Poland. She grew up speaking Polish at home, and learned the language before learning English. Her accent still slips CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
SENIOR OUTSIDE HITTER OLIVIA RUSEK PLAYED FOUR YEARS AT MILLETT HALL FOR THE REDHAWKS AND WILL PLAY PROFESSIONALLY IN AUSTRIA NEXT YEAR. CONTRIBUTED BY OLIVIA RUSEK
Harouna says mistaken identity prevented return from Niger for 2017-18 Season BASKETBALL
HAELEY TRAN
THE MIAMI STUDENT
FRESHMAN TAYLOR RATHER WINDS UP BEFORE PITCHING TO KENT STATE ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON. MACY WHITAKER THE MIAMI STUDENT
Resilient RedHawks check in after MAC series win over Kent State SOFTBALL
EMILY SIMANSKIS SPORTS EDITOR
Miami softball showed its resiliency this past weekend when it hosted the Kent State Golden Flashes. The RedHawks lost 4-3 in Game One of Friday’s doubleheader, but battled through four extra innings in Game Two to win 6-5 in 11 frames. In Saturday’s rubber-match, the ’Hawks came from behind to edge out the Flashes 3-2 and claim thheir
second Mid-American Conference series of the season. “I feel like our team took a turn for the better this weekend,” head coach Clarisa Crowell said on Saturday. “What I really like is that they find ways to win.” Until this weekend, the RedHawks’ (17-19, 6-8 MAC) last MAC series win came on March 25, and the ’Hawks are 2-2-1 in MAC series, a slower start for a program that has finished over .500 for the past three seasons. Two years ago, the team won a MAC Tournament champion-
ship and played through NCAA regionals. Now, Miami softball has 12 games and three three-game MAC series before postseason play begins. That’s 12 chances to build momentum in an attempt to replicate previous years’ success. “We’re not necessarily where I thought we would be at this point in the season, we’ve had some ups and downs, but they’ve shown these past couple of games how tough of a CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
Haffey and Co. power Miami past Ball State BASEBALL
CHRIS VINEL STAFF WRITER
Ross Haffey and the rest of the Miami hitters must’ve had a big helping of wheaties prior to this weekend’s series against Ball State. The RedHawks (21-11, 8-4 MAC) scored 35 runs over the three-game series to take two of three from the Cardinals. After winning the series-opener 17-6, Miami dropped Game Two 13-12 before rebounding
to take Sunday’s rubber match 6-5. The Redshirt senior first baseman Haffey hit six home runs, including five in Friday’s doubleheader, and drove in 13 runs to earn the Mid-American Conference Player of the Week award. Friday’s Game One started quiet as neither team scored for the first two innings. Senior shortstop Adrian Texidor ended the stalemate with an RBI double that gave Miami a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. With Texidor still on-base, Haffey
jacked his first home run of the series and sixth of the season to boost MU’s advantage to 3-0. Miami’s lead would be fleeting, as Ball State (17-17, 5-7 MAC) plated three in the bottom of the third to tie the score. Junior catcher Hayden Senger allowed Miami to retake the lead, when he ripped a two-run double in the top of the fifth to make it 5-3 MU. The RedHawks would hold the lead for the rest of the game. After the Cardinals got one
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A men’s basketball player who was listed on Miami’s 2017 roster was held up in his home country of Niger after his passport was revoked in a case of mistaken identity. Now back in Oxford, Abdoulaye Harouna will remain at Miami for another year, playing in the 2018-2019 season as a senior. The international snafu kept Harouna grounded in his home country of Niger in western Africa, where he had gone during the summer break, he said. On Aug. 21 in Niamey, the capital of Niger, U.S. officials told Harouna his student visa was temporarily revoked during a routine review of his passport, immigration status and university enrollment.
“...I wasn’t the guy they were looking for.” Harouna said he was shocked when U.S. Embassy personnel told him they needed to validate that he was, in fact, a Miami University student-athlete and not a human rights activist of the same name sought by the Nigerien government. According to the website of the organization Front Line Defenders, Abdoulaye Harouna is a “human rights defender” and member of ACTICE (the Association for the Defense of the Rights of Consumers to Information Technology, Communication and Energy). He and two other activists were reportedly arrested during a protest against economic legislation that would “drastically increase the cost of living for many of those already living in poverty,” according to the site. An email to Front Line Defenders requesting more information on
SENIOR GUARD ABDOULAYE HAROUNA WILL RETAIN A YEAR OF NCAA ELIGIBILITY AFTER BEING DETAINED IN NIGER. ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT
the arrest went unanswered. The basketball player said his name is common in Niger. Both Harounas reside in Niamey, lending to the confusion. Mike Roth, assistant communications director for men’s basketball, said the university tried to work with both the U.S. embassy and Nigerien government over this dispute but largely “left the situation alone.” Roth said the restriction on Harouna was out of Miami’s control and there was nothing to do but let the government proceed with its protocol. Miami’s efforts in speeding up the process of getting Harouna back to the States included constant communication between the university council, U.S. embassy and Nigerien government, he said. Harouna said the incident left him surprised and angry. “When they saw everything was okay, they told me my visa is approved but that they can’t give it to me right away until they verified that I wasn’t the guy they were looking for,” he said. In his 10 years of playing basketball on a student visa, this was the first time he ran into immigration issues. Miami athletic officials had not revealed the cause of Harouna’s abrupt disappearance and his name remained on the roster during the fall season. In January, the team anCONTINUED ON PAGE 8