The Miami Student | February 26, 2019

ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

Volume 147 No. 18

Miami University — Oxford, Ohio

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

FIVE CANDIDATES RUN FOR STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT RACHEL BERRY ERIN GLYNN

THE MIAMI STUDENT

RACISM IN RECENSIO A history of hate at Miami University

Five pairs of candidates are running for the offices of student body president (SBP) and vice president (VP) for the 2019-2020 school year. Of the 10 candidates on the tickets, only three have previously served in Associated Student Government (ASG).

All of the candidates are upperclassmen, except for Jonnie Taylor and Sydney Fowler, who are both sophomores.

Shelby Frye (SBP) and Julia Koenig (VP) Shelby Frye and Julia Koenig cite their drive and passion as distinguishing them from other tickets.

Their main priorities are safety and wellness, diversity and inclusion and student empowerment — areas they believe are all interconnected.

Koenig, who currently serves as both the Safety Chair in ASG’s executive cabinet and as the president of Feminists Working On Real Democracy (FWORD) for a third term, is particularly focused on safety and wellness.

The ticket hopes to address sexual assault by setting minimum suspension lengths for students found guilty of sexual assault.

To create a more inclusive environment, Frye and Koenig want to design an in-person diversity training programming in addition to the existent module. They also want to centralize resources on diversity and inclusion, to allow for student activism to CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

TIM CARLIN BRIAH LUMPKINS STAFF WRITERS

Blackface – The act of wearing black makeup to appear as a caricature of a black person.

The word was catapulted back into national headlines when photos surfaced of Virginia governor Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook, in which a photo depicted a student wearing blackface standing next to a student in a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hood. This finding inspired USA Today to look into the yearbooks of over 900 universities across the country to see how many instances of racism could be found.

USA Today’s research uncovered countless instances of blackface, KKK hoods and even mock lynchings. Their discoveries prompted The Miami Student to look into Miami University’s own history of racism through Recensio, Miami’s former yearbook publication.

(Recensio is now published once a year in The Miami Student as an insert composed of senior photos). The Student

examined every available edition from 1960 to 2013, the last year King Library has on record.

After looking through 50 yearbooks, our staff found at least 23 instances of racist imagery.

All of The Student’s findings, with the exception of one photo — a 1986 picture of Stanton Hall residents — were from Greek organizations, many of which are still active on campus.

From 1960 to 1969, 13 instances of racism were depicted in the pages of Recensio.

There were four photographs of white students imitating traditional Middle Eastern dress, four photographs of students being mock-lynched, two photographs of blackface, one photograph showcasing students wearing white hoods, one photograph with a student wearing a Confederate flag and one photograph of students saluting a Nazi flag.

In the 1962 edition, three Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity brothers are shown in a photo replete with racist imagery.

One is saluting a Nazi military flag, another is brandishing a long blade and

pointing it toward the flag, while a third holds a candelabra and rests his hand on a statue of a black man.

The caption of the photo reads: “Yet, despite annoyances, we take care never to let ourselves forget the focal point of all Miami life.”

Of the 13 instances of racism printed in Recensio from 1960 to 1969, six came from 1968.

In that year’s copy, a captionless photo portrays a white man hanging limply outside the Delta Upsilon fraternity house, strung up by a rope running under his shirt.

His mouth is curled slightly into a smile.

In that same year, a group photo of the Delta Chi fraternity shows one man mock-lynching another. Two men stand behind them wearing white pointed hoods.

From 1970 to 1979, The Student identified six racist images in the pages of those Recensio issues.

Three photographs depict the CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Miami women’s basketball extends win streak to 11 with a win over BGSU

ARENA

Need for Speed: student races to compete and pursue his degree BRIAH LUMPKINS STAFF WRITER

If you see Britt Casey walking the halls of Farmer School of Business (FSB), you might think he was just like everyone else — just another junior marketing major, rushing to lectures and hoping to do well academically.

Even if you share a class with him, you might not notice that he reads ahead in his textbooks and asks for assignments weeks in advance. And you almost certainly wouldn’t know that he works because he leaves Oxford in the middle of the week to drive race cars.

While other students are Uptown on the weekends, Casey flies across the country to races, where he listens to his tires squeal on the pavement and his engine revving in his ears, feeling adrenaline pumping through his veins.

Britt Casey is a professional racecar driver.

He balances his life as a full-time student and a professional racecar driver by remaining committed to his “hustle” and making sacrifices in order to be successful.

Racinghas interested Casey his entire life.

His father had a passion for racing since his own childhood, and gave Casey the same upbringing.

“My dad definitely sparked the passion big time,” Casey said. “He’s always been sort of a gearhead.”

Casey was immersed in racing culture from a young age. He was only seven years old when he began participating in Motocross, or

This Issue

CASEY HAS BEEN RACING LONGER THAN MOST PEOPLE HIS AGE HAVE BEEN DRIVING. PHOTOGRAPHER MATT HECKERT

off-road motorcycle racing, and quickly transitioned to racing go-karts across the country at the age of ten.

Casey was racing as an amateur at thirteen — before most teens have their learners permit — and he drove his first professional race at sixteen.

Casey now represents Audi Customer Racing in many different endurance sports car races.

This type of racing differs from NASCAR, the

Are you not entertained? pages 8 & 9

stereotypical image of racing, in a few ways.

The races are long. Endurance races can last up to 24 hours, split up between multiple drivers, and the tracks are complicated, with a total of seventeen corners per lap.

Casey has raced all over the country, including Florida, California, Connecticut, New York and even parts of Canada.

The most noteworthy race Casey has participated in is the IMSA (International Motorsports Association) Michelin Pilot Challenge,

Bursar hit by tuition scam

Do you have what it takes?

International students were victimized by scam claiming to pay their tuition.

Combining a passion for performance and psychology for good.

News » page 5

Culture » page 6

which he won in 2018. Throughout his career he has amassed 16 top-five finishes, 11 podiums (finishing in the top three) three poles (finishing first in a qualifying race) and four wins.

“I’ve learned more in racing than I’ve learned in school in general,” Casey said.

“Especially with talking to people and knowing how to carry a conversation, knowing how to act professionally. It definitely grooms you into a professional business mentality.”

Racing has allowed Casey to score major partnerships with many companies, such as OscarMike, TRUMPF, Cushman & Audi Sport Customer Racing.

Casey’s professional experience helped him make the decision to spend his academic career at Miami – it was a strategic choice.

Here in Oxford, he is able to work on cars with Brad Kettler, a world-famous engineer and former North American operations director for Audi Sport Customer Racing, at Kettler Motor Werks, which is only a 12-minute drive from Miami on West College Corner.

In addition to working for Kettler, Casey also wanted to go to college someplace where he could temporarily get away and live a normal life when not behind the wheel.

To Casey, the Farmer School of Business seemed like the perfect place to pursue his academic career because of its high-ranking reputation, but also because Miami has a unique college-town feel that he wasn’t getting back home in Barrington, Ill. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Love, Honor & Care

Finding peace in imperfection

Our sports writer found more than a game in the RedHawks win.

You’re worth far more than the weight of social pressure.

Sports » page 11

Opinion » page 12

This Week

2 FYI

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019 Named the Best College Newspaper (Non-daily) in Ohio by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Things to do

JACK EVANS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Kirby Davis Alison Perelman Megan Zahneis Managing Editors Ben Smith Design Editor Samantha Brunn Ceili Doyle News Editors Emily Simanskis Sports Editor Madeline Mitchell Kate Rigazio Culture Editors Kelly Burns Ben Finfrock Opinion Editors Jugal Jain Photo Editor

Emily Brustoski Video Editor Maya Fenter Magazine Editor Alyssa Melendez Web Designer Lindsay Cerio Business Manager

James Tobin Faculty Adviser Fred Reeder Business Adviser WDJ Inc. - Bill Dedden Distributor Aim Media Midwest Printer

Owen Berg Connor Wells Designers

Sydney Hill Brianna Porter Copy Editors

Derek Stamberger Nikki Saraniti Video Producers

Emily Dattilo Asst. Opinion Editor

Michael Serio Humor Editor Sam Keeling Entertainment Editor Anna Minton Style Editor

Julia Arwine Rachel Berry Asst. News Editors Maia Anderson Duard Headley Asst. Culture Editors

Wed 2/27

7:30 pm Art Building room 136 10:00 pm Come join the College of Creative Arts for

a viewing of the Oscar-winning Best Picture “Green Book� featuring Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortenson.

Russian Opposition

2:30 pm 4:30 pm

Israeli Piano Recital

7:30 pm 8:30 pm

Harrison Hall room 111 Leonid Volkov, former campaign director for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny present a lecture on Russian politics and the strategy of the opposition.

Wed 2/27

Center for Performing Arts - Souers Recital Hall Classical composer and pianist Or Yissachar will be performing piano music from selected contemporary Israeli composers.

miamistudent.net/advertise eic@miamistudent.net

The Miami Student is published on Tuesdays during the school year by the students of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

The content of The Miami Student is the sole responsibility of The Miami Student staff. Opinions expressed in The Miami Student are not necessarily those of Miami University, its students or staff.

CORRECTIONS POLICY

2/26

Best Picture Viewing

Chris Vinel Asst. Sports Editor

Bo Brueck Asst. Photo Editor Advertising information: Send us a letter?

Tue

The Miami Student is committed to providing the Miami University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

Sat 3/2

Watercolor Workshop 8:30 am

4:00 pm

103 Phillips Hall Nationally known artist Jean Vance will demonstrate and guide students through many essential watercolor painting methods and tricks.

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

3 NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Racism in Recensio

Student races to compete and pursue his degree

A history of racism at Miami University

FROM PAGE 1 FROM FRONT

Confederate flag, two are of mock-lynchings and one portrays a student as a Confederate soldier.

In the 1972 Recensio, Lambda Chi Alpha brothers pose for a photo in front of their house. In the front row, a white student is being pulled backward by a piece of cloth wrapped around his neck.

The student being “choked” feigns a shocked expression, while his “attacker” smiles.

In the 1977 Recensio, students pose outside the Chi Phi fraternity house. A man sits on the shoulders of another student. Rope extends down from a tree above, and disappears behind the man’s neck.

He smiles intently at the camera.

From 1980 to 1989, there are seven documented instances of racism in the pages of Recensio.

Three images portray blackface, two images depict students imitating traditional Middle Eastern dress, one student is dressed as a Confederate soldier and one picture contains a Confederate flag.

On the fold between two pages of the 1982 Recensio, two white members of Alpha Epsilon Pi link arms at a party. The face in the middle of the fold is covered in black paint, with bright white around his mouth.

On the same spread, directly next to the photo featuring blackface, is a section recognizing the historically black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.

The last photographed incident The Student found — the photo of Stanton Hall residents — was taken in 1986. It depicts a student imitating Middle Eastern dress.

In 1997, Miami University changed its mascot from the Redskins to Redhawks after the Miami tribe of Oklahoma threatened to pull their support from the university. The decision to change the mascot was met with backlash from students.

A headline in that year’s Recensio read: “Goodbye Redskins, Hello Redhawks (yuck).”

Though the number of racist photographs printed in Recensio dwindled to zero in the early 2000s, public displays of racist behavior still occurred on this campus.

One recurring racist event was “Ghetto Fest,” an annual party imitating stereotypical black culture, which was held Uptown for nearly 15 years.

The event, though always public, came under fire in 2010 after a gay student was beat up in an Oxford bar, sparking an outcry against hate in the Miami community.

In 2018, racism publicly reared its head at Miami again with the circulation of a screenshot showing racist language in a residence hall group chat. This prompted a number of black students to res-

“I’m not famous around Miami,” Casey said. “I’m just another normal student, which is cool because I wouldn’t want to be treated any different. This is my get-away from the racing part of my life. I’m here for school, not to toot my own horn.”

Each semester, Casey has to inform his professors about his racing career to ensure they are willing to work with his unorthodox schedule. So far, he hasn’t had any problems and is able to finish class work before his competitions each week.

Casey feels the real sacrifices have been in his social life.

In between school, working and racing, he has not been able to participate in many on-campus activities such as Greek life and has missed spending time with his family.

“The commitment level that it takes to be successful in racing doesn’t just take up time,” Casey said. “There are social sacrifices, relationship sacrifices, family-time sacrifices.”

Despite the cost, Casey said he’d do it all over again if given the choice.

“The sacrifices definitely come as expected, but it’s worth it. At least that the mentality you have to have,” Casey said. “Quitting is for quitters. Racing will chew you up and spit you out if you go in without a committed mentality.” lumpkibm@miamioh.edu

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RACIST IMAGES THAT APPEARED IN RECENSIO IN 1962 (ABOVE) AND 1982 (BELOW) RECENSIO

urrect the Black Action Movement (BAM). The new group, called BAM 2.0, made a list of demands and met with university officials to voice their concerns about the treatment of minority students on campus.

Just last semester, Associated Student Government (ASG) underwent internal strife after a video of two senators using racist language while rapping along to “Ultralight

Beam” by Kanye West was circulated in multiple ASG group chats.

The senators involved ultimately resigned.

The University has resources in place for Miamians to report bias incidents and hate crimes. Students, faculty and staff who have experienced, or witnessed such incidents can file a report http://miamioh.edu/diversity-inclusion/pro-

grams-resources/report-incident/ Students who have been the victim of hate crimes or are experiencing difficulty with the social climate at Miami can find mental health resources at Student Counseling Service.

let us know news@miamistudent.net

carlintm@miamioh.edu lumpkibm@miamioh.edu

PLANETS, STARS, GALAXIES, AND LIFE INVESTIGATING A FRUITFUL UNIVERSE EDWIN M. YAMAUCHI LECTURE Sponsored by the History Department

Dr. Jennifer Wiseman Astrophysicist

Goddard Space Flight Center

Saturday, March 2, 2019 8:00 p.m.

Heritage Room, Shriver Center Recent advances in astronomy are revealing a dynamic universe filled with massive galaxies, beautiful star-forming nebulae, black holes, dark matter, and even planets orbiting other stars. What is the place and significance of life in this vast, dynamic Cosmos?

The lecture is free and open to the public!

Co-sponsored by:

Oxford Bible Fellowship, Faith Baptist Church, Oxford United Methodist Church, Oxford Presbyterian Church, Cru, Navigators, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, Faculty Christian Fellowship, Wesley Campus Ministry, Lutheran Campus Ministry, Catholic Campus Ministry

SECURE YOUR HOME FOR JR/SR YEAR

Our homes are renting now for 2020-21, and there are still a few homes left for 2019-20! All homes are next to campus and uptown. Gather your group today and go to www.schmatesrentals.com. Don’t be stuck in an apt.

JR/SR year.

Call or text 847-274-6600 or 513-505-4918 Email: info@schmatesrentals.com

ABOLISH BLUE BOOKS. GREEN BOOKS COST THE SAME AND ARE RECYCLED PAPER. WE WILL DIE ON THIS HILL. pls recycle this newspaper

4 NEWS

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Five candidates to run for student body president

Perkins, Meissner campaigns penalized

FROM FRONT

RACHEL BERRY

continue across graduating classes.

“The administration relies on having students like me graduate,” Koenig said. “That way these initiatives die off, like BAM 2.0 when many members graduated. We want these initiatives to have longevity.”

Frye is serving her first term as an ASG senator this year. She has worked as a tour guide for two years, as a mentor in the University Honors Program and as a student coordinator of the Student Orientation Undergraduate Leader (SOUL) program. Frye plans to expand ASG’s outreach by creating a space for student concerns online and sending out a monthly newsletter.

ASST. NEWS EDITOR

JULIA KOENIG (LEFT) AND SHELBY FRYE (RIGHT)

Gaby Meissner (SBP) and Hunter Meacham (VP) When Gaby Meissner met Hunter Meacham in a microbiology class their first-year, Meissner mentioned that she planned to run for SBP as an upperclassman. They never imagined that, two years later, they would run together.

Meissner and Meacham’s campaign centers around three main themes: mental health, sustainability and diversity.

The Student Counseling Service (SCS) charges $25 per counseling session after a three-visit trial period.

Meissner said she wants to eliminate the fee or establish a scholarship fund to make SCS more affordable.

Meissner and Meacham want to improve sustainability by placing a water-bottle-filling station in every academic building on campus.

To incentivize students to seek out diverse experiences and perspectives, Meissner and Meacham plan to create a four-year plan for incoming firstyears that would result in a denotation or certificate at graduation. Meissner said she is still talking to administrators about how to implement such a program, but they have said it is potentially feasible.

“We want people to rise up to their academic potential, people to rise up to injustice, people to rise up to something bigger than themselves,” Meissner said.

Meissner has served on ASG for three years, and Meacham has never been a senator. They are the only ticket with experience both inside and outside of ASG.

GABY MEISSNER (LEFT) AND HUNTER MEACHAM (RIGHT)

Jaylen Perkins (SBP) and Dante Rossi (VP) Jaylen Perkins and Dante Rossi said they stand out from other tickets because not only are they advocating for inclusivity, but they both represent diverse populations.

“As being parts of underrepresented populations, we’ve lived through some of these experiences that we’re really aiming to change,” Rossi said.

“We shouldn’t have a climate on campus where people are afraid to be who they are or might face discrimination solely because of their religion or race or sexuality.”

Perkins and Rossi’s campaign centers around improving diversity and inclusion, breaking down Greek stereotypes and advocating for health and wellness.

They both emphasized their goal to capitalize on relationships they have made – Perkins through involvement as president of the Black Student Association (BSA) and participation in the Black Action Movement (BAM) 2.0 last year and Rossi through being president of the Honors Student Advisory Board (HSAB).

Together, they want to create a more comprehensive Canvas module on diversity and inclusion, which would be more in-depth than the existing module that is soon to be required for incoming students.

Perkins and Rossi want to create satellite counseling sessions across campus to cut down on wait times at SCS. These would be free and would likely be held with graduate students.

Perkins and Rossi want to create a

berryrd@miamioh.edu

WESLEY INGOLD (LEFT) AND JACK KELNER (RIGHT)

ASG approves Red Brick Rewards, fills open seats

Jack Kelner (SBP) and Wesley Ingold (VP) Jack Kelner and Wesley Ingold have known each other since high school. They grew closer since coming to Miami.

“We’re both really interested in business. We used to brainstorm business ideas together in a spiral notebook,” Kelner said.

Their chief priority is addressing student mental health, an issue that’s personal for both of them. Kelner wants to outsource counseling for students, possibly through referrals to clinics in Cincinnati and Cleveland, as well as making sure students know about the services available at Miami.

Kelner, a management and leadership major and a member of Miami’s Motorsports Club, describes himself as representative of a typical student.

“I go out on weekends, but you can also usually find me in the library studying,” Kelner said. “I’m in touch with many different people.”

Two student body president (SBP) tickets were issued violations for beginning their campaigns before the official start of the election season.

Student body president candidate Jaylen Perkins and his vice president (VP) candidate Dante Rossi solicited meetings with a student organization to discuss their platform, and SBP candidate Gaby Meissner shared pictures of her campaign buttons over Snapchat — both before campaigning officially began on Friday, Feb. 22.

All of the candidates for SBP and VP were required to attend a meeting at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 22. No campaigning was allowed before the end of the meeting.

Rossi reached out to the College Democrats to set up a time to visit the club and present their platform. Although the meeting was scheduled to occur after Feb. 22, he made the request on Feb. 21.

According to the SBP elections packet, “Campaigning includes, but is not limited to, any verbal, written, or implied request for political support or any activity that may facilitate the making of such a request.”

The Associated Student Government (ASG) Elections Committee was provided evidence of the infraction and decided Perkins and Rossi’s request for a meeting violated the rules.

Perkins and Rossi received a level one violation for the infraction – the least serious violation outlined in the elections packet.

They were issued a 24-hour ban on campaign activity, which lasted

all day on Saturday, Feb. 23.

“We didn’t think it was anything malicious. We didn’t think they were trying to do it intentionally,” Cole Hankins, the Speaker of Senate and chair of the Elections Committee, said. “We didn’t think it did anything to threaten the integrity of the election, so we just gave them a level one violation.”

Rossi said the violation was his fault, and that he did not realize he was breaking the rules. “[Pre-campaigning] was never my intention,” Rossi said. “Had I known that we would have gotten a violation for it, I never would have done it, but at the same time we accept that we did it. We moved on from it, and it won’t happen again.”

Meissner Snapchatted friends who were not involved with her campaign pictures of her campaign buttons before campaigning was allowed to begin. The pictures were screenshotted and passed around to others in ASG, and multiple senators reported her to the Elections Committee.

The Elections Committee ruled that the photos constituted campaign activity, since they were being shown to people outside of Meissner’s campaign staff.

Meissner and her running mate, Hunter Meacham, were notified of the infraction on Sunday, Feb. 24, and their 24-hour ban took effect at midnight, lasting for the entire day on Monday, Feb. 25.

“It’s 24 hours; that’s time for us to acknowledge what happened but to move forward, do better and ensure it doesn’t happen again and ensure no other violations occur,” Meissner said.

ERIN GLYNN

THE MIAMI STUDENT

JAYLEN PERKINS (LEFT) AND DANTE ROSSI (RIGHT)

JONNIE TAYLOR (LEFT) AND SYDNEY FOWLER (RIGHT)

“tri-council emphasis” for Greek life in order to bring all the chapters together. They would institute philanthropy events held across all Greek organizations to change the perception of Greek life at Miami and bring the focus to “the good they do for the community.”

Neither Perkins nor Rossi have served in ASG before, which they hope will give them a fresh perspective, especially given the problems ASG has been facing related to diversity.

Jonnie Taylor (SBP) and Sydney Fowler (VP) Neither student has been in ASG before, and because of that, both see themselves as typical students who want to advocate on behalf of the rest of the student body.

“We believe that we need to get everybody’s voices heard, whether they are a part of ASG, whether they’re a part of any other kind of council,” Taylor said.

Taylor and Fowler want to address transparency within ASG and to better communicate ASG’s actions with the student body. Concrete goals include creating a short recap video after each meeting and making it easier to contact senators and find their office hours.

The ticket aims to promote drinking safety instead of punishing students who commit infractions. Taylor said while AlcoholEdu, the online module first-years complete before starting college, is beneficial, it focuses more on learning drink sizes and less about “comprehensive, real-life ways to increase safety.” Taylor said the ticket wants to either improve this module or

create a new one.

Taylor and Fowler also believe there is a need for dining hall reform on campus. They want to abolish swipes, despite ASG’s failed attempts to do so in the past, and work to implement more 24-hour options, including making sure King Cafe is open 24 hours.

They also want to make it an option to not have a meal plan and to use declining balance at restaurants Uptown, although some restaurants already use MUBucks.

They want to bring more chain restaurants, such as Chick-fil-a, to Armstrong Student Center, despite other failed ASG attempts to do so.

Taylor and Fowler also want to work on accessibility on campus, provide more resources to departments outside of the Farmer School of Business and make sure clubs keep the Hub updated because student organizations who disbanded years ago are still listed, said Cory Ross, their campaign manager.

They also hope to work with President Greg Crawford to reverse the one-door Ingress policy. ASG passed a bill to change this policy and was told it cannot be reversed until the end of the semester when there is more data.

Elections will take place March 1920 on the Hub. berryrd@miamioh.edu glynnee@miamioh.edu

After rejecting the Red Brick Rewards funding system the week before, Miami University’s Associated Student Government (ASG) approved an amended version of the system for this semester. ASG also elected five new senators, four of whom are first-year students and one who is an international student, at its meeting Tuesday, Feb. 19.

Red Brick Rewards is the system the ASG funding committee uses to allocate money to student organizations. Part of the reason for its rejection involved the Diversity and Lannigan grants. The Diversity Initiative Grant gives funding to student organizations that sponsor diversity-related programming, while the Lannigan New Initiative Grant provides funding for needs that can’t be met through traditional financial aid.

Previously, these grants were only available to student organizations in the third tier of Red Brick Rewards, prompting complaints that the structure restricted smaller organizations from applying. Prior to ASG’s Feb. 19 meeting, Miami’s Office of Student Activities decided to remove the tier requirement.

Under the new amendments, student organizations’ eligibility for the grants will not be determined by their tier placement within Red Brick Rewards.

Parliamentarian Max Mellott proposed the bill to amend Red Brick Rewards.

The bill changed the approval process for Red Brick Rewards, so that once a semester Red Brick Rewards will be brought before senate to be approved or rejected.

Previously, changes to the system were implemented immediately, so the amendment clarified that once approved, no changes made to Red Brick Rewards will take effect until the following semester.

This measure will ensure student organizations do not go without funding if ASG fails to approve the system and that new requirements are not added without giving student organizations a chance to complete them. Mellott emphasized that Red Brick Rewards is a “living, breathing thing that is constantly changing for student

organizations.”

At last week’s meeting, sophomore Zoe Douglas, senior Chi Zhang and first-year Victoria Villanueva ran for two senator-at-large seats.

Douglas stressed her experience as a former senator and her desire to focus on disability accessibility and racial diversity in senate.

Zhang, an international student from China, spoke passionately about his desire to focus on creating a welcoming atmosphere for Chinese students, saying that he had seen Chinese students suffering from mental health issues and dropping out of college after their first or second semester at Miami.

Villanueva spoke about her experiences establishing the first Lambda Epsilon Chi (LEX) Latinx honor society at Miami and serving as the head of human resources for the First Miami Student Credit Union.

Senate elected Zhang and Villanueva to fill the senator-at-large seats.

The remaining elections were uncontested.

ASG confirmed first-year Trey Petrella for the 1st district seat.

This was Petrella’s fifth time running in an ASG election and his first time winning. He highlighted his experience as an ASG alternate and proposed his plan to convert the front area of Western dining hall into a study space for students whose dorms are located far from the libraries.

First-year Christian McGowan won the 2nd district seat. McGowan described his civic engagement through his volunteer work on five different Ohio House and Senate election campaigns, and his personal connection to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, since his brother has autism.

ASG confirmed first-year Sinait Sarfino for the 8th district seat.

Sarfino, who is a member of the Lokoya tribe in South Sudan, said ASG should prioritize embracing international students.

“We’re missing out on them, not the other way around,” Sarfino said. glynnee@miamioh.edu

NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

City sets sustainability, accessibility goals

City Council passes legislation for housing diversity TIM CARLIN

STAFF WRITER

Oxford City Council passed legislation to require housing diversity in future residential developments at its Feb. 19 meeting.

Council updated the Codified Ordinance Chapter, which now requires future developers to prove their plans serve diverse needs, such as providing housing for single and multifamily use. This new code was developed to create housing options for all Oxford residents and to ensure a glut of student housing does not overtake all property in the city.

Enjoy Oxford’s president, Jessica Greene, presented a summary of the group’s 2018 accomplishments and its updated goals for the new year. Enjoy Oxford is a tourism marketing organization for the City of Oxford.

In 2018, Enjoy Oxford unveiled its first two rounds of win-

NEWS 5

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

dow murals in the Uptown district and worked on increasing its online presence. Enjoy Oxford is now using Google AdWords to bump its website up on Google searches.

The organization made other improvements to its website in 2018.

In 2019, the group plans to promote public art, make WiFi available in the Oxford Community Park, create new events and improve long-standing events held in Oxford.

Oxford Service Director Mike Dreisbach announced a resolution to remove the Amur Corktree, also known as the Chinese Corktree, from the city’s approved tree list.

The resolution was adopted to align with the state government’s removal of the same tree from its approved list after the Ohio Invasive Plants Council determined the tree to be an invasive species.

Council next meets on March 5. carlintm@miamioh.edu

TIM CARLIN

STAFF WRITER

& SAMANTHA BRUNN NEWS EDITOR

At its annual retreat at the beginning of the month, Oxford’s City Council heard reports from city departments on its 2018 accomplishments and used those reports to create a set of goals for 2019.

Council narrowed its focus to eight main goals and ranked them by priority. Overall, council aims to make Oxford more sustainable, accessible and connected to the university community.

Council also identified affordable housing and diverse housing options as a key focus for the year.

The city will soon see advancements on the sustainability front with the beginning of a food composting pilot program, which will be available to a select number of households beginning in early

April. In an interview with The Miami Student, Oxford Mayor Kate Rousmaniere stressed the importance of citizen participation in sustainability efforts.

Council intends to focus on recycling services, especially for apartments and businesses Uptown.

In keeping with its goals, council recently passed legislation on housing diversity. The legislation will require all future property developers to submit a document to the city showing that their proposed housing projects are diverse in size, number of bedrooms and affordability.

Rousmaniere said fulfilling Oxford’s need for affordable workforce housing begins with accepting calls from developers who say they are interested in coming to town.

“We’re not going out and recruiting, no,” Rousmaniere said.

“We’re just saying, ‘Yes, please come visit us,’ when developers show interest.”

Rousmaniere would like the city

to be better able to serve the homeless in the Oxford community. She said according to the Oxford Police Department (OPD)’s interactions, there are anywhere from 30 to 50 homeless families currently in Oxford.

A proposal to create a Special Improvement District Uptown is in the works. Rousmaniere said this could enable the city to provide more services, like shoveling sidewalks in front of Uptown businesses or providing better lighting and signage for businesses, if those in the district paid into a common pool for Uptown improvements.

Council also hopes to improve public communications this year. A weekly report of city developments — the same report council members receive each week from city department heads — will be posted to its website each Friday. carlintm@miamioh.edu brunnsj@miamioh.edu

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS VICTIMIZED IN CREDIT CARD FRAUD SCAM to pay their tuition if the students pay them a “discounted” rate for it.

The scammers then use stolen credit card numbers to make payments to the students’ bursar accounts.

The first four reports total $29,382 in fraudulent payments.

Last fall, the other nine reports totaled more than $200,000.

The final deadline for tuition payments is in about a month, so more cases may occur.

Bursar Kristine Cassano said that most payment fraud cases occur in the busiest pay periods, just before payment deadlines.

“It all happens usually at the beginning of fall,” Cassano said. “We get a few at the beginning of spring, but fall’s the big time because I think that’s when everyone knows colleges [start].”

There has been an uptick in these fraud cases in the past year – so much so that the bursar’s office restructured so that someone on staff is now responsible for looking into suspicious activity on student

JULIA ARWINE

ASST. NEWS EDITOR

At least thirteen international students have fallen victim to fraudulent tuition payment scams in the past academic year.

All of the cases involve payments made with fraudulent credit cards to student bursar accounts. Miami University Police Department (MUPD) has recorded four instances this semester alone, and MUPD Detective Walt Schneider said there is a fifth case that has not been officially reported yet.

As police investigated and these incidents continued to occur, MUPD determined that the students were victims of an international scam.

The scam is orchestrated through WeChat, a Chinese multi-purpose messaging app that includes social media and mobile payment and is used by many of Miami’s international students. Scammers contact students through the app and offer

accounts, Cassano said.

The scammers make multiple payments to the student accounts, never more than $4,000 to $5,000 at a time, and usually not less than a few hundred dollars, Cassano said.

Multiple bounced payments within a short period of time on a student’s account is a red flag, as well as a name on the credit card that does not appear to have any relation to the student.

The credit card numbers are stolen from real people, usually using skimmers, which are small devices placed in gas station pumps and ATMs that read and store the information off the magnetic strip of a card when it is inserted into the machine. These numbers are then sold on the dark web.

“They can use that same information to generate a whole new credit card that can be physical with the numbers imprinted on it,” MUPD Detective Lieutenant Jim Bechtolt said. “Or just the data that you could [use] online.”

Is ‘active participation’ worth the costs to college students?

DAN WOZNIAK

THE MIAMI STUDENT

As many classes expect students to not only purchase class texts but also “clickers” for attendance and classroom activities, students are left to make purchasing decisions that can impact their education.

“Clicker” apps, such as Top Hat and Turning Point, incorporate interactive polling software that is actively used in 187 countries and by 1,900 U.S. higher education organizations. Many classrooms at Miami use them for taking attendance in large lecture classes and for students to use to answer in-class ques-

tions.

In order to use Top Hat or Turning Point services, students must purchase subscriptions that cost around $25.

Todd Dupont, a professor in the geology and environmental earth science department, has been using “clicker” apps in the classroom for 12 years. Dupont said he appreciates the technology because it gives him a sense of what students understand and allows him to assess who is present for the lecture and slow down the lecture if needed.

“It’s really hard to have a conversation when you have 90 students in the room,” Dupont said. “It’s easier to at least allow them to participate and to engage, as opposed to just

passively sitting there.”

A study conducted by Virginia Tech professors concluded that “the average correctness rate for quizzes covering content delivered with CPPRS (cell phone-based personal response systems) was significantly higher than for content delivered without CPPRS.” Bill Even, an economics professor in the Farmer School of Business (FSB), noticed that attendance in his classes improved when he began using Turning Point and that those who did better on the questions in class did better on the exams. “[Students] appreciate the opportunity to interact with other learners as they’re going through their problems,” Even said. “[Turn-

MUPD has been able to track several of the scammers’ IP addresses back to a VPN server located in California, but it’s likely that this VPN is accessed remotely from another country, Bechtolt said.

Schneider said that in cases like these, MUPD often has to work with the FBI, which deals with crime across state lines, Homeland Security, which tackles international crime, and the Secret Service, which takes on both.

Miami is not the only college dealing with this issue. Cassano said she believes higher education is becoming a more prominent target to these kinds of scams.

“There are other universities out there that are falling victim to the same problem,” Schneider said.

“Other universities could be experiencing the same thing locally, but the Secret Service said that locally, out of the Cincinnati area, we were the first ones to notify them of this particular issue.”

Because the students are the

victims in these cases, they are not being prosecuted; however, they do lose out on the money they pay to the scammers. That money cannot be refunded until the perpetrators are caught.

The university does not lose any money in these scams, but third party Tuition Management Systems (TMS), that Miami partners with, does. Miami routes its tuition plans through TMS, so technically students pay TMS, and then TMS pays Miami. With these scams, TMS must pay fees to reverse fraudulent transactions.

MUPD is continuing to work with other agencies to find the source of the scams but is running into problems due to the fact that China does not have to comply with MUPD’s subpoenas.

“Right now, I would say our biggest thing is working to educate the students not to fall victim to these scams,” Schneider said.

ing Point] allows the students to stay more engaged in the class.”

Before the clicker subscription services became prevalent, students only needed to have a manual clicker to answer questions. These manual clickers could be included in students’ textbook orders and could be used in every class, regardless of the service being used.

But for some, the cost of clickers and apps is prohibitive. According to CBS, 65 percent of students decide not to purchase required texts at some point in their college career because of the lack of affordability.

“In one case, I had a student who just said, ‘I’m just going to have to suffer without that portion of my grade because I can’t afford this,’” Dupont said.

At Miami, some students are even required to purchase both Turning Point and Top Hat, because two or more of their classes require different services.

“I think that the professors here should come up with an easier way

to track our attendance, rather than making us pay $25,” Nico Londa, a sophomore athletic training and kinesiology major, said. “We practically are paying for our attendance grade.”

A free alternative to clickers and apps is Kahoot, a free website where students can use their personal devices to answer questions gameshow style. Kahoot could be a way to achieve the same goals without the added cost.

Josh Plaster, a sophomore economics major, used Kahoot in one of his nutrition classes and believes professors should strive to use costfree services like it as much as possible.

“Honestly, I’d rather not use [Turning Point], especially if you have to pay for it,” Plaster said. “I don’t think the benefits outweigh the negatives that much.”

arwinejk@miamioh.edu

wozniad2@miamioh.edu

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6 CULTURE

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

MITCHE49@MIAMIOH.EDU

Finding what it takes Performance major discovers her identity through piano MAYA FENTER

MAGAZINE EDITOR

When Cloie Dobias was a toddler, she would reach up and bang on the keys of her family’s 1936 Steinway piano. The piano was only one of around eight of its kind, and had been passed down through her family.

“I’m sure it sounded terrible, but it was really exciting,” Cloie said.

Her parents took note of her interest in the instrument at such a young age and once she was old enough, around four or five years old, they signed her up for her first piano lesson.

Now a senior piano performance major at Miami University, Cloie has continued taking lessons at least once per week since then.

Cloie also has a double major in psychology, and she wasn’t always sure she wanted to study music. She wasn’t sure she had what it takes.

Erika, her best friend growing up, played french horn at the Denver School of the Arts, a high school that focuses on music education and prepares students to audition for college music programs. Cloie attended a public high school.

She constantly compared herself to her friend. She didn’t see herself as being on that same level, and convinced herself that studying music in college wasn’t the path she should choose.

“I think I was just feeling a little bit lost,” Cloie said. “I didn’t know what I wanted to study because I was like, ‘Well I know I shouldn’t do music because I’m not ready, but I don’t know what else I would do.’”

One night, Cloie went to her friend’s concert. She was sitting in the audience and as soon as the orchestra began tuning their instruments, she burst into tears.

“I was like, ‘there’s no way I can’t study music,’” Cloie said. “I love music so much and I use it to define myself.

When people ask me to tell them something about myself, my go-to fun fact is that I play piano.”

Soon after arriving at Miami from her home in Denver for her first year, it became clear that this would be a lot more intensive than playing recitals with 6-year-olds.

Siok Lian Tan, Cloie’s piano professor at Miami, calls herself the tiger mom of her students.

“She’s really hard on us, but I really needed that, especially freshman year,” Cloie said.

The piano teachers Cloie had before college would praise her despite the fact she didn’t practice between lessons.

“That would not work here,” Cloie said. “[Dr. Tan] would be like, ‘Why are you wasting my time? Why did you even come here? You should’ve cancelled your lesson!’”

Though the piano studio course is only three credit hours, students are expected to practice four hours each day. Cloie tries to set aside time each day to meet this quota — usually later at night around 9 p.m. — but she admits that some days, she doesn’t quite hit the four-hour mark.

In addition to this rigorous practice schedule, Cloie also wasn’t accustomed to performing alone on stage in front of an audience. She played in an orchestra in high school and only ever belonged to one piano studio that had recitals.

Her piano teacher at that studio was a sweet lady from Ireland who was a family friend. Cloie was about 16 at the time, making her about 10 years older than the rest of the students in the studio. She didn’t feel challenged, and the audience at their recitals was comprised mainly of parents videotaping their 6-year-olds.

She knew her first formal recital at Miami would be a bit more serious, so Cloie put on a nice dress and did her makeup, which she hardly ever does.

She was playing in a non-degree recital, so it wasn’t something that she was required to do. She thought it would be a good experience, but looking back on it, she knows she wasn’t ready for it at the time.

CLOIE HOPES TO COMBINE HER TWO PASSIONS, PSYCHOLOGY AND PIANO, TO EXPLORE THE HEALING PROPERTIES OF MUSIC. CONTRIBUTED BY CLOIE DOBIAS

“It was like I blacked out for the whole recital,” Cloie said. “I remember going and being there and people at the end saying that it was wonderful, but I also remember playing and thinking, ‘I don’t know what comes next.’”

Music performance majors are required to do two recitals, one their junior year and the other their senior year.

Juniors have to memorize and perform 30 minutes of music and seniors do an hour. Their music selections should include pieces from a variety of different composers and time periods, to reflect the breadth of their abilities.

Cloie remembers standing backstage before her junior recital feeling oddly calm, despite her previous performance experiences. She’s not sure what came over her, but looks back on it as a turning point in her musical career.

“If I miss a note, probably no one’s even going to notice as long as I keep going,” Cloie said. “That’s one of the things about being a performance major — it’s never going to be exactly how you want it to be, but that’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned. Being a good performer is dealing with those

Miami sophomore thrives on Starbucks and studies EMILY DATTILO

ASST. OPINION EDITOR

It’s barely 9:30 a.m. and accounting major Sophie McDonnell is already busy.

Sitting at a table outside Café Lux, she writes with a brightly colored pen, her accounting textbook resting in front of her.

A dedicated expression peeks out from behind the dark frames of her glasses and short brown hair. With

her blue-and-white striped shirt, elegant jewelry, bright green eyes and fair complexion, she looks vaguely British. Turns out, she is.

Both of her parents are originally from England, but moved to the United States before she was born.

Her family has moved back and forth a couple times, but she’s lived in New Jersey for most of her life.

She tries to visit England at least once a year; it’s where nearly all of her extended family lives.

BETWEEN ALL OF HER ACTIVITIES, SOPHIE STAYS BUSY, BUT SHE WOULDN’T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY. CONTRIBUTED BY SOPHIE MCDONNELL

For her birthday last year, while visiting England, her family surprised her with a trip to Paris.

She attempted to learn French on Duolingo a week before the trip, but that didn’t work out too well.

It’s difficult to discern a hint of a British accent, but sometimes her friends bug her about the way she says particular words.

“They say I have my own verb tense, but that might just not be British, that’s just, like, me,” McDonnell says.

Like lots of Miami students, an undying love for Starbucks brings McDonnell to the coffee shop so often that one of the baristas knows her order: a venti iced vanilla coffee with almond milk.

McDonnell describes herself as self-motivated, considerate and polished. She loves being involved, particularly in leadership roles.

Right now, she’s an RA in President’s Hall (the honors student dorm on campus), a secretary and treasurer for a Women in Entrepreneurship club, Executive Manager for Honors Student Advisory Board and a member of Women in Business.

Someday, she’d like to work for a Big Four public accounting firm, but her dream job is to be a CFO. She already has a summer internship lined up at an aviation company in Texas called Textron, but has some concerns about the high temperatures.

“I’m probably gonna melt, but it’ll be fine,” she says.

Right now, she only has 15 credit hours, yet her Google Calendar for the next 48 hours is completely booked solid. It’s entirely her choice to do so — she says she just enjoys being busy.

“I see blank spots on my calendar, and I’m like,‘let’s fill it,’” McDonnell says.

Back at Café Lux, she clears away her accounting homework, pulls her jacket on, grabs her drink and smiles, ready to move to the next thing on her calendar. dattilec@miamioh.edu

things gracefully.”

She began preparing for her senior recital almost the day after her junior recital. She spent this past summer in Oxford, which gave her plenty of time to learn the pieces she selected. When the semester started, she could focus on polishing the pieces, since she’s learned that playing piano is more than just hitting all of the notes.

In addition to preparing for her senior recital, Cloie is the president and accompanist for the Miami University Choraliers, a women’s choral group.

She also works as an accompanist for Miami’s music department, where she plays piano for students or faculty at recitals or other events.

Cloie also gives group and individual piano lessons to elementary and middle school students at the Oxford Music Academy.

“I didn’t initially think that I wanted to teach at all…I feel like I took a chance in accepting my first teaching job and I didn’t think I’d like it, but I thought I could use some money,” she said. “But I don’t even care if I get paid now because it’s so rewarding to get to develop

relationships with students.”

When she’s not sitting at a piano, Cloie works as a research assistant in the Trauma and Emotion Regulation Lab in Miami’s Psychology Department, where she studies topics such as sexual assault and childhood maltreatment and how they affect behavior.

Her work in the lab has inspired her post-graduation goal of getting her Ph.D in clinical psychology. Her dream job is researching how music education can help children who have been deprived of a normal loving environment while also working with people and teaching them piano.

“I’ve seen in my own life the healing properties that music can have,” she said. “In high school, I would be super angsty and I would just go sit at the piano and feel comforted by that, even if I didn’t play. It gives you a sense of control and creation and I think it can really help people who have been hurt in any way.” fentermc@miamioh.edu

WORK FOR IT MADDIE TOOLE STAFF WRITER

Sydni Moore works four jobs — she’s a lifeguard and deck manager at the recreation center, a consultant for the English Language Learner Writing Center (ELLWC), an intern for Ohio DECA and, in her free time, she makes videos for Cinchshare, a social media marketing tool for independent sales consultants. She’s always on the go and makes everyone around her feel like an underachiever.

Every week, Moore, a marketing and Spanish double-major, is scheduled to work 20 hours, the maximum hours the university allows full-time students to schedule for on-campus jobs. The university allows an additional two hours of clocked-in time, allowing for a small area of wiggle room for students who may have to work extra.

Moore says that 22 hours is plenty for a full-time college student, but the lack of flexibility can be an issue, preventing her from helping out other employees.

“I can’t ever cover a shift for someone else, and then they can’t cover for me in the future because I can’t pick up a shift because it will put me over the 22 mark,” said Moore. “But if I was off-campus I could do that.”

Another busy student, Madi Novosel, is a student manager for Miami’s catering company, Carillon Catering, which supplies food to events on campus. She works 14-20 hours a week, depending on her schedule and how many events catering has planned for the week. The catering company sometimes only delivers the food, but sometimes they serve it, clear it away and wash the dishes afterward. Catering typically has multiple events scheduled per night, so Novosel never knows how many she will be working.

A sophomore chemistry and public health double-major, Novosel is the Community Leadership Team (CLT) president for Etheridge and Maple halls and is involved with a number of major-related clubs and organizations.

CLT alone can take up to seven hours per week.

Novosel says that working while in school has improved her ability to manage time.

“Next week I have two exams and a bunch of assignments going on, but I still have to work four days out of the week, which is manageable, it just real-

ly crunches me for time management,” Novosel said.

Work ethic is consistently at the top of the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ list of most necessary career readiness competencies. Listed as a key component of work ethic is time workload management. Employers look specifically for students who have the ability to multitask successfully and the ability to work while in college.

Sometimes just finding time to relax can be challenging while working so many hours per week, Novosel says.

With catering a lot of events on the weekends, she rarely gets to spend her days off catching up on homework or just taking a moment for herself.

For many students, working while in school is not optional. Some parents require their kids to have a job in order to help out with expenses. Other students make a personal choice to reduce costs by working.

“I could decide not to work, but I would have to take out more student loans for my housing next year, so I’m trying to eliminate as much debt as I can,” said Novosel.

In addition to helping to pay for college, jobs on campus can provide experience within a student’s area of study.

Moore says that as a part of her job at the ELLWC, each student consultant must join a special interest group, a team of students who work together on one aspect of the writing center.

“ELL gives me the opportunities to work on my major at the same time,” said Moore. “The Marketing Special Interest group helps me apply what I am learning.”

This gives her practical experience creating marketing materials for the writing center, a skill that she can apply to her future career.

Above all, Moore values the relationships she has formed with her fellow lifeguards at the rec.

Every so often, the lifeguards have staff dinners at a coworker’s house, where they all chow down on good, homemade food, relax and enjoy each other’s company.

“I am friends with people I wouldn’t normally be friends with and they’re leading me to try things I wouldn’t normally try, like the jump rope club,” said Moore. toolemb@miamioh.edu

MITCHE49@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

CULTURE 7

PERFORMERS BECOME PROFESSIONALS MAGGIE ANGEVINE THE MIAMI STUDENT

When asking an average Miami student if they plan to see the annual Miami Opera, their response would most likely be along the lines of We have an opera?

Miami University does, in fact, have an opera program. It exists under the vocal performance major in Miami’s music department. The opera is directed by vocal professor Benjamin Smolder, who says the program hopes to produce students who go on to top conservatories for graduate programs, notably Juilliard and The Royal Conservatory of London.

“It prepares you for multiple leadership positions, and to take on the role of

a real professional,” Smolder said. “We invest in our students.”

According to Smolder, the Miami Opera has been a three-time winner of the National Opera Association Award for Outstanding Collegiate Performance, a prestigious award typically reserved for performing arts schools or conservatories.

For Miamians involved with the opera, being both a student and a performer is no small feat. In preparation for the spring performance, students returned from winter break a week early to participate in six to eight hours of rehearsal per day. When classes began, preparation for the performance dwindled to four to five hours a day on top of classes, homework and other responsibilities.

STUDENTS JUGGLE CLASSES, HOMEWORK AND OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES WHILE PARTICIPATING IN AN AWARD-WINNING OPERA PROGRAM. CONTRIBUTED BY KAYLA KRAMER

“It says something about your musical ability and your dedication,” said junior Luke Wielgos, one of many student performers in the opera.

This year, the students’ dedication and hard work took form as two humorous operatic performances: Mozart’s “The Producer” and Menotti’s “The Old Maid and the Thief.” The department performed the pieces last weekend, Feb. 21-24.

“The Producer,” originally written and set in 1787, was adapted by Smolder to take place in 1930s Hollywood. A funny, biting competition between two divas, this Hollywood-glam production is reminiscent of “The Great Gatsby.”

Intricate set and costume design transported the audience into the world of the opera, fully enveloping them in the performance.

“The Old Maid and the Thief” was performed as written. In this quick-witted work, a free-wheeling vagabond, played by sophomore Nate Wilkens, rolls into a small town only to leave chaos, conflict and happy mistakes wherever he goes.

“When you see an opera, you are viewing a portion of history that is hundreds of years old, and old transformed to new,” Wielgos said. “Most people think opera is a dying art, but actually there are more operas produced in one year than in 300 years in the past [combined]. Just know, there is still an active effort to be involved in this art form, it’s still going strong.” angevims@miamioh.edu

Mia & Me

A girl’s tale of finding her forever friend ANGELA HATCHER THE MIAMI STUDENT

Everyone wants something to love.

Whether you want a cat, dog, hamster, pet rock — you want a little friend to cuddle up with, to hang out with through the good times and the bad... someone to love you unconditionally.

I am one of these people. I grew up with a dog. His name was Lucky and he was a fluffy, soft-coated Wheaten terrier. He was a force of energy and cuteness, and I loved to cuddle him and let him lick my cheeks. It was crushing when Lucky passed away my junior year of high school, and since that day, I

knew I wanted a dog of my own.

Over the years, my puppy fever continued to mount — reaching a fever pitch, as Adele would say. I saw so many young professionals with dogs during my time on both the east and west coasts, and I wanted that life — that “I’m going to a microbrewery with my rescue dog” life, that “I spend my Saturdays on trails with my Aussie” life.

Fast forward to the beginning of my last semester of undergrad. On Jan. 8, I went to Hamilton’s Animal Friends Humane Society to learn more about the pet adoption process. All I wanted was to learn, genuinely.

I made the 30-minute drive from Oxford, talked to the woman at the front desk about the adoption process, filled out the paperwork and made a rookie mistake that changed my life forever — I said yes when the woman asked if I wanted to go to the back to see the dogs, foolishly thinking I could leave without one.

I strolled by kennel after kennel, poking my fingers through the wire to scratch dogs’ heads, feeding them treats and cooing at them. I had almost made it through my loop, without feeling too attached to any of the dogs, when I saw her sitting in the third to last gate.

She was curled up into a little ball of fur and weighed maybe 20 pounds.

When she saw me walking over, she unrolled, stretched and started wagging her tail. In a shelter full of barking, frantic dogs, she was calm, looking at me intently. She started licking my fingers.

I reached through the gate to scratch her ear. She closed her eyes and I swear she smiled. I admired how soft her coat was, the sleekest color of onyx. Her little white paws made her look like she was always wearing socks. Her snout was white with little black spots, and her black nose was sniffing eagerly at the treat in my other hand.

“Well, I’ve never seen her get up to come say hi to anyone like that,” the volunteer two kennels down said.

Of course my heart melted into a million pieces. I knew she was the one.

It was kind of like the saying in “Harry Potter”: “The wand chooses the wizard.” I felt like Mia chose me. It felt magical when she looked at me, wagging her tail and whimpering when I started walking away.

Max, my boyfriend and moral compass, told me I had to wait. I had to go home, sleep on it, do research on the cost of having a dog and assess whether or not I could do it with my schedule.

EVEN AT HER MOST MISCHEVIOUS, MIA PROVIDES SUPPORT AND FRIENDSHIP. CONTRIBUTED BY ANGELA HATCHER

I left begrudgingly, knowing Mia was not yet adopted and that I was already approved for adopting a pup from that facility.

I waited 24 hours. I did the research.

I made dozens of spreadsheets and procon lists. I couldn’t get her face out of my head.

The minute the shelter opened the following day, I called and asked breathlessly if Kia (what the shelter originally named her) was still available, prepared for the worst news.

“Let me look it up,” the lady said, uninterested in my manic excitement.

“Yes, she is.”

I ran to my car, drove an average of 20 miles over the speed limit to get to Hamilton in a record 22 minutes, slapped my debit card down on the table and said, “I’m here to get my dog Kia.” I adopted her, but couldn’t take her home right away because she wasn’t spayed. I went to the shelter four days straight to hang out with her and train her a bit. Then they said they’d let me take her home through their foster-toadopt program if I pinky-promised to bring her back to be fixed (and sign a

bunch of forms saying they’d arrest me if I didn’t).

I haven’t looked back since. Not when she had barking fits that kept me from sleeping. Not when she started nipping at every houseguest I had over. Not when she jumped up onto my kitchen counter and ate three chocolate chip cookies. Not when she peed on my bed, carpet and favorite blanket. Not even when she sprinted through the side door of my house across Spring Street and narrowly missed getting hit by a car.

She’s my forever friend in every sense of the word. And I’ve spent hours every day training her from the wiley, nippy stray to the sweetest, most well-mannered girl.

She brings me out of my depression.

Every day, I wake up to see that she snuck up onto my bed in the middle of the night and is burrowed in a pile of pillows and blankets.

She yawns, gives my cheek a lick and stares at me with those big brown eyes, and I feel like I have a reason to get out of bed. hatcheam@miamioh.edu

Entertainment

8

KEELINST@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

‘TEMPER CA’ IS A PAGE-TURNING DRAMA ABOUT THE PITFALLS OF MEMORY

PAUL SKENAZY. CONTRIBUTED BY MU PRESS

SAM KEELING

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

“Your grandfather died last night.”

For Joy Temper, the protagonist of the novella “Temper CA,” these words do more than signal an end — they resurface a past that she had spent years ignoring.

She did not have fond memories of her grandfather. Nor did she particularly want to return to his California mining town, Temper, where she spent turbulent childhood years.

Paul Skenazy, the author of “Temper CA” (published by Miami University Press in January 2019), knew that the novella’s title signified Joy and the place with which she shares a name: “The image was of this girl… The more I saw her, I realized that I wasn’t just telling her story. I was telling the story of the town.”

Through concise and vivid prose, Skenazy portrays Temper as a budding tourist site with an unavoidable history. As new real estate developments change the face of the town, its oldest residents fight for their mining roots.

But those traditions carry a dark past, of Anglo-Americans stealing land from Californios, Chinese Americans and Chileans during the Gold Rush.

Temper’s history is only part of the story, though. The rest involves Joy’s exploration of her own past. What led to the broken relationships between her grandfather and father?

Father and mother? Was her parents’ unorthodox lifestyle more harmful to her than she originally thought?

Combining both concepts into a single narrative is a challenge. “How do you add history and politics and still keep the story, pushing it forward?” Skenazy said in an interview. But as

“TEMPER CA” WAS PUBLISHED IN JANUARY 2019 BY MIAMI UNIVERSITY PRESS.

“Temper CA” shows, these concepts aren’t as distinct as they seem.

“This is the consequence. We have a personal history, and we have a public history. It became ‘Temper CA’ when the two meshed. It wasn’t ‘Temper’ until the two could join.”

For its intimate discussion of relationships and family, the novella is as close to a page-turner as a quiet drama can get. This is thanks, in part, to a strange story about an earlier draft of the story. “At one point… I

sent the book to a publisher who didn’t want it,” said Skenazy. “He literally wanted me to rewrite it as a thriller in which Joy kills her grandfather and blames her father. I actually tried to do that for a year.”

The pulpy results left the author dissatisfied — “Everything was gratuitous. It felt like I was writing pornography” — but it did imbue in his writing a sense of urgency, forward motion and energy. “I wanted an internal thriller, a psychological thriller of her discovery. I

realized that I could do that with the mystery form.”

The mystery unveils itself to Joy slowly. A duffel bag is found in an abandoned mine, the grandfather’s cause of death raises questions and old family and friends reference moments from Joy’s past that she has forgotten or buried in her subconscious. In a rather unconventional layout, these mysteries can only be resolved with a journey through the past.

To do this, Skenazy employs one of the story’s most integral devices: pictures.

“Photographs are at the heart of this book,” he said. “[They] are a certain kind of memory.

But they’re frozen. They pretend to show you a landscape, but really, they close off a landscape. They frame a landscape. There are a zillion things going on outside of it.”

When these pictures portray an image of the past that contradicts Joy’s memory, they create some of the novella’s most effective drama. “How do you have this vision — which is like a photograph of a moment in time —yet at the same time, you know your memory is skewed? How do you penetrate the scene of the photograph itself and realize that, ‘Everything I believed about that is kind of wrong?’”

Skenazy’s exploration of this concept provides incredible depth for a relatively short read. “In the first part of the book, I had to give over to [Joy’s] romanticism. And then kind of let it break apart,” he said.

There are also the stories Joy is being told by those around her — their versions of what unfolded in the past, their justifications for their actions. Sometimes, those stories unveil a new kind of truth for Joy; just as often, they make it more confusing.

Speaking on this topic, Skenazy mentioned the 1950 film “Rashomon.” In it, a bandit’s hideous crimes against a samurai and his wife are replayed from the perspective of each party, as well as that of an observing woodcutter.

None of the stories align, and each new retelling reveals something about its narrator. It’s up to the viewer to determine the “truest” version of the story.

That structure was revolutionary for the time, spawning a term to describe similarly splintered stories: the Rashomon Effect.

“Temper CA” utilizes this phenomenon. But the conflicting testimonies aren’t always the result of deliberate, pernicious deceit. Instead, Skenazy uses them to reflect an essential characteristic of humanity: Our minds often play tricks on us, remembering things how we want them to be remembered.

“It’s ‘I see, you see, he sees,’” Skenazy said.

“But you don’t know what’s there. It’s just perceptions.” keelinst@miamioh.edu

Review: ‘Father of 4’

Offset’s solo album takes steps forward and back SAM KEELING

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Fashion. Wealth. Drugs. Trap houses.

Clubs. In reigning trap kings Migos’ music, their old lives transform into their relatively newfound success, which has propelled the group to superstar status.

Quavo might be the musical front of Migos, with his strong sense of Auto-Tuned melodies and hooks, but Offset seems to receive the most attention, and not always for positive reasons. His very public marriage to Cardi B led to a very public adultery scandal and a near separation. When he took to social media asking for her back, Offset turned into a meme. Add to that the musician’s legal troubles and arrest history, and he has one of the more turbulent public images of today’s music superstars.

On his first solo effort, “Father of 4,” Offset starts things off in a striking way — rather than perpetuating his brash and confident persona, he gets surprisingly introspective.

The titular opening track is addressed to his four children, who he’s had with four different women at various stages of his life. In many ways, the track is an apology for leaving them in bad positions, for missing birthdays and entire years, for trying desperately to support his family and winding up in prison.

While chronicling the history of his shortcomings, Offset also outlines his mission statement: “I’ma keep grindin’ for my kids, never gon’ let up/I’ma put the money up for y’all, I can’t be selfish.” The sentiment flies in the face of the (oftentimes reasonable) criticism against Migos as flaunting materialism throughout their lyrics.

In fact, “Father of 4” tries to turn that materialistic streak on its head in some ways.

When Offset says, “Spend a big bag on clothes, Gucci from head to toe/Not two, not three, all four, that’s all they know,” he’s using his kids’ lavish get-up as a point of pride: in his youth, he never would have dreamed of living like this. Through his success, he’s managed to give his kids a life that he never knew. For once, a line about Gucci clothing almost sheds

its capitalistic connotations and symbolizes a new generation of black wealth and excellence.

Shades of this approach — I’m inclined to call it “conscious trap” — pepper the rest of the album. Immediately following the opener is “How Did I Get Here,” on which Offset and his inimitable guest J. Cole consider their difficult upbringings and reach the conclusion that their meteoric successes are nothing short of miraculous. The track adds another dimension to a lot of modern trap artists’ indulgent tendencies: When they’ve had such a stratospheric rise, why would they act like they aren’t enjoying themselves?

Elsewhere, Offset raps about his mistakes and quest for atonement with Cardi B (“Don’t Lose Me”), the vicious cycle of police brutality (“The police shoot ‘em/Now the black man dead, this a rerun” on “After Dark”) and, most frequently, the fact that he has four children to support.

Not every lyric here is solid gold, though.

In fact, the more interesting storytelling made me pay closer attention to Offset’s words, and I recognized when the writing faltered. For example, right before the line about police brutality on “After Dark” comes the confounding brag, “Macbook Pro, how I bend over your hoe.” On “North Star,” he says, “They know I’m too strong, can’t assassin me.” The attention to rhythm and meter is respectable, though the resulting line is a bit more humorous than intended. Vapid verses sit alongside great ones. The juxtaposition is jarring at times.

There are even times when Offset is simply asking for controversy. “Tryna get more richer than the Jews,” he raps on “Underrated,” seemingly oblivious to the fact that countless other rappers have come under fire and apologized for promoting the age-old stereotype.

That push-and-pull quality extends throughout nearly every aspect of “Father of 4.” Some of the production (largely handled

by Metro Boomin) is dynamic and interesting; other tracks are downright bland. When Offset delivers his fast and tight triplet flows, it can be great, but when he follows the Au-

OFFSET’S ALBUM ART SHOWCASES HIS FOUR CHILDREN.

to-crooning tradition of Quavo or Travis Scott, it’s clear that this isn’t his strong suit.

Some of the features, like the humorously crude verse from everyone’s favorite British rapper 21 Savage, are great. Other ones, like the ill-conceived and goofy CeeLo Green feature, are not.

The album is also, at 57 minutes, too long.

Someday, artists will learn that an album doesn’t have to pack as much content as possible, and that in fact, bloating can drastically reduce overall quality.

Without listening to the record, it’s very easy to applaud Offset for his willingness to

consider his shortcomings and confront them for millions to hear. But the fact of the matter is, Offset doesn’t always put his best foot forward, musically or lyrically, in this album.

“Father of 4” can’t help but feel like missed potential. More consistent storytelling, dynamic production and creative songwriting could make for a more rewarding listen. For now, we’re left with a taste of what could have been. keelinst@miamioh.edu

KEELINST@MIAMIOH.EDU

9

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Break up with your favorite album, I’m bored

“THANK U, NEXT” IS A STATEMENT OF TRIUMPH FROM A PLACE OF SORROW.

BEN FINFROCK OPINION EDITOR

The year has just started, and there’s already a top contender for Pop Album of 2019.

With “Thank U, Next,” Ariana Grande accomplished more than just creating a brilliant record. She has created a moment in pop music.

“Thank U, Next” is her second album in six months, and it is a dark, yet exhilarating triumph which looks at the challenges Grande

has faced with a fresh and honest prospective.

This album was born in the weeks after the unexpected death of rap legend Mac Miller, and at the end of Grande’s relationship with comedian Pete Davidson. Grande and Miller dated for three years and broke up only three months prior to his death. Grande ended her engagement to Davidson in October after being with him for about four months. But looming in the background of both of these events is the PTSD Grande still faces after the 2017 Manchester bombing that occurred at

her concert.

As Grande told Zach Sang on his radio show, when things started getting really bad, she pushed her management team away, and her friends flew to stay with her in New York City. These friends included artists and producers Victoria Monet, Tayla Parx, Tommy Brown, Michael “Mikey” Foster and Charles “Scootie” Anderson of the band Social House.

During this time, the group would record music at Jungle City Studios in New York City while drinking heavily.

The result of these drunken studio sessions was the brilliant “Thank U, Next,” an album which is both brutally honest about Grande’s experiences and full of life and energy.

Grande succeeds at being open about her emotions, broadcasting them in each song on the album. Even though some of the tracks have happy beats, they are still frank about her experience. The result is an album that listeners like myself are able to find relatable.

In songs like “fake smile,” Grande talks about being tired of pretending she is fine. In “ghostin,” she is open about grieving the loss of Mac Miller while watching her relationship with Pete Davidson crumble before her. This song is home to one of the album’s most tragic lyrics: “Though I wish he were here instead/ Don’t want that living in your head/He just comes to visit me/When I’m dreaming every now and then.”

I also love the stark contrasts Grande uses and the range of emotions she displays, moving seamlessly from songs about how she wants to be in love with another person to

singing about how she also needs her space.

For example, in the album’s opening songs, “imagine” and “needy,” Grande is craving a relationship with a love she regrets pushing away. She is open about her flaws and regrets allowing them to interfere with her relationship, but admits that now she just wants to feel needed. These tracks are contrasted by “NASA” and “bloodline,” in which Grande hopes for space away from her lover and sings about the joys of meaningless sex.

In any other album, these tone shifts would be a disastrous move, but because of Grande’s personality, brilliant lyrics and vocals, they work wonderfully.

After listening to this album over and over again, all I can say is that Ariana Grande is a bad bitch. Not only has she overcome a lot of hardship to create this album, but she also makes music that makes other people feel amazing. If songs like “7 rings,” “bloodline” and “break up with your girlfriend, I’m bored” do not make you want to get dolled up in your finest clothes and hit the town, then you’re not listening to them right.

This album is a true moment in pop music, one that will certainly define Grande’s career.

It’s only been out for two weeks and she’s already smashed records. With her Sweetener World Tour starting next month, we have only seen the beginning of what will be an iconic era for Ariana Grande. finfrobd@miamioh.edu

STREAMING SERVICES FIGHT TO KEEP MOVIES ALIVE SAM KEELING

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Not everything great is remembered forever, and what we remember forever isn’t always great. This is true of pop culture in general, and films in particular.

The further back in time we travel, the more the pool of movies in our collective memories shrinks. From the 90s, we might remember the indie films that became cultural icons. From the 80s, all those famous comedies, teen movies and action tentpoles that defined the genre. Go way back to the 50s and beyond and everything gets foggier so that very few cinematic artifacts remain a part of pop culture.

Even as a self-declared cinephile, I acknowledge that film history is much more expansive than I could ever hope to comprehend. Mainstream America’s mindset toward cinema, up to the end of the 1960s, was one of fear and of censorship. Anything that didn’t fit the rulemakers’ criteria of acceptability was cast aside. Boundary-pushing art was kept out of wide distribution, relegated to independent theaters — giving rise to the term “arthouse” — or out of America entirely.

This isn’t to say that the Hollywood classics aren’t classics. But there’s a wealth of weird, wonderful stuff that existed on the fringes of society. Time threatens to erase that stuff, or at least make it invisible to movie lovers.

Enter Criterion.

Criterion is a home video company founded in 1984. Its staff examines a massive range of old films — classics, foreign, arthouse, experimental and everything in between — and scavenges the best of the best. Criterion’s selections receive a high-end restoration treat-

ment, giving them a previously-unthinkable visual and audio polish and reformatting them for modern technology. It is not just preservation – it is revitalization.

Through this service, I’ve grown as a consumer of films. I watched “Bicycle Thieves,” which is lauded as one of the greatest movies of all time, and was blown away about how strongly its intimate story of a man making ends meet in 1940s Italy resonates to this day.

I watched “Diabolique,” the 1955 French crime drama that reportedly features the first-ever twist ending in a movie, and was surprised to see that it was smarter and more interesting than some of today’s most mind-boggling mysteries.

I watched “Chungking Express,” a Hong Kong sensation that made Quentin Tarantino cry because he was “just so happy to love a movie this much.” Sensual, beautiful and effortlessly dreamy, the lovelorn drama left me entranced days after watching.

The physical versions of Criterion Collection films receive a similarly stunning packaging. The updated cover art always captures the tone and style of the film. Hours of supplemental material — interviews, behind-the-scenes, documentaries and analyses — are included.

Booklets feature essays, set photographs, gorgeous stills and even more artwork.

But nothing can be perfect. Restoration isn’t cheap, especially with older and more obscure selections. As a result, Criterion films are expensive: Standard pricing starts at $30 for a DVD version and can skyrocket into the hundreds for substantial box sets. The price is understandable, but prohibitive for many people. On top of that, distribution is limited, and popular Criterion films can go out of print, stopping audiences from owning them

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yet again.

Criterion are nothing if not problem-solvers, though, and the company’s latest attempt to universalize its important library is coming soon. The Criterion Channel, launching April 8, is a streaming service featuring a rotating lineup of over 1,000 films. It will be available for the same price as a Netflix subscription.

There has never been a service so expressly concentrated on creating a massive space for cinephiles to fall headfirst into the best, strangest and most important movies of all time. The supplemental materials will all be included with a subscription.

Subscribing early grants you access to a curated “Movie of the Week” series. Each Wednesday, the site offers a new film to watch. It’s how I saw “Chungking Express,” as well as the absurd British comedy “Tom Jones” and the beautiful, philosophical sci-fi epic “Stalker.”

I never would’ve watched these without Criterion (or heard of them, honestly). Are they all perfect films? No. But each of them broadened my understanding of the medium in general: its ebbs and flows, its history of experimentation and the lessons learned from the successes and failures.

If you’re at all intrigued by movie history, I can’t stress enough how cool this service is.

However, I also acknowledge that most people don’t have the budget for multiple streaming services, and that a few old movies won’t be enough to convince people to cancel their Netflix subscription.

Luckily for Miami students and faculty, there’s a service that combines everything I’ve talked about above, and lets us access it free of charge.

That service is Kanopy. Kanopy is a unique

KANOPY AND CRITERION ARE A CINEPHILE’S DREAM.

platform — its audience is public libraries and universities. People with memberships at participating libraries (in Miami’s case, the King Library database) get access to Kanopy’s collection of 30,000 movies.

There’s nothing quite like Kanopy’s library. It is a massive pool of documentaries, classics, and indie films along with some enticing newer releases, including “Moonlight,” “Room” and “The Disaster Artist.”

Most interestingly, Kanopy has a huge list of Criterion films. Some of its biggest titles — like “Bicycle Thieves” or the iconic “Seven Samurai” — are available at the click of a mouse, free for Miami students.

Marvelous feats of preservation, insightful history and great flicks — all for free, courtesy of our school. What more can you ask for? keelinst@miamioh.edu

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Sports

10

SIMANSEC@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

setting records and taking names since the RedHawks won 12 games in a row during the 2011-12 season.

When the ’Hawks travel to Kent State tomorrow, they will try to tie the record.

The Golden Flashes welcome the RedHawks to the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center after a narrow 69-67 loss to the No. 2-seeded Ohio.

Kent State’s offense ranks eighth in the MAC, two spots behind Miami’s, and the offensive contest will manifest itself in a battle between the MAC’s No. 7 and No. 8 scorers.

Kent State’s redshirt junior guard Megan Carter checks in averaging 16.5 points per game, narrowly behind Miami’s junior guard Lauren Dickerson, who averages 16.7.

But the contest will likely be decided by each team’s defensive performance. Similar to last week’s matchup against the MAC’s No. 1 defense in the Toledo Rockets, the RedHawks take on the conference’s third best defensive unit in Kent State. “[Defense] is always critical,” Dickerson said after Saturday’s win. “It’s

EMILY SIMANSKIS

a big part of our culture and our program.”

The last time these two teams met on Jan. 26, the RedHawks beat the Golden Flashes 79-63 for their third straight win. Carter had 21 points for Kent State, while Dickerson and junior forward Savannah Kluesner led the RedHawks with 19 points apiece.

Senior forward Kristen Levering finished that game with 15 points, her highest at the time.

Eight RedHawks average 10 minutes or more of playing time, and head coach Megan Duffy often attributes her team’s success to big minutes from her bench.

“I think we’ve talked about our versatility all season,” Duffy said after Saturday’s victory. “We always say, ‘Let’s try and execute, and if we can’t, we’ll find something else to make the tweak and adjustment.’”

The RedHawks will try to find that winning “something” tomorrow for the 12th straight game. simansec@miamioh.edu

SCOUTING REPORT THE GAME

Tipoff................................................ 7 p.m. Wednesday at M.A.C. Center TV/Radio........................................ ESPN+/Miami IMG Sports Network

MIAMI REDHAWKS

Record ������������������������������������������������������������21-4 (12-2 Mid-American) Offense ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 68.6 ppg Defense ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 59.4 ppg

PROJECTED LINEUP

Player..................................................... (position, height, key stat) Lauren Dickerson ��������������������������������������������������� (guard, 5’3”, 16.7 ppg) Leah Purvis �������������������������������������������������������������� (guard, 5’6”, 8.0 ppg) Baleigh Reid ����������������������������������������������������������� (guard, 5’10”, 3.3 ppg) Kendall McCoy ����������������������������������������������������(forward, 6’0”, 12.1 ppg) Savannah Kluesner ����������������������������������������������(forward, 6’2”, 14.2 ppg)

KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES

Record ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 15-10 (8-6 MAC) Offense ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 66.6 ppg Defense ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������62.0 ppg

PROJECTED LINEUP

Player..................................................... (position, height, key stat) Alexa Golden ������������������������������������������������������������ (guard, 5’9”, 8.1 ppg) Ali Poole ��������������������������������������������������������������������(guard, 6’0”, 9.1 ppg) Asiah Dingle ����������������������������������������������������������� (guard, 5’4”, 12.5 ppg) Megan Carter ����������������������������������������������������������� (guard, 5’7”, 16.5 rpg) Lindsey Thall �������������������������������������������������������(forward, 6’2”, 10.1 ppg)

NCAA NET Ranking

Miami (43) ������������������������������������������������������Northern Illinois (85)

SPORTS EDITOR

Miami’s women’s basketball team had quite the week.

Last Wednesday, the RedHawks beat the Toledo Rockets 65-56 to earn their 20th win of the season.

Following last year’s 21-11 record, Miami earned back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since the 1980-81, 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons.

With their 75-62 win over the Bowling Green Falcons on Saturday afternoon, the RedHawks (21-4, 12-2 Mid-American Conference) maintained sole possession of the No. 1 seed in the MAC and extended their winning streak to 11 games.

This is the longest winning streak JUNIOR FORWARD SAVANNAH KLUESNER (LEFT) BATTLES FOR THE BASKET. HER TEAMMATES (ABOVE) APPLAUD EFFORT LIKE HERS ON SATURDAY AT MILLETT HALL. ZACH REICHMAN THE MIAMI STUDENT

Hockey inconsistent after bye week EMILY SIMANSKIS SPORTS EDITOR

Following Miami hockey’s first win in 15 games and a National Collegiate

Hockey Conference mandatory bye week, the RedHawks had an inconsistent weekend against the No. 7 Denver Pioneers.

The ’Hawks took time to rest their

JUNIOR GOALTENDER RYAN LARKIN FACED 90 SHOTS AGAINST DENVER THIS WEEKEND. COURTESY OF DENVER ATHLETICS

bodies and minds after six straight weekends of play and, in their first game back from break, roared out to a 3-0 lead en route to a 3-1 win over the Pioneers on Friday.

But Miami (11-17-4, 5-13-2 NCHC) played an unsustainable brand of hockey, forcing junior goaltender Ryan Larkin to see 47 shots on Friday and then 43 on Saturday. And an imperfect penalty kill put the game away on Saturday, as the Pioneers (17-8-4, 9-8-2 NCHC) secured the series split with a 5-2 win.

“Every little detail, every little play of the game is magnified at this time of year, and you have to really focus on those things and play every shift like it’s your last,” head coach Enrico Blasi said last Monday.

Due to travel, Blasi’s weekly Monday press conference was pushed to this afternoon.

On his team’s first shot of the weekend, Miami senior forward Ryan Siroky beat sophomore goaltender Devin Cooley. Siroky scored his second goal of the night and seventh of the season less than two minutes into

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the second period, and junior forward Karch Bachman scored 47 seconds later to propel the ’Hawks to a 3-0 lead.

The Pioneers countered early in the third on their power play, but Larkin stopped 19 of Denver’s 20 third-period shots for the RedHawks’ second straight win.

On Saturday, Denver struck three minutes into the game, and its momentum didn’t slow. Miami is now 10-2 when scoring first and 1-15-4 when opponents score first.

Though Larkin shined on Friday, as he sustained Denver’s 47-shot onslaught, the RedHawks gave their goaltender little relief on Saturday.

Larkin faced 43 shots and made 38 saves.

The ’Hawks have now been outshot in 20 of their last 23 games, while they have given up 30 shots or more in 20 of those contests. The Pioneers outshot Miami 90-38 during the weekend.

And special teams both helped and hurt the RedHawks, as they have in the past.

Miami went 0-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-5 on the man-disadvan-

tage, though senior forward Josh Melnick scored shorthanded on Saturday.

Melnick’s second-period goal tied the game at 1-1.

When the score read 3-2 Pioneers in the third period, Denver capitalized on the power play to gain a two-goal lead.

A Pioneers empty-net goal with two minutes left to play on Saturday ended the weekend.

The RedHawks now sit seventh in the eight-team NCHC, three points behind Colorado College. The University of Nebraska Omaha is eighth by only one point.

“We just want to get better every game and be playing our best hockey when it really matters at the end of the year,” senior forward Zach LaValle said last Monday.

Next, Miami travels to the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The Bulldogs’ goaltender Hunter Shepard has shut out the ’Hawks for four straight games, dating back to last season. Puck drop on both Friday and Saturday is at 8:07 p.m. ET. simansec@miamioh.edu

SIMANSEC@MIAMIOH.EDU

SPORTS 11

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Men’s hoops looks for repeat win against BGSU CHRIS VINEL

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

THE REDHAWKS START UP THE COURT. CHLOE COCHRAN THE MIAMI STUDENT

SCOUTING REPORT THE GAME

Tipoff........................................... 7 p.m. tonight at the Stroh Center TV/Radio................................ESPN+/Miami IMG Sports Network

MIAMI REDHAWKS

Record ��������������������������������������������������������������������14-13 (6-8 MAC) Offense ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������71.9 ppg Defense ������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 69.1 ppg

PROJECTED LINEUP

Player..............................................(position, height, key stat) Darrian Ringo ���������������������������������������������������(guard, 6’2”, 7.7 ppg) Nike Sibande....................................................(guard, 6’4”, 15.3 ppg) Abdoulaye Harouna ������������������������������������������(guard, 6’5”, 5.3 ppg) Dalonte Brown............................................. (forward, 6’7”, 12.0 ppg) Bam Bowman.................................................(forward, 6’8”, 9.9 ppg)

BOWLING GREEN FALCONS

Record �������������������������������������������������������������������� 19-8 (11-3 MAC) Offense �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 79.2 ppg Defense ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������71.4 ppg

PROJECTED LINEUP

Player..............................................(position, height, key stat) Justin Turner...................................................(guard, 6’4”, 18.9 ppg) Dylan Frye........................................................(guard, 6’2”, 13.0 ppg) Caleb Fields........................................................(guard, 6’2”, 4.5 ppg) Daeqwon Plowden ���������������������������������������� (forward, 6’6”, 5.9 ppg) Demajeo Wiggins ���������������������������������������(forward, 6’10”, 12.9 ppg)

NCAA NET Ranking

Miami (143).................................................Bowling Green (99)

The Bowling Green Falcons were riding high coming into their last meeting with the Miami RedHawks.

On Jan. 26, the Falcons arrived in Oxford on a 10-game win streak as the top team in the Mid-American Conference standings.

That was, until they were grounded by Miami.

The RedHawks allowed their second-lowest point total against a Division I team this season as they stunned Bowling Green 67-53 at Millett Hall to knock the Falcons out of first place.

Now, Miami visits the Falcons at the Stroh Center tonight, looking for a repeat performance.

“I thought the guys did a great job at carrying out their assignments as far as the game plan and everything else,” head coach Jack Owens said yesterday. “We made Bowling Green score over the top.”

And the Falcons did score over the top, to the tune of 45 percent shooting (10-of-22) from 3-point land against the RedHawks last month.

Miami didn’t let Bowling Green have any success inside the paint, though, holding it to 30 percent (9-of-30) on 2-point shots.

Bowling Green redshirt sophomore guard Justin Turner, the MAC’s third-leading scorer with an average of 18.9 points per game, was held to just 12. That was good enough to lead the Falcons.

Miami’s offense didn’t exactly set the world on fire either, with the exception of sophomore guard Nike Sibande. He scored a game-high 25 points and was the lone RedHawk to record a double-digit point total.

To give his team a chance for a repeat win over the Falcons, Sibande will need to bounce back from Saturday’s loss at Akron, when he tallied just three points in 31 minutes.

In the two squads’ last matchup, Miami drew its second-highest home crowd of the season, giving it a strong home-court advantage. This time, though, the RedHawks will play at Bowling Green, where two of the last four home games have sold out.

“Obviously, Bowling Green is playing at a high level,” Owens said. “They’re drawing very well.

It’s going to be a great environment. It should be an exciting game, and I know it’s one of those games that could go down to the wire. We’ll just have to continue doing the things we’re doing and staying the course.”

That course Owens always talks about is getting shorter and shorter. The RedHawks have entered their final four games of the regular season and are currently vying to host a first-round contest in the MAC Tournament. If the regular season ended today, they’d be the final team to receive a home game.

The road to defending that spot starts at Bowling Green tonight. vinelca@miamioh.edu

’Hawks Talk

“Oh my gosh, it’s cold, isn’t it? I’m trying to stay warm.”

⁃⁃ men’s basketball head coach Jack Owens on Monday morning, when temperatures were in the 20s. Head coaches — they’re just like us!

The love, honor and care of Jerry Miller BENNETT WISE

THE MIAMI STUDENT

An hour before the opening tip, I felt cold. Chills ran down my entire body, which is unusual considering I knew the Miami RedHawks (21-4, 12-2 MAC) would handle the Bowling Green State University Falcons (8-17, 1-13 MAC).

But I wasn’t nervous about the game, nor did I feel the random game nervousness I felt as a high school athlete.

As I looked behind me in the plush red seats of Millett Hall, I saw my brothers of the Mu Psi chapter of Sigma Alpha Mu. We all felt an indescribable emotion that

ing an internship or displaying an act of random kindness, he wanted to honor the achievement.

That is why we, as a chapter, honor Jerry every day by embracing and acting on the values he expressed: manhood, democracy and integrity. His legacy and name live in the chapter’s history forever. He understood what it meant to live an honorable life.

Care Loving and caring for someone are becoming lost traits in today’s society (but I think you can figure out who exemplified these to a “T”).

While it could be seen as an annoyance at times, you’d look down at your phone to a random text

“I could never be a rabble-rouser or one that could lead thousands. I want to just have respect for people and for people to respect me.”

- Jerry Miller, 2015 left us trembling.

We were all experiencing the love, honor and care of our chapter advisor, Jerry Miller, who the world lost a week prior after a three-month battle with a stagefour glioblastoma.

Jerry served as the faculty advisor for Sigma Alpha Mu since 1974, while also acting as assistant chair in the economics department at Miami University. He also served as national scholarship chairman, chairman of the SAM Foundation Scholarship Committee and as a director on the Sigma Alpha Mu Foundation.

He wasn’t just an advisor or a witty economics professor. Jerry was a mentor, a friend and a father figure to over 1,200 actives and alumni of the Mu Psi chapter.

This basketball game celebrated the Love.Honor.Care initiative to raise funds to fight against all cancers, honor the survivors of the disease and educate the community about cancer.

The game and theme couldn’t be more timely for myself and my chapter, because Jerry exemplified all of the characteristics highlighted during that day.

Love Jerry tended to be stoic, yet you always knew he loved every minute of every day. Whether it was spending time with his husband Jim or active brothers at the chapter house, playing card games with friends or on surprise calls to take brothers to lunch, he understood what it meant to love.

Honor Jerry always took the time to honor a brother who had done something extraordinary — whether it be acing an exam, land-

from Jerry asking how your day was, or just to check in if he hadn’t seen you in a while.

For me, as the house manager, it’d be the daily text or 90-second phone call asking about the condition of the house or, if it was a Monday night, if I had taken the recycling to the curb.

To Jerry, every small interaction had a purpose. It is the trait I admired most about Jerry and one I put at the top of my personal values list. Small acts go a long way, and all you have to do is show that you care. Jerry understood what it meant to care for another human being in a time when so many people don’t feel comfortable sharing their emotions.

“If I see successful results in other people, that success is a part of me.”

The basketball game reminded me, as brothers, we loved Jerry.

He helped each and every one of us. Whether we were dealing with family turmoil, suicide, drug addiction, anxiety, the passing of a brother or any other possible scenario, Jerry Miller had seen it before and knew the step-by-step plan on how to deal with it.

It won’t be the same without him, but I will forever picture him sitting in his favorite lobby chair: a faded Persian rug design, right leg sprawled over the right arm rest, correcting everyone’s grammar or slipping in a dirty joke as they walked past.

“Jerry, how are we?” one brother would say.

“Ugh, don’t even get me started,” the son of an English teacher once said. wisebm@miamioh.edu

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED SINCE LAST TUESDAY… TUESDAY

Men’s basketball

Ball State �������������������������������������������������������������������� 66 Miami ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 69

WEDNESDAY

Women’s basketball

Miami ������������������������������������������������������������������������� 65 Toledo ������������������������������������������������������������������������� 56

FRIDAY

Hockey

Miami ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3 Denver �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1

SATURDAY

Men’s basketball

Miami ������������������������������������������������������������������������� 58 Akron ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 70

Women’s basketball

Bowling Green ��������������������������������������������������������� 62 Miami ������������������������������������������������������������������������� 75

Hockey

Miami �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 2 Denver �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5

Tennis

Western Kentucky 0 Miami ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5

SUNDAY

Track and Field

Miami �������������������������������������������������������� 10th (29 pts)

Baseball Game One (DH)

Miami ������������������������������������������������������������������������� 14 Murray State ��������������������������������������������������������������� 4

Game Two (DH)

Miami ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5 Murray State ���������������������������������������������������������������� 7

MONDAY

Baseball

Miami ������������������������������������������������������������������������� 10 Murray State ���������������������������������������������������������������� 3

Opinion

12

BURNSKL2@MIAMIOH.EDU

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019 STAFF EDITORIAL

A history of hate at Miami University The following reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.

At Miami, we pride ourselves on our ideal of “Love and Honor.”

This phrase has become synonymous with our university. It is printed on t-shirts and string bags handed out at the admissions office. It is used by alumni to greet each other and it is painted on the walls of Armstrong.

However, if you take a trip down to the basement of King Library and flip through Miami’s yearbooks, you will witness a history which is the exact opposite of “Love and Honor.”

In these pages of Miami University history are overt, disgusting and horrifying examples of hatred and bigotry. Pure hatred by ignorant, privileged college students.

What we found in more than 50 copies of Recensio, Miami’s former yearbook publication, were photographs of blackface, mock lynchings, students dressed as Confederate soldiers, displays of the Confederate flag and photos of students dressed in Middle Eastern garments at “Arabian Nights” parties. In one photo, multiple members of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity salute a Nazi military flag.

This is the reality of racism and hatred on our campus, and it is documented in books meant to highlight the better aspects of our history.

Racism and hatred extend far beyond photos of blackface and mock lynchings in our yearbooks. Hatred has lived in this university, and in many universities like it, for a long time. That hate has taken the shape of offensive symbols, foul language and even violence.

Until 1997, Miami’s sports teams were known as the “Redskins.” The decision to change the team name to

“RedHawks” was met with racist backlash. Recensio coverage of the change was headlined, “Goodbye Redskins, Hello Redhawks (yuck).”

And in 2004, a picture in Recensio showed a student at a football game imitating a Native American by wearing a headdress and face paint.

Hate at Miami has also been directed toward members of the LGBTQ community. The 2004 issue of Recensio claims Miami was “ranked fifth worst out of 351 other colleges and universities at which to be GLBTQ.” This statistic, printed along with an article about the university’s attempts to become more inclusive toward the LGBTQ community.

In 2010, junior Ben Collings was attacked while attending a drag show with his boyfriend. He was beaten in the bathroom at the show by two students who used a derogatory word to describe gay people, saying “[expletives] do not belong in society.” Collings survived, but suffered significant facial injuries.

Last year, hate again took form on campus , after students were caught using racial slurs on social media and a video surfaced of members of the Delta Zeta sorority using the n-word. These incidents led to the formation of the second Black Action Movement (BAM 2.0). However, even though the university met with members of BAM, a year later, many of BAM 2.0’s demands have not been met.

The history of hate at Miami is long and vast, but action can be taken to keep hate out of our future. A good place to start would be for the university to apologize and recognize that these issues of hate continue today.

But an apology rings hollow without real, substantive action. We have to promote and foster an environment of inclusivity on this campus. Recognizing the past is im-

GOOD MORNING MIAMI

Being a gentleman is a conscious choice

EMILY DATTILO

ASST. OPINION EDITOR

Lately, horrible stories of men mistreating women have infiltrated our news feeds and, sometimes, it sounds like all men are bad — like all women should either be scared or definitively angry with them.

We shouldn’t be. Real gentlemen do exist, and we cannot afford to forget that.

To clarify, yes, the frat-boy stereotype of a shirtless Chad sipping a beer and whistling at girls from his frat house porch is alive and well, but not every man is Chad or anything like him.

Yet at the same time, we know that Chad does exist, and that his behavior has consequences. Too many women have dealt with men who do what they want without asking, and it’s horrible.

The men who mistreat women live in darkness, fully responsible for their victims’ emotional and physical suffering, abandoning their accountability and clinging to their fame or status to protect them. The #MeToo movement, among other initiatives, has finally publicized this disgusting behavior, and slowly, things are changing.

However, it’s important to illuminate a group of people too often ignored: the gentlemen, the ones who do respect women and couldn’t fathom being a part of these situations we read about far too often.

Last semester, I started organizing a women’s march against sexual assault.

Upon discussing ideas with a close friend, he told me something I haven’t forgotten. He said that the prevalence of sexual assaults made him embarrassed and uncomfortable because he’d never dream of doing anything like that.

And thinking it over, I realized I don’t have one friend like him, I probably have 15. And I’d tend to guess lots of women, at Miami and elsewhere, could say the same thing.

That’s why, this semester, instead of immediately doubting men, I’m paying close attention to the ones doing good things. And once I shifted my paradigm,

I began to see countless examples worth noting.

Random boys holding the door for me as I clumsily try to balance textbooks, an iced tea and an umbrella. The boy in my psychology class who apologized profusely for assuming I was a junior. The boy who shook my hand and introduced himself before sitting next to me on the bus back to Chicago.

I’ve found boys who ask questions, who don’t take themselves too seriously and who are willing to admit when they’ve made a mistake.

Some of them are in fraternities and some of them aren’t, but I don’t think that matters.

A recent New York Times piece, titled “A Frat Boy and a Gentleman” discussed how certain fraternities are changing to become stronger organizations with better intentions. It’s a solid article, and I’d completely agree that you can be a fraternity member and a good person at the same time.

It’s certainly enabling to be surrounded by a bunch of guys, drinking in a cluttered frat house, feeling entitled to do whatever you’d like with no repercussions.

Fraternities can make it easy to slide down the slippery slope of questionable behavior, but it’s not a one-way road. Frat boys always have the option to leave their egos on the front lawn with their empty beer bottles and be decent people.

On our campus in particular, the unwritten preppy dress code can be another enabler of arrogance and an excuse for pompous behavior, but it doesn’t have to be. Believe it or not, it’s entirely possible to be a considerate and respectful human being, even if you’re wearing a flannel, joggers and Timberlands.

I’ve seen it happen. And not once, but many times.

Some people might argue that the concept of being a gentleman sounds outdated and old-fashioned. I usually picture one of the boys in “Dead Poets Society,” dressed in khakis, a navy pullover sweater and a sensible haircut, offering polite “yes sirs” and “yes ma’ams.”

We all know that our campus hosts countless modern-day versions of these boys. And though Vineyard Vines and Patagonia have replaced what Neil Perry was wearing in the 1980s, it’s clear that having manners won’t ever go out of style. And, for that matter, neither will respecting women.

Being a gentleman takes intention, purpose and a sense of moral responsibility. Plenty of men on our campus exemplify these values every day, and they’re worth mentioning.

Thanks, guys.

portant, but it is merely a starting point to solving this decades-long problem.

This healing process starts at the admissions and recruiting office, where the university must recruit people of different backgrounds, races, gender identities, sexual orientations and faiths. Miami ranked 19th for “little race/class interaction” out of 384 colleges in the 2019 issue of the Princeton Review. The only way to foster an environment of inclusivity is by bringing different kinds of people to campus, where they can interact with each other and expand their worldviews.

We can preach about diversity in our classrooms and at lectures, but until students are able to interact with people different from themselves, true diversity will never be achieved.

Individual student organizations need to step up and take responsibility for their past and work toward bettering themselves. This starts with diversifying their members, but even simpler actions can be taken to solve this problem. An easy change is to be more conscious of party themes.

Themes such as “Arabian Nights” caricature other cultures and have no place in an environment that preaches “Love and Honor.”

If you see someone on Halloween wearing blackface or dressed as a Native American, do not let them into your party. Most fraternities do not have an issue denying entrance to their parties anyway, so why not expand that to include people dressed in offensive costumes?

There are a lot of actions we as individuals can take to stop this history of hate from repeating itself. But until students and the university hold themselves accountable, our history will remain our present.

Your insistence on perfection is robbing you of your peace

BRIAH LUMPKINS STAFF WRITER

For college students, societal pressures are handed out like candy on Halloween.

Go to this school. Get these grades.

Join this fraternity or that sorority.

From a young age, you are told not to care about what others think of you, but it seems as if the older you get, the less truthful this saying becomes.

There is always an unspoken competition between you and everyone else.

You spend hours in Armstrong study rooms and survive the weekend on nothing but Starbucks, water and a plate of french fries from Pulley while trying to convince yourself that if you only study for a few more hours, you’ll get that perfect grade.

You spend entirely too much money on clothing and accessories, hoping that it will show the other kids that you’re just as rich and just as cool.

Yet, despite putting yourself through hours of emotional turmoil, your goal of perfection is still impossible to reach.

Perfection is unattainable. It’s a false con-

struct ingrained in our minds to give us some end goal to work toward. Striving for something isn’t a bad thing, but when you are trying to reach what isn’t real in the first place, you’re putting your mental health at risk.

Forty million adults in the U.S suffer from anxiety every year. It’s an obvious problem, yet rather than confronting an issue that affects so many, we waste our time trying to impress people who are too caught up in their own bullshit to focus on your efforts in the first place.

As a society, we’ve built up this idea that being anything less than your “best self” at all times means that you’re weak or lacking this superhuman quality that you convince yourself everyone has but you.

Get off Instagram and stop comparing yourself to people you’ve never met. The picture you’re obsessing over is riddled with filters, and the grades you’re complaining about are no different than those of the majority of the people in your class.

Endless comparison and your insistence on perfection is robbing you of your peace.

It’s an awful habit that too many people have fallen into, myself included.

Regardless of your current situation, you are the same person that you have always been. Nothing about you has changed.

Stop beating yourself up by making comparisons to superficial, photoshopped Instagram beauty. Pull yourself together and continue being the bomb-ass person you’ve always been.

You’ll never be perfect. No one ever will.

Take it from me, a girl who’s not so perfect herself. lumpkibm@miamioh.edu

Do your part to save the earth

Recycle this newspaper when you are done

dattilec@miamioh.edu

MAPLESTREET MARCH 20 11:00AM–3:00PM COMMONS