The Miami Student Established 1826
TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015 VOLUME 142 NO. 41
WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
LAUREN OLSON PHOTO EDITOR
SUPER SENIORS The RedHawks came away with a big win Saturday over No. 1 North Dakota. Senior night festivities made the game all the more important for Miamiâs six graduating seniors. The 6-3 victory clinched crucial home ice advantage in the first round of the NCHC playoffs. Miami will face Western Michigan this weekend to kick off the tournament.
Miami student drinking habits exceed national average
Community calls for continued recognition of sexual assault SEXUAL ASSAULT
ABIGAIL KELLY THE MIAMI STUDENT
KYLE HAYDEN THE MIAMI STUDENT
ALCOHOL
MARY SCHROTT THE MIAMI STUDENT
After just a month on campus, 10 percent of Miami first-years are classified as âhigh-risk drinkers,â according to results of an alcohol education program. AlcoholEdu, an online course, tests students prior to their arrival on campus and then follows up 30 to 45 days into their first semester. Of the 2,907 Miami students who participated in this yearâs AlcoholEdu program, a larger percentage of Miami students claim to have become high-risk and light/moderate drinkers at college when compared to the national data from over 500 universities. Director of Student Wellness Rebecca Baudry Young has been working with the AlcoholEdu program since 2007, and said this yearâs results were consistent with past trends. While Baudry Young hopes Miamiâs future results will suggest decreased drinking, closer to
the national average, she believes change is ultimately dictated by student-culture. âOther students are really setting the example for the freshmen of what is acceptable and what is going to be tolerated,â Baudry Young said. âWe have the opportunity for students to decide what environment they want to live in.â Baudry Young said the majority of students at Miami are making good decisions around alcohol, but those who are making high-risk decisions are most visible. âPeople are assuming that everyone at Miami are like the highrisk students,â Baudry Young said. âThis skews what students see as ânormal.ââ Baudry Young mentioned several factors unique to Miami and Oxford that may influence Miami studentsâ distinct trends in alcohol consumption. âNot all states allow 18 and over bars, and not all schools have student-housing so close to campus, you can walk anywhere here,â Baudry Young said. âA lot of schools also monitor their
house parties differently, they are not all âopen parties.ââ Baudry Young explained many of the house parties in Oxford donât necessarily have guest lists, which grants first-years more opportunities to access alcohol, as well as inhibits an organized and higher-risk event. In addition to the open parties, many students spend their nights out Uptown. Uptown Oxford has over a dozen bars, and of those, more than half are 18 and over. First-year Lauren Kay said she believes underage studentsâ access to the bars encourages dangerous drinking behavior. âThe fact that there are bars just creates another place where you keep drinking,â Kay said. âYou donât stop â you keep going for the rest of the night.â Though Kay understands the risks involved with drinking at Miami, she said it provides firstyears with the opportunity to meet new people. âWhen you come here freshman year and are trying to make friends, you donât walk up to ALCOHOL ÂťPAGE 8
RESULTS FROM THE FIRST ROUND OF THE MAC TOURNAMENT MENâS BASKETBALL MIAMI VS EASTERN MICHIGAN
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WOMENâS BASKETBALL MIAMI VS TOLEDO
61-62 TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY
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Miami students and faculty participated in the national Itâs On Us campaign during the first week of March, raising awareness about campus sexual assault and interpersonal violence, during the universityâs first Itâs On Us week. With the help of ASG and other student organizations, the Title IX office began planning Miamiâs Itâs On Us week last fall in an ongoing effort to organize students against sexual assault on campus. âWhat I think the Itâs On Us Campaign really does is create an ongoing effortâ Title IX and Sexual Assault Response Deputy Coordinator Rebecca Getson said. âIt gets the message out there fully, so we have one comprehensive message we are sending out.â President Barack Obama launched the Itâs On Us campaign last September to promote students taking responsibility in preventing sexual assaults on college campuses after universities across the nation were put in the spotlight for inadequate sexual assault policies. Miami University was criticized for the way it handled the 2012 incident when the flier â10 Ways to Get Away With Rapeâ was found in a residence hall. In response to the flier, Miami University created the Task Force on the Prevention of Rape and Sexual Assault. In its January 2013 report, the task force said there are reasons to believe that there are eight to nine sexual assaults per week at Miami. In addition, Miamiâs Crime Statistic Report lists that 20 sexual assault cases were reported last year on campus, and in off-campus university establishments. This number does not include the number of sexual assaults reported in off-campus housing. The first Itâs On Us week is a start to solving the problems found by Miamiâs task force. âItâs great to see this unifying factor and see all of campus coming together in solidarity against this issue,â F-wordâs community outreach
chair, sophomore Lana Pochiro said. Last weekâs events included hockey and basketball games, the signing of the Itâs On Us pledge in Armstrong, and a screening and discussion of the film âIt Happened Here:â a documentary that showed the testimonials of three sexual assault survivors with the actions they took against their universities after their cases were brushed off by their administrations. âI was wondering how Miami compared to the schools in âIt Happened Here,ââ junior Jessica Baker said. âIt just seems that we are working towards getting better at it.â However, while students like Baker see that Miami is making strides with the issue, others acknowledge there is a lot of work to be done for the future. Vice President of Men Against Rape and Sexual Assault (MARS), senior Tyler Schuppie, said efforts need to go beyond one week of events. âIt is a very important topic that I think needs to be taken seriously by everyone on campus,â he said. âIt is a 24/7 thing that people need to be aware about.â Pochiro said the campaign is only the start of what can be an impactful cultural change. âI think sexual assault has been portrayed as a âminimize the risk of it happening,â âdonât rape, donât get rapedâ culture instead of dealing with the underlying issues that causes it to happen,â she said. âFigure out strategies that will be more helpful, fix the bigger issue.â Getson hopes the Itâs On Us campaign works with student organizations such as Women Against Violence and Sexual Assault (WAVES), MARS and F-word in their events for Sexual Assault Awareness month coming up in April. âAny kind of change or culture shift takes time. Just like signing a pledge wonât make everyone miraculously feel safe to come forward, one weekâs worth of events will not be enough to feel safe,â Getson said. âWhat we see is that the more steps we take, the more likely that people will want to come forward and feel that culture shift is something that is safe and supportive.â
In 1982, The Miami Student reported that proposed financial aid cuts could affect 40 to 50 percent of Miami University students who received assistance. More than 5,000 students received a letter from then university President Paul Pearson informing them of the reduced funds.
UNIVERSITY
COMMUNITY
CULTURE
OPINION
SPORTS
COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER PREVIEW
GET THE SCOOP ON GRAETERâS
ORCHESTRA CONFERENCE
DANGERS OF DRINKING
MENâS HOCKEY
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