Spook-tober
Our editors picked their favorite spooky movies and favorite fall things to do page 6 and 7
Police implement body-worn cameras page 3
Edition 64, Issue 9 Wednesday, October 23, 2019
thenortherner.com @northernermedia
THE ORIGINAL ‘SIN CITY’ EXPLORING NEWPORT’S PAST OF MOBS, CRIMES AND MORE
See story on page 4 and 5 Newport Syndicate, formally known as Glenn Schmidt Playtorium, was a mob hangout.
COVER PHOTO BY BILLY KEENEY, ILLUSTRATIONS BY NOËL WALTZ AND NOELLE HORN
02 Happenings
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
NORTHERNER STAFF
WWW.THENORTHERNER.COM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Natalie Hamren [hamrenn1@mymail.nku.edu]
WHAT TO DO Check out the hottest campus happenings and can’t-miss events in Greater Cincinnati.
MANAGING EDITOR Josh Kelly [kellyjoshua17@gmail.com] NEWS EDITOR Billy Keeney [keeneyw1@mymail.nku.edu] NEWS EDITOR Josh Goad [goadj2@mymail.nku.edu] ASST. NEWS EDITOR Noelle Horn [hornn3@mymail.nku.edu] ARTS & LIFE EDITOR Kane Mitten [mittenm1@mymail.nku.edu] ASST. ARTS & LIFE EDITOR Corinne Byrne [corinnefaith217@gmail.com] SPORTS EDITOR Sierra Newton [sflnewton@gmail.com] COPY EDITOR Noël Waltz [hailee.waltz@gmail.com] PHOTO EDITOR Colin Johnson [johnsonphotography6626@gmail.com] ASST. PHOTO EDITOR Maya Shaffer [mayakat1998@gmail.com] VIDEO EDITOR Abby Behrens [behrensm1@mymail.nku.edu] VIDEO EDITOR Megan Mixon [mixonm1@mymail.nku.edu] DESIGN EDITOR Billy Keeney [keeneyw1@mymail.nku.edu] WEB EDITOR Laine Harrett [nicholasharrett25@gmail.com] ASST. WEB EDITOR Sean Gibson [seanpgib@gmail.com] SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Kate Fulmer [fulmerk1@mymail.nku.edu] ADVERTISING Samantha Brown [northerneradvertising@gmail.com] ADVISOR Michele Day [daymi@nku.edu]
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Bison at Big Bone Lick State Park in Boone County. PHOTO BY NATALIE HAMREN
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CELINE DION | U.S. BANK ARENA | PRICES VARY | 7:30 P.M. Does Celine Dion even need an introduction? She has five Grammys, the most number ones on the radio for a female artist and is the best-selling Canadian artist of all time. If you’re wanting to see one of the most defining singers of our generation live, you’ll need to pick up a resale ticket, but if you love strong vocalists it’s hard to find a better pick. ART AFTER DARK: TORMENTED SOULS | CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM | FREE | 5 P.M. - 9 P.M. Art After Dark is one of the area’s best-kept secrets. This month’s event celebrates Halloween and the Art Museum’s Treasures of the Spanish World exhibit, with a dance performance from Pones, music from DJ Andres Bautista, specialty cocktails and food for purchase. Special exhibitions at the museum, normally paid, are free during Art After Dark events. HALLOWEEN HAUNT | KINGS ISLAND | $34+ | 6 P.M. TO 1 A.M. It’s the last weekend for Halloween Haunt, so zombie-walk on down to Kings Island for your final chance at a Halloween fright this year. The park is transformed into a Halloween-themed scarefest, featuring nine ‘haunted mazes’ and seven ‘scare zones.’ Four new scare zones have been added this year, including a zombie mall and a haunted pirate ship.
What you missed at SGA Oct. 21 Noelle Horn
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
President Vaidya was in attendance and addressed students’ concerns and shared updates in regards to NKU’s strategic framework, enrollment and how NKU can best serve the region. Importance of students Vaidya said he believes it’s in everyone’s best interest to respond to students’ needs. This is the priority of NKU’s strategic framework, Success by Design. “The idea of the framework is that we would have one overarching priority and that is advancing student’s sucess aligned with the needs of the region,” Vaidya said. Plan of action After determining the big picture, it is important to discuss the details, Vaidya said. NKU will host its next Success by Design forum Wednesday, Oct. 23. During this forum, Vaidya wants to determine what are the five important initiatives that are going to support Success by Design. Unleashing Innovations About half a million of NKU’s $2 million budget to support student success will be dedicated to Unleashing Innovation, a pitch competition for ideas that can better student success.
Ideas for Unleashing Innovations can come from anywhere and anyone on campus according to Vaidya. Graduation and retention issues Overall enrollment has increased but this is mainly due to the increase in enrollment in graduate and online students, Vaidya said. Vaidya asked SGA for help in figuring out why NKU loses about 28 percent of its students from first-year to second-year. But solving enrollment issues involve working with NKU’s K-12 partners, Vaidya said. Questions and concerns from senators Senators were able to ask Vaidya any questions or concerns they had. Those concerns included NKU’s enrollment compared to other colleges in the region, pension issues, NKU’s visibility and SOTA. Safety walk reschedule SGA’s safety walk was scheduled for after their Monday meeting, but was postponed for an undetermined date according to Committee Chairwoman of University Improvements Noelle Brooks.
Student Government Assocation meets at 3:30 p.m. Mondays in SU 104.
Ed 64, Issue 9
News 03
NKU police implement body-worn cameras Kyle Wade CONTRIBUTOR
In 2018, 992 people were shot and killed by police. As of this year, another 717 have lost their lives to fatal force, according to The Washington Post. While some police departments move away from body camera programs, NKU’s police department begins its own. Following a $14,000 Department of Justice grant, NKU police have begun to field its ‘Safety Vision’ body-worn cameras (BWCs). The ‘Safety Vision’ body camera is fitted with 32 GB of data storage, 1296-pixel resolution and a 160-degree field of view. “They’re becoming the expectation. In our current environment, it looks bad if incidents aren’t recorded,” NKU police Chief John Gaffin said. According to the Department of Justice, nearly half of America’s authorities have implemented the use of BWCs. NKU police began with a pilot phase in July, fitting only three active patrol officers with BWCs for training value and to mold their own policy. Now all officers are actively recording from a POV perspective. Lieutenant Willie Love, NKU police patrol commander, said that the cameras are not simply just a ‘plug and play’ experience. “All of our officers must be successful in training and then pass a test with no less than 100 percent accuracy,” Love said. According to the NKU Police BWC Policy, the main objective of camera implementation is to “facilitate transparency … enhance service to the community by accurately documenting events, actions, conditions, and statements made
“Body cams are only as good and useful as the officers wearing them,” Polito said. during citizen interactions, traffic stops, arrests, and other incidents.” NKU police aims for transparency by requiring all officers to record all interactions that may occur during their tour of duty. The officers may not turn their cameras off until community interactions are resolved. At the end of each officer’s shift, they are required to return their BWC to its respective docking station, where it is charged and all its data is downloaded and stored. NKU Police BWC Policy details that all footage must be reviewed by authorized personnel and then properly managed and stored. All BWC data must be kept for 30 days minimum. Depending on “evidentiary value,” the recordings may be kept indefinitely. Love said that he implements a lot of the footage into his department’s training regimen. “I like to look for the good things that our officers are out there doing and showcase it to the rest of our officers. We also take some safety issues I see and we discuss how we can do better,” Love said. Christopher Polito, assistant director of academic success and BAR support at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, acknowledges the benefits of BWCs but says there is a negative impact: money.
Safety Vision BWCs at their docking station.
An officer demonstrates how Saftey Vision BWCs are worn. PHOTOS BY COLIN JOHNSON
“A lot of companies will supply police departments with the cameras for free, so long as they sign a contract for the data storage,” Polito said. “[The companies] get paid for the life of the cameras. It’s an overwhelming amount of footage; the storage can be quite costly.” Polito served as a public defense attorney for over six years prior to his arrival at NKU and said he likes the BWCs because they provide an “unbiased witness” in the courtroom. He said that common witness mishaps may be a thing of the past as BWCs become more prevalent in the law enforcement community. To Polito, money isn’t the only downside to BWCs; he also sees the possibility of manipulation. “Body cams are only as good and useful as the officers wearing them,” Polito said. Polito referred to a case he was appointed in Covington in which there was a disagreement between his client and officers. The officers claimed they had consent to conduct a vehicle search. In this specific case, the officers stated that they had obtained verbal consent but their BWCs were malfunctioning that day. The policy for Covington Police—along with NKU’s—states that BWC malfunctions must be documented; they were not. “In instances like this, a lot of questions arise. This behavior can dramatically affect what a judge and
“If these cameras can prevent one escalation of force, they’ve done their job,” Gaffin said. jury see during trial,” Polito said. “The benefits definitely outweigh the drawbacks as of now, but we need to see how they progress moving forward.” According to a study conducted by the American Society of Criminology, BWCs have had a positive impact in many sub-fields of criminal justice, such as officer discretion when making arrests, officer proactivity within communities and complaints about officers. The study did reveal one statistic that remains unphased by BWCs: use of deadly force. Chief Gaffin says that he maintains a positive attitude about NKU police’s implementation of BWCs. “If these cameras can prevent one escalation of force, they’ve done their job,” Gaffin said.
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06 Viewpoints
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Editors’ Pick: Our favorite fall things to do
Northerner Staff EDITORS-IN-SPOOK
ILLUSTRATIONS BY NOËL WALTZ
Natalie Hamren, Editor-in-Chief
Pumpkins. Do I really need to say anything else? Pumpkins are the definition of fall and everything Halloween. Go to a pumpkin patch, drink some pumpkin spice and buy everything pumpkin scented. If your patio doesn’t look like a mini pumpkin patch, you’re doing it wrong.
Samantha Brown, Advertising
Kane Mitten, Arts & Life Editor
My family never celebrated Halloween when I was younger, so my version of participating in Halloween season is going to the store on Nov. 1, buying a lot of cheap chocolate candy and then eating it all at once. I’m sick for several days after ... but it’s always worth it.
Billy Keeney, News Editor
Layers—all of them. Once it drops below 65 degrees, you can see me transform into a Fall/Winter lookbook with baseball tees, flannel shirts, cardigans, shirt jackets, wool sweaters, field jackets and scarves. Nothing helps fight off the spooky ghosts, and the cold, more than an abundant layer of clothes.
Noël Waltz, Copy Editor
My favorite way to celebrate Halloween is to partake in the traditions of Samhain, a celebration that marks the end of the harvest season. It’s almost like a witch’s new year! Halloween favorites that stemmed from this tradition are pumpkin carving, apple bobbing and bonfires!
The switch to cozy sweaters and flannels mixed with feeling the change in the air is when you know fall is here. I love this season and everything that comes with it. Leaves falling, spooky films, creative Halloween costumes, yummy candies, pumpkin muffins and in the words of the great Julie Andrews . . . “these are a few of my favorite things.”
Corinne Byrne, Assistant Arts & Life Editor
Halloween is my absolute favorite time of year. Pumpkins, spooky movies, chilly weather, costumes, candy—I love it all. I’ll plan an elaborate costume I never get around to actually making and end up staying inside with my sister to watch “Hocus Pocus.” Catch me singing “Spooky Scary Skeletons” all month long.
Josh Kelly, Managing Editor
My way to get into the spirit is simple and very cost-effective. I walk to class and let the trees do their thing. I also like to stay in bed tucked away in the warm blankets munching on candy corn and Rice Krispies treats I bought with FLEX dollars. The only cost: one-half gallon of apple cider from my home orchard for $3.99.
Abby Behrens, Video Editor
Noelle Horn, Assistant News Editor
I never seem to celebrate Halloween early enough. I love passing out candy until my hands are numb from the cold and eating my mom’s chili she makes every year. It’s the time of year where you can be creative and wear black lipstick with a little less judgment than usual.
The best way to get into a spooky mood is to completely immerse yourself in Halloween decorations. I’ve started the tradition of loading up on decorations from the dollar store and covering my living space from floor to ceiling in cartoon ghosts and iconic black cats. It honestly doesn’t feel like October until I have a million pumpkins and fake spiderwebs covering my dorm.
Ed 64, Issue 9
Viewpoints 07
Editors’ Pick: Our favorite spooky movies
Northerner Staff
ILLUSTRATIONS BY NOËL WALTZ
EDITORS-IN-SPOOK
Noelle Horn, Assistant News Editor Corinne Byrne, Assistant Arts & Life Editor Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktaku- Interview With The Vampire (1994) lar (2003) by Ezekiel Norton by Neil Jordan
Natalie Hamren, Editor-in-Chief Practical Magic (1998) by Griffin Dunne
If you want a feel-good film about powerful women, then this is for you. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman star as sisters who are witches, trying to use spells and magic to battle dark forces all while dealing with their romantic relationships. That’s all I can really say without spoiling anything. But that’s also all I can really say in general—this movie is good, but it’s all over the place. If “Hocus Pocus” was a rom-com, I’m sure this would be it. Watch this film for Nicole Kidman (duh), but stay for the Stevie Nicks song (also duh).
Billy Keeney, News Editor Alien (1979) by Ridley Scott
“Alien” is quite possibly one of the most original and immersive sci-fi horror films ever made. Have you ever questioned what extraterrestrial life might really be like (sorry little green men), or how far gone late-stage capitalism will be in the future? No? Just me? Regardless, “Alien” has both. And if that doesn’t interest you, watch it for the amazing practical effects, cinematography, original score and amazing reinterpreted late ‘70s fashion that we’re only just now catching up to. Honestly, stop whatever you’re doing, go home, close the blinds, turn off the lights and watch it.
Abby Behrens, Video Editor Halloweentown (1998) by Duwayne Dunham
As a cult classic when it comes to Disney Channel original movies, “Halloweentown” is a great spooky season option when jump scares and gore aren’t really your thing. Halloween is the time to transport yourself into a magical universe that is non-existent during the normal year, and this film does that. With the iconic Debbie Reynolds playing the grandmother we all wish we had, it is a perfect film for huddling under blankets with hot chocolate and bowl of candy you swore you would hand out to the neighborhood kids.yuit utut
Kane Mitten, Arts & Life Editor Scream (1996) by Wes Craven
Have you ever watched a slasher film and wondered, “Haven’t these guys ever seen any horror movies? Why are they so stupid?” “Scream” revitalized the horror genre when it released by featuring characters who knew what to do in terrifying situations because they had seen movies like “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th,” and it poked fun at the horror genre with several jokes (and kills) that pay reverence to the films that came before it. If you like laughs to go along with your scares, queue up this undisputed horror classic for a great time.
“Scary Godmother” is another Halloween must for me. In this animated classic, a young girl who is terrorized by her cousin Jimmy is saved by her Scary Godmother and whisked away to the ‘Fright Side’ full of the skeletons that lives in your closet, the monster under the bed and a werewolf named Harry. What ensues next is the best Halloween party of all time. It’s funny, cute and all-around charming. This movie also reminds me of my childhood, for better or for worse.
Noël Waltz, Copy Editor Creep 2 (2017) by Patrick Brice
Found footage horror movies are either terrible or amazing, and this one is definitely the latter. A serial killer films his murders by posting Craigslist ads for a videographer job paying $1000. This tempting gig lures so many people to him, he has a cabinet full of VCRs and DVDs. He’s done this so many times that he begins to feel bored by his “passion.” What will he do to spice things up? You’ll have to watch for yourself!
Josh Kelly, Managing Editor Monster House (2006) by Gil Kenan
As a kid, my parents had a very tight leash on what I could watch, and that’s mostly because I watched “Monster House” when I was seven. “Monster House” created a genuine fear of my neighborhood—and my house‘s dirty, unfinished basement— for it resembled the titular “Monster House” so much that I still think about it as I drive through the neighborhood. The movie also taught me that everyone has uvulas and it tops any modern-day house decoration for this spooky season.
Does this count as a Halloween movie? For me, any spooky film is categorized as Halloween and this one is definitely spooky. Starring Brad Pitt, Christian Slater and Tom Cruise, this movie follows a vampire telling the story of his life to a biographer. Unhealthy relationships, vampire children, blood, that eerie haze that all ‘90s movies seem to have about them—this film has it all. And it’s way better than “Twilight.”
Samantha Brown, Advertising Hocus Pocus (1993) by Kenny Ortega
You can’t go wrong with a Disney classic starring Bette Midler as a wonderfully wicked witch alongside her lovely witchy sidekicks, played by Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy. If you are someone who doesn’t enjoy a horror flick or jumpy thrillers, this is the fun, spooky Halloween movie for you. You get everything from old spells gone wrong, a chatty black cat, wideeyed teenagers, trick-or-treat shenanigans, a race to save the day and a musical performance we all needed from Midler. A perfect film for the Fall season to cuddle up on a chilly night, drink apple cider and belt out “I’ll Put A Spell On You.”