In 1951, The Miami Student reported the announcing of a contest to take place at Omicron Delta Kappa’s annual carnival. Two trophies were to be awarded to the gentlemen who grew the “longest and most unusual beard.” According to the article, the bristly beards would be checked for authenticity.

The Miami StudentFRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIOVOLUME 140 NO. 51

TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY

Miami fires Fantanarosa as women’s basketball coach

Corpse flower is not dead to the university

RUSSIA,SEE PAGE 4

TOM DOWNEYSPORTS EDITOR

Miami University Athletic Direc-tor David Sayler fired women’s bas-ketball Head Coach Maria Fantan-arosa April 4. Fantanarosa had been the head coach for 15 years and had a 237-212 record at her alma mater.

“I think first and foremost Ma-ria did a really solid job here as a Coach and as a person she’ll be missed in this department,” Sayler said. “She has a great personality and really did a solid job as far as coaching. That being said, we’re graduating our kids, they’re doing well in school, they’re doing well in the community, but I don’t think we have to settle for just that. I want to win conference championships at the same time.”

Sayler said he expects to com-pete for more Mid-American Con-ference (MAC) Championships in women’s basketball. The Red-Hawks won just one conference title under Fantanarosa.

“Its time to do all the things that Miami continues to do, but on top of that, yes, I would like to see us com-peting and winning MAC champi-onships on a more regular basis,” Sayler said. “If you look back on the women’s side of our ledger; we’ve won 10 MAC championships in the last four years, so clearly there is a recipe here that works on the wom-en’s side of things. But for some rea-son in basketball it just hasn’t been able to take that next step on a con-sistent basis as I would like.”

The ’Hawks finished last season with a 19-13 record, going 10-6 in conference before getting bounced by the University at Buffalo in the second round of the MAC tourna-ment. They fell to the University of Illinois in the first round of the Wom-en’s National Invitational Tourna-ment. For a team that was projected to win the MAC East, it was a disappointing season, Sayler said.

“I think everybody was disap-pointed in the result,” Sayler said. “We were picked preseason number one in the league and when you end up finishing sixth basically, I don’t think anyone feels that we achieved as much as we could have this year.”

Sayler said he is not trying to send any type of message to other coach-es with the firing of Fantanarosa.

“I don’t believe that there is such a thing as sending a message when

someone’s career is at stake,” Sayler said. “I think you make each deci-sion that you need to make based on the decisions that are in front of you. If other people take that and extrapo-late that into some kind of message, that is their decision. It is certainly not something I intended to do.”

Sayler said he has already been talking with potential candidates and has met with about 15 of them. He said he has an idea of what he is looking for in a new coach.

“We’re really striving to find someone that has a great track record of success,” Sayler said. “On the court, not only with the other things as a given, but also just of what they’ve been a part of as a coach. Winning programs,

winning conference champion-ships, going to NCAA Tourna-ments; those things are going to be important in what we look for.”

Sayler said he would prefer to hire a female coach, but would not rule out hiring a male.

“I think anytime you can hire a qualified female for the position, that’s what you’d prefer to do,” Say-ler said. “But I do think at this point, and as critical of a hire as this is for us, we need to hire the best person. Certainly if they are female, that would be even better…”

Sayler said he has high expecta-tions for Miami and for the women’s basketball program. He also said he expects to improve Millett Hall.

“I think along with doing some facility improvements to Millett, my long term plan is to have us in the top third of the league each year,” Say-ler said. “Balls bounce funny ways, kids get hurt I understand you can’t win every year. I think we should at least be in competition to be in the top third of the league every year.”

DAMIEN WATSON THE MIAMI STUDENT

The ‘corpse flower’ attracted thousands of visitors to the Belk Greenhouse Wednesday. The flower only blooms every 30 years and can grow to reach 20 feet tall and 16 feet wide.

BY VICTORIA SLATERCAMPUS EDITOR

A panel of five Russian journalists discussed the future of investigative journalism Wednesday at the Mar-cum Conference Center.

Moderated by Director for Rus-sian and post-Russian studies Karen Dawisha, the event featured back and forth banter from the esteemed jour-nalists regarding both the growth and decline of journalism as Russia has conformed to Vladimir Putin’s argu-ably authoritative presidency.

Putin is currently serving his third presidential term in Russia. He was first elected to the Russian Federation in 2000 and was chosen for a third time through a Democratic election by the Russian citizenry May 2012.

The discussion began with back-ground information from Natalyia Rostova, who focuses on human rights and conflict resolution at her news agency Slon.Ru. She ex-plained that journalism in Russia is under strict scrutiny from the gov-ernment, which controls and cen-sures any news media that prints political opposition.

“There is more control now,” she said. “It is set over major news out-lets but has now moved down to smaller newspapers.”

As a result, Rostova said investi-gative journalism lacks prominence within Russia.

“Investigative journalism is not prestigious,” she said. “These jour-nalists are not paid well and are under a lot of pressure by the government.”

Editor in Chief of Forbes maga-zine’s Russian edition, Elizaveta Osetinskaya, responded to Ros-tova’s remarks by contending that there is an evident paradox between Russian media today and that of fifteen years ago.

“Journalism today is much more strong,” she said. “International me-dia has helped to improve standards, new technology increases competi-tion and there are improved ways to disclose information, like databases.”

Freelancer for Bolshoi Gorod magazine and Esquire Russia Svet-lana Reiter responded next, assert-ing that she is “optimistic” about the future of journalism in Russia, and expects a news database like America’s República will soon be

implemented, collecting money from readers and providing them with the most solid, credible information available in return.

There was a tangible change in tone when Elena Milashina, recipi-ent of the 2013 International Women of Courage Award from the U.S. Department of State, took the mi-crophone. Milashina writes for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, one that is highly regarded for its investigative work into social and political issues.

Milashina’s fellow at this newspa-per was Anna Politkovskaya, a jour-nalist whose vocal opposition toward Vladimir Putin led to her assassina-tion in 2006. Four of Milashina’s for-mer colleagues have been killed on duty, she said.

Milashina explained that her goal is to dig to the root of the truth, no matter what consequences transpire as a result.

“We understand justice cannot be reached,” she said. “It is our mission to get to the truth.”

Ivan Ninenko, deputy director of Transparency International-Russia and co-anchor of a weekly TV show that discusses corruption, argued that

in Russia, independent news agen-cies pay less. Thus, journalists are more likely to work for state news channels to ensure they are paid.

“How much does a journalist val-ue his independence versus his mon-ey?” he said. “To be a businessman in Russia, you need to have good relations with Putin.”

Osetinskaya provided a cer-tain level of backlash in response, maintaining that good relationships with the Russian government are not necessary.

“You do not need to have a good relationship with the government to succeed,” she said. “In each Forbes issue, we publish stories about entre-preneurships without any reference to the state. These are real, difficult cases, but they can be done.”

When asked a question by an audi-ence member concerning a journal-ist’s ability to be independent but not in opposition to the state, Milashina explained this can be achieved if the journalist adopts a level of neutrality.

“You can be a political journal-ist that is not against politics but against corruption,” she said. “When I do my work for my journal and my

newspaper, I just don’t take sides. I look for facts, I put them together and I analyze.”

Osetinskaya left the discussion on a positive note, emphasizing that Russian journalists need to move for-ward with an optimistic attitude.

“We need a positive agenda,” she said. “We need a position, some mea-sures, things to do now. We can’t just protest everything. We need to live somehow. We need to fight for health care or pension plans. We need to fight for many things. We need lead-ers with positions that help us move on with this agenda.”

Junior Morgan Hawn, who at-tended the discussion, said the most significant aspect she learned was how much journalism in Rus-sia has changed over the course of two decades.

“I think the most important thing I took from the panel was the differ-ence between journalism in Russia 15 years ago and journalism today,” she said. “When I read stories written by a Russian journalist I will take into

International journalists stress the dangers of reporting in Russia

JANE STREETER AND VICTORIA SLATERFOR THE MIAMI STUDENT AND CAMPUS EDITOR

A rare flower bloomed in West-ern’s Belk Greenhouse on Miami University’s campus Tuesday evening. Scientifically known as the titan arum, but more com-monly called ‘the corpse flower’ for its unmistakable odor, green-house manager and botany pro-fessor John Keegan said it is one of less than 200 to have bloomed via cultivation since it was scien-tifically described in 1878.

Keegan said such a rare feat will earn Miami a place in his-tory among the likes of the Kew Gardens in London, England, the Botanic Garden in Bonn, Ger-many and the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia.

Keegan described the flow-er’s odor, likening it to that of rotting mammals, hence the colloquial name, ‘the corpse

flower.’ According to him, the flower evolved to smell that way in order to attract pollinators and insects, which the flower then feeds upon.

Keegan said the flower may only bloom for as little as 24 hours, but that students currently can still see its open petals.

“The flower is still open, but it is dying down a bit,” he said.

While the flower is in bloom, appointments to the greenhouse are not necessary, and Keegan said he just wants students be able to see the unique flower while they can.

“The greenhouse has been open 8am [and while] it blooms, we will stay open until 10 to 11 p.m.,” he said.

Junior Allison Norenberg ex-pressed her excitement about the blooming flower.

“The flower seems like a really delightful thing to take a walk to go see,” Norenberg said. “All my free time will be spent looking at

that flower ... I don’t get to smell rotting meat very often.”

However, it’s not just students that should take the opportunity to see it while they can. This par-ticular flower has been growing for over 12 years, and is draw-ing gardeners, flower enthusiasts and rancid meat lovers to the Boyd Hall Greenhouse for miles, according to Keegan.

“We’ve had over 3,000 people in the greenhouse this week,” Keegan said.

The flower can also grow to reach 20 feet tall and 16 feet wide, according to Keegan, and may be another reason why so many people have visited it. He said that the specimen, in addi-tion to the attention it has gar-nered throughout the past week, has had an impact on the univer-sity as big as the flower itself.

“The effect it has had has just been amazing, for both the community and the university,” he said.

MARIA FANTANAROSA

EDITORSVICTORIA SLATER

CATHERINE MONCEAUXCAMPUS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET2 CAMPUS

FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

Voting turnout meets the mark

MIKE CHIORAN THE MIAMI STUDENTWOULD YOU LIKE CHEESE WITH THAT?Miami University Cheezies perform a rendition of “Cheese in a Box” Wednesday in Hall Auditorium.

BY ADRIENNE MONCRIEFFOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

Approximately 1,000 more stu-dents voted in this year’s student body presidential election than last year’s, meeting Associated Student Government’s (ASG) goal to in-crease voting turnout, according to current Student Body Vice Presi-dent and head of the ASG Elections Committee, Lizzie Litzow.

Although only 30 percent of students voted, 4,606 individuals, it was the highest number in stu-dent government history, according to Litzow.

Litzow said a significant factor be-hind the increase was the strength of the ASG public relations committee.

“We were strong on Facebook and Twitter, added one more debate and the candidates themselves talked to a lot of organizations to up their campaigns,” Litzow said.

In order to increase his voter out-come, Student Body President elect Charlie Schreiber said he reached out to every student organization listed on The Hub.

“It was crucial for our campaign to make sure that every group felt heard on campus,” Schreiber said. “We want organizations to feel comfortable to talk to us.”

The diversity of the candidates-may also have been a reason for the higher voting turnout. Four tickets had students involved in different clubs and organizations. According to Assistant Vice President for Stu-dent Affairs Scott Walter, the can-didates were able to reach out to a broad spectrum of students and talk to groups of people who candidates do not typically talk to.

“Canvasing often neglects some of the smaller organizations that still hit a large number of peo-ple,” Schreiber said. “We wanted to talk to environmental groups

and not just business fraternities.” Although ASG met their goal to

increase voting turnout, the numbers are still relatively low compared to the overall student body population, according to Walter. He said students may not vote because they feel unin-volved in student government.

“If it doesn’t affect them, why should they vote,” Walter said.

Schreiber said some students are hesitant to vote because they do not know what they are voting for.

“Flooding the campus with infor-mation is key,” Schreiber said. “We want them to know that even if they aren’t running for a position, they can still get their voices heard.”

According to Walter, there are a handful of improvements that need to be made for future elections.

“We want to try to get more fresh-men involved in ASG,” Walter said. “A way to tie in students will help to increase the election. The more stu-dents get involved, the bigger it is.”

Walter said first-years can get involved in the upcoming Cabinet election and join ASG committees. Mega Fair was moved up this school year in order to get first-years in-volved on campus sooner.

However, it it not only the first-years who are not engaged; it is students all across campus, accord-ing to Schreiber. He said he wants everyone to feel heard and involved.

“That’s one of the reasons we decided to run,” Schreiber said. “Some people are so involved in this university, but they don’t have a say in the school. We want to break down those barriers.”

ASG plans to continue the trend of increasing voting turnout in future elections.

“I hope in the future we can steadily increase our voting turnout and that students will want to come out and vote and impact their next student body president, which is Mi-ami’s future,” Litzow said.

Student seeks to illuminate immigrationBY ARIEL WILEYFOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami University senior Sarah Hess is speaking out for the Hispanic immigrants in Tucson, Arizona who cannot do so themselves.

Though Hess is not Hispanic her-self, her passion to help that portion of the American population started when she went to Arizona and wit-nessed the social injustice they face.

To spread awareness of what is going on in Arizona, Hess will lead an interactive photo exhibit 7 p.m., Friday in MacMillan Hall.

The exhibit will portray the ter-rain of Tucson and the people help-ing Hispanics cross the border into America illegally.

Hess described what prompted her to pursue this subject.

“My motivation started when I was working in an industrial light fix-ture company and there [were] two sisters from Mexico,” Hess said. “I became friends with them and, after a while, some people that worked in the company hated them blatantly.”

Hess said the people who worked in the company had an intolerance for Hispanics.

“One time, somebody came up and there was an argument and they

dumped a cup of water on one of the sister’s heads,” Hess said.

According to Hess, at one point a co-worker even followed one of the sisters into the bathroom. The co-worker was a male and trying to scare the sister, according to Hess. She said she found out the next day and filed a sexual harassment report; the company did nothing.

“Where is the justice,” Hess asked. “Just because you’re not white or American or even speak English, where are their rights?”

As a citizen of the U.S., Hess said she understands why people should never take their rights for granted.

“To actually see the other side of it, it made me realize how lucky I was,” Hess said. “Nobody should ever live in fear at all just because of your social standing.”

With the help of her mentors, Executive Director of the Campus Ministry Center Rebecca Woods and Professor Ann Armstrong, Hess was able to develop her exhibit into what it is today.

Woods was a co-sponsor for the alternate spring break for Miami stu-dents to Arizona.

“I knew a fair amount about what happens down on the border as far as the illegal immigration and the work

of the humanitarian groups down there that we visited with,” Woods said. “It’s just hard to take it all in, it’s emotional and it changes your view of the world.”

But there is still hope, according to Woods.

“There is so much hope when you meet people that are trying in some small way, or even a large way,” Woods said. “We realize that we can make a difference.”

Armstrong and Hess have been working on this exhibit for a year, meeting once a week to discuss what details to include.

In the meetings, they would go over what to talk about in the exhibit and how they would show what is happening in Arizona.

“Because of that national hot-button issue in terms of immigra-tion reform and their experience on the border, it just allowed [Hess] to really dig into these issues,” Armstrong said. “Sarah’s very passionate and that’s how social justice movements work. It may or may not be an issue where you yourself have experienced the oppression. When someone close to you experiences that oppression, then you understand what your role is.”

BY TREY FRAME FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami University is always looking for ways to better connect with alumni in order to keep future relationships strong. The Secretary for Alumni Af-fairs junior Conor Nelson has come up with a bill he introduced to the As-sociated Student Government (ASG) last Tuesday, aimed at strengthening that connection.

The bill will establish a large da-tabase that will collect information from The Hub, Miami’s student

organization website, in order to input alumni information as a resource, according to Nelson.

He said part of the bill will encour-age graduating seniors to go to Ban-nerWeb and use a drop-down menu to choose different organizations and clubs they were a part of during their time at Miami. This information will then be stored in the database so Tele-hawks, student fundraisers, can contact alumni asking for contributions.

Nelson talked about how it is important for students to ask for support from alumni so they can assist

in making sure Miami continues to be a highly ranked university.

“The clear answer to long-term sustainability as a top ranked uni-versity is prosperity through our alumni,” he said. “We must start giving back today, in order to move forward tomorrow.”

He said having information about which clubs or organizations alumni were a part of will allow the Tele-hawks and alumni alike to find some commonalities and create a stron-ger connection. He said this sort of connection will allow alumni to

remember their time at school, increas-ing the likelihood for contributions.

Junior Telehawk employee Mi-chael Oleszkiewicz said this new bill would be an immense help in the call center and could result in an increase in donations.

“While talking to alumni, the abil-ity to see what clubs and organizations they were involved in would help fos-ter relationships, thus making it easier to receive contributions,” he said.

Junior Telehawk employee Mad-die Clair said, when talking to alum-ni, one of the biggest challenges is

making sure they feel a connection to Miami, even if they have not been back in many years.

“The main problem we have at the call center is making sure we establish the connection between alumni and the times they had here on campus,” she said. “This bill would allow us to see what organizations they were a part of and would be an important part of helping us create that connection.”

Although the bill has not yet been passed, it is currently being redrafted. The edited bill will be presented to ASG Tuesday for a vote.

Student proposes new database to improve relations with alumni

BY REIS THEBAULTSTAFF WRITER

Hip-hop and dancing; Miami Uni-versity’s True Worship Dance Min-istry is striving to unify the two in a wholesome and spiritual way.

The religious club and its presi-dent, senior Maurica Peoples, are beginning to incorporate gospel rap dances into performances.

According to Peoples, the club was founded in 2005 and, prior to this year, the club’s method of do-ing so was purely through traditional praise dance, a more conservative dancing style performed to praise and worship music.

Senior Des’Za’Rae King ex-plained the club’s classic method.

“Most of our dances in the past have been more flow-y and worship dance,” King said.

Peoples added that this traditional style is slower and more lyrical.

“The songs that we dance to and the movements are really graceful,” Peoples said.

While this is the traditional style of praise dance, it is not one that will necessarily appeal to a wide range of

college students, according to a study conducted in 2011. This study, con-ducted by iStrategy Labs, a creative agency that often works with social media, tabulated the number of Face-book “likes” music genres received by college students. Data indicated that the hip-hop genre garnered near-ly 315,000 “likes,” the most of any genre. Gospel, Christian or praise music was not in the top six.

This data means that if True Wor-ship wants to reach out and spread God’s message, they would need to tailor their performances to dif-ferent audiences. This is some-thing that Peoples and other True Worship members said they are beginning to realize.

“We try to switch it up to differ-ent crowds because we are in college so there are a lot of young people,” first-year Lakia Kidd said.

Peoples said implementing a unique style was their intention.

“You never really hear about a Christian rap dance,” Peoples said. “That was the whole goal, to bring something new and fresh.”

After much consideration of nhether or not to include it, Peoples

said she decided to have True Wor-ship perform a hip-hop dance to Kirk Franklin and Mali Music’s “Give Me.”

“I was actually going to not do it but then the Holy Spirit was just like ‘Don’t worry about what people think,’” Peoples sad. “People were excited. They loved it.”

According to Peoples and the other group members, True Worship’s aim is to interpret God’s word, through dance, to Miami students and every-one who attends the ministry events. Kidd reminded, True Worship is not only for ministering to the audience.

“When we perform, it is for other people, to minister to other people, but also it’s for ministering to our-selves and to let stuff out,” Kidd said.

Peoples agreed, saying this sen-timent is consistent throughout the club.

“Most of the girls always say that when they dance is when they feel closest to God, it helps them to feel closer to God and they really do wor-ship through dancing,” Peoples said.

Holy hip-hop: University’s True Worship Dance Ministry dances its way to success

ASG holds cabinet electionBY AMANDA HANCOCK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

With next year’s student body president and vice president cho-sen, elections for Associated Student Government’s (ASG) executive cabinet began Tuesday.

During its meeting, Student Sen-ate voted on three cabinet positions including President of Student Sen-ate, Secretary of Academic Affairs and Secretary for Diversity Affairs.

Each candidate was allowed five minutes to present their platform and five minutes for questions from senators. Senate then moved to a time of debate and voting

Junior Nick Miller, current Sec-retary for Academic Affairs, ran uncontested for the President of Stu-dent Senate position. In this position, he will lead all the senate meetings.

“One of the main responsibilities that goes unnoticed is working with student senators and being this main hub where all people can come to,” Miller said.

Miller, a social studies education major, said he wants to give back the knowledge he has gained over his years in ASG. He said his hope is to build a strong Student Sen-ate capable of writing and passing

meaningful legislation and holding strong debates.

“I would love to work with young and new senators coming in and help them along the way to get in contact with administrators that I’ve been lucky enough to build relationships with over my time,” Miller said.

Sophomore Danny Stewart was named the new Secretary of Aca-demic Affairs, a position that will head a coalition to uncover and discuss academic issues on cam-pus. He ran against four other candidates including junior sena-tors Max Swartz, Bria Stein, Calvin Davis and Brandon Patterson.

Stewart is majoring in business-economics and currently serves as a senator in ASG, representing Bran-don and McFarland dorms. He also served on the elections and public relations committees.

“We need someone who is going to help Miami University recon-struct to help the students,” he said.

Stewart presented a plat-form focused on tuition rates, graduation rates and redefining academic advising.

“[I will] lobby on behalf of the

WORSHIP,SEE PAGE 4

ASG,SEE PAGE 4

3COMMUNITYFRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

Comedy Caravan delights OxfordPOLICE

BEATWoman finds no good Samaritan at Bob Evans

EDITORSJANE BLAZER CHRIS CURMECOMMUNITY@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

BY JESSICA BARGASTAFF WRITER

Comedy Caravan, a group of up-and-coming comedians, will con-tinue a long standing Oxford tradi-tion, treating students with a dose of humor this month.

Comedy Caravan is a group of ambitious comic artists who perform at venues across the country, ac-cording to Tom Sobel, president of Comedy Caravan’s parent company, TSM Artist Management.

Sobel said one show was already held April and it was a huge success.

“Last week, it got so crazy that Ted Woods (The Woods’ owner) asked us to do a second show,” Sobel said.

Comedy Caravan and Miami Uni-versity have a lot of history, accord-ing to Sobel. Shows in Oxford began in the 1980s and were performed at the Balcony Saloon, a bar for-merly located across the street from Bagel and Deli.

“We’ve done over 1,000 shows on High Street,” Sobel said.

An important part of Comedy Caravan, according to Sobel, is to help raise money for charities and organizations. Sobel said no par-ticular fundraiser is going on this

April, but in the past, Comedy Caravan has helped raise money for groups such as Miami’s chapter of Autism Speaks.

“We would love to use our shows to help fraternities and sororities raise money…we’ve raised $1.5 million for charities over the years,” Sobel said.

Sobel said that Comedy Cara-van is always looking for college students, along with profession-als, who want to get on-board with stand-up comedy.

“We hope students will get a good workout for their funny bone, get a good dose of humor therapy and get better grades because of it,” Sobel said.

Some Miami alumni who started out doing stand-up with Comedy Caravan have gone onto have pro-fessional careers in comedy, Sobel added, mentioning Miami graduates Chip Chinery and Rajiv Satyal.

Tim Allen, Jeff Foxworthy and Ellen DeGeneres slummed it in Oxford as well before they reached fame, according to Sobel.

“For over three decades, [Com-edy Caravan] has identified the next group of great stand-up come-dians well before the public knows

who they are,” Sobel said. “We find the funniest people in America and help them gain the experience to gain credibility.”

The April 10 show was headlined by the Saints and Sinners act, featur-ing Matthew Lumpkin and Patrick Jolle. Side Bar will host comedian Bob Cook April 17.

Cook, who got his start doing stand-up on The Ohio State Uni-versity’s campus, said he has never been to Oxford before, but the atmosphere of a college town is always interesting.

“My show is pretty edgy, but I can always change it up depending on the environment and the energy,” Cook said.

Especially in uncertain eco-nomic times, comedians are always searching for a variety of bookings, Cook said. He does three to four shows per month with Comedy Caravan, as well as additional shows on his own.

“You start reaching out to differ-ent people who book you…you au-dition for different agents and try to get as many bookings as you can,” Cook said. “In this economy, the first thing to go is money used to go out with or for entertainment.”

Miami sophomore Kelly Hen-drickson said she had not heard about Comedy Caravan coming to Oxford, but said she liked the con-cept and its addition to Oxford’s en-tertainment selection.

“I love stand-up comedy…I think Oxford has a lot of entertainment op-tions, but they’re just not advertised enough,” Hendrickson said. “I know things like Trivia Night get adver-tised a lot, but that’s definitely not the only thing to do.”

The stand-up comedy events will take place 10:30 p.m. each Wednesday night in April at Side Bar, located next to The Woods at 15 N. Poplar St.

Local birdwatchers uniteBY VICTORIA POSMANTUR FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

A local conservation group, Audubon Miami Valley, will host a Spring Warbler Walk this Sun-day. The birdwatching walk will be held about five miles west of Brookville Lake, according to the field trip leader, Jim Michael.

Audubon Miami Valley, a chapter of the National Audu-bon Society founded in 1976, is a conservation group that teaches communities proper habits to re-store biological diversity.

The field trips give the com-munity an opportunity to experi-ence the beauty of nature and see what’s going on in the spring, according to Michael.

“The land is very hilly, wooded, with old-growth, great forest area and open pastures,” Michael said. “We’ll have the chance to walk around the property for a better part of the morning. This time of year we’re hoping to get a lot of song-birds. Everyone tries to bring a sack lunch along for a picnic and it’s a great time.”

The walk has traditionally tak-en place at the property of local nature enthusiasts Kathy Hunter and Ron Huffmeier.

This event is open to the public and the group will depart 7 a.m. Sunday from Walmart’s parking lot, 5720 College Corner Pike and

return in the afternoon after lunch. “We have monthly meetings

in Oxford, but draw in people from a variety of places,” Mi-chael said. “Each month we plan a field trip where we can see plants and birds and explore the local geography and geology.”

Miami University botany pro-fessor, Jim Hickey, described some of the wildlife that will be encoun-tered on their trip.

“When you get out of Oxford, it may [be a] bit cooler and a little bit early for a lot of spring wild flow-ers to be out,” Hickey said. “Buds are just starting to break. The area is all secondary growth with great habitats for birds, turkey, eagles, ospreys and hawks. It is a great flyway for ducks and geese. Brookville Lake is a great area and people will really enjoy it if they decide to go.”

First-year aspiring botanist, Alec Zaphiris, expressed his ex-citement about the opportunities Audubon Miami Valley provides for the community.

“Conservations such as Audu-bon are doing a great service for our community by organiz-ing these hands-on educational field-trips,” Zaphiris said. “It’s so important that people are aware of what they can be doing to pro-tect their local ecosystems, so that future generations can experi-ence them the same way we are able to now.”

FRANKIE ROSKAM THE MIAMI STUDENT

ESPRESSO YOURSELFAt Oxford Coffee Co., senior Eric Kogge stops and smiles for a picture while whipping up an espresso for a customer..

BY JANE BLAZERCOMMUNITY EDITOR

Oxford’s local business scene can expect to see some minor changes as second semester comes to a close and thousands of Miami University students prepare to leave town.

According to Alan Kyger, Oxford’s economic develop-ment director, few Oxford busi-nesses that have closed have plans to re-open. However, new construction and businesses are brewing in Oxford.

Stadium Sports Bar and Grille, 16 S. Poplar St., is still current-ly closed, but owners are try-ing to make use of the building, according to Kyger.

“The owner is exploring differ-ent options at that site and has not gone in any one direction,” Kyger said. “The site is for sale and, to my knowledge, it is not sold yet.”

“Until it sells, they might try to force someone or try to make use of the site,” Kyger said. “If someone wants to lease it short term, it might be a little of a hard thing to do.”

Fuji Express, the new Japanese steakhouse-style restaurant, 5.

W High St., is nearing its grand opening. With renovations near completion, it should be opening soon, Kyger said.

The future of the visibly out-of-business Princess movie theater it is still up in the air, according to Kyger.

“To our knowledge, the owner has still not sold the site,” Kyger said. “We keep getting inquiries from people that are interested in taking it over and trying to get it open as a new theater.”

Plans are in the works to construct a new building on South Beech Street, across from Stella 12 Beech. According to Kyger, it is going to be a com-mercial business on the first floor with one floor of student apartments above.

This Sunday, the new T.J. Maxx will open, Kyger said.

Recently, the old, abandoned Dairy Queen, located on Col-lege Corner Pike US 27, was sold to the City of Oxford, according to Kyger.

“That owner has now given that site to the city and hope-fully soon, the city will take that structure down, and make it into a grass-area,” Kyger said.

When you’re finished reading

The Miami Student,

please recycle!

Around 2:00 p.m. Sunday, The Oxford Police Department (OPD) received a call from an Oxford resident claiming her wallet had been stolen at Bob Evans, 5076 College Corner Pike. The victim told the of-ficer, OPD said, that she was in the restaurant when she dropped her wallet while try-ing to put it in her pocket. Fif-teen minutes after exiting the establishment, she realized her wallet had in fact bypassed her pocket. Hoping a good samari-tan had found her billfold, she called Bob Evans to see if it had been turned in, OPD said. Unfortunately, her wallet was not found in the restaurant, ac-cording to OPD. The resident lost approximately $40, credit cards and her driver’s license, OPD said.

Car mirror is struck down in prime of life

Around 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, OPD officers met with a fe-male in reference to property damage. The female said that between April 7 and April 9, someone had broken the driv-er’s side mirror off of her 2006 Honda CRV. She said the ve-hicle was parked in the parking lot near her building and said she believed the incident hap-pened sometime in the early hours of Sunday, having heard the sound of a mirror shatter to the ground around that time, according to OPD.

One man, one cup, two driver’s licenses

Around 1:30 a.m. Wednes-day, an OPD officer was heading south in the 0 Block of N. Poplar St. when she saw a man scampering north past Brick Street Bar and Grill, 36 E. High St. The officer observed a cup in the man’s hand that she believed to contain an alcoholic drink, according to OPD.

As the officer approached the male in the alley adja-cent to the bar, she said he tossed the drink on the ground. When asked for identifica-tion, the male pulled out his wallet and incidentally re-vealed an Ohio driver’s li-cense. The officer said the male then reached into his other pocket, but the officer stopped him, asking to see the Ohio ID she had already seen, according to OPD.

He did as he was told, ac-cording to OPD and was found to be sophomore Dominique Young, 20 years of age. Behind bloodshot eyes and an alco-holic musk, according to OPD, Young begged the officer not to arrest him, claiming he was holding the drink for his sister, who was nowhere to be found, OPD said.

The officer then checked the pocket Young had reached into after pulling out his wallet and found a license of a 23-year-old man, not Young. The offi-cer later found the true owner of the ID, and issued a new li-cense, according to OPD.

Young, begging and grovel-ing, according to OPD, told the officer “karma was going to get her for arresting him.” He also thanked her for making him a statistic. After the cup was re-trieved and found to contain an alcoholic beverage, Young was issued citations for sales to and use by underage persons, certain acts prohibited and littering. He was released.

Oxford updates businesses

The Miami Student has printed over a dozen articles about previous Comedy Caravan shows over the years, dating from 1984 on. Visit Miami’s library archives at www.digital.lib.muohio.edu, or go to www.miamistudent.net and click on ‘Library Archives to learn more.

3COMMUNITYFRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

Comedy Caravan delights OxfordPOLICE

BEAT

EDITORSJANE BLAZER CHRIS CURMECOMMUNITY@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

BY JESSICA BARGASTAFF WRITER

Comedy Caravan, a group of up-and-coming comedians, will con-tinue a long standing Oxford tradi-tion, treating students with a dose of humor this month.

Comedy Caravan is a group of ambitious comic artists who perform at venues across the country, ac-cording to Tom Sobel, president of Comedy Caravan’s parent company, TSM Artist Management.

Sobel said one show was already held April and it was a huge success.

“Last week, it got so crazy that Ted Woods (The Woods’ owner) asked us to do a second show,” Sobel said.

Comedy Caravan and Miami Uni-versity have a lot of history, accord-ing to Sobel. Shows in Oxford began in the 1980s and were performed at the Balcony Saloon, a bar for-merly located across the street from Bagel and Deli.

“We’ve done over 1,000 shows on High Street,” Sobel said.

An important part of Comedy Caravan, according to Sobel, is to help raise money for charities and organizations. Sobel said no par-ticular fundraiser is going on this

April, but in the past, Comedy Caravan has helped raise money for groups such as Miami’s chapter of Autism Speaks.

“We would love to use our shows to help fraternities and sororities raise money…we’ve raised $1.5 million for charities over the years,” Sobel said.

Sobel said that Comedy Cara-van is always looking for college students, along with profession-als, who want to get on-board with stand-up comedy.

“We hope students will get a good workout for their funny bone, get a good dose of humor therapy and get better grades because of it,” Sobel said.

Some Miami alumni who started out doing stand-up with Comedy Caravan have gone onto have pro-fessional careers in comedy, Sobel added, mentioning Miami graduates Chip Chinery and Rajiv Satyal.

Tim Allen, Jeff Foxworthy and Ellen DeGeneres slummed it in Oxford as well before they reached fame, according to Sobel.

“For over three decades, [Com-edy Caravan] has identified the next group of great stand-up come-dians well before the public knows

who they are,” Sobel said. “We find the funniest people in America and help them gain the experience to gain credibility.”

The April 10 show was headlined by the Saints and Sinners act, featur-ing Matthew Lumpkin and Patrick Jolle. Side Bar will host comedian Bob Cook April 17.

Cook, who got his start doing stand-up on The Ohio State Uni-versity’s campus, said he has never been to Oxford before, but the atmosphere of a college town is always interesting.

“My show is pretty edgy, but I can always change it up depending on the environment and the energy,” Cook said.

Especially in uncertain eco-nomic times, comedians are always searching for a variety of bookings, Cook said. He does three to four shows per month with Comedy Caravan, as well as additional shows on his own.

“You start reaching out to differ-ent people who book you…you au-dition for different agents and try to get as many bookings as you can,” Cook said. “In this economy, the first thing to go is money used to go out with or for entertainment.”

Miami sophomore Kelly Hen-drickson said she had not heard about Comedy Caravan coming to Oxford, but said she liked the con-cept and its addition to Oxford’s en-tertainment selection.

“I love stand-up comedy…I think Oxford has a lot of entertainment op-tions, but they’re just not advertised enough,” Hendrickson said. “I know things like Trivia Night get adver-tised a lot, but that’s definitely not the only thing to do.”

The stand-up comedy events will take place 10:30 p.m. each Wednesday night in April at Side Bar, located next to The Woods at 15 N. Poplar St.

Local birdwatchers uniteBY VICTORIA POSMANTUR FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

A local conservation group, Audubon Miami Valley, will host a Spring Warbler Walk this Sun-day. The birdwatching walk will be held about five miles west of Brookville Lake, according to the field trip leader, Jim Michael.

Audubon Miami Valley, a chapter of the National Audu-bon Society founded in 1976, is a conservation group that teaches communities proper habits to re-store biological diversity.

The field trips give the com-munity an opportunity to experi-ence the beauty of nature and see what’s going on in the spring, according to Michael.

“The land is very hilly, wooded, with old-growth, great forest area and open pastures,” Michael said. “We’ll have the chance to walk around the property for a better part of the morning. This time of year we’re hoping to get a lot of song-birds. Everyone tries to bring a sack lunch along for a picnic and it’s a great time.”

The walk has traditionally tak-en place at the property of local nature enthusiasts Kathy Hunter and Ron Huffmeier.

This event is open to the public and the group will depart 7 a.m. Sunday from Walmart’s parking lot, 5720 College Corner Pike and

return in the afternoon after lunch. “We have monthly meetings

in Oxford, but draw in people from a variety of places,” Mi-chael said. “Each month we plan a field trip where we can see plants and birds and explore the local geography and geology.”

Miami University botany pro-fessor, Jim Hickey, described some of the wildlife that will be encoun-tered on their trip.

“When you get out of Oxford, it may [be a] bit cooler and a little bit early for a lot of spring wild flow-ers to be out,” Hickey said. “Buds are just starting to break. The area is all secondary growth with great habitats for birds, turkey, eagles, ospreys and hawks. It is a great flyway for ducks and geese. Brookville Lake is a great area and people will really enjoy it if they decide to go.”

First-year aspiring botanist, Alec Zaphiris, expressed his ex-citement about the opportunities Audubon Miami Valley provides for the community.

“Conservations such as Audu-bon are doing a great service for our community by organiz-ing these hands-on educational field-trips,” Zaphiris said. “It’s so important that people are aware of what they can be doing to pro-tect their local ecosystems, so that future generations can experi-ence them the same way we are able to now.”

FRANKIE ROSKAM THE MIAMI STUDENT

ESPRESSO YOURSELFAt Oxford Coffee Co., senior Eric Kogge stops and smiles for a picture while whipping up an espresso for a customer..

BY JANE BLAZERCOMMUNITY EDITOR

Oxford’s local business scene can expect to see some minor changes as second semester comes to a close and thousands of Miami University students prepare to leave town.

According to Alan Kyger, Oxford’s economic develop-ment director, few Oxford busi-nesses that have closed have plans to re-open. However, new construction and businesses are brewing in Oxford.

Stadium Sports Bar and Grille, 16 S. Poplar St., is still current-ly closed, but owners are try-ing to make use of the building, according to Kyger.

“The owner is exploring differ-ent options at that site and has not gone in any one direction,” Kyger said. “The site is for sale and, to my knowledge, it is not sold yet.”

“Until it sells, they might try to force someone or try to make use of the site,” Kyger said. “If someone wants to lease it short term, it might be a little of a hard thing to do.”

Fuji Express, the new Japanese steakhouse-style restaurant, 5.

W High St., is nearing its grand opening. With renovations near completion, it should be opening soon, Kyger said.

The future of the visibly out-of-business Princess movie theater it is still up in the air, according to Kyger.

“To our knowledge, the owner has still not sold the site,” Kyger said. “We keep getting inquiries from people that are interested in taking it over and trying to get it open as a new theater.”

Plans are in the works to construct a new building on South Beech Street, across from Stella 12 Beech. According to Kyger, it is going to be a com-mercial business on the first floor with one floor of student apartments above.

This Sunday, the new T.J. Maxx will open, Kyger said.

Recently, the old, abandoned Dairy Queen, located on Col-lege Corner Pike US 27, was sold to the City of Oxford, according to Kyger.

“That owner has now given that site to the city and hope-fully soon, the city will take that structure down, and make it into a grass-area,” Kyger said.

When you’re finished reading

The Miami Student,

please recycle!

Oxford updates businesses

The Miami Student has printed over a dozen articles about previous Comedy Caravan shows over the years, dating from 1984 on. Visit Miami’s library archives at www.digital.lib.muohio.edu, or go to www.miamistudent.net and click on ‘Library Archives to learn more.

account how much the government has impacted their writing.”

Journalism professor Cheryl Heck-ler echoed this sentiment, adding that American students should appreciate the freedom they are given, and dis-cern how different it is for Russian

journalists. “If you were an American you came

up in a country in which freedom of the press was highly valued. It is in our Constitution,” she said. “That is very different from the country of Russia. Seeing how they navigate around this, asking about friends they’ve lost, I think that’s one of the most important things students can learn.”

students to achieve specific goals that actually represent the student’s interests,” Stewart said.

Another point he talked about was a four-year planning seminar for first-years to map out their entire course lists.

“The best idea is to talk to students as much as possible and get their ideas on the issues,” he said.

As the new Secretary for Diversi-ty Affairs, junior Mariah Green will lead the Diversity Affairs Council, which aims to support the cultural growth of diversity on campus. She ran against juniors Bradley Ouambo and Shahrukh Qureshi.

Green, a social justice studies ma-jor, mentioned how she will apply her experience working with inter-national students as a writing consul-

tant to ASG. “Something I overcame was

working with language barri-ers, it’s difficult on both sides,” she said. “The best thing is to be understanding.”

Green is also involved in Mi-ami Ambassadors Advocating for Diversity, was a service guide for the office of Community Engage-ment and Service and currently sits on the Oxford Community Relations Commission.

Green said one problem facing Miami students is that Miami only appears diverse at first glance.

“It’s really diverse on the face of it because when you go into Shriver, you see a patch of black students sit-ting in one area and Asian students sitting somewhere else,” she said.

The remaining cabinet posi-tions will be voted next Tuesday in ASG’s meeting.

FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013 www.miamistudent.net4

33 East 33rd St., Suite 501 New York, NY 10016

Project No. COL027.2Project Name College Ad - 5” W x 10.5” H

File Name: COL027.2_College_Ad_5x10.5.inddInDesign version: CS6Date Created: 20130221Last Saved: 20130408 16.40Revision No.: 3Print No.: 1

Media Type: AdTrim (W x H): 5.00” x 10.50”Safety (W x H): 4.50” x 10.00”Colours Used: Process CMYKTypefaces Used: Meta, Meta Serif

Project Manager: Uana CoccoloniEmail: uana@dkmsamericas.orgPhone: 212.209.6760

Art Director: Prescott Perez-FoxEmail: prescott@dkmsamericas.orgPhone: 212.209.6772

You can change that. Host a bone marrow donor drive and register more potential lifesavers for patients in need. We’ll supply you with everything you need to run a drive easily and successfully. Get started now to make a difference and make your mark on campus before summer break.

Heroes Wanted

Launch your drive nowcolleges@deletebloodcancer.orgBe a hero nowRegister at deletebloodcancer.org

Every year, 10,000 people need bone marrow transplants.Only half will get one.

COL027.2_College_Ad_5x10.5.indd 1 20130408 16:40

UNDERGRADUATES Get your cap,

gown, and tassel for only $24.95!

Get personalized announcements at DuBois Book Store in as quick as

ONE day! Packages start as low as $15.95.

DON’T FORGET ANNOUNCEMENTS!

Serving Miami students, alumni, and fans since 1945!

Dayton | Englewood | Huber Heights | Mason | Preble County | Online

www.sinclair.edu/summer

Make the most of your summer: earn credits at Sinclair. Check out available courses and find out how credits can transfer back to Miami. Take 8- or 12-week classes at one of our convenient locations or online.

Summer Full Term: May 20–August 11Summer B Term: June 17–August 11

þGot ahead. þSaved money.þWent to Sinclair.

What did you do over your summer break?

Want to Make Some Money? Finally – A business you start at Miami and take with you

Come to Decibels on April 17th. One hour meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.

Print to PDF without this message by purchasing novaPDF (http://www.novapdf.com/)

WORSHIP, FROM PAGE 2

ASG, FROM PAGE 2

RUSSIA, FROM PAGE 1

As president, Peoples said she is adamant about directing focus towards the worship aspect of the dance ministry. At a meeting, she talked about where she gets the mo-tivation to lead the group, frequently saying “God willing” and “By God’s grace.” She also led prayer at the end of the meeting and assigned a Bible verse each week that the group would discuss at the next meeting.

“The most important aspect would be knowing why you dance,” King said. “Praise dance is more like you are dancing for God and dancing to minister to someone through dance.”

According to Peoples, True Wor-ship’s hardest task, and one of the motivations for beginning to do Christian-rap dances, is to make itself known around campus.

“It kind of seems like we were

in the background of other organi-zations or churches or things like that but I really want to change it to where we do stand out as our own,” Peoples said.

According to Peoples, True Wor-ship performs at various churches, whenever they are invited, but the club does not perform anywhere on a regular basis. Recently, the group performed at Miami’s NAACP Banquet in December, Fruit of Zion Church in Cincinnati and the Women of Worship and Men of Honor Conference March 23 at Mi-ami. True Worship is not one of the most well-known religious groups on campus, but Peoples said she is hoping that she and the other members will be able to change that.

“It kind of seemed like we were in the background of other organi-zations or churches or things like that but I really want to change it to where we do stand out as our own,” Peoples said.

MAC loss on the road this season as it fell to the University at Buffalo 5-2 Saturday, which puts it in a logjam for second place in the MAC standings with Akron and Ball State Uni-versity. Freshman Katie Brozov-ich has been carrying the load in singles this season as she has won 16 consecutive matches in singles play. Paired with fresh-man Drew Fillis, Brozovich has had similar success in doubles with eight consecutive wins as a team. This season, BGSU is 9-1 at home and dropped matches to Miami in the regular season and in the MAC Tournament 5-2 and 4-0, respectively.

“It’s a big weekend for us but it’s also just another match,” Ro-sas said. “We just need to trust the gameplan and play good ten-nis. We need to put all the pieces together this weekend.”

The RedHawks will take on the Broncos 1 p.m. Friday, at the Sorenson Courts in Kalamazoo, Mich. They will return to Ohio to face the Falcons 1 p.m. Sat-urday, at the Keefe Courts at Bowling Green.

TENNIS, FROM PAGE 10

5 FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013www.miamistudent.net

Transfer credits seamlessly

Multiple convenient campus locations

Numerous online class options

Affordable $98 per credit hour tuition*

Take classes at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) and boost your credits toward graduation.

Stay on topT h i s s u M M e r

Where futures beginSM

888-855-3922

www.tri-c.edu/miami

Three convenient summer sessions:

Classes begin May 28, June 10 and July 1

S EnglishS StatisticsS ChemistryS BusinessS Many more...

*Cuyahoga County residents $97.88; other Ohio residents $125.11

REGISTER TODAY!Summer registration is now open.

The journalism and communica-tion departments do nothing short of providing their students with chanc-es to meet professionals in their related fields and hear them speak about their experiences. A lecture se-ries Wednesday was more than eye-opening for not just students study-ing media, but for anyone who lives in the United States. A panel of five Russian journalists and editors spoke about the state of journalism in their country as well as visited journalism classrooms, speaking about what is going on across the pond.

Vladimir Putin has been the president of Russia since 2007 and the state of journalism has become a life-or-death kind of profession, mainly because of his reign. It has increasingly turned authoritative and the media more censored, a sharp turn for the worse. Investigative journalism in Russia often lacks per-manence now; if journalists work for state news organizations and publi-cations they are paid more because they are essentially creating public relations for the state.

If they are not writing for the state, journalists are not paid very well, and are often times likely to be killed if their work displays the govern-ment in a poor light in an effort to seek the truth. This is something we as Americans may not even be able to comprehend. Free press is some-thing we take for granted just like water; it is just always there.

Becoming an independent work-ing journalist in Russia means risk-ing your life to state the facts, even if it is against the government.

In the United States, we can dis-agree with the president, start a blog devoted to promoting a cer-tain religion or social issue even if it is just based on opinion and even write a simple ‘Letter to the Edi-tor’ to any newspaper commenting on a recent story.

These are aspects of journal-ism that just simply do not exist in Russia, aspects we should take more advantage of.

The Miami Student Editorial Board believes that all Miami Uni-versity students are in some sense journalists, and we need to open our eyes to what is going on in the rest of the world.

Many of us believe we are liv-ing in this modern world, but in re-ality there are many places where free press simply does not exist. Ask yourself; could you imagine not being able to choose from an array of newspapers to read from? What would it be like for the In-ternet to be restricted? Could you imagine being killed for publishing a book because it offended a politi-cian? These questions are probably hard to answer, because to us, they seem unimaginable.

Point blank, we take advantage of our media. It is now so often saturated and contaminated with entertainment and soft news, usually skimming the news about the world and what is going on in politics so

that we can read about what is go-ing on in Hollywood. We are able to access the Internet for news from Wi-Fi hotspots at Starbucks, most restaurants and, of course, librar-ies. According to Internet World Statistics, only 44 percent of the population of Russia has access to the Internet. In the United States 80 percent of the population has ac-cess to the Internet, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Not even half the population of Russia has access to the Internet, and even if they do, websites are limited in number, and often censored.

While we are surfing websites like Yahoo!, The ONION and even E News, journalists in Russia are risking their lives daily to get news published about their government and their country to the public, while remaining objective and pursuing the portrayal of truth. That is what journalism is about, and as students and as a bigger whole as Americans, it’s safe to say we may have lost sight of this element of journalism a long time ago.

The Editorial Board believes we have a duty to our readers not to mask entertainment as news or to make the government happy. News organizations in Russia and some other parts of the world are censored and coerced with money and possi-ble murder to basically instill public relations for the state as news.

This has opened our board’s eyes to what the rest of the world is going through when it comes to media. It is a wake up call to students to explore international journalism and media.

We have this unique media in the United States, but the only way to build off of it and make it better is to learn what is happening throughout the rest of the world.

If you think you aren’t a journal-ist just because you aren’t majoring in it, think again. Posting statuses on Facebook, running your own blog and even your tweets are all examples of an independent move-ment to produce content, whenever we feel like it.

As students document their lives through social media, some through-out the world are lucky if they even have a pen or pencil to write their ex-periences down in a notebook.

The next time you pick up a newspaper, a magazine or surf the web, try to remember that these outlets of news and information is a personal choice and one of our freedoms as Americans.

Tough, determined journalists and editors in Russia understand the im-portance of truth and the pursuit of giving their public what they need. But does the United States under-stand this? Where has the pursuit of truth gone and why has entertain-ment replaced hard news?

These questions may never be an-swered, but hopefully for those that were able to attend the discussion panel and those that read this edito-rial, they will understand how truly lucky we are.

I know a lot of the bus driv-ers at the Miami University Metro and, just in the morning shift alone, the workers have been with us for 10 to 20 years. I personally know of a couple who were the very first drivers to pull out of the lot in August of 1990.

Butler County Regional Transit Authority will be the fourth compa-ny to take over the metro. All of the other companies contacted the driv-ers, offered them jobs, let them keep their seniority and same rate of pay.

Now this company has still not contacted the drivers. The ones

who have contacted them to fill out applications found out the pay will be cut by one-third, they will cut all hours also by one-third and loose all seniority. They were told there would be no insurance for the first five years.

Why is Miami doing this to them after they have been so good to us? Now Miami is just throwing these drivers under the bus. Your March 26 editorial about Miami students coming out of their bubble was false. The students do not ride for free, they pay for the bus through their tuition.

I think all students should be aware that they are now going to provide bus services to everyone. They will no longer receive the spe-cial/private care that they have had for the past 23 years. I would like to add to all of you dedicated driv-ers that you are too young to retire, but at the same time too old to get a new job. You all are in my prayers and THANK YOU for all your hard work and dedication. It is a shame what the university is doing to you.

EDITORSEMILY ELDRIDGE

NICOLE THEODORE EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET6 OPINION

FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

PATRICK GEYSER THE MIAMI STUDENT

EDITORIALThe following piece, written by the editorial editors, reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.

Rule of Thumb

Wasting resources It is not that hard to re-use a water bottle or turn a paper over to print.

Russian media often life-or-death: U.S. takes advantage of free press

University throwing Miami Metro under the bus

ANGELA SPEARSIAMHERE4MYKIDS@YAHOO.COM

CHRIS CURME COMMUNITY EDITORJANE BLAZER COMMUNITY EDITORVICTORIA SLATER CAMPUS EDITORCATHERINE MONCEAUX CAMPUS EDITOR TOM DOWNEY SPORTS EDITOR

HANNAH STEIN EDITOR IN CHIEFKATIE TAYLOR NEWS EDITOREMILY ELDRIDGE EDITORIAL EDITORNICOLE THEODORE EDITORIAL EDITORBILLY RAFAEL ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

T.J. Maxx opens Friday

This is now the time to freeze your credit cards.

March Madness is over“Sad” maybe, but at least we get our boyfriends back now.

This is in response to a “letter to the editor” that was posted in the Miami Student Friday, April 5, 2013 titled “Denial of homosexual rights can not be justified” by Joe Bialek. I’m not here to give my opinion on whether homosexual behavior or marriage between homosexuals is right; I am here to address what I believe to be errors in the reasoning used by Mr. Bialek.

The main issue raised was one of genetics. He said homosexuals expe-rience the same type of attraction with each other that heterosexuals experi-ence with other heterosexuals. He then cited that the moral issue of ho-mosexual behavior was rooted in ge-netic predisposition: if one had these genes then that is the only acceptable moral behavior. Bialek said, “In fact, if one is not genetically predisposed for this behavior, then by definition they are not truly homosexual but rather some deviant variation of per-verted behavior.” The implication be-ing that whatever the person is wired to do is the right thing. If a person is attracted to someone of the same sex then they should pursue that attrac-tion in the same way that someone who is attracted to the opposite sex should pursue that attraction. Any

deviation from the natural attraction is what is ‘perverted’.

But the question at hand is wheth-er homosexual behavior is moral, not whether there is a genetic pre-disposition. First of all, there has not been conclusive scientific research to prove that homosexual behavior is genetic. In fact, Mr. Bialek even ac-knowledges this. He said: “but I be-lieve (through the persistence of sci-ence) this behavior will be proven to result from natural genetic variation.” So first, he said that science does not support this currently and then goes on to base his argument off of what he said has not been proven. If you’re going to appeal to science, then ap-peal to science. Believing that one day science might prove something is not science. When science proves it, then we’ll talk. But there is still an elephant in the room. Even if there was scientific evidence to support this, it wouldn’t affect another error in reasoning.

Genetic predisposition does not dictate morality. One could easily say that every time a drunkard pees on a building or a short tempered person blows up on a co-worker that this is simply how they have been geneti-cally wired. They were predisposed

to act like this: it’s not their fault.We cannot base our morality on

this because it leads to the conclu-sion that whatever is genetic (aka ‘natural’) is what is right. Given this premise, every murderer and delinquent who could cite ge-netic disposition would not be culpable because they were just fol-lowing their genetic desires. As a society, we have declared that cer-tain actions are right and certain ac-tions are wrong: regardless of who does them. Stealing is always wrong, even if you are inclined to steal. Murdering is wrong, even if you are genetically inclined to wrath. These actions are wrong and if you commit them then you are wrong, regardless of genetics. These aren’t wrong because we disagree with them: they are wrong because they are wrong.

I’ve heard a lot of persuasive ar-guments for justifying homosexual behavior and for supporting mar-riage between homosexuals. How-ever, this is not one of them. There is enough confusion on this political issue, let’s not make any more.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Genetics do not ultimately determine morality

JARROD HEFFLEYHEFFLEYJD@MIAMIOH.EDU

The Republican Party’s issues with Hispanic voters have been well documented since their stand-

er bearer lost the group 72-27 this fall.

M a n y s t ra tegis t s a t t r i b u t e this embar-rassing gap to issues of tone. Telling grandmas to self-deport is no way

to win their vote, and if as a party you make it clear you don’t want their people here—they won’t vote for you.

That’s why many see immigra-tion reform as a foot-in-the-door is-sue with Latino voters for the GOP.

Admit you want them here and then they’ll listen to the rest of your pitch.

However, the issue with this

tact is that there’s a strong subset of the Republican base with no in-terest in dealing with immigration reform in any meaningful way that doesn’t start with sending each and every person who is here illegally home, immediately.

This leads to what Matthew Continneti, writing in The Weekly Standard, called the Republican Party’s double bind—it’s the idea that anything that makes the donor base of the party happy will anger the base and vise-versa.

Immigration is the perfect ex-ample of this conundrum policy makers face.

But issues of fusing the warring factions of conservatism together are nothing new for Republicans—we just haven’t had a leader able to fuse those factions together in quite some time.

Conservatism in America is a three-legged stool with eco-nomic, social or cultural and defense hawks.

Few Republicans truly fit easily into any of these three categories, but the basics stand. Conservatives who care only about economics,

often known as the donor base, don’t understand why the cultural conservatives care so deeply about social issues and vise versa.

That’s where fusing these ideas together becomes so important, and we leave it to the leaders to learn how to best bring together those who may often be at war each November.

President George H. W. Bush

wasn’t able to bring those camps together, and he was badly weak-ened by a primary challenge from the populist firebrand,

Pat Buchanan.The current Republican Party

appears devoid of any leadership that can fuse the factions together, but that’s why many are so excited by Marco Rubio.

A Senator whose father-tended bar with equal tea party and Wall Street fundraising chops is quite at-tractive to a party in the wilderness.

President Ronald Reagan was

able to stand on the three-legged stool with ease and immigra-tion reform just might be Senator Rubio’s first chance to prove he can do the same.

A deal will come out of the Sen-ate—the base will likely not like it one bit at first blush, but can Sena-tor Rubio sell it to them?

Can he cool the elites’ heels and sell the base on a package that will fix a broken system and truly strengthen our country in the end? That remains to be seen. But if he can, folks better watch out, because the Junior Senator from Florida could be the next man to stand on top of that three legged stool without falling and sell the country on a positive vision f or the future.

But if he can’t, then the party would be smart to say “on to the next one,” and continue to look for a leader that can fuse together the views of the conservative move-ment and get results.

President Obama unveiled his budget proposal Wednesday for fiscal year 2014, setting the stage for yet another debate over the nation’s finances.

The president will claim his budget is the middle ground, that

it should be acceptable to both the Democrats in the Senate and Republicans in the House.

But the president’s budget -- which calls for new tax revenue and never comes close to balance --- is still a long way from the 10-year balanced budget that passed in the House last month.

It is also far from acceptable to many of the progressive mem-bers within the president’s own party, as it cuts roughly $230 billion from Social Security by changing the way the program’s benefits are calculated.

So, with criticism coming from both sides of the aisle, it is unlikely that the president’s latest attempt will ease the grid-lock between the two cham-bers and help get the budgetary process working again.

Still, it is worth noting that there is a silver lining in all of this – the president has made a serious commitment to the sciences.

For too long we have let our investment in the sciences

fall by the wayside. Once a country that demanded

a man set foot on the moon before the end of a decade, our students now rank 17th in the world for science and 25th for math.

That’s why it’s encouraging to see that within the president’s budget there are $47.5 million set aside for science, technology, en-gineering and math (STEM) pro-grams run in coordination with NASA and another $71.2 billion in discretionary spending for the Department of Education.

Throwing money at depart-ments and at special projects alone will not solve the prob-lems with our education system or guarantee that we, as a nation, are competitive in the fields of math and science.

For that to happen, we will have to make a serious long-term commitment to solving the problems surrounding our education system.

That means taking a good, hard look at the way we both educate students and evaluate our teachers.

Still, allocating the re-sources necessary to try and tackle the problem is a start. And that’s what this all comes down to -- spending.

With budget deficits climb-ing ever upward and our na-tion’s creditworthiness in jeopardy, I get the calls for fiscal responsibility.

At some point though, the Republican Party needs to clarify that not all spending is created equal.

On the one hand there is man-datory spending, which is money Congress is required by law to spend: entitlement programs.

Then there is discretionary spending, money that Congress can choose to send to pretty much anywhere: research, space

exploration, etc. This is the spending that’s easy

to go after because Congressio-nal budgets are full of wasteful spending projects.

The Bridge to Nowhere or John Murtha Airport, which received $200 million in federal funds to service the small town of John-stown, Penn., are just two that come to mind.

Within those same pork-filled appropriations bills, however, are just as many projects that further our understanding of the world around us.

That’s why it’s time to stop tak-ing it to discretionary spending.

Stop acting as if reducing the amount by which discretion-ary spending grows on a yearly basis will make a difference and put us on a more fiscally responsible path.

If we are serious about get-ting our fiscal house in order, we will overhaul the tax code and do something meaningful to reign in the real problem – entitlement spending.

If not, we can continue to squeeze what little is left to squeeze out of the discretionary sidew and watch our position in the world fall as our military might suffers harsh defense cuts and our economy suffers from a lack of educated workers.

I’m by no means endorsing the president’s budget, but he has it right to send money to the sci-ences and education.

It’s my hope that any deal coming out of Washington will bring us to or near balance by reforming the tax code and en-titlement spending. Not cutting funds for key programs like the National Science Foundation or the Pentagon.

A Republican’s defense of discretionary spending

7FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013 OP EDwww.miamistudent.net

The MiamiStudentis looking for essayists.

Email editorial@miamistudent.net for more information.

ESSAYISTS

Conservatism in America is a three-legged stool with economic, social or cultural and defense hawks. Few Republicans truly fit eas-ily into any of these three categories, but the basics stand.

ESSAY

ANDREWGEISLER

ANDREW’S ASSESSMENTS

The three legged stool: Why immigration reform will be the key to Rubio’s future

At some point though, the Repub-lican Party needs to clarify that all spending is created equal.

GREGORY DICKDICKGR@MIAMIOH.EDU

WANTED

8,000 ... The number of Miami Student readers who will see

YOUR AD HERE!To advertise inThe Miami Student, please contact Sean Crowe at crowesp2@miamioh.edu.

News 513-529-2256Editorial 513-529-2257

Advertising 513-529-2210 8 FYIFRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

The Miami StudentOldest university paper in the United States, established in 1826

Website: www.miamistudent.net For advertising information: miamistudent@gmail.com

The Miami Student (Tuesday/Friday) is published 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 POLICYThe 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.

Hannah SteinEditor in Chief

Sean CroweBusiness Manager

Baylor MyersAsst. Business Manager

Maggie Milliken National Advertising DirectorClassified Advertising Director

Joe GioffreAdvertising Representative

Thomas GorczynskiAdvertising Representative

Sacha DeVroomen BellmanAdviser

WDJ Inc. - Bill Dedden Distributor

Katie Taylor News Editor

Jake Brennan Managing Editor

Brett Milam Online Editor

Victoria Slater, Catherine Monceaux Campus Editors

Chris Curme, Jane Blazer Community Editors

Billy Rafael Arts & Entertainment

Emily Eldridge, Nicole TheodoreEditorial Editors

Tom Downey Sports Editor

Lauren OlsonPhoto Editor

Senior Staff Writers Joe Gieringer Emily Glaser Amanda HancockLibby Mueller

Staff WritersMegan ThobeMelissa GirgisJessica Barga

DesignersReid GrothSloane FullerAmanda HarrKaliegh Pawar

Editorial Writers Olivia BroughGregory Dick Andrew GeislerHailey GilmanAnthony SantoraSarah Shew

Sports ColumnistsCarson Drake Andrew GeislerJoe GieringerJustin MaskulinskiJM Rieger Ross Simon

Photography Staff Lisa GehringTyler GravesRyan HoltzLauren Hutchison Kim ParentBen Taylor Blake WilsonDamien Watson

CartoonistsPatrick Geyser

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

PLAY SPORTS! HAVE FUN! SAVE $! Maine camp needs fun lov-ing counselors to teach. All land, adventure & water sports. Great summer! Call 888-844-8080, apply: campcedar.com SUMMER CAMP! SUMMER OF YOUR LIFE! CAMP WAYNE FOR GIRLS –Children’s sleep-away camp, Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania 6/15-8/11. If you love children and want a caring, fun environment we need Counselors, Instructors and other staff for our summer camp. Interviews on the Miami campus March 28th. Select The Camp That Selects The Best Staff! Call 1.215.944.3069 or apply at www.campwaynegirls.com AWESOME INTERNS needed to work with the CEO of an up-and-coming apparel company in Cincinnati. One BUSINESS intern is needed for advertisement, marketing, brand development, and distribution. One experienced WEB DESIGN intern is also needed. These are non-paid internships, but there is a serious chance that this could lead to a lucrative FT job. E-mail: oacompany@yahoo.com COLLEGE PRO IS now hiring painters all across the state to work outdoors w/other students. Earn $3k-5k. Advancement opportunities + internships. 1-888-277-9787or www.collegepro.com KENNEL ASSISTANT. Help wanted in busy veterinary clinic. Primary responsibilities include cleaning facility, feeding, walking, and assist-ing with restraint of pets. Must have reliable transportation, be able to lift 40 pounds, be able to kneel and crawl on the floor, and be able to type/use computers. Non-smokers only. Send resume to admin@middletownanimalhospital.com.

FOR RENT

WE’VE GOT YOU We’ve Got You Covered! Studio, 1 Bedroom, 2 Bedroom & 4 Bedroom Apart-ments 5 Convenient Locations within minutes of Miami University. Professional Local Management. 24 Emergency Maintenance. Office 523-2440. Call/Text 335-7044 SUMMER RENTALS, mid May 2013 thru mid Aug 2013 $650, $700 and/or $900. 1027 Arrow-head Dr., 2000 sq. ft. two story 5 bedroom house with private apart-ment, 2 baths, like new with luxury accommodations, COMPLETELY FURNISHED, Guarantee one of Oxfords finest rentals, 44 inch wall mount TV, FREE hi-def cable TV & FREE hi-speed Internet, new flooring, washer, dryer, dishwasher, glass top stove, built-in microwave, 2 refrigerators, parking, porch & private back patio & large wood deck, grill & picnic table, lawn service, Large fenced yard partial wooden with access to Miami common, tool shed, New roof and new vinyl siding, Central air, thermal windows, extremely well insulated, big savings on utilities.” Occupancy opportunities for groups of 1, 2,3,4,5 or 6. Call Alan Barone at cell 740-407-4114, email barone.alan@gmail.com

APARTMENTS

COURTYARDS OF MIAMI located on E. Central Ave. and S. Main St, across from Miami’s Rec., two bedroom $2500. per person, heat, and water included. 1 bedroom $3700. FREE SUMMER, park-ing included. Great LOCATION, and excellent upgrades, make the Courtyards worth looking at. Visit web thecourtyardsofmiami.com or call 513-659-5671

NOTICE

CERTIFIED LIFEGUARDS/SWIM INSTR uctors and Activity Specialists – Archery, Basketball, BB Rifle, Naturalist, Male Group Counselors – needed for FUN and REWARDING summer day camp in CINCINNATI. Six week session begins June 17 – July 26, M-F, 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM. Contact Camp Wildbrook @ 513-931-2196 or mailto:campwildbrook@cinci.rr.com

INSTRUCTORS AND ACTIVITY Specialists– Archery, Basketball, BB Rifle, Naturalist, Male Group Counselors – needed for FUN and REWARDING summer day camp in CINCINNATI. Six week session begins June 17 – July 26, M-F, 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM. Contact Camp Wildbrook @ 513-931-2196 or campwildbrook@cinci.rr.com

GREAT LOCATION! Close to Uptown/Campus. 1 and 2 bedroom apartments available for 2013-14. On-Site Laundry. Off-Street Park-ing. www.roberts-apts.com 513-839-1426 info@roberts-apts.com

HOUSES

SCHMATES HOME RENTALS Secure your home for next year. Only a few homes remain for the 2013/14 school year. Go to: www.schmatesrentals.com $750 CASH BACK! NEW ON MAR-KET! AVAIL 2013-2014: NORTH ELM STREET. 4 bed / 2.5 bath. Will be updated and freshly painted with new flooring! One block from Miami Metro stops. $2250/student with 3 or 4, $2000 deposit. Contact Tracy: cajun.suites@gmail.com or 619-997-7999

9 FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013www.miamistudent.net

designer brands at T.J. prices™

Styles vary by store. © 2013 T.J.Maxx

*Valid in-store only. Subject to credit approval. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Excludes gift cards. Discount is only valid when used with your TJX Rewards® Credit Card. Restrictions apply. See store Associate and 10% off coupon for details. **Subject to credit approval. See the Rewards Program Terms for details.***As of February 1, 2013, the variable purchase APR is 26.99%. Minimum interest charge is $2.00. The TJX Rewards® Credit Card and TJX Rewards® Platinum MasterCard® are issued by GE Capital Retail Bank. The TJX Rewards® Platinum MasterCard® is issued pursuant to a license from MasterCard® International, Inc.

women | men | home | accessories | jewelry | women’s footwear | beauty | active | women’s plus | juniors | kids

Hey Maxxinista, big savings are coming your way – up to 60% off dept. store prices onthe season’s latest brand name and designer fashion for you, your family and your home. So mark your calendar now and let the stylish savings begin. Check out your new T.J.’s at www.tjmaxx.com/grandopening

Open a card and get 10% off your first in-store purchase.*

Plus, earn points toward $10 Rewards certificates with all your

TJX Rewards® Credit Card purchases.** No annual fee***

t.j.'s is coming to oxford!Grand Opening Sunday April 14, 8amSouth Locust Street& West Spring Street

BY JOE GIERINGERSENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Miami University baseball team has now dropped three straight contests after losing both games at the Joe Nuxhall Classic, which was held April 9-10 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The RedHawks (14-15, 7-2 MAC) squared off against the Wright State University Raiders Wednesday, but fell 10-2 after three Miami pitch-ers gave up seven runs on just six hits during the seventh inning. The Red and White struggled in the bat-ter’s box as well, connecting with just four pitches all game.

“We came out flat on Tuesday,” Head Coach Dan Simonds said. “We just didn’t play a real solid game. We had one really bad inning, and that’s where we’ve got to get better: stop-ping the bleeding. We need to give ourselves a chance to come back in a game and ultimately win a game, and we didn’t do that.”

The RedHawks returned to form Wednesday, as six players recorded a total of 11 hits on the afternoon, including a 3-for-3 per-formance from freshman outfielder

Chad Sedio. But that wasn’t enough to best the Xavier University Muske-teers, who scored a run in the bottom of the ninth to win in walk off fash-ion, 7-6. This was the second time in four days the RedHawks have lost in walk off fashion.

“The second game was much better against one of the better hit-ting teams we’ve played in Xavier,” Simonds said. “We had a couple chances to win the game … but sometimes you’ve just got to tip your cap. Their team made a couple good plays and had some good at bats, and ended up getting a big hit in the bot-tom of the ninth to win the game.”

Although Miami has lost its three games, the spirit in the dugout and the locker room is still remarkably high. Sophomore outfielder Matt Honchel extended his hitting streak to 14 straight games, earning a pair of hits during the tournament. Senior catcher Nate Bowles, among other RedHawks, said he is impressed.

“The kid is just a freak,” Bowles said, followed by a laugh. “He swings the bat well, he knows his zone, and his speed is crazy. I’ve never seen somebody hit a ball like

that and beat it out with ease. He’s a phenomenal hitter.”

Simonds said “Honch,” as the team calls him, has put in the work necessary to reach this 14-game feat.

“He knows his swing, he can self-adjust, and that’s the sign of a good hitter,” Simonds said. “You talk about a kid that’s a relentless worker, it shows.”

With another Mid-American Con-ference (MAC) matchup this week-end, Simonds said he is stressing that his team settle back down and play the type of game his boys know how to play – and that starts by taking things one step at a time.

“You’ve got to have a short mem-ory,” Simonds said. “The thing now is to prepare ourselves and play good baseball … We’re taking it an inning at a time, and out at a time. We’re going to face some good arms, a quality program, and our approach is to take care of our end of the game. We need to play good, aggressive, Miami baseball.”

The RedHawks will be back in action at home against MAC rival Kent State University, 6 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.

EDITORTOM DOWNEY

SPORTS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET10 SPORTSFRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2013

TOM DOWNEYWHAT’S GOING DOWNEY

THE GREATEST TRIP OF MY LIFE: THE FINAL FOUR

BEN TAYLOR THE MIAMI STUDENTMiami University freshman first baseman Hailey Reed looks to the umpire for the call on a close play at first base. Reed is batting .368 for the season, which ranks second on the team.

MIKE CHIORAN THE MIAMI STUDENT

GOING THE DISTANCESophomore Adaora Anunike partcipates in the discus throw.

SOFTBALL

Eagles sweep RedHawks

Miami drops two in Nuxhall Classic

I was lucky enough to get the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a Final Four last week. I never thought I would get to see a Final Four, so I jumped at the opportunity to go. A friend’s dad won tickets, but was unable to go. As a result, I went with three friends and we were able to enjoy two concerts and three amaz-ing games, among other events.

After driving to Atlanta, Ga. Fri-day night, the four of us went to “BracketTown” Saturday. Bracket-Town is basically a giant NCAA-hosted, corporate-sponsored sports fair. Nearly every collegiate sport had some type of mini-game there; from a slap shot contest to a whiffle ball home run derby. My personal favorite was the jump shot mini-game challenge, sponsored by Allstate. The challenge consisted of shooting over a wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube-man bar-ing a striking resemblance to “May-hem.”

We were also fortunate enough to attend a pair of concerts in Olympic Centennial Park at the NCAA Big Dance Concert Series. The concerts were free to the public, provided the park stayed below capacity. The first concert we went to was a Mackelmore and Ryan Lewis performance Saturday. I doubt any of us would have paid to see a Mackelmore concert, but it was free so we couldn’t resist.

The second concert was a Sunday night performance by Dave Mat-thews, which was a blast. We found a great spot on some rocks near a pond. We got some nice group pho-tos taken of us by a kind Wichita State fan. She then uttered the line of the trip: “So are you all really this handsome, or are you all gay?”

Since we refused to deal with At-lanta traffic, we took the MARTA train system downtown. On the way back from the Dave concert, some intoxicated locals began a chant of “Waffle House.” Apparently they were quite hungry. We chose not to join them, instead waiting a half hour for McDonalds. Worst of all, they weren’t even serving ice cream.

Of course, the actual games were pretty amazing too. They were three of the best basketball games I’ve ever seen and the best three I’ve ever seen in person.

Although Wichita State couldn’t pull the shocking upset over Louis-ville, they have to be proud of the run they made. I think most of the crowd wanted the Shockers to win, but also expected the Cardinals to pull out one of their patented late game runs to win.

The Michigan-Syracuse game was also a great one, but the thing that stuck out most were the jerseys. The Wolverines came out in all yel-low and Syracuse came out in all or-ange. It was like the teams had just re-turned from a crazy Dayglow party. It was appropriate that Michigan and Louisville advanced, as they had the loudest fans. The Wolverines were especially impressive, being able to get a “Go Blue” chant that involved the student section and the upper deck of the arena.

Former Duke star Christian Laettner came out for various awards in both games, and was treated to a chorus of boos. People still hate him. Laettner seemed to enjoy it a little bit though. There was also a Mark Emmert video during the games as well, which received a chorus of boos as well. Although something tells me Emmert doesn’t enjoy the hate like Laettner does.

The actual championship game, the pinnacle of the trip, was one of the, if not the, best basketball games I’ve seen. The final four minutes of the first half were like nothing I’ve ever seen; from Spike Albrecht carrying the Wolverines with Trey Burke in foul trouble to Luke Han-cock singlehandedly brining Lou-isville back into the game. When Peyton Siva found Montrezl Harrell for the go-ahead alley-oop slam, the Georgia Dome erupted. I’ve never heard a basketball game get so loud. None of us had any allegiance to any team, and that may have been for the best. The game was just a blast from start to finish.

The eight-hour drive back im-mediately following the game was a little rough, but after the weekend we just had, it wasn’t a big deal.

I’m so fortunate and thankful to have been able to experience such a great trip. I owe a giant thank you to Jim Bennett, Brooks Fishell and Jonathan Lihani for helping to make it such a memorable time.

BY ALYSSA ZEDIKER FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

The Miami University Softball team suffered two losses in a double header against Morehead State Uni-versity in two offensively focused games. The RedHawks record is now 12-22 with the 7-4 early game loss and the 10-6 evening loss.

“Our hitters hit, though I would have liked to have seen us score more runs, but hitting still did extremely well,” Head Coach Clarisa Crowell said.

The RedHawks and the Eagles went toe to toe in a hitting battle, where they tied with 24 hits a piece between both games. Miami outhit Morehead in the second game 12-9. However, the ’Hawks were unable to capitalize on their hits at times, leaving players on base and thus missing out on scoring more runs.

“Once we get some timely hits and catch a break we will start scoring more runs and beating our opponents,” Freshman pitcher Jenna Modic said.

Modic pitched 10.1 innings be-tween the two games and allowed

five runs on 10 hits. Megan Mattera had a difficult start

in the second game, where More-head knocked down eight runs in the first two innings, where Modic then came in as her reliever.

Crowell and Modic felt that More-head made timely hits that are tough for a pitcher to overcome, but Crow-ell feels the pitchers need to work on improving their ball placement and executing the game strategy.

“They hit and that is pretty much all there is too it, and they had timely hits that put the ball play and moved runners around,” Crowell said. “They just out slugged us today.”

An additional challenge the RedHawks faced was a shuffling of the infield, since junior catcher Kayla Ledbetter was out for the game, junior Allie Larrabee step up into the catcher’s position. She has not seen a lot of time behind the plate this season.

Even with the changes defen-sively the RedHawks played well according to Crowell and they made no errors in either game against Morehead State.

While the RedHawks suffered

two losses, Crowell said she feels it has helped prepare the team for its weekend lineup; as they continue to face tough game situations and continue to practice with live pitch-ing, something she feels cannot be recreated during practice.

Modic also added that the More-head State games showed the team what it needs to work on in practice over the next couple of days.

“We have to take the negative things [from these games] and take from them just what we need to work to make ourselves better and ready for the next game,” Modic said. “Our team is ready to play, and it is always exciting playing your rival school, so the energy will be there.”

Miami will continue playing this weekend when they face Ohio Uni-versity in a rivalry game, followed by the University of Akron.

“As long as we can just put things together this weekend, and play the way that we played today by not giv-ing in and playing to the last out I think we will be fine,” Crowell said. “We have to keep our heads up be-cause what matters right now is what is going on in conference.”

BASEBALL

TENNISRedHawks ready for road stand against WMU and Bowling GreenBY JORDAN RINARDSTAFF WRITER

After reeling off four cosecu-tive victories in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play, the Mi-ami University women’s tennis team is getting hot at the right time as it gets set to hit the road to face Western Michigan Uni-versity and Bowling Green State University. Miami is tied for first place in the MAC with Western and the matches will be its first road matches in MAC play. The RedHawks (8-12, 4-1 MAC) would clinch a share of the regu-lar season conference title for the

fifth consecutive year with wins over the Broncos (11-10, 4-1 MAC) and the Falcons (14-3, 3-2 MAC).

Over the course of its win-ning streak, Miami has had a considerable amount of success in singles play. Junior Ramona Costea has earned six straight wins in singles, five of which came during MAC play. Ju-nior Christiana Raymond and sophomore Christine Guerrazzi are on runs of their own, as Raymond has won five consecu-tive matches while Guerrazzi has won four in a row. Junior

Nimisha Mohan has won five of her last seven matches on her way to earning 12 wins in singles this season.

“A big part of my game [in singles] is just grinding it out and running after every ball,” Ray-mond said. “I’m working to be a little more consistent and just keep it up.”

Consistency in doubles has also improved for the ’Hawks during their streak as they have earned the doubles point in three of their last four matches. The team of Raymond and Costea has won four of their last five matches

while Mohan and Thurman have earned victories in four straight matches in doubles.

“We’ve been working on dou-bles drills this week,” Raymond said. “Winning the doubles point is crucia and we’ve been able to build momentum after getting the point in our matches in the MAC. We’re focusing on our goals, stay-ing together, and staying focused since it’s a big weekend for us.”

Assistant Coach Ricardo Ro-sas also spoke of improving the doubles performances.

“This week, we’re not work-ing on anything new; we’re just

putting in some good repeti-tions,” Rosas said. “We’re still focusing on being aggressive, coming forward, and being good competitors.”

Western Michigan had a four-match winning streak of its own un-til they fell 5-2 to the University of Akron Saturday. WMU is 7-4 at home this season and fell 5-2 to the RedHawks last season in Oxford.

The Bowling Green team, meanwhile, is coming off its first

TENNIS,SEE PAGE 4