TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016MIAMISTUDENT.NET MiaMi University — OxfOrd, OhiOvOlUMe 144 №31

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The Miami Student

The Miami University Confucius Institute Lion Dance Club sets fire to the stage during their performance at the Chinese New Year Concert on Saturday.

AMANDA WANG THE MIAMI STUDENT

EMILY TATEMANAGING EDITOR

The committee tasked with identifying Miami Uni-versity’s next president has reviewed resumes and held interviews with candidates, but beyond that, little is clear about the status of the presi-dential search.

This uncertainty, critics

say, is because Miami’s use of an executive search firm de-liberately masks the process from the public. And, while this serves the interest of the Board of Trustees —who, in September, announced the search would be secret — some believe the approach is harmful for Miami’s students and employees.

When Miami officials signed a contract with search

firm Isaacson, Miller last summer, James Finkelstein said they put the university in a vulnerable position.

“I’ve negotiated hundreds of contracts for all sorts of agencies — governments institutions, non-profits, pub-lic and private universities. This is not the kind of con-tract I would ever consider signing,” Finkelstein said. “I can’t imagine anyone ever

really allowing it. I think it’s a problem.”

After reviewing the con-tract, Finkelstein, who is a Miami alumnus (’74) and a professor of public policy at George Mason Univer-sity, sent a 1,400-word letter to the chair of the Board of Trustees, David Budig, ex-pressing his concern.

“Candidly, I’ve not seen many agreements that

provide as few protections to the university as does Mi-ami’s contract with Isaacson, Miller,” Finkelstein wrote in the letter. “In fact, I would argue that in signing this con-tract, the university has failed to protect the most basic as-pects of the public interest as well as those of the faculty, staff, students and alumni.”

In his letter, Finkelstein describes, in detail, four red

flags he noticed in the con-tract, though he says there are far more.

His first concern was that Isaacson, Miller bases its fee on a percentage — in this case, one-third — of the president’s first-year com-pensation package. This, he argues, provides incentive for Isaacson, Miller to seek

BRITTON PERELMANMANAGING EDITOR

The names in this story have been changed to protect the identities of the four indi-viduals.

Emma, Kelly, Claire and Brooke clutched their white

2016 recruitment shirts. It’s Thursday night, right after the kick-off ceremony.

The girls, friends from the same dorm hallway, felt over-whelmed, more stressed than they had before the kick-off ceremony. But it was an ex-cited nervousness. They’d been told to dress nicely and

remember deodorant.They had no idea what to

expect of the next two week-ends of sorority rush.

Welcome RoundEmma bought a huge bottle

of honey, extra tea and cough drops at Kroger earlier in the day, but her voice was already

cracking. All of the girls were hoarse,

the result of screaming con-versations with people stand-ing less than two feet from them.

“You don’t realize how much of an exercise talking is,” said Claire.

Emma, Kelly, Claire and

Brooke looked exactly the same as everyone else on Friday and Saturday. They wore white recruitment T-shirts, jeans, boots and lan-yards holding their nametags. Personal touches came in the form of necklaces, manicured nails or gold bangles. A watch on Emma’s wrist served as a

way to keep track of time dur-ing the rounds, when the girls were required to leave their phones outside the rooms.

At the start of the night, Brooke couldn’t help but compare herself to everyone else, looking at how other girls

ANGELA HATCHERSENIOR STAFF WRITER

On Feb. 6, 2015, students crowded into Hall Auditori-um. A long table dominated the left wall of the foyer, clad in a silky, golden table-cloth. Student members of Miami University’s Chinese American Cultural Associa-tion worked behind the ta-ble, handing out raffle tick-ets for prizes that included a one-way plane ticket from China to the United States

and a check for $1,000.Students eagerly

crowded around the table, greeting their friends and chattering excitedly.

Along the right side of the foyer was a lavish red carpet. Students posed for pictures in their stylish out-fits while a photographer snapped away on his cam-era. There were banners hanging around the photo area covered in traditional Chinese calligraphy.

Everyone in the hall was teeming with energy and excitement.

Spring Festival had officially begun at Miami University.

Spring Festival, more commonly known to west-erners as Chinese New Year, celebrates the turn of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. This year marks the Year of the Monkey.

This year, Chinese New Year falls on Feb. 8. The celebration begins Feb. 7 and lasts roughly 15 days.

PRESIDENT

GREEK LIFE

Firm, contract impede transparent presidential search

Happy New Year!

新年快 乐NEW YEAR »PAGE 5

RECRUITMENT »PAGE 2

SEARCH »PAGE 8

HOLIDAYS

Students, community ring in the Year of the Monkey

Sorority hopefuls search for acceptance during ‘rush’

CONNOR MORIARTY PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

2 NEWS NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Four girls share their journey through sorority recruitment

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016

AMANDA WANG THE MIAMI STUDENT

The scene at Millet on Sunday as girls met their new sorority sisters.

FROM RECRUITMENT »PAGE 1

had done their makeup, what other girls had worn given their limited wardrobe choice.

During Welcome Round, the PNMs (Potential New Members) were shuffled from sorority to soror-ity, required to visit each in order to stay in recruitment. Each meeting lasted less than a half hour.

“You could definitely tell, even being in there for only 20 minutes, which ones were way more you than the other ones,” said Emma.

She’d had conversations about “Law and Order: SVU,” “Scan-dal” and eating pancakes. But most were generic — name, major, hometown, etc.

“I feel like this is kind of similar to the beginning of the year,” said Kelly. “Because a lot of us didn’t know each other. This is the same conversations we were having.”

“It’s like speed dating for a friend,” added Brooke.

“You’re selling yourself, in a good way,” Claire said.

Claire worried that she was be-ing judged on a handful of minutes of conversation, not who she was. Brooke admitted that she liked cer-tain sororities more if she liked their shirts. Kelly had a hard time swal-lowing not knowing if she was actu-ally liked, or not. Emma felt the pres-sure to make a good first impression, but worried that none of the sororities would remember who she was.

“It was a weird experience,” said Kelly, who questioned whether or not she’d ever get used to the chanting.

At the end of Saturday, the girls were required to choose their top 11 sororities and rank four more accord-ing to which they liked the least.

Philanthropy RoundBrooke saw her schedule for Sun-

day and was immediately annoyed. The six sororities on her list didn’t include Phi Mu.

“They didn’t ask me back and they weren’t even really a hard sorority to get a bid from,” she said.

She wanted to find the girls from Phi Mu and question them, find out what had happened and why she hadn’t been asked back

for the second round. Brooke’s new hope was Zeta Tau

Alpha, the first sorority she’d en-countered at Mega Fair in September.

“I’ll have to see how it is at the end of the day, but if [Zeta] doesn’t ask me back I might not continue,” Brooke said.

She headed off for her first meet-ing, still annoyed.

Kelly, Emma and Claire stood on the edge of the crowded Shade Family Room, small slips of paper in their hands. They had been ad-vised to take a picture of their sched-ule in case they lost it throughout the day — if they missed or were late to a single meeting, they’d be dropped from recruitment.

Each had perfectly curled hair, and wore cute, but casual clothes.

“I kind of just want the day to be over,” Kelly said. She’d been asked back by six sororities and was a little disappointed after not being asked back by Chi Omega.

Claire felt less nervous knowing that the eight sororities on her list actually wanted her. Emma felt good with her solid schedule of 10 sorori-ties.

Emma hugged Kelly before they headed in opposite directions.

“Bye, I love you, good luck,” Emma said to Kelly as she walks away.

Later that night, the girls felt anx-ious about waiting through four days of classes to get their next lists. They felt better, but were more aware of the behind-the-scenes process than they had been during the previous round.

“It was a little different,” said Kel-ly. “Because now I know they may not like me even though I thought they did.”

Kelly was starting to think the whole process was messed up and unfair. She wanted to know how the sororities chose who to drop and who to ask back.

At the end of one conversation, a sorority girl had asked for Kelly’s first and last name. She hoped it was a good sign, but was skeptical.

“You want something, at least a little something to know that, ‘Hey, we like you just as much as you like us,’” Kelly said.

Brooke was also having a hard time not getting too excited. She’d experienced some-thing similar to Kelly — a sorority girl had hinted,

said, “Hope-

fully I’ll see you soon,” and Brooke grabbed onto it.

Both were finding it difficult to not get their hopes up.

In the previous round, Claire had been asked her name by one soror-ity member and then was cut from it that night.

“I’m trying not to take it person-ally,” Claire said. “A three-minute conversation with me isn’t necessar-ily a good judgment of me.”

She found it hard to stand in line at the end of Saturday night, next to girls who’d had 11 sororities on their list that day or who’d been asked back by ones she’d been cut from. Hearing that girls had been cut from all but two or three made her nervous.

“Some people only end up with two after their first round and I think that’s absolutely ridiculous,” echoed Kelly. “I would quit, too.”

Claire was glad she had a few days off to relax and recharge before the next round.

Sisterhood Round“I’m really hoping that I’m not

getting my hopes up for nothing,” Brooke said.

Brooke was asked back by three sororities out of a possible seven — her favorite and bottom two. Her eyes were set on Zeta Tau Alpha.

“I really feel confident that I be-long there,” Brooke said.

Emma was excited. She’d been asked back by seven sororities. She liked the meetings in this round bet-ter — she wasn’t just going with girls she shared a last name with, but with girls that might be pledging with her in a few short days.

But hearing that Chi Omega was on social probation because several members had gone out the previ-ous weekend made her nervous. She wasn’t rushing for social rea-sons and worried about the secret, partying side of the sororities she was meeting with.

She couldn’t understand why the girls hadn’t been able to wait 14 days to drink.

By the end of Sisterhood Round, all four girls had decided they were continuing through Bid Day.

Preference RoundGirls from every corner of campus

descended on Armstrong a little after noon on Saturday. They wore big, black coats over dresses, with per-fectly straightened or curled hair and meticulously applied makeup.

Most donned Ugg boots, moccasins

or slippers, their heels held

in hand or s h o v e d into their a l r e a d y s t u f f e d purses.

T h e y

converged on Armstrong to receive a small scrap of paper and find out which sororities asked them back for the final round.

“The last time I was this nervous was when I was waiting to hear back about college,” said Emma.

Later that night, amid hundreds of other girls waiting in line to rank, Emma kept changing her mind. She knew which was her number three, but had no idea which sorority to put at the top of her list.

She stayed on the phone with her mom until she walked through the doors to rank. When she sat down, the girl in front of her asked if she was okay and Emma started crying.

“Up until I actually wrote it down, I had no idea what I was going to do,” Emma said. She put Phi Mu at the top of her list.

Claire did the same after using Google to flip a coin several times.

“I don’t want to be cocky, be-cause this totally backfired the first time I did this,” Claire said. “But the girl looked at me as I was walk-ing out of Phi Mu and she was like, ‘I really hope to see you tomorrow as a Phi Mu.’”

“In the end, you’re going to end up where you’re supposed to be,” said Emma.

But the girls also acknowledged that there was a fair amount of luck involved — about which member you talk to, what time of the day you’re scheduled to visit a sorority. They know they had only been hear-ing from people who had good ex-periences, for whom the recruitment process had gone well.

“I’m excited,” said Brooke. “But I’m nervous about being excited.”

“It’s nice knowing that, no matter what, I’m going to have a bid,” said Claire, who ranked three sororities, guaranteeing her a bid. “That defi-nitely helps with the nerves.

They’d been told again and again to “trust the process,” but none of them really did.

Bid DayEmma sat among 30 or so oth-

er PNMs, anxiously waiting to open her envelope.

Her fingers flew as she sent a few hurried texts to friends, all of whom were also sitting somewhere along the concourse of Millett. She record-ed a Snapchat video with the girl next to her and held the clean, white en-velope to her chest as if protecting it.

She’d been practicing the Phi Mu hand sign with Claire back in the

dorm the night before since they’d both ranked it as

their top choice.

“ I d o n ’ t e v e n w a n t

to look, I’m too ner-

vous,” Emma said, but the smile on her face sug-

gested otherwise. Vice president of recruitment for

Panhellenic Corinne Gilardi’s voice boomed from the speakers again as she began counting down. “Three. Two. One.”

Millett exploded in cheers as over a thousand girls ripped open their en-velopes at once.

Emma’s hands fumbled with her envelope.

“That’s Phi Mu, I know the

symbol,” a friend exclaimed. “I know the symbol.”

Emma finally slid her invita-tion card out and let out an excited scream. She hugged a friend before taking off around the concourse to find her new sisters.

She found the Phi Mu table among the hundreds of running girls and grabbed another friend in a hug, squealing with excitement.

“Where’s Claire?” she asked, look-ing around for her friend.

The Phi Mu pledges were given shirts and herded down the stairs. They waited behind a closed curtain until Gilardi’s voice came on the speaker again.

“Introducing Phi Mu’s new members!”

The curtain was pulled back and Emma took off with the other pledges into an arena flooded with girls. They ran, screaming, onto the basketball court to meet their new sisters.

After PartyOf the 1,262 girls that registered

for 2016 formal sorority recruitment, 1,043 received bids on Sunday.

Brooke’s envelope contained an invitation to join Zeta Tau Alpha, her top choice. Kelly was left with only one sorority after Preference Round, Delta Delta Delta. And Claire re-ceived a bid from Delta Delta Delta, her third choice.

After the post-bid parties ended and emotions had settled, Emma, Brooke, Claire and Kelly felt relieved that recruitment was finally over.

“I don’t have to worry about im-pressing people anymore,” Emma said. “I can show up in my pajamas and they can’t cut me.”

She hadn’t stopped smiling all night.

Brooke was still wear-ing her white and gold Zeta shirt. She hadn’t felt like she automatically belonged, but was confident she’d get that feeling eventually.

Kelly still felt there were a lot of unfair things about the recruitment process.

“I think that judging someone off of, maybe, 20-minute conver-sations at the most is a little bit ridiculous,” said Kelly. “To me, it’s not really a mutual decision in any way. They choose you, that’s just how it is. You can say you choose them but I think it’s more they choose you.”

She was convinced there was a better way to go about recruiting new sorority members.

“The hardest thing for me, too, is that there were ones I liked bet-ter,” said Kelly.

It bothered her that people looked at her differently in Millett because she had a Tri Delta shirt on, as if her sorority was somehow inferior to the others.

Claire hopes that Tri Delta will feel like the right place sometime soon.

“I had fun tonight — they all seemed nice and they wanted to talk, but it sucks that you went through two hours of girls saying, ‘You are here for a reason,’ ‘We saw something in you that was special,’ and then you open [the en-velope] and it’s like, ‘I guess you didn’t,’” said Claire.

She started crying. Bid Day hadn’t felt the way

she’d expected it would. Brooke moved to sit on the edge of Claire’s chair, hugging her. Emma ran her hand along her back as Claire wiped a tear off her cheek.

“It’s nice that they wanted me at least,” Claire said. “But did they want me just be-cause I was guaranteed a bid? They could have wanted to cut me too, but someone had to give me a bid.”

ABBEY GINGRASNEWS EDITOR

Miami University announced yesterday that Sir Ken Robinson would give the commencement address at the spring 2016 gradu-ation ceremony in May.

Robinson, 65, is an interna-tionally-renowned speaker who focuses on creativity, tying his upcoming graduation speech to Miami’s theme of creativity and innovation for the 2015-2016 school year.

Previous graduation speakers have also connected to yearly themes — in 2014, Forest Whita-ker spoke for the Year of Cel-ebrating Freedom. In 2012, com-poser A.R. Rahman spoke for the Year of the Arts.

Robinson is best known for his

TED talk videos, which have more views than any other TED talk speaker in history. His most well-known speech, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” has over 37 million views.

He was knighted in 2003 for his work in the arts and the field of education. He is also a published author — his novel, “Creative Schools: The Grass-roots Revolution That’s Trans-forming Education,” came out in 2015. Another work, “Finding Your Element: How to Discover Your Talents and Passions and Transform Your Life,” was published in 2013.

Robinson is a native of the United Kingdom and continues to serve as a professor emeritus at the University of Warwick in England. He has appeared on television networks such as CBS

and CNN, and radio stations in-cluding NPR and BBC.

Miami’s spring commence-ment ceremony is at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 14 at Yager Stadium.

PARIS FRANZTHE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami is currently wrapping up its 2015 Sustainability Com-mitments and Goals (SCAG). The 2015 SCAG builds on the progress and goals made under Miami’s 2010 SCAG.

Miami’s 2010 SCAG, signed and endorsed in spring 2011 by university president David Hodge, established LEED silver certifica-tion as a goal for buildings on cam-pus. The 2015 SCAG will provide project teams with more flexibility, allowing LEED version 4, Green Globes or the Living Building Challenge rating systems to be used to best match the projects’ needs.

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system is one of the most well known third-party green building certification programs used internationally. Under the LEED certification systems, dif-ferent elements of a building can receive a certain amount of credits based on how they contribute to the building’s sustainability. Buildings that achieve 50-59 credits qualify for silver certification.

The first building on the Oxford campus to be LEED silver certi-fied was the Farmer School of Business in 2009. There are cur-rently six LEED silver certified buildings on the Oxford campus, including Farmer, Maple Street Station, Etheridge Hall, Ander-son Hall, McFarland Hall and Western Dining Hall.

Miami’s Sustainability Commit-tee also anticipates that Armstrong Student Center Phase One, Col-lins Hall, Dennison Hall, Dorsey Hall, McBride Hall, Symmes Hall, Shideler Hall, Garden Com-mons, Beechwoods Hall, Stone-bridge Hall and Hillcrest Hall will be LEED silver certified once the

applications are processed, raising Miami’s LEED square footage to over one million square feet.

“We can’t say what it’s going to be until we get all of our credits ap-proved, but we do also anticipate that [the buildings] will be LEED silver,” said Yvette Kline, director of sustainability and energy con-servation. “Sometimes what you have to do is, not go back and do different things to the building, but do a better job of explaining what you did in order to get the credits approved; to gather up and submit all of the backup information to justify that you are deserving of those points.”

Kline believes that an increase in student interest in campus sustain-ability has influenced the univer-sity’s environmental goals.

“Students have been expressing, and had been for quite a while, in-terest in being on a campus that’s environmentally sustainable, and LEED does allow you to do that with a system that is pretty well recognized,” said Kline.

Kline also acknowledged a general shift toward sus-tainability among institutions of higher education.

“We keep track of what our peers are doing and what overall higher education is doing, and there is the responsibility — to the extent that you can afford — to be leading those kinds of things rather than trailing them,” Kline said.

Miami’s dedication to main-taining the history of its cam-pus, and thus the historical style of its architecture, has cre-ated some challenges regarding sustainable construction.

“When you’re keeping with a particular architectural language, as our buildings are, there are certain things you are constrained to do. There are certain credits in LEED

KAREN AUGENSTEINTHE MIAMI STUDENT

The year 2015 proved to be suc-cessful for Miami University’s re-gional campuses, as the school re-cently saw an influx in bachelor’s degrees obtained at regional cam-puses.

While regional campuses were traditionally known for being the first step in transitioning to main campus, the recent spike sug-gests that regional campuses are becoming more popular.

Brennan Burks, the director of public affairs for Miami’s regional campuses, said the number of bach-elor’s degrees received from Miami University’s regional campuses has increased from 55 in 2008 to 319 in 2015 — a growth of 480 percent.

Burks said this is a result of the convenience and improving aca-demic quality of the regionals.

“We have offered a number of new degrees that are attractive to students who want to remain in their communities, degrees that allow them to find jobs and don’t make them travel very far,” Burks said. “Many students at regional campuses are already working parents or working veterans. This allows them to advance their edu-cation without traveling very far or having to make special accommo-dations to get out to Oxford.”

Marianne Cotugno, the faculty director of the Middletown cam-pus and an associate professor of English, has noticed the change in students’ degrees and campus choices over the years. When teaching a grant-writing class a few years ago, Cotugno noted that about half of her students were re-gional degree majors and the other half were seeking to relocate to the Oxford campus.

“Students in the latter group sometimes expressed trepidation about their ability to complete a

degree in Oxford and explored transferring to another institution,” Cotugno said. With the number of degrees at regional campuses increasing, Cotugno sees more students in her classes who wish to complete their degrees at the re-gional campus.

Both Cotugno and Burks said the increase in degrees offered is most likely another contributing factor to the growing popularity of regional campuses, including an in-tegrated studies major in 2008 and a health and information degree in 2010. In the fall of 2016, a graduate degree in criminal justice will be available to students.

At the regional campuses, majors such as civic and regional development, commerce, foren-sic science and investigation, and applied communication are now available majors for regional stu-dents. Cotugno noted that when she started 10 years ago, there were only three bachelor’s degrees available.

For Hamilton student Aha-ron Brown, who takes classes on the Oxford campus as well, regional campuses provide convenience for people who live in those areas.

“Generally, the regional cam-puses are filled with a large num-ber of people who have a life out-side of school and can’t commit to school to the same degree like living on campus,” Brown said. “We work jobs or have families to provide for.”

Brown also noted the impor-tance of regional campuses as the Oxford campus is somewhat iso-lated and difficult to commute to.

“An educated workforce is still heavily coveted to receive high-paying careers instead of simple low-wage manual labor jobs. It’s just the way things are set up. So, education is the only way to be competitive,” Brown said. “It’s easier to obtain, especially con-

sidering those who seek education at regionals may not have a lot of money to begin with at unskilled low-wage jobs, hence the need for school.”

For Elizabeth Winhover, an Oxford campus student and Ohio resident, the popularity of regional campuses will be a positive contri-bution for college students in Ohio.

“I think students are seeing the benefits of going to the regional campuses, which are known for having lower tuitions and, in some cases, closer to home,” Winhover said. “I think that regional cam-puses offering a wider range of degrees at a lower cost can only in-crease the number of students get-ting a college education.”

Due to the increase in majors, Burks said the online curriculum for the regional universities has ex-panded, but besides that, no huge changes have been implemented yet. However, with programs such as Ohio Means Jobs, a govern-ment-run program to help employ Ohio residents, it is clear Ohio is promoting the importance of a strong education and employment.

“I am happy to see us increas-ing the number of four-year de-grees offered at the regional cam-puses,” Cotugno said. “I’m even happier to see more students in these degrees and increased com-pletion rates. This means we are meeting the needs of our students and our region. It’s an exciting time for our university.”

For Burks, the influx in stu-dents obtaining their four-year bachelor’s degrees shows a posi-tive future for regional campuses as a beneficial education program for Ohio students.

“My end-goal at Miami region-als is to offer degrees that work for the community,” Burks said. “We can continue to create and amend and perfect the degrees to help ben-efit the students and all the commu-nities of Ohio.”

MORGAN NGUYENSENIOR STAFF WRITER

McCullough-Hyde, Oxford’s hospital, opened a new ur-gent care facility on Saturday, Feb 6.

The new facility will be open on the weekends from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to offer medical treat-ment for minor injuries and ill-nesses. Care can be provided for a range of afflictions, including wounds/stitches, broken bones and common infections.

Urgent care will be treated like a walk-in clinic and is a cheaper op-tion than an emergency room trip

when it comes to minor injuries. The urgent care facility will be

open solely on the weekends be-cause its operation is meant to supplement medical care for Miami University students and employ-

ees when the MU Health Center is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

The urgent care facility is located at 5151 Morning Sun Road, about three blocks north of McCullough-Hyde’s main campus.

2016 commencement speaker announced

CONNOR MORIARTY PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

The new McCullough-Hyde urgent care will operate on weekends.

NEWS 3NEWS@MIAMISTUDENT.NET TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016

LEED certifications spread across Miami’s campus

Regional campuses see increase in graduation rates

Urgent care facility opens

Uptown

EVENT SUSTAINABILITY

REGIONALS

HEALTH

LEED » PAGE 9

MIAMI UNIVERSITY NEWS AND COMMUNICATIONS

Sir Ken Robinson will speak at the spring commencement ceremony.

ALISON PERELMANSENIOR STAFF WRITER

What does it mean to be a man? That’s one of the many questions the Miami Masculini-ties Committee will address in its panel on Tuesday.

The committee will discuss what it means to be a man, what masculinity means and the differ-ent ways to express masculinity and its influence — both in the general society and specifically on Miami’s campus.

Glenn Muschert, a professor in the department of sociology & gerontology, will act as the panel moderator. He will facilitate the discussion by asking questions and, at the end, there will be a Q&A for everyone in attendance.

“I hope that … everybody who comes will get a chance to reflect on masculinity and think about the range of possible ways to be a man,” said Muschert. “Ulti-mately, I would like masculinity to be a positive and productive part of our environment.”

The members are hoping to bring awareness to these types of conversations, kick start other events and expand the group. Senior Andrew Napora is also looking to use this as a base platform for a Greek life outreach program curriculum.

“I’m in a fraternity myself and I’ve noticed a lot of [toxic aspects of masculinity] surface in my time

there,” Napora said. “I really think that it’s one of those things that not a whole lot of people actively think about as they’re going about their day — nobody frames what they’re doing as problematic.”

Napora and the rest of the group hope to bring awareness to these problems and make it part of a more regular conversa-tion — something that people can think about with society and themselves in mind. It’s impor-tant for students to understand their behavior and reactions in relation to masculinity.

“I think that being a man at Mi-ami is probably a little tougher than at most places, honestly … because of the general lack of di-versity on campus, both socioeco-nomic status and also racially,” said Napora.

The committee and its events aren’t just for men, though — women are welcome, too.

“I hope that women come, too, to tomorrow evening’s event, and I hope that women would partici-pate,” Muschert said.

In fact, the director of the Wom-en’s Center, as well as a woman who works in the Office of Well-ness, attend the committee meet-ings regularly.

Meetings take place in the Women’s Center in McGuffey Hall every other Monday at 2 p.m. The Men of Miami panel discussion will take place at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb, 9th in McGuffey room 322.

Miami Masculinities Committee addresses

men’s issues on campusSTUDENT LIFE

TMS ONLINE M I A M I S T U D E N T . N E T

DEVON SHUMANSENIOR STAFF WRITER

In Adam McKay’s 2010 comedy, “The Other Guys,” billionaire David Ershon asks the two protagonists how “Jersey Boys” was, to which Will Ferrell’s character emphatically re-plies, “The pageantry, the costumes. Wow! What a musical!”

As I watched Super Bowl 50 (RIP, Roman numerals) Sunday night, my mind kept cycling back to this quote. I’ve watched a lot of football, but there’s something undeniably differ-ent about the Super Bowl. It brings with it an almost magical quality. Showmanship. Theatrics. A cultural gathering of the masses. Pure Ameri-can commitment to excess.

An NBC press release from last February explained that of the eight most-watched televi-sion events in history, only one (the 1983 “M*A*S*H” finale) was not a Super Bowl, and it came in at number seven. Something is draw-ing viewers to their television sets, but it’s not just football.

From sports fanatics to pop culture junkies to people who just want to party, the Super Bowl has something for everyone.

And, of course, the common de-nominator among everybody’s Su-per Bowl favorites — the commer-cials. It doesn’t matter if you can’t tell a pigskin from a potato skin,

everyone perks up when the an-nouncers declare that they’ll be “right back.” Even fedora-clad hipsters probably tune in to see what the likes of Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Dori-tos came up with this year.

There’s more to these commer-cials than simply selling products (al-though, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t immediately order a pound of Death Wish Coffee after it was touted as the world’s strongest). Nobody sees a Prius in a multi-day police chase and thinks, “I have to get to the Toyota dealership ASAP!”

This is a competition. Who can produce the funniest, most poignant and most talked about ad? What re-sults is a brilliant, beautiful mess of cleverness, oddity and a whole slew of celebrity cameos.

Like any fierce competition, the ad race pushes companies to take cre-ative risks and, while this often works out, it undoubtedly results in a multi-tude of flops.

LG finished near the bottom this year with a visually intriguing, yet utterly perplexing spot in which Liam Neeson sits at a bar and gives philosophical advice to his younger self. It seemed promising at first, but ultimately got so bogged down in uti-lizing Neeson that it failed to provide a reason for existing. I went from thinking this was a trailer for “Now You See Me 2” to believing it was a motorcycle ad, and only actually re-membered it was LG after looking it

up the next day.As far as strangeness goes, Moun-

tain Dew takes the peculiar cake with “PuppyMonkeyBaby,” the grotesque result of a science ex-periment that shows up to offer guys KickStart. I guess they did their job, as the Internet is abuzz with ev-erything “PMB,” but if that thing’s going to show up whenever I buy Mountain Dew, I’ll pass.

The worst of the worst, however, had to be Super Bowl Babies, the spot in which the NFL rounded up children who were born nine months after their parents’ teams won a Super Bowl, and then had them sing as a choir with Seal.

There’s enough to dig into there to fill a Tolstoy novel, but for the sake of space, I’ll leave it at this — for a league that’s been accused of being downright morally bankrupt, was this the best way to go? A lot of young kids are going to have some ques-tions for their parents, who might not be quite ready to have that talk.

But enough about the duds. Super Bowl 50 churned out its

fair share of advertising wonders. Typical powerhouses Coca-Cola and Budweiser missed the mark, but Doritos picked up the slack with “Ul-trasound,” my pick for funniest ad of the night. It’s depiction of an unborn baby who exits its mother in pursuit of Doritos will probably attract the at-tention of some anti-abortion groups, but in the ever-competitive world of

Super Bowl advertising you have to be edgy to survive.

There were plenty of other hi-larious spots, such as Avocados from Mexico’s futuristic look back on our society, Hyundai’s use of Kevin Hart as the overprotective dad and Steve Harvey’s self-deprecating endorse-ment of T-Mobile.

But for me the best spot of the night, Audi’s Commander, lacked any humor. Instead, it showed an old, retired astronaut who finally gets to relive the past when he gets behind the wheel of an Audi.

In concept, it’s cheesy, but the production is nothing short of mag-nificent. As the astronaut started the engine and the Audi flew down the road like a rocket ship, accom-panied by David Bowie’s “Star-man,” I was awash with a sense of poignancy and inspiration that no ad has ever provided.

This is a perfect short film that aims to galvanize the country that’s watching. Unlike Clint Eastwood’s attempt at the same thing several years ago, this one steers clear of any political perspective and, in fact, tran-scends party lines.

In only 60 seconds, Audi reminded everyone what it means to feel alive. And amid all of the crazy and, most likely, nonsensical festivities sur-rounding the Superbowl, with the opportunity to air something that will be seen by an entire nation, is there anything nobler for a company to do?

JACK RYANSENIOR STAFF WRITER

Someday, (hopefully) long from now, we’ll look back at the Coen Brothers pantheon, complete with cult classics, hidden gems and Os-car winners alike. And when we do, we’ll see “Hail, Caesar!” right smack in the middle, acting as a great intro to their work, but far from the best example of any singu-lar trait or theme that flows through their canon.

This isn’t to say “Hail, Caesar!” is an unexceptional movie, how-ever, it’s just that the most recent movie from the prolific writing-di-recting-editing-producing brothers is nothing but that — a Coen Bros. movie, for better or for worse.

“Hail, Caesar!” is a day in the life of Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), production head at fictional Capitol Pictures and a “fixer” who spends his time keeping his employed stars off the front page of the tabloids. Eddie spends these 24 hours search-ing for Baird Whitlock (George Clooney), a household name, kid-napped from the set of his movie, “Hail, Caesar!” that morning by a mysterious organization.

“Hail, Caesar!” feels like a series of vignettes with an overarching plot, as Mannix’s daily routine in-troduces us to the lives of stuntman turned up-and-comer Hobie Doyle

(Alden Ehrenreich), frustrated di-rector Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes) and Gene Kelly-esque tap dancer Burt Gurney (Channing Ta-tum), among others.

The ensemble cast goes even fur-ther, with Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and Jonah Hill all taking on speaking roles, although the latter two have brief appearances. These minor

characters all feel developed but are quickly sifted through before we get the chance to acknowledge it, seeming to exist just to give Eddie Mannix’s world a greater sense of scale and a joke or two.

The acting in “Hail, Caesar!” is perfectly adequate, with each char-acter articulated nicely by the re-spective actor. Brolin’s Mannix car-ries himself with the unstoppable swagger of a workingman. Clooney captures the ditzy self-indulgence we associate with major Holly-wood stars. And, unsurprisingly, Channing Tatum steals the show, showing off his tap-dancing prow-ess and singing talents in the film’s

best sequence. Sadly, the ability to create deep

characters out of seemingly every-day people is lost on “Hail, Cae-sar!” This is partially the fault of the aforementioned speed at which characters are introduced and re-moved, but also from the short run-time of the film, relatively speaking.

This lack of character develop-ment also distances us from the ma-

jor themes that leak through “Hail, Caesar!” Heavy elements like the meaninglessness of everything or the folly of man feel ineffective here, as we do not directly connect with the events through our attach-ment with a character.

However, what “Hail, Caesar!” lacks in meaningful character development, it makes up for in humor. This is the Coens at their most openly funny since “The Big Lebowski,” featuring a plethora of small ‘blink-and-miss-it’ gags, hi-larious conversations and extended jokes, and the ultimate realization of the “a priest, a rabbi, a minister and an imam walk into a bar” set-up

that still has me laughing as I write this.

“Hail, Caesar!” is an unabashed-ly referential movie as well, citing the various greats of ’50s cinema in every way possible. Roger Deakins’ always illustrious cinematography captures the kaleidoscopic essence of a Busby Berkeley picture, cho-reographer Christopher Gattelli creates a satirical dance number worthy of Gene Kelly and Baird Whitlock’s fictional epic feels and looks just like the historical dramas of the time.

This faithfulness to the past is a double-edged sword for “Hail, Caesar!” as the nostalgia and fond-ness it will imbue in more watched viewers is counteracted by the con-fusion that newer, less aware film fans may feel.

“Hail, Caesar!” is a great time for those with a fondness for clas-sic film, newbies to the expansive work of the Coens or even those in search of a good laugh or two, but the veterans who were ex-pecting a strong follow-up to the masterful “Inside Llewyn Davis” may feel disappointed.

As those well-versed viewers by now know, there is no such thing as a simply bad Coen Brothers movie, and “Hail, Caesar!” by no means begins that pattern.

KELLY BURNSDMITRIY KIZHIKIN

THE MIAMI STUDENT

On a typical weekend, the streets of Uptown Oxford are packed with students and local residents. But on Feb. 7, otherwise known as Super Bowl Sunday, that was not the case.

Instead of the usual crowds, small groups of students rushed in and out of restaurants and stores, picking up takeout and last minute snacks. Even after the game be-gan, dozens of people continued to place and pick up orders of wings from Buffalo Wild Wings.

“Takeout’s the worst right now because everyone’s watching at their houses and parties,” re-marked a student as she joined the line to pick up her food.

Restaurant employees could be seen sweeping up the floors and washing empty tables at 6 p.m. Most of the restaurants that were not a bar-and-grill type

were deserted. In order to avoid this, maintain a

celebratory atmosphere for the big game and say thank you to its regu-lar customers, Buffalo Wild Wings hosted a VIP party in the bar area of the restaurant.

The restaurant began planning and sent out flyers and information to their customers long before the game began.

“People have been getting seating for over a month and a half,” said general manager Matt Stelletell.

Oxford families and other regu-lars were treated to a buffet-style meal of chips and salsa, wings and other food as they enjoyed the game. The central bar area was filled with parents, children and a generally festive attitude.

Groups of Miami students oc-cupied the outer booths and tables, grabbing a bite to eat before head-ing over to a house or back to a dorm to watch the game.

When the game finally be-gan, the VIP area tables burst

into chants as fans supported their favorite team. The college students cheered along, as well, but were far more invested in their friends and conversations than the game itself.

Meanwhile, sororities cel-ebrated Bid Day with the game playing in the background. For them, the game came second to welcoming new members to their organizations.

Delta Delta Delta kept the game on during their welcome party and the girls watched while getting to know each other.

“We were cheering along with the game while everyone talked and danced and the DJ played,” said first-year Jessica Statler.

The DJ called out updates on the score for anyone not adamantly watching the game.

For students who lived on cam-pus, TV rooms and dorms provided the space for watching the game. Halls like Havighurst had wings and food for anyone who wanted to watch. Students also gathered in

less organized ways, congregating around the largest TV they could find to watch with friends.

First-year Peter Hano took the opportunity to get together with his friends in his dorm.

“It was fun because we all just rushed,” Hano said. “So we hadn’t seen each other in a while, but we all got back together for the foot-ball game.”

Caroline Hellman, a sophomore, had a more informal experience. She and her friends ordered pizza and crammed 12 people into a single dorm room so they could all be together while watching the game and, more importantly, the commercials.

“The commercials were kind of bad this year, especially the Bud-weiser one,” said Hellman. “It was so disappointing.”

Even though the streets Uptown were empty, throughout Oxford families and students gathered to watch the halftime show, the com-mercials and the Broncos’ 24-10 victory over the Panthers.

4 CULTURE PERELMBK@MIAMIOH.EDU TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016

UPTOWN

“Hail Caesar!” is a great time for those with a fondness for classic film, newbies to the expansive work of the Coens or even those in search of a good laugh or two.

REVIEWS

FILM

Fear and loathing the 2016 Super Bowl commercials

Super Bowl 50 steals crowds from Uptown restaurants

Things we watched, listened to and streamed instead of watching the Super Bowl on Sunday.

“YOU MUST REMEMBER THIS”

This is the first podcast I’ve binge-listened to since Sarah Koenig’s first season of “Serial.” A must-listen for any film lover, “You Must Remember This” tells the stories of the secret or forgot-ten histories of Hollywood dur-ing the 21st century. From series about the many loves of famed film producer/aviator/woman-izer Howard Hughes to the music and movie that surrounded the murders committed by infamous sociopath Charles Manson, this show is chock-full of all the love stories, rumors, scandals and be-trayals that you would expect from Hollywood’s biggest stars and most powerful producers. (Emily Williams, assistant news editor)

“BETTER CALL SAUL”All caught up on

“Fargo” and “Mr. Ro-bot?” Check out sea-son one of “Better Call

Saul” on Netflix. First discount-ing the series as a gimmick from to milk the fan-base of “Breaking Bad,” three episodes in I found myself hooked on the story of a miserable low-life attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Portrayed by indie sketch come-dian Bob Odenkirk, the crime dramedy is perfect for binge-ing even if you haven’t seen “Break-ing Bad.” But hurry, season two premieres on AMC next week. Oh, and did I mention that it has a 100% rating on Rotten Toma-toes? (A.J. Newberry, cartoonist)

ELLIE GOULDING’S “DELIRIUM”

You’ve probably heard “Love Me Like You Do” from the “Fifty Shades of Grey” soundtrack and “On My Mind,” the lead single from the album. But, if you’re looking for something new, ignore those and check out the other tracks. The majority are catchy dance tunes like, “I Do What I Love” and “Codes,” both of which have the potential to become hits, and my personal favorite, “Lost and Found,” stays true to Goulding’s electronic-pop vibe. You won’t be able to get it out of your head. (Marissa Stipek, opinion editor)

“THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT”

The best movie of 2015 that you’ve never heard about. Based on

the actual events at Stanford Uni-versity in the ’60s, this indie mov-ie is a fantastic depiction of what happens when you mess with positions of power. They didn’t have the money for much adver-tising last year, so most people missed it on the big screen, but it’s definitely a must-see. (Connor Moriarty, photo editor)

“BIRTH OF THE PILL” BY JONATHAN EIG

This book is a feat of reporting. Eig tells the tale of four people, “crusaders” in his words, that made the idea of a birth control pill a reality, thereby challeng-ing society’s misogynistic view of gender roles and sexuality. He makes marvelous use of the trove of letters, diaries and jour-nal articles that the story’s four protagonist’s left behind. With this wealth of information, Eig is able to construct a gripping nar-rative that reads like a novel. But the book’s truth is its most im-portant asset. This is certainly an important story, well told. (Reis Thebault, editor-in-chief)

Editors’ pop culture picks

RECOMMENDATIONS

‘Hail’ the newest Coen Brothers movie

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CONNOR MORIARTY PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORCONNOR MORIARTY PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

A performer plays the Pipa, a traditional 4-string Chinese instrument, during the Chinese New Year Concert Saturday night.

Taiwanese-American pop singer Jason Chen sings during the Chinese New Year Concert Saturday night.

For the Chinese international students studying at Miami, Friday night was a reminder of home.

Rosie (Hailun) Zhang, a first-year, knows all too well how diffi-cult it can be to be away from home.

Zhang hails from Guangzhou, a sprawling city in Southern China. Guangzhou is roughly 7,200 miles from Ohio.

“It’s really sweet,” Zhang said. “It makes me feel at home “The atmosphere and the celebration ... I think it’s good.”

Zhang, like many of her fellow Chinese international students, came to America in pursuit of an independent, reputable education.

But being thousands of miles from home comes with its drawbacks

Zhang misses the food from home most.

“The food here ... I’m not a fan of it,” Zhang said.

She also misses the culture, the atmosphere, her way of life and her friends.

Friday night, she was able to im-merse herself back into the Chinese culture. For her, the music was the best part of the performance.

The Miami University Sym-phony Orchestra and the Confucius Institute Chinese Classical Music Ensemble worked in tandem to per-form traditional Chinese music in the first act.

The Dayton Children’s Violin Ensemble was a particular hit, see-ing as the children who walked onto stage held instruments half the size of their tiny bodies.

The audience murmured “Awws” as the smallest of the group held her violin at attention and stared out into the crowd.

When Renee Jin Fisher per-formed her piece, the audience went nuts. “Horse Racing,” a popular classical Chinese song, was clearly the fan favorite of the night, with the applause reaching a thunderous roar.

“The ending of the song is very hard,” first-year Betty Liu said. “You have to make the ‘erhu’ sound like a horse crying, and she did it perfectly.”

Singer Junshu Zheng and You-Tube sensation Jason Chen wooed the ladies in the audience with ren-ditions of “All of Me” by John Leg-end and “When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars, respectively.

Students left Hall Auditorium just as excited as they were entering it. They took selfies with the per-formers and MCs and joked about not winning prizes. The majority headed Uptown to 45 East, where the celebration would continue with food, champagne and music.

A Taste of TeaOn Monday, Feb. 8, the official

holiday of Spring Festival, stu-dents and faculty bustled around MacMillan Hall, putting the final touches on their displays.

Red paper lanterns, white ban-ners with red calligraphy and red drawings honoring the year of the monkey lined the walls.

Upon entering the large room at the top of the spiral staircase, stu-dents and faculty alike were met with an explosion of color and fra-grance. Sets of fine China lined the tables, student musicians played music softly in the background, calligraphers worked on creating beautiful art and the smell of tea filled the air.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. students enjoyed a Chinese New Year

celebration through the “Taste of Tea,” where each cup repre-sented an “imaginary voyage.” Students from local high schools, Miami faculty members, interna-tional and domestic students alike crowded into the room eager for a lesson on the elegant culture of tea drinking in China.

Chen Zhao, director of the Confucius Institute, arrived in the room promptly at 8:30 a.m., ready to ensure everything was set up to perfection.

“When most people talk about Chinese culture they know about the red lanterns, the red deco-rations, the fireworks ...” said Zhao. “But we use this opportu-nity to show people a different side of Chinese culture.”

The event featured of eight differents kinds of traditional, Chinese tea.

Zhao, a Miami University alum-nus and former professor in the Farmer School of Business, de-scribed the elegance of tea drink-ing culture in China as calming and stimulating for the mind. Tea was, and still is, always drank with mu-sic and calligraphy and art.

“The Chinese students know the tea already ... the culture. They don’t have to come,” Zhao said. “They do this because they want to share. This is for the campus — for sharing with American people.”

Zhao grew up in China and, al-though she has been in the United States for 26 years, she still has a passion for teaching others about Chinese culture.

“These events, the culture ... this is the perfect way to show the cam-pus something new,” Zhao said. “It’s so special to me.”

A Taste of SharingFirst-year international student

Betty Liu always has a smile on her face. Her large round glasses appeal to her unique, cutting-edge sense of fashion. She is kind, intelligent, beautiful and thousands of miles from home.

Hailing from Beijing, China, Liu always knew she wanted to study in another country for college. She loves to travel, share culture and ex-perience new things.

Of course, even with Liu’s wanderlust and independent na-ture, it hasn’t been easy to be away from her family, her friends and her home.

“FaceTime and texting helps,” Liu said. “But you don’t know what it’s like until you are miles away from home.”

But this weekend was special — a reminder of Chinese culture and cele-bration. Her weekend was filled with the familiarity and beauty of celebrat-ing Spring Festival.

At the concert on Friday night, Liu couldn’t seem to stop smiling.

“They were so incredible,” said Liu. “When I was a kid, I learned the Chinese traditional music. I felt like a kid again. I felt like I was home.”

When Renee Jin Fisher began playing Horse Racing on the erhu, Liu was ecstatic.

“It is such a popular song in Chi-na,” said Liu “Everybody knows ‘Horse Racing.’ It was beautiful.”

Liu admired how much prepa-ration went into creating the con-cert. Everything from decorating the foyer to having the perfect acts to celebrate the New Year were spot on. The atmosphere and en-ergy were just as enthusiastic as it is in China.

“It’s like Christmas in America,

the biggest festival of the entire year. It is a big celebration for the people of China and a very important tradi-tion,” Liu said.

As special as this weekend was for Liu, she shares the same mindset as Chen Zhao, director of the Confucius Institute. These celebrations weren’t just for her. They weren’t just for the Chinese international students.

They were for everyone. They were for sharing.

“It’s amazing to me, that we all live on the same Earth, but in such differ-ent places,” Liu said.

Liu pointed out some key differ-ences about American and Chinese culture. The food, the celebrations, the art, the writing — it’s all particu-lar to each country. It’s all unique.

That’s her favorite part about learning more about American cul-ture while still retaining her love for Chinese culture.

“Spreading the Chinese culture is a part of my life,” said Liu “I want to show it and bring some-thing new about it ... I love my culture, and I want to teach other people all about it.”

Liu, in her free time, teaches some of her friends and fellow residents in Peabody Hall about Chinese culture and what life is like in China. She even taught them how to say “happy new year” in Chinese.

“I once watched a documentary that talked about the super power of the US ... the superpower is the di-versity ... the cultural diversity,” Liu said. “We need to represent the super-power on campus too.”

“We are speaking the same lan-guage, but we do not have the same experience,” said Liu “But we can share our experiences and our cul-tures. That’s what this celebration was all about — sharing.”

KYLE HAYDENDESIGN EDITOR

We don’t want anything for free.I would submit that young

people want a political sys-tem where everyone pays taxes without exception.

Citizens should be paying what they truly owe, not stashing their wealth in offshore accounts or in phony charity organizations (look-ing at you, Mr. Zuckerberg).

We should all be contributing to the betterment of our society instead of its degradation.

Currently, many of our tax dol-lars are spent on unsustainable, harmful or inhumane projects like our bloated and hyper-paranoid military-industrial complex, or giving corporations who destroy the environment and steal from workers breaks on their taxes.

Or we gripe about people who are “leeches” or “parasites” on “the system” of welfare and food assistance, but people who use that rhetoric have no knowledge of the histories of oppression and racism in the United States.

What we have now is a system which takes income and wealth away from the majority wage earners in America and channels it (rather unethically — crimi-nally) to the wealthy — the own-ers. It is unsustainable, and even CEOs of some top companies (see: Goldman-Sachs) have been wondering, “Will capitalism work into the near future?”

As if they thought stealing ev-erything from working people and looting the treasury was a sustain-able way to do business.

Regarding college tuition and student debt, which has been a “hot button” issue this elec-tion cycle, many other coun-tries have free tuition, and it’s not a big deal.

Take, for instance, student strikes in Mexico in the ‘90s that ensured voluntary tuition. But students in America are so depoliticized. We can’t imagine

a world with free education, the right to work and social safety networks, even though these are realities for many other coun-tries including France, Brazil, Norway and Sweden. We are somehow not enraged by how exclusive and segregated life in America seems to be.

Only a small number have risen to the challenge of beginning to ponder what free public higher education could look like.

Even relatively conservative countries (like Germany) have free public university — a student must only find and pay for housing.

The criticism that young peo-ple just want free stuff is either a shortsighted attack by previous generations (they educated us, or at least they tried) or simply an insult. To suggest that young peo-ple are entitled slackers who just want free stuff is a direct insult on our intelligence.

I submit that we ought to show them we are serious about elect-ing people at all levels of govern-ment who are determined to cor-rect the inequities of our political system and the way wealth is dis-tributed in the United States.

The realization that other young people can get an education in another country and not face a mountain of debt is almost unreal to students who receive monthly statements, reminding us, “Here’s what you owe us after you gradu-ate!” Or “What’s that — you like learning? Yes, we think education is important, but you better be wealthy first!”

Yet we’ve only seen a handful of protests in Washington for free tuition and a budding movement for free public education.

Privileging education to the wealthy, or those who even have a chance at paying back the seemingly insurmountable amount of debt, should produce outrage from our young people. It is amoral in a society that in-sists on believing in the tenants of democracy and freedom.

Forcing more than a trillion dol-lars in debt onto students will be recorded as a national shame. It will not result in a well-function-ing economy in the coming de-cades, as the number of workers with outstanding debts outscores the ones who have none in the face of a shifting global economy. That is, if the global economy even continues to exist.

BRETT MILAMWEB EDITOR

My assess-ment of Demo-crats’ trade-off on war and foreign policy seems to have been off, if the Executive

Board of Miami Students for Hillary’s Letter to the Editor is any indication.

I wrote in my column last week that the “trade-off for Democrats seems to be that they can toler-ate Clinton’s hawkishness, just as they have Obama’s (although he’s certainly less so, but that’s not much of a compliment), so long

as she’s solid on health care, the environment and the economy. And they can certainly tolerate it more than they could a similarly destructive Republican president that’s much less ‘solid’ on those same domestic issues.”

However, the Executive Board didn’t present it as a trade-off, rather, an apologist, distorted view of Clinton’s hawkish re-cord, which is something much worse.

First, it should be pointed out that in an 830-word letter, they devoted a mere 141 words of it to defending her record on foreign policy, leaving out her troubling rhetoric on Iran and uncondition-al support of Israel.

Let’s unpack it with those facts the Executive Board is interested in.

With regard to Clinton’s vote for the 2002 Iraq War, they say she was faced with a “hard choice and, with the information presented to her, made a decision with the support of the majority of Democrats in the Senate.”

Prior to the vote on the war, then-President George W. Bush sent two documents to the Sen-ate for review: a 92-page classi-fied National Intelligence Esti-mate on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and a five-page, unclassified version.

Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence voted against the Iraq resolution, citing the classified intelligence report, which contained strong dissent from the State Department and the Department of Energy.

Clinton never read the clas-sified intelligence report, in-stead relying on in-person

briefings. So I guess with the (skewed) information pre-sented to her, she did make the “hard choice” to go to war.

Fred Kaplan argued last week in Slate his own apologist de-fense of Clinton, saying she vot-ed for the war on the premise that the vote would be Bush’s lever-age against Saddam to finish the U.N. inspections into whether he possessed weapons of mass de-struction. The problem, then, was that Bush went back on his word.

You see, Clinton’s mistake wasn’t voting for a war that led to the deaths of 4,486 Americans and nearly 500,000 Iraqis, desta-bilized the region and spawning the rise of ISIS. It was putting trust in the hands of Bush.

But even that weak shifting of blame to Bush doesn’t hold up to scrutiny. According to a CNN ar-

ticle in April 2004, the deadliest month for U.S. forces since the war began, Clinton had no regrets about her Iraq vote.

It was well known at the time that the United States had not found any weapons of mass de-struction in Iraq.

“No, I don’t regret giving the president authority because at the time it was in the context of weapons of mass destruction, grave threats to the United States and clearly, Saddam Hussein had been a real problem for the in-ternational community for more than a decade,” Clinton said.

She didn’t formally offer her flimsy, deflecting apol-ogy until it became a sticking point in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary.

Even richer is the language of calling her vote a “mistake.” There are many things I would consider a mistake, voting for the worst foreign policy decision since Vietnam hardly qualifies.

It’s further generous to say Clinton, since then, has “dedi-cated her efforts toward di-plomacy as a means of inter-vention, with military options remaining a last resort.”

In a New York Times assess-ment of Obama’s 2009 decision to surge in Afghanistan, Clinton was noted among his cabinet as being “increasingly aligned be-hind a more robust force.” Clin-ton, the Times said, wanted to make sure she was a formidable player in the process.

She was “comfortable” with General McChrystal’s request for 40,000 more troops.

Despite Libya’s fall into civil war since 2011, the Executive Board says Clinton acted cau-

tiously to “lessen what would have been a much larger crisis in northern Africa without the poli-cies she advanced.”

There’s no way to back that claim up and it’s often the refrain of those favoring intervention that “it could have been worse.”

According to the Washington Post, “The North African nation [Libya] has become a primary outpost for the Islamic State, which has exploited the chaos to take territory, train soldiers and prove its strength outside Syria and Iraq.”

I find it hard to imagine how it could have been worse.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates was against the Libyan bombing, but Clinton, along with U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice and White House adviser Saman-tha Power pressed Obama to sup-port it.

In that 2004 CNN article, Clin-ton lambasted Bush for poor post-war planning in Iraq. But Clinton had no plan for what would hap-pen after U.S. and NATO bombs stopped dropping on Libya and after they overthrew the govern-ment.

Most absurdly, Clinton has maintained that the Libyan in-tervention was a use of “smart power,” which makes it clear that Clinton hasn’t learned anything.

How long will we have to wait before she at least offers another deflecting apology on Libya?

The Executive Board, however, wrote that Clinton’s plan in Syria is an “appropriately nuanced, balanced plan to combat both the scourge of ISIS and the tyranni-cal Assad regime,” but they never tell me what that plan is.

I’m getting the sense that they don’t know what it is since they didn’t even grapple with her sup-port for a no-fly zone in Syria. At least the New York Times edito-rial board acknowledged it.

Unfortunately, much of the article reads this way. The last 10 sentences are soaring cam-paign speech platitudes about how wonderful Clinton is. One would think with her great ex-perience and record, there would be ample evidence to back up those soaring platitudes.

There are further uncomfort-able facts to consider. For in-stance, nations and companies that had donated to the Clinton Foundation saw an increase in arms deals when Clinton was Secretary of State.

According to an International Business Times investigation, governments and corporations involved in the arms deals ap-proved by Clinton’s State De-partment have delivered between $54 million and $141 million to the Clinton Foundation, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to the Clinton family.

Debunking Clinton’s apologist rhetoric Dear boomers: Stop diminishing millennials’ political aspirations

Sunday night, over 111.9 mil-lion viewers tuned in to watch Superbowl 50.

Over 111.9 million view-ers tuned in to watch the Bron-cos and the Panthers battle it out, each team trying to advance the ball down the field while the other does whatever it takes to stop them. Over 111.9 million people con-tributed to a culture in which we wait for the crash of one body against an-other, we anticipate the sound of hel-mets colliding and we cheer with ex-citement when someone is knocked to the ground.

The safety of football has been under scrutiny in recent years, and on Feb. 3, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about the risks at a pre-Superbowl press conference.

“There’s risks in life,” Goodell stated. “There’s risks to sitting on a couch.” He upheld that while there are high rates of brain injury among football players, there is no reason to believe playing football is to blame.

However, the facts are that NFL players “sustained 271 concussions in practices, preseason and regular season games in 2015,” according to a Feb. 1 Frontline report. This shows a 31.6 percent increase in concus-sions in the league from the previous year, despite the NFL’s claims that it is trying to reduce the risk of injuries.

League officials claim that the spike in concussion data is due to in-creased awareness and an improved screening process.

Last September, Frontline re-leased results of an investigation done by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Boston University, which autopsied the brains of 91 deceased former NFL players. Eighty-seven were identified as having chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a condition believed to be caused by “repetitive trauma to the head.”

This trauma doesn’t refer solely to concussions, but also to the more minor collisions that happen in virtu-ally every play of the game.

On Dec. 25, 2015, Concussion hit the box office, telling the story of Dr. Bennet Omalu, the neuropatholo-gist who identified the case of CTE, and made the link between the sport and the syndrome. The film ended with a montage of football “big hits” — a highlight reel commonly shown at the end of football seasons to remind fans of some of the most dramatic moments. The intent is that ,after seeing the movie, viewers will find these clips chilling rather than exciting. But is it enough?

Unfortunately, even with the attention on the risk of brain inju-ries in football, we doubt Ameri-cans will be willing to find a new favorite pastime.

Consider this — Concussion has generated $40 million worldwide since its release date last year, ac-cording to IMDb. As a comparison, the NFL raked in $12.4 billion this season, Forbes reported on Feb. 7. Clearly, football is not at risk of los-ing support from fans.

But if the game is to continue, something’s gotta give. We believe a reform is in order, and before we are met with protests from millions of football enthusiasts across the coun-try, we would like to say, it has been done before.

Football has been under scrutiny in the past and has come back better — and safer — than ever.

In 1904, The Chicago Tribune reported a startling 18 football-relat-ed deaths and 159 injuries. In 1905, Columbia, Northwestern and Duke Universities dropped their football programs, and President Teddy Roo-sevelt’s alma mater, Harvard, consid-ered doing the same.

Roosevelt, an avid football fan, stepped in to save the sport before it could self-destruct. He called on colleges and universities to band together to change the culture. In 1906, an intercollegiate con-ference was held and significant rule changes were implemented, like the creation of a neutral zone

between the offensive and defen-sive players and the addition of the forward pass. The following year, the number of deaths dropped to 11. However, as these changes were enacted over 100 years ago, it is time to reevaluate.

At no point in the history of foot-ball have the men on the field been as big or powerful as they are today. With greater focus on weightlifting and training, the NFL produces play-ers who are stronger and faster than they were 50 years ago.

It’s physics: force is the product of mass times acceleration. When both mass and acceleration increase, the result is a force powerful enough to be fatal.

The most heartbreaking part of this problem is that these injuries don’t have to happen. Concussions only seem like an inevitable by-prod-uct of football because the way the sport’s structure allows them to be.

Change the game, change the outcome. It’s that simple.

6 OPINION EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET

A Super Bowl review: It’s time for colleges to step in and change the gameThe following piece, written by the editorial editors, reflects the majority opinion of the editorial board.EDITORIAL

However, the Executive Board didn’t present it as a trade-off, rather, an apologist, distorted view of Clinton’s hawkish record.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016

MILAM’S MUSINGS

To suggest that young people are entitled slackers who just want free stuff is a direct insult on our intelligence.

CLINTON »PAGE 9

HAYDENKA@MIAMIOH.EDU

POLITICS

POLITICS

WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED READING, PLEASE RECYCLE

GLENN MUSCHERT GUEST COLUMN

Have you ever wanted to change the world around you — to make it a better place? So many students tell me they are aware and distressed by the large-scale problems we see every day in the news: endless war, violence in our homes and communities, dis-crimination of all forms, degradation of the environment and the embar-rassing persistence of poverty at home and abroad, to name a few.

Is it any wonder we get over-whelmed in the face of these large-scale challenges to human life, as none of us wields sufficient influ-ence to fix these problems ourselves? However, in recognizing that none of us can wield sufficient power to solve global problems, we run the risk of ig-noring that we do indeed wield mod-est influence and therefore have some power to change the world around us.

It is vitally important we do not devalue small acts of kindness and consideration.

Without ignoring the persistence of large-scale problems, let’s turn our at-tention toward the type of small acts that can make a difference in our lo-cal environments (that is, in our liv-ing spaces, our classrooms and on the streets and sidewalks of our commu-nity). Let’s concentrate on the capac-ity each one of us holds to maintain civility, respect and a spirit of coopera-tion toward others.

Understand that you, of course, need to take care of your own needs, but that others are also engaged in par-allel efforts. Therefore, acknowledge in your actions that there are others who also need to make their way in the world. We share this university and community environment not only for our own benefit, but also for the benefit of others.

In the spirit of nurturing civility in our environment, I offer the following list of actions, which, if undertaken by enough members of the univer-sity community, have the potential to transform our environment in quite positive ways.

Acknowledge the presence of other people. Simply say hello and good-bye to people you encounter in your everyday life. Even a nod will suffice and is infinitely more affirming than staring at your mobile screen.

Don’t text while walking. Pay at-tention to where you are walking be-cause there are others who are trying to use the walkways too. You have no right to walk around distracted, so ei-ther put down the phone or step aside.

Quit complaining. Small inconve-niences, delays, aches, discomforts and frustrations are just part of life. What matters is how you respond to these. Rather than getting irritated when one of these inevitably pops up, take control of your own emotional state and decide that you will let it roll off your back.

Leave things the way you found them (or better). Others may use items, spaces and resources after us. Since we share resources, it is impor-tant that we acknowledge the rights of others to use shared items, spaces, etc. Put things away properly and make sure they are clean and maintained.

Stop criticizing. You have no right to criticize anyone else, even if done silently in your head. No one made you the judge of others, so don’t do it. Bottom line is you don’t re-ally know where the other person is coming from, so why judge them? J ust let them be.

Respect differences. Other people may have different appearances, points of view, beliefs and experienc-es. Understand that maintaining your right to your own point of view also implies that you recognize that others

have the same right, even if you dis-agree with them.

Stop using hateful language. There is no justification for using hateful speech (such as racist, mi-sogynistic, homophobic, xenopho-bic or other discriminatory terms). Similarly, there is little justification for foul language. Please just clean up your speech, because nobody benefits from filth and hate.

Don’t talk when others are talk-ing. Like it or not, side conversa-tions in class or elsewhere send the message of disrespect to the speaker and those who would like to listen. A person has two ears and one mouth, so maybe we should listen at least twice as often as we speak.

Dispose of trash properly. Each of us is responsible for cleaning up personal space, and it’s selfish to ex-pect others to pick up after you. Why should we expect others to clean up after us when we use public space?

Be polite. Remember that each of us was taught to use common consideration in our speech such as, “please,” “thank you,” “no thanks,” “you’re welcome,” “excuse me,” etc. We all already know how to use these.

Hold doors for others, when appro-priate. In our busy community, you probably aren’t going to be the only person entering and exiting buildings. Have some consideration for those who go after you.

Use turn signals. You are not the only person using the road, and it is only fair that you indicate your intent to those with whom you share the road.

Wait for a green light or the walk signal. It is only fair that others have a turn to use intersections. You will get your fair chance, so please wait.

As a corollary to the above, it should also be clear that motorists

OPINION 7EDITORIAL@MIAMISTUDENT.NET TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016

CHANGE »PAGE 8

AJ NEWBERRY NEWBERAJ@MIAMIOH.EDU

WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED READING, PLEASE RECYCLE

GRAHAM VON CARLOWITZTHE MIAMI STUDENT

If you’ve been hiding in a cave for the past few weeks, you might have missed the buildup and even-tual letdown of the Super Bowl.

First, how did you find a cave? Batman? Never mind. Second, and more importantly, the letdown re-fers to the game, not its cherished commercials, perhaps more popu-lar than the game itself.

Not everyone appreciates a helping of a humdrum defensive struggle, but determining which commercials really knocked view-ers’ footwear off, now that’s worth a discussion.

The Super Bowl reels in such a diverse pool of folks and fellas be-cause it appeals to people’s innate sense of competition. I was most amused by the musical sheep. My roommate thought the Tim-Burton-esque puppy-baby was best. After a debate, I was left mentally wound-ed and apparently on the losing end. Commercial competition and debate are certainly not my things.

Personally, blood drives speak to me. They are my thing. Free cook-

ies, free blood, who wouldn’t love them? I am proud to report that I recently convinced my younger brother to test the bloodied waters of the blood donor world. He came home saying how easy it was and that he’d love to do it again.

And he’s right, it is easy. If you meet the requirements, all that is asked of you is cooperation and a dedicated willingness to put up with a playlist composed by Sheryl

Crow enthusiasts, aka Sher-crows. A piece of cake indeed.

But not when I’m around. Those are my playgrounds, stomping grounds, whatever. When my four months of donation probation are up, I rule. I am number one. My blood is redder than all others. My blood is drawn quicker than all others. In fact, I can donate twice

before the average Doe-nator is fin-ished with one donation.

I don’t think blood drives would still be around if everyone had the same donating skillset. Back when I was in the fourth grade, my team tied the first game of the season. 6-6. The tie was tough to handle, especially since that was the closest we came to victory all season.

When I think about donating blood today, my father’s words

after that tie still ring in my head: “Well, you know what they call this, right? A tie is basically like kissing your sister.” I’m not quite sure what a tie would look like in the sport of blood donating, and I don’t want to know.

Blood donation as a sport defies logic, I understand. Then again, ask the alacritous commercial viewers

about the sport they watched and back comes the nightmarish puppy-baby debate. Regardless of what others think, giving blood fires me up like a sport, and as such, I pre-pare for the event.

Orators practice speeches in the mirror, I practice responses. There I stand, picturing the sort-of-content, sort-of-pissed-off-that-she-collects-blood-for-a-living nurse ask me, “Have you ever donated?” With a

slight chuckle, I say, “Well, honey, have you ever stubbed your toe? That means yes. I’m what the elites call a natural, no synthetic blood here.”

The day before a blood drive is when my preparation truly kicks in. Donation Eve is all about carb loading and staying hydrated, as well as staying mentally focused.

No amount of meditation is ever enough, this I learned the hard way. On the fateful day senior year of high school, I spent an hour and a half in donating purgatory — all of it in vain, pardon the pun. I squeezed my giving arm too much. I did not pass Go, I did not collect $200. My blood bag filled only halfway as my cockiness got in the way, literally clotting my vein. Twice.

This is a redemption story, of course, and blood has flowed free-ly from my arm ever since. While Whole Blood donations still create a sense of nostalgia, I have moved on to the Double Red Cells level and I may have a future in plasma.

The only issue is that, as a com-petitor, I love donating for donat-ing, not for money; the experience is pay enough. Like athletes who sign autographs without charge, I would prefer to stay on the free side of things.

Each year the Super Bowl rakes in mounds of cash en-route to de-termining a winner. Blood-donat-ing knows no money, knows no champions. It just knows veins.

I’m not quite sure what a tie would look like in the sport of blood donating, and I don’t want to know.

A portrait of the blood donor as Peyton Manning: If competition weren’t violent

ACTIVISM

CARLY BERNDTTHE MIAMI STUDENT

The other day I saw a girl in what appeared to be a “Walk of Shame” predicament, clad in an oversized shack shirt, more or less running down High Street in what I could only as-sume were last night’s heels and remarkably well-preserved 12-hour old makeup.

“Her purse is cute,” I thought. “Maybe if I didn’t spend $20 on tequila shots three nights a week I could get myself a similar one.”

Upon further inspection, it became clear to me that this was not a girl running home to the comfort of her own bed but rather a girl participating in Greek recruitment.

I imagine that recruitment is one of the few times in a young woman’s life that they wish they were actually a young man. From my understanding, boys have a few nights of telling sexual jokes and coming up with creative an-swers while girls have two week-ends worth of contoured hell.

For me, asking for my hair to be washed and brushed for more than 36 hours at a time is a lot to ask, so it’s easy to understand how shocking it is that any free individual would voluntarily sign up to not only be clean, but pre-sentable prior to 10 in the eve-ning on a strict Thursday to Sat-urday schedule.

From the outside looking in, the biggest differences from the first two weeks of second semes-ter as compared to the rest of the weeks are the following: first, the ratio between girls who look like they rolled out of bed five minutes prior to stepping outside versus the girls who look like they respect themselves becomes way out of balance.

It’s enough to almost persuade me to put on pants with a button or a zipper, or a bra with a clasp, or any other of those pre-yoga-

pant-and-40-dollar-lace-fake-bra era clothing mishaps.

I don’t know what happens to these girls that make them think they need to have their eyebrows drawn on and heeled ankle boots zipped up for their 10 a.m. French 102 class, but it brings me back to a dark point in my life.

I was 7 and my mother wanted my family to try to be Christian. I had to wake up at 8:30 a.m. for a church service — I ate seven ba-gels prior to the service and threw up between some hymnal and the donation baskets.

We never went back to church after that, which supports my un-related idea that bagels can solve nearly any problem.

Secondly, as soon as happy hour hits, anything past Campus and High becomes a near 100 per-cent sausage fest. Albeit an eco-nomically generous sausage fest. But, as I and all other girls know, the best part of a night is meeting nice girls in bar bathrooms.

It is truly flattering when a sweaty male stumbles his way about three inches from my face, manages to ask to buy me a drink and offers an invita-tion to “go back to my place.” But the only thing better than a drunk male thinking I’m hot enough to spend $3 dollars on is a drunk girl telling me she likes my outfit and wants to take a selfie on Snapchat.

There are a few obvious is-sues with recruitment, both male and female. However, the odds of anyone caring about the un-derlying gender inequality mes-sage or the overall misplaced value systems of the events as a whole are about the same as the odds that I “start eating better and working out more.” Because apparently brunch doesn’t count as brunch when you also eat breakfast and lunch.

So, instead of rambling on about another feminist regime or complaining about how some 18-year-old boys got too drunk (again), it is better to be thankful for the seven to 10 days where sweaty boys don’t ask me what sorority I’m in and instead ask me why I’m taking handfuls of pret-zels from the bar at Pachinko’s and putting them in my pockets.

Double standards and gender inequality in Greek recruitment

GREEK

BERNDTCN@MIAMIOH.EDU

A sociology professor’s tips to change the worldADVOCACY

VONCARGH@GMAIL.COM

There are a few obvious issues with recruitment, both male and female.

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should yield to pedestrians in des-ignated crosswalks. It’s only fair that if motorists want folks to stop jay-walking, then the motorists should in fact stop for folks who are crossing as designated.

These are all so rather simple, and certainly within each individual’s abilities. If enough of us undertake this list, it has the potential to trans-form our environment to one that is notably more civil, considerate, and respectful. Such a change is clearly possible, and within our control. Through our everyday small acts, we contribute to the quality of our social lives in our community. Transform-ing our university and community environment into one emphasizing courtesy and consideration can go a long way. Thank you for your time.

MUSCHEGW@MIAMIOH.EDU

FROMC HANGE »PAGE 7

FROMC SEARCH »PAGE 1

out candidates with a “higher compensation requirement,” like a corporate CEO.

In the contract itself, which The Miami Student obtained through a public records request, Isaac-son, Miller estimates that the next president’s first-year compensa-tion will be $450,000, and that Isaacson, Miller will therefore be entitled to $150,000 in fees from the university.

When Isaacson, Miller assisted Miami with its presidential search in 2005-06 — a search that would ultimately lead to the hiring of current president David Hodge — it also charged the university for one-third of the president’s first-year compensation package.

For that search, however, the president’s estimated compen-sation package was $325,000. Hodge’s starting base salary in 2006 was, in fact, $325,000, with the potential for an increase each year as well as a 20 percent bonus. Ten years later, Hodge’s current base salary is about $419,000, slightly less than what the univer-sity and Isaacson, Miller expect to pay Miami’s next president in his or her first year.

In his letter to Budig, Finkel-stein also expressed concern with the contract’s language regarding

reimbursement expenses, which Isaacson, Miller described as trav-el, advertising and other costs in-curred during the search process.

“By signing this agreement, the university has provided the search firm with a literally blank check,” he wrote. “It would appear that the firm could decide to travel around the country meeting with individual candidates, fly first class and stay in luxury suites.”

As of November, when The Mi-ami Student obtained records of the university’s payments to Isaa-cson, Miller, the firm had charged the university for two of four in-stallments. For travel expenses, the firm charged $978 in Septem-ber and $4,018.13 in October. By the end of the 2005-06 search, travel expenses totaled more than $34,000, and many of the largest charges came later in the spring.

Finkelstein’s third issue with the contract pertained to the 11 percent fee Isaacson, Miller would charge Miami for indirect expenses like “communications, postage and delivery, printing and copying and research.”

“The existence of this fee could, in theory, lead a search firm to deliberately increase expenses in order to generate a greater over-head fee,” he wrote. “Remember that this fee would be charged on top of travel and entertainment

expenses as well as the profes-sional fee. In all likelihood, this is just another way of adding a profit line.”

In the contract, Isaacson, Mill-er said it would charge for these fees in each of the four monthly retainer billings, on top of the monthly installments for $37,500 (which amount to the $150,000 search fee). The university’s pay-ment records show that Isaacson, Miller charged Miami for $41,625 in both September and October.

Based on the payment re-cords between Miami and Isaa-cson, Miller from the 2005-06 search, the firm will likely charge $41,625 in the two remaining re-tainers as well. (In 2005-06, the four retainer billings were set at $27,083, but each installment of the executive search fees was charged at $30,062.50.)

Finkelstein’s fourth concern was the absence of any mention that Isaacson, Miller would per-form due diligence throughout the search.

“Not only should this be an ex-plicit requirement, there should be a statement of what this con-stitutes as well as a requirement that the firm accepts liability for material omissions or misinfor-mation,” he wrote. “Nor is there a timeline or mention of milestones — other than when the firm ex-

pects to receive its retainer pay-ments.”

After receiving this letter, Bu-dig asked that the secretary of the board, Ted Pickerill, respond on behalf of the Board of Trustees. In an email to Finkelstein, Pickerill’s reply was brief and pointed.

“Miami has worked with Isaa-cson Miller a number of times over the past several years,” Pick-erill wrote. “We have been quite pleased with their service, and expect to have a very successful presidential search. Thank you once again for your letter and for sharing your concerns.”

Representatives from Isaacson, Miller declined to comment for this story.

Finkelstein said the increasing-ly common practice of employing executive search firms to aid in university searches has contribut-ed to the image of a university as a corporate entity rather than an educational institution. He said, historically, the purpose of uni-versities has been to “preserve, transmit and create knowledge.”

“Today, people are now talk-ing about universities more in terms of a corporation,” he said. “They want to look at enrollment more every semester, talk about students as customers. Growth seems to be the most important metric in assessing performance.”

Karen Dawisha, who is co-president of Miami’s chapter of the American Association of Uni-versity Professors (AAUP), also compared Miami’s presidential search to the search for a corporate CEO, but for different reasons.

When looking for the CEO of a publicly traded company, that company’s shareholders would have a say in who is hired, she said. But at Miami, faculty, staff and students — conceivably, Mi-ami’s “shareholders,” — do not have a voice in hiring its president.

“In the corporate world, the world of business, greater involve-ment is expected,” she said. “Why can’t we have it at a university?”

Dawisha said she could un-derstand that some presidential applicants would prefer discre-tion throughout the search, but doesn’t think it should be the uni-versity’s priority when the stakes are this high.

“The interests that should be served are the interests of the uni-versity that is hiring,” she said. “I do not see how our interests are being served by the secrecy of this process.”

This search, which officially began at the end of August, is ex-pected to last six to nine months, with a single presidential finalist announced this spring.

Have a story idea? email the Editor-in-Chief at eic@miamistudent.net

visit us online!miamistudent.net

9WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016

FROM CLINTON »PAGE 6

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Gun control doesn’t seem to apply in foreign policy.

Or the fact that intervention-ists, like historian Robert Ka-gan, according to the New York Times, sees Clinton as the “ves-sel into which many interven-tionists are pouring their hopes.”

I could continue, like how Clinton is appreciative of Henry Kissinger’s praise (one of the most notorious purveyors of ter-rible American interventions) or that Clinton has Madeleine Al-bright stumping for her in New Hampshire, the same woman who said in a 1996 60 Minutes interview that, despite sanc-tions on Iraq reportedly kill-ing 500,000 Iraqi children, the “price was worth it.”

Later in her memoirs, Madam Secretary, she would apologize for those remarks.

It was just a mistake, she said. Sound familiar?

You can tell a lot about some-one by the company they keep, it is said. You can also tell a lot about someone by the record they have.

Clinton’s record is clear. I maintain — a vote for her is a vote for an even more hawkish White House.

Real progress would be chang-ing the perpetual war paradigm we’ve been plagued by since 9/11. But don’t expect that sort of change from Clinton.

FROM LEED »PAGE 3

that could favor a light roof, but we are not going to do that because it doesn’t fit in with our architectur-al style,” said Kline. “But a whole lot happens beyond the surfaces that really allows these buildings to be highly energy efficient. The insulation values, the details of the windows, and the details of the construction all come into play to allowing us to have these energy-efficient buildings that still meet our architectural style.”

Associate professor of geogra-phy David Prytherch teaches in newly renovated Shideler Hall, which reopened in January. He hopes that his position in the build-ing will allow him to make students more aware of the sustainability features of Miami’s campus.

“You wouldn’t know that Shidel-er was a green building from look-ing at it. I think that most of the sustainability features are not obvi-ous to the visitor,” said Prytherch. “We’re hoping in Shideler Hall that we can work with students to bet-ter communicate what makes this building green. Miami does a good job of making its buildings green; we hope that we can also help com-

municate to students so they can learn more about what sustainabil-ity means on campus.”

Senior Savannah Pocisk, presi-dent of the student organization Green Oxford, said although she does not believe many people at Miami know about LEED certi-fication, students are starting to care more about sustainability.

“I think as more people learn about [sustainability], it’s cer-tain to become something we care about more,” Pocisk said. “The past couple of years, more people have been using reus-able water bottles to decrease their waste because they know that their individual choices are making a difference and have a greater and larger impact.”

Pocisk also added that she liked the effort Miami has put toward becoming more eco-friendly.

“I’m really happy with the di-rection that Miami is going, with the SCAG they have created,” Pocisk said. “I think it’s a really awesome movement, as we’ve seen with the new bike paths and water bottle refill stations, and that we’re really rushing to become a more eco-friendly, sustainable campus.”

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10 SPORTS SPORTS@MIAMISTUDENT.NETTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016

TODAY IN HISTORY

2011The Cleveland Cavaliers’ losing streak reaches 26 in a 103-94 loss to the Detroit Pistons. The skid tied the 1976-1977 NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers record for the longest cold streak in U.S. profes-sional sports. The good news for Cavs fans? The Philadephia 76ers set a new record this year (28).

February 95:00–8:00pm

Garden Commons

ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT

The senior synchronized skating team performs during the intermission of a Miami hockey game Jan. 29. A week prior, the team had placed second out of 13 at the Mozart Cup in Salzburg, Austria Jan. 23.

Top recruit gives RedHawks a new option at quarterback

GRACE REMINGTONSPORTS EDITOR

After last season’s merry-go-round of quarterbacks, Miami University football head coach Chuck Martin said the position may still be up for grabs. Miami signed quarterback Noah Wezensky of Fort Wayne, Ind. (Bishop Luers) on National Signing Day last Wednesday.

According to the 247sports com-posite rankings, Wezensky is ranked 74th in the nation in his position and is the 28th-best overall player in the state of Indiana.

“I was ecstatic when we got him. He was the only non-BCS player to make the Elite 11 Finals [national quarterback camp competition] last summer. He’s a pretty highly-touted recruit,” Martin said. “He’s a Miami-type kid, he’s a great student, he be-lieves in this university, believes in what we’re doing. He’s a very confi-dent kid.”

Wezensky, a pro-style quarter-back who stands at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds, chose to play at Miami over reported offers from University of Akron, University of Toledo, and

Central Michigan University and in-terests from 10 other schools, includ-ing University of Notre Dame and Michigan State University.

He threw for 2,879 yards and 30 touchdowns and completed 63.5 percent of his passes (205-for-323) his junior season, earning first team all-state honors. He missed most of

his senior season with an injury, but finished his high school career with 5,149 yards and 46 passing touch-downs.

If Wezensky wants to be Miami’s starting quarterback next season, he’ll have to beat out freshman Billy Bahl, who was named the starter in Week 6 last season, and redshirt freshman Gus Ragland.

“I think he’ll be able to close the gap on Billy and Gus,” Martin said. “I think he’ll be more mature coming in than those kids were. So I think he’ll have an opportunity to get in there

and fight that battle.”Bahl completed 98 of 220 attempts

(44.5 completion percentage) for 1409 yards, 13 interceptions and eight touchdowns in 11 games in 2015.

Ragland, who was mainly used to pick up rushing yardage, completed 20 of 29 attempts (69.0 completion percentage) for 196 yards and three

touchdowns in 10 games. He was second on the team in rushing with 331 net yards and two touchdowns on 57 carries.

“I know everybody’s excited about Gus and Billy — and we cer-tainly are — but I know Noah’s plan-ning on trying to come in here and get right in the middle of that mix,” Martin said. “He’s that confident of a player. He played at a program that plays in big games every year, so he’s very calm under pressure. He’s very cerebral. So, he’s mature for a high school senior.”

FOOTBALLHARRISON SCHWARZ

STAFF WRITER

Miami University hockey legacy Ryan Savage announced his com-mitment to the RedHawks Jan. 31 via Twitter. Savage is the son of for-mer Miami Hobey Baker finalist and NHL veteran Brian Savage.

“Proud to announce my commit-ment to Miami University hockey,” a tweet from Ryan Savage’s personal Twitter account read. “Thank you to all of the coaches and teammates who have helped me #brotherhood.”

The 15-year-old Ryan Savage plays for the Red Bull U-18 team in Salzburg, Austria and has 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in nine games this year. His first season with Miami will be the 2019-2020 season.

The 5-foot-10, 165-pounds Montreal native was drafted in the fourth round of the Western Hockey League bantam draft by the Everett Silvertips, though league analysts speculated he fell a couple rounds due to his NCAA connections.

A right-handed forward, Ryan Savage will represent Team USA in the 2016 Junior Olympics.

His father Brian Savage left his

mark in Miami history when he played with the then-Redskins for three seasons (1990-1993).

In his final season with Miami, he led the conference with 37 goals, which is the second-most goals in a season in MU history. His 58 points during that season are the 10th-most in a season in Miami history and earned him a spot in the race for the Hobey Baker award, the prize annu-ally given to the top NCAA hockey player. He was the first Miami player to be named a Hobey Baker finalist.

While at Miami, he also scored the fourth-most game-winning goals in a season (7), the second-most short-handed goals in a season (4) and the ninth-most goals overall (66). He ranks 42nd all-time for most career points (109).

After Miami, Brian Savage played for the Canadian National Team for two years and represent-ed Canada at the 1994 Olympics, where he earned a silver medal.

He played 11 seasons in the NHL, including nine with the Montreal Canadians. He totaled 192 goals and 167 assists in 674 games. He now works as an international recruiter for the Red Bull Hockey Academy, the program for which Ryan plays.

HOCKEY

Hockey legacy Ryan Savage commits to Miami

Red and White split weekend series with No. 3 St. Cloud State

HARRISON SCHWARZSTAFF WRITER

The Miami University hockey team (11-13-3, 6-10-2 National Collegiate Hockey Conference) split a two-game series against St. Cloud State University (23-6-1, 13-4-1-1 NCHC) this weekend.

On Friday night, MU began the first period with all the momentum but faded late and lost 5-1. The script flipped Saturday night when the RedHawks scored three times in the second period to win 3-2.

Head coach Rico Blasi believes the team made the right adjust-ments to come out on top Saturday.

“I think the difference between Friday and Saturday night was that we stayed composed and we kept working,” Blasi said. “We made some plays in the second period, whereas [Friday] they took it to us and they dictated the game.”

The ’Hawks dictated most of the first period Friday. They had 16 shots on goal to St. Cloud’s three with 3:20 remaining in the first pe-riod, but MU couldn’t convert on any of its shots.

Huskies sophomore defenseman Ethan Prow stunned Miami when he flipped a backhanded shot over goalie Jay Williams’ left shoulder with 39 seconds left in the first pe-riod.

The Red and White bounced back quickly in the second period. Freshman forward Josh Melnick slapped home a rebound off senior forward Alex Gacek’s initial shot.

The Huskies regained the lead with 8:25 left in the second period and never looked back.

Miami outshot St. Cloud State 36-24, though it was a closer 19-18 advantage in the final 40 minutes.

The second game began just as the first did — the RedHawks missed several promising opportu-nities and the Huskies took advan-tage of their limited few.

With 1:45 left in the first, SCSU freshman defensemen Jimmy Schuldt slapped a high shot past Williams, putting St. Cloud up 1-0.

Similar to the previous night, Miami bounced back early in the second period. Four and half minutes into the second, Melnick found the back of the net. Freshman defenseman Grant Hut-

ton received credit on the assist.The déjà vu ended when senior

forward Sean Kuraly roofed a shot from in close over Huskies sopho-more goalie Charlie Lingren to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead with 7:16 re-maining in the second.

MU’s second period success continued when freshman forward Kiefer Sherwood slapped a one-timer past Lingren to make it 3-1.

Three minutes later, the Hus-kies found themselves back on the board when freshman forward Pat-rick Russell found the back of the ’Hawks net.

MU’s defense stopped St. Cloud in the third period, killing two pow-er plays, while Williams stopped 11 shots.

“It was just a great effort all the way around,” Melnick said. “You have to capitalize on all the chances you can get and I think that was the big difference in the game tonight.”

Miami begins a three-game road trip next weekend. The ‘Hawks play Bowling Green State Univer-sity Feb. 12 and travel to Western Michigan for a two-game series Feb. 19.

HOCKEY

ANGELO GELFUSO THE MIAMI STUDENT

Senior center and team captain Sean Kuraly had one goal, one assist and 12 shots on goal versus St. Cloud State.

SIDELINENBA

CAVALIERS120

KINGS100

Headlines beyond Oxford: According to an ESPN report, Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel hit ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley so hard that it ruptured her left eardrum. Manziel is the subjet of a criminal investigation into the alleged assault that took place on Jan. 30.

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247sports ranks Noah Wezensky the 74th pro-style quarterback in the nation and the 28th overall player in Indiana.